Worker at Athol lumber mill dies in industrial accident

A worker at a lumber mill in Athol died early this morning in an industrial accident.

Just after 6 a.m., a 45-year-old man working at the Merritt Brother’s Lumber Company in Athol, Idaho, was injured while clearing a machine of a broken piece of wood, according to a Kootenai County Sheriff’s news release.

Medical personnel took the man to Kootenai Health where he was pronounced dead. Deputies are investigating.

In early August, a fire burned a planer facility operated by Vaagen Brothers Lumber Inc. on the same mill site.