Bowman Lake Fire Hit by Tree Fatality 1924

On September 15, 1924, Michael D. Cogley was killed instantly when the tree he and fellow firefighters were falling struck him. Cogley, along with two other Tahoe National Forest firefighters, was cutting down a burning lightning-struck tree near the dam at Bowman Lake in the Northern Sierra Nevada Mountains in California.

As Cogley handed the ax to a fellow faller, the tree began to fall. The three men ran from the falling tree. In his attempt to escape, Cogley was hit by the tree. His instantaneous death was confirmed by a doctor who was in the area.

The jury of the Nevada County Coroner's Court returned the verdict: "The cause of death was being accidentally struck by a falling tree while employed by the U.S. Forest Service as a firefighter." (In the state of Nevada, a "Coroner's Court" is three persons qualified by law to serve as jurors. These jurors are summoned by a Justice of the Peace at the request of the District Attorney to inquire into the cause of sudden, suspicious, or unnatural deaths.)

Hit by Tree, Fatality, Initial Attack, Falling Operation