A Toledo, Oregon man is recovering following an industrial accident at the Depoe Bay Harbor.
According to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, the accident occurred shortly after 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 31 as emergency responders received information of a man trapped under a forklift in the water off of Shell Avenue in Depoe Bay.
Lincoln County Sheriff’s deputies responded with a crews from the Depoe Bay Fire Department, Coast Guard, Pacific West Ambulance and Life Flight.
Arriving deputies determined that an employee of a seafood company in Depoe Bay was operating a forklift on a pier near Depoe Bay Harbor. The 47-year-old employee man from Toledo had backed through the protective wood barrier on the pier over Depoe Bay Harbor.
The operator and forklift fell down the embankment into the water trapping the operator under the forklift. The operator was pinned above the water level with the forklift resting on his abdomen.
Depoe Bay Fire used airbags to lift the fork lift off the operator. The man, who’s identity has not been released, was transported to Good Samaritan Hospital in Corvallis via Life Flight where he is expected to recover from a head wound.
The cause of the accident is still under investigation. The Occupant State Health Administration(OSHA) will also reviewing the circumstances of the accident.
