Dillon Creek Fire Hit by Tree Fatality 1930

On the afternoon of August 28, a group of four firefighters were patrolling the Dillon Creek Fire in an extremely remote part of the Klamath National Forest 35 miles west of Fort Jones. Out of sight of his comrades, Klamath National Forest firefighter Roy England was struck by a snag at around 1630. England was found soon after by the other firefighters, still alive but badly injured. Immediately one of the firefighters left the site to seek medical help, but the site of the fire was so inaccessible, word did not reach Yreka, the nearest large town, until 2230. A doctor left immediately from Yreka en route to the Dillon Creek Fire, first by automobile and then on horseback with another man. As the doctor ascended the trail in the early morning, a second messenger from the accident reached him, conveying the news that England had succumbed to his injuries at 2000. The doctor returned to Yreka, but the other rider went to the accident site to carry the body of Roy England out. 

The Dillon Creek Fire had been burning for over a week, at one point escaping containment and burning into the small fire camp and destroying equipment and sleeping gear. At the time of the fatal tree strike, the fire again was considered contained, and was under daily patrol by firefighters from the Klamath National Forest. Roy England was a temporary firefighter for the USFS, based in Happy Camp.