[californiadisasters] Rock Slides Kill Two Caltrans Workers In Siskiyou Co.

Rock slides killed two Caltrans workers in Siskiyou County, spokeswoman says

• Redding Record-Searchlight
  
• Posted April 25, 2013 at 12:07 p.m., updated April 25, 2013 at 12:23 p.m.

A pair of rock slides Wednesday killed two Caltrans workers who were removing rocks from a hillside above Highway 96 near Happy Camp in Siskiyou County, a state Department of Transportation spokeswoman said today.

Denise Yergenson, a public information officer for Caltrans, said Joseph "Robert" Jones, 40, of Montague and Shawn Baker, 50, of Weed were killed while removing loose rocks above the roadway as part of a rock-scaling operation.

That operation entails the men rappelling down a hillside to break away rocks, Yergenson said. Maintenance workers volunteer for training for rock-scaling and workers are trained with yearly refresher courses, she said.

"Everybody in the entire state at Caltrans is trained the same way," she said.

A third man, 50-year-old Kevin Skillen, was injured in the slides. He was flown to Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center in Medford, Ore., where he remains in fair condition today.

Yergenson didn't have specifics on the circumstances of the slide but said an investigation continues involving Caltrans, the California Highway Patrol and the California Occupational Health and Safety Administration.

Gov. Jerry Brown ordered flags flown at half-staff in honor of Jones and Baker and Caltrans postponed a worker memorial planned for today in Mount Shasta.

Yergenson has said prior to Monday's incident, the last Caltrans District 2 employee killed on the job was Muoi Duc Tran, 55, of San Jose, a member of a survey crew who died in a behind-the-wheel collision Oct. 16, 2008. Tran was leaving the Red Bluff maintenance station, which was under construction at the time, when the vehicle he was driving was struck, killing him, she said.

According to Caltrans, 180 employees have been killed statewide over the years.

Source: http://www.redding.com/news/2013/apr/25/rock-slides-killed-two-caltrans-workers-siskiyou-c/

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