Tragedy Coming Out Of Tuolumne County Fire

One Tuolumne County area firefighter was killed and six others injured battling a fire that erupted Sunday afternoon near Buck Meadows 12 miles east of Groveland..

All seven of the firefighters were from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Columbia-based helicopter “initial attack” crew. CDF spokeswoman Sharon Torrence says the group had been dropped off in the forest by helicopters to fight the blaze from the ground.

Authorities say the crew of seven firefighters were overrun by the flames in a rugged area yesterday afternoon in Stanislaus National Forest. Five of the six injured firefighters had minor injuries. They were treated at local hospitals and released. Torrence said an air ambulance flew one moderately injured firefighter to Doctors Medical Center in Modesto.

A search and rescue team is expected to recover the body of the dead firefighter today. The name o the fallen firefighter has not yet been released.