The Press Democrat
NAPA COUNTY, Calif. — Napa County officials have identified the victim of a fire-related water tender crash Monday as a volunteer firefighter from Missouri named Garrett Paiz.
Paiz, 38, died Monday morning while trying to negotiate winding Oakville Grade into Napa County in the dark of Monday morning.
The CHP said he was on his way to refill a large water tanker being used to battle the Nuns fire, which has spread north from Sonoma County into neighboring Napa County.
The tanker went off the road, broke through a guardrail and plunged about 20 feet into a ravine not far from the bottom of the grade and Highway 29, authorities said.
Paiz is a volunteer firefighter with the Noel Fire Department in southwest Missouri but was working as a driver under contract to Cal Fire and would have been unfamiliar with the steep and curving roadway.
The 1993 Kenworth water tender overturned, and the tractor detached from the tanker during the 6:45 a.m. crash, authorities said.
Copyright 2017 The Press Democrat
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