A firefighter from Durango was struck by a falling tree Saturday during a complex wildland fire training outside Salida.
Jim Meyer, 50, was working as a spotter when the accident occurred.
Meyer initially was transported by emergency medical services to the area hospital, where scans revealed he was bleeding between his skull and his brain. He was flown by helicopter to Colorado Springs that evening, and he underwent emergency surgery to remove part of his skull and relieve the building pressure. He also suffered a broken vertebra and multiple skull fractures.
But, speaking from a hospital bed about 36 hours after his surgery, Meyer was in good spirits and said he has every intention of returning to wildland firefighting.
“I won’t quit fire – no way,” he said. “We need firefighters, we need wildland firefighters. It’s a lifestyle, man, it’s not a job.”
Meyer, who declined to share which agency or contractor he was working for when the accident occurred, was with 25 other firefighters performing mitigation work as part of a training. He was helping to spot the complex removal of a stand of trees when a sawyer felled a tree, and “It just didn’t go as planned.”
The sawyer used one escape route and Meyer chose another.
“Unfortunately, the tree went with him,” his wife, Erin Meyer, said.
The tree, which was between 25 inches and 30 inches in diameter, came down atop his head, destroying his aluminum hard hat.
“It's crushed and undoubtedly saved his life,” Erin Meyer said.
Jim Meyer was unconscious for more than five minutes, he said, and is still piecing together memories from the day. This is Meyer’s seventh season fighting fire and his third season since taking a 14-year break.
Depending on his progress, Meyer says he hopes to spend no more than another week in the hospital. He will remain in a C-collar for several weeks after he is discharged.
A resident of Durango for more than 20 years, Meyer said he and his wife have tried to take care of the community – and that care is coming back to them.
“We’re just, more than anything, really grateful,” Erin Meyer said. “It's honestly been an overwhelming amount of support and love from people. I don't even have any words. It’s rather unexpected and beautiful.”
A gofundme setup to help cover Meyer’s medical expenses had accumulated over $8,700 by Monday afternoon.
The incident is a reminder of the risks that firefighters assume, Meyer said. Nationally, a swirling debate about federal firefighter pay has repeatedly threatened to cull the workforce.
“Wildland firefighters are grossly underpaid, and we take a lot of risks,” Meyer said.
rschafir@durangoherald.com
