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Smith Creek Fire Hit by Tree Fatality 1929

  • Location:

    Idaho
  • Date:

    08/31/1929
  • Incident Type:

    Hit by Tree
  • Description:

    Joe Aiken, a U.S. Forest Service employee, was transporting drinking water to a fire crew on the Smith Creek Fire on the Pend Oreille National Forest in Idaho when he stopped to give three firefighters a drink. As he did so, a tree fell and hit Aiken, fracturing his skull. Ninety minutes after this tree strike, Aiken passed away. The Smith Creek Fire was located near Sandpoint. 

    Hit by Tree, Fatality