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Firefighter Dies at Polk County Waterfall

Submitted by: FireNews.net Staff

Polk County

SALUDA - A firefighter with the state forest service fell from a waterfall near Saluda this morning.

Polk County emergency medical workers have reached the injured firefighter, but officials did not know his condition.

Cell phone and radio reception are spotty in the Big Bradley Falls area where the firefighter fell, said Mike Cheek, N.C. assistant regional forester for the district.

“They’re still trying to get him out of the woods,” Cheek said.

The forest service has not released the firefighter’s identity. State and Saluda firefighters had responded to a brushfire that had burned overnight in the wilderness area to the northeast of Saluda.

Emergency dispatchers received a call at 10:50 a.m. that the firefighter had fallen.

There was no word on the status of the fire.

Accidents in the wilderness area around the falls are relatively common. A hiker died after tumbling from the falls in 2006. Two died from similar accidents in 2000, and a boy scout was severly injured the same year when he slipped from the rocks.

UPDATE Thu Aug 21 at 21:00

A North Carolina Division of Forest Resources firefighter died Thursday after he fell from the top of a 50-foot waterfall in Polk County.

The firefighter has been identified as Curtis Jessen, 32, the division’s assistant district forester in Asheville.

Medics said that Jessen suffered critical injuries after falling from the Big Bradley Falls near Saluda, N.C. He died a short time later.

Rescuers worked for more than five hours to pull Jessen up from the bottom of the falls and out of the wooded area.

“This is a very sad day for the entire Division of Forest Resources and all of our firefighting partners,” Director of the Division of Forest Resources Wib Owen said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Curtis and his family.”

Investigators are looking into the circumstances behind Jessen’s fall.

The accident happened at about 11 a.m. on a quarter-acre wildfire that began Wednesday afternoon.

Firefighters had been trying to extinguish a brush fire in the area on Wednesday night. They left for safety reasons when it got dark and returned Thursday morning.

At about 1:45 p.m., rescuers said that they had located Jessen. Shortly after 3 p.m., the firefighter was loaded into a carry-basket so he could be carried out of the woods. The location of the fall was about a mile from the road.

Rescuers told WYFF News 4 that the terrain is very rugged and steep and that these types of rescues are always time-consuming.

At about 5 p.m., the firefighter was brought out of the woods.

Several agencies were involved in the rescue attempt, including Saluda Fire and Rescue, Polk County EMS, Polk Rescue, The N.C. Forestry Division, Green River Fire and Rescue, Henderson County Rescue Squad and the Valley Hill Fire Department. Rescuers used four-wheelers and ATVs to reach the firefighter.

A firefighter involved in the rescue effort suffered heat exhaustion and had to be treated at the scene, and another was stung by a bee and was treated for an allergic reaction.

Jessen began working for the division in February 2002. He worked as a forest inventory analysis forester and a service forester before being promoted to assistant district forester.

North Carolina has had nine wildfire-related deaths since 1960, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

(WYFF)

Addtional article from BlueRidgeNow.com

Special thanks to Blake Redden for assistance with this incident.

ARRANGEMENTS

Curtis Loyd Jessen, age 32, of West Greenbriar Road, Black Mountain, died Thursday, August 21, 2008 at St. Lukes Hospital in Tryon, NC. He was born June 15, 1976 in Burke County to Mrs. Sue Tramble Jessen of Lenoir and the late Gary Loyd Jessen.

Mr. Jessen was Assistant District Forester for N.C. Forest Service District 1 and was a member of North Catawba Baptist Church.

Survivors, in addition to his mother include, one brother, Robbie Jessen and wife Adrian of Churchland, NC; and paternal grandmother, Jeanette Robertson of Mauston, WI.

Memorial services will be held Sunday, August 24, 2008 at 4:00 p.m. at North Catawba Baptist Church conducted by Rev. Ken Adkins and Rev. Brooks Walker. Interment will be private.

The family will receive friends from 2:45 to 3:45 p.m. prior to the service at the church.

Pallbearers will be members of the N.C. Forest Service.

Memorial contributions may be made to: North Catawba Baptist Church Youth Fund, 1596 North Catawba Church Ave., Lenoir, NC 28645 or Ducks Unlimited, One Waterfowl Way, Memphis, TN 38120.

Online condolences may be left at http://www.greer-mcelveenfuneralhome.com.

Greer-McElveen Funeral Home and Crematory is in charge of arrangements.

Source: Citizen Times.com

Primary Agency: North Carolina Division of Forest Resouces

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Posted on Thu Aug 21 2008 at 15:39 UPDATED: Sat Aug 23 at 11:45

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Reader Comments:

I want to send my condolence to the Firefighters, their families & friends. It’s never easy to loose love ones who do what what they love to do… Protect! Special Prayers out to all of you! - SB

Posted by Swane Boyd on Fri Aug 22 2008 at 10:40

I would like to send my condolences to the family of Curtis Jessen and the Asheville Forestry Service. My heart and prayers go out to you.

Posted by Justin D. Greene on Sat Aug 23 2008 at 2:30

The worst thing to happen is to have a friend, coworker, or confidant lose their life on the job. I understand its tough and it will take sometime for everything to return to some sort of order, but find someway to remember Curtis everyday and what he has meant to you and your family. Please except our condolences and our prayers, and know that you all have friends all over NC if you need a shoulder or an ear. Curtis Jessen R.I.P. You will not be forgotten

Posted by Stephen on Mon Aug 25 2008 at 17:06

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Fri Jul 30 at 13:36

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Firefighter Dies at Polk County Waterfall