BRAD HORN/Nevada Appeal Nevada Department of Forestry workers and one unidentified inmate carry an injured inmate Thursday afternoon. Three inmates were injured while helping restore part of the Waterfall fire burn area at the end of Wagon Wheel Road in Lakeview.
Three inmates working with the Nevada Division of Forestry were injured Thursday afternoon while working on the Waterfall Fire Rehabilitation Project near the Lakeview subdivision, officials said.
The crews were laying log erosion barriers in Coombs Canyon area above Wagon Wheel Road when a log that had recently been cut rolled down causing a wrist injury to one inmate and seriously injuring two others, said Fire Management Officer Ronan Thornhill. Their names are being withheld, Thornhill said.
Since the Waterfall fire, inmate crews have laid thousands of fallen trees to create erosion barriers on the steep slopes of the burn area.
Log erosion barriers are created by falling trees parallel to the slope of the hill and staking them into the ground.
"The purpose of this treatment is to trap soil and ash from side slopes to prevent material from entering stream channels and to keep sediment on site. This process minimizes erosion and creates seed beds," said Pete Anderson, Nevada State Forester Firewarden.
At least one of the injured crew members was taken by helicopter to Washoe Medical Center. There is no word on the extent of their injuries, Anderson said.
Contact F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.
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