Costa Mesa Hay Fire Hit by Vehicle Fatality 1935

George W. Wallace, Assistant Forest Ranger with the California Department of Forestry (now CAL FIRE) was pinned between the back of a fire engine and a delivery truck as he studied a map en route to a hay fire. The engine crew was ordered to relieve the firefighters on scene at the hay fire, who had been on the fireline all night. On their way to this incident, Wallace asked the driver to stop and turn on the back flood lights so that he could study the map. At 0315 hours in foggy conditions, as Wallace stood on the road at the back of the engine with the map, a delivery truck struck him. Wallace was taken to the hospital but died very soon afterward. Another firefighter in the engine also suffered minor injuries in this accident. 

Hit or Run Over by Vehicle, Fatality, Engines, Driving