A Hotshot firefighter who was seriously injured by a tree that fell while fighting the fire of the Orleans complex of almost three weeks in northern California, “a long way to go – emotionally, physically and financially”, while recovering in a hospital, said his family.
Renzo Reginato, member of the national forest team of Cleveland El Coriso Hosthot, was one of the three firefighters injured during the July 18 incident in the County of Siskiyou, according to US Forest Service. Reginato, whose injuries were the most serious, was transported by plane to the Mercy Medical Center in Redding and underwent orthopedic and neurosurgical emergency procedures for a tibia and a broken fibula and a traumatic vertebral lesion, according to a story published on Gofundme by his family.
On Thursday, the family published a photo of Reginato smiling and giving a boost in his hospital bed while wearing a ball of El Coriso Hotshots.
Reginato was fighting the butler’s fire, the largest of the two fires in northern California including the so-called Complex of Orleans in the rural counties of Siskiyou and Del Norte.
The Orleans complex, which started in the middle of the lightning storms in early July, reached 22,362 acres and was only 22% content on Sunday, said the incident command team supervising the response of fires in a briefing on Sunday morning.
The firefighters faced difficult conditions on Sunday while dry thunderstorms brought an increased wind and threatened with fences that could ignite new fires, according to the briefing.
At least eight firefighters were injured during the fight against the Orleans complex and the green light in the forests of northern California which burn in the middle of extreme heat in steep and dryable terrain. A minor injury was reported on Saturday.
A firefighter suffered a boundless trauma injury on July 12 while working on the fire line on the green light in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, according to Deanna Younger, spokesperson for the Inter-standing management team of California 10.
This lightning fire had burned 19,002 acres and was 97% contained on Sunday, according to the National Shasta-Trinity Forest.
Another firefighter suffered a heat-related injury the next day, she said. The two were treated in a hospital and released.
Two firefighters working on the Orleans complex were struck by a heat disease in the middle of the temperatures that exceeded 110 degrees, Paul Meznarich, spokesperson for the multi-aging team, coordinating the response to these fires, reported on July 14.
Nathan Judy, spokesperson for the national forest of Cleveland, in southern California, said that he could not disclose names of firefighters, but confirmed that a firefighter struck by a tree that fell by fighting the Orleans complex on July 18 had been transported by plane to the Redding hospital.
One of the other two firefighters struck by the tree was also transferred, evaluated and then released, Judy said. The third was evaluated and released on the scene.
According to the Gofundme site in Reginato, he remained hospitalized in Redding while waiting for a transfer to Craig Hospital in Denver, a neuro-rehabilitation center recognized nationally.
The site said that it “faced a long and difficult way of recovery, strongly supported by its fiancée and family”.
“Renzo has devoted himself to the exhausting and altruistic work of the fight against fires,” he said. “He trained, sacrificed and presented himself every day to protect lives and communities. Now he needs our support. ”
Although its medical treatment is covered, the message said that the family faces long -term spending on travel, accommodation, meals and resources to help Réginato “find independence and adapt to a new lifestyle”.
Another member of the Elite El Cariso Hotshots was quoted on the GoFundme recalling the incident.
“We were in cup and without warning, I heard someone shouting:” Tree! ” And before I could react, I was struck in my back and I drove from 5 to 10 feet downhill, “he wrote.
Sunday, 1,924 firefighters fought against the Orleans complex, which includes the butler fire and the much smaller red light.
The butler’s fire was reported for the first time in the middle of a lightning storm on July 3 and burned more than 22,000 acres in the six rivers and the national forests of Klamath.
The red fire, which started on July 6, was more than 90% content and burned 116 acres in the Siskiyou desert in the county of Del Norte.
