Man Dies Cutting Firewood Teenager Finds Father Under Overturned Tractor Near Cataldo
A 49-year-old man was killed in a firewood-cutting accident late Friday.
Donald Eugene Johns was found under an overturned tractor by his 17-year-old son about 9 p.m. The death occurred about 2-1/2 miles from the family’s Black Rock Road home, east of Idaho Highway 3 near Cataldo.
It is the fourth timber-related fatality in North Idaho since May.
Earlier in the day, Johns had promised his son he would attend the youth’s football game. Johns was planning to cut firewood first, said Kootenai County Sheriff’s Sgt. Brad Maskell.
The youth returned home a little before 9 p.m. Friday, wondering why his father hadn’t made it to the football game, a sheriff’s department report said. He noticed his father’s tractor and trailer were missing.
Johns’ son followed tracks for 2-1/2 miles and then found the trailer that had been used to haul the tractor, sheriff’s records indicate. Fifty yards farther he found the tractor on its right side with his father underneath.
He checked to see if his father was alive, discovered no vital signs, and ran back to the family home and called 911.
Johns was safety, quality assurance and hazardous waste manager for RACHO International in Spokane. A 1973 graduate of the University of Idaho, he also served three years in the U.S. Navy.
His survivors include his wife, Kathryn Ann, son Scott and daughter Sarah and three brothers.
There will be an open house at the family home Monday from 1 to 4 p.m. The family is asking memorials be directed to Hospice of North Idaho or the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
The tragedy represents the fifth fatality or injury since May related to tree cutting or the timber industry. Just two weeks ago, a worker at Crown Pacific’s Bonners Ferry mill was killed after the dump truck tire he was unloading exploded.
Jerry Lynn Davis, 33, was handling the tire at the time of the accident. It apparently slipped to the ground and exploded. Part of the wheel was hurled into Davis’ chest, killing him.
On June 10, 48-year-old Denny Triebwasser was killed after being pulled into the conveyor he was trying to fix at Idaho Veneer’s plant in Post Falls.
In late May, Craig J. Jensen was killed while skidding trees off a mountainside near Carlin Bay. A limb caught in the tracks of Jensen’s bulldozer, swung into the cab and crushed his throat.
Jensen, 43, was a resident of St. Maries.
Kenneth Kurrelmeyer of Pinehurst was injured in a logging accident June 6. The 38-year-old man was rescued by medical helicopter after sustaining head and chest injuries when he was hit by a tree. He survived.
Logging is considered the second most dangerous occupation in the United States, with 133 fatalities per 100,000 workers. Timber cutting and logging operations killed 118 people in the nation in 1996, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Construction is the most dangerous occupation.
, DataTimes