California Construction Injury Lawyers

Hispanic Youth Died In California Construction Accident

A fifteen-year-old Hispanic youth died after entering the hopper of a bark blower and becoming entangled in an auger. The victim was a member of a two-man crew dispensing mulch onto the back yard of a new residence in a housing complex. The self-contained, truck-mounted bark blower had been filled to capacity with mulch at the company supply yard and driven to the work site. The mulch was directed to the rear of the bark blower by an auger/agitator and drag conveyor located near the floor surface of the bark blower’s hopper.

The mulch was then dispensed by the bark blower through a four-inch, metal-reinforced flexible rubber hose. The victim was directing the flow of the mulch through the hose when the bark blower emptied. He was instructed by the foreman to walk approximately 100 feet to the rear right side of the truck and turn off and lock out the box that supplied power to the auger and blower, then return the key to the foreman. When the foreman noticed after a few minutes that the blower was still running, he walked to the rear of the hopper and climbed a fixed ladder and looked inside. He saw the victim at the bottom of the hopper entangled in the auger/agitator.

He immediately ran to a nearby residence and asked the owner to call 911. Emergency Medical Service (EMS) and fire personnel arrived and determined this event was a recovery mission. The bark blower was driven to a local fire station where company mechanics and fire and rescue personnel extricated the victim’s body. The county coroner pronounced the victim dead at the fire station.

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