Parachute MVA Fatalities 2002

On June 21, 2002, at 1720 hours, a 15-passenger van carrying 11 Grayback Forestry, Inc. firefighters from La Grande, Oregon to the Hayman Fire in Colorado was involved in a one-vehicle accident on Interstate 70 one and a half miles east of Parachute, Colorado. The van, one vehicle in a convoy of eight, had been on the road for an extended period of time. The vehicle drifted to the left side of the road into the median. The van then came back across two eastbound lanes, rolling four times and ejecting three of the occupants. There were four fatalities the day of the accident. A fifth occupant, Bart Bailey, died three days later in the hospital.

The five firefighters who lost their lives: Retha Shirley, Zackary Zigich, Bart Bailey, Jacob Martindale and Daniel Rama.

Driving, Hand Crews, Fatality, Vehicle Incident or Accident