CLALLAM BAY — A Forks man died Wednesday after being struck by a falling tree while working at a remote logging site south of Clallam Bay.
Thirty-three-year-old Tyler D. Ness died while enroute to the hospital.
The accident happened deep in a forested area about 8.5 miles off Highway 112, near milepost 20. Responders described the terrain as steep and only accessible by a primitive road.
About 8:45 that morning, 911 got a call from the site supervisor, who reported that a worker had been seriously injured. Emergency crews from Clallam Fire District 5 (Clallam Bay/Sekiu) responded right away, with help from Clallam Fire District 1 (Forks/Beaver), Quileute Fish and Wildlife Enforcement, and the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office.
First responders, working closely with the logging crew, managed to reach Ness, who had ended up down a steep embankment. He was taken by ambulance to a Life Flight helicopter, but during the flight he went into cardiac arrest. The chopper diverted to Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles, where medical teams performed CPR and life-saving efforts for over 30 minutes.
Despite those efforts, Ness was pronounced dead at 12:14 p.m.
The Clallam County Sheriff’s Office is now investigating the incident.