Long Point Fire Hit by Tree Fatality 1934

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) crewmember William Mattison, based at the Tahoe-Ukiah CCC Camp near Nevada City, California, was mobilized with a fire crew to fight a fire near Grizzly Creek and North Columbia on the Tahoe National Forest. Mattison and two fellow crewmembers were assigned to watch two cat-faced trees burning on a steep slope 100 feet above Grizzly Creek. At around 0230 on the morning of August 13, one of the trees broke and fell towards the men, who in the dark could not judge the direction of the tree's fall. While his two comrades took refuge in the roots of a fallen tree, Mattison was struck. Mattison's injuries were determined to be a fractured skull, broken ribs, a broken arm and a broken leg. It is believed he was killed instantly. 

Hit by Tree, Fatality