Williams Fire Entrapment Fatalities 1945

Edward Gates, dozer operator for the Los Padres National Forest, and Paul Nesgis of the California Department of Forestry (Now CAL FIRE) were entrapped while fighting a fire on Williams Hill in Monterey Country, California. Nesgis was supervising the construction of dozer line by Gates and other dozers on the fire when the two men were caught in a box canyon at around 1600 on the flank of Williams Hill. Gates abandoned his machine to attempt to escape on foot, but was overtaken by fire in the dense chaparral. Nesgis was missing following the fire, and his absence prompted a statewide search. Nesgis' body was found on the side of Williams Hill, just outside the burned area, in March 1946. 

Williams Hill was the location of Calandra Lookout, a CDF lookout tower named for Joseph Calandra, who was entrapped and killed on the Bixby Fire in 1939. 

Entrapment, Fatality, Heavy Equipment