A private bulldozer operator died early Tuesday in a car crash while assigned to help fight the North fire burning in the Tahoe National Forest, marking the latest fire-related fatality in what’s been a grim fire season in California.
Antonio “Tony” Flores, 37, was driving to the command post at the Blue Canyon Airport when he was involved in a car crash on Interstate 80 east of Blue Canyon, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
Flores was an employee with Kent Siller Trucking, where he had worked for more than 20 years as a master mechanic and heavy-equipment operator, and was assigned to the fire as a private contractor. During his three years as a bulldozer operator, he had helped fight multiple fires for the forest service and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
“He had an outstanding work ethic,” Neil Siller, a spokesman for the trucking company, said in a statement. “He was our go-to guy on all types of projects.”
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