2 Workers Hurt When Rig Falls Down Hillside

A farm worker was critically injured and another received minor injuries Monday after equipment used to spray pesticides rolled onto them as they tried to navigate a steep hill in an avocado orchard outside of Fillmore, according to fire officials.

“It wasn’t a good ride for these guys,” said Capt. Dick Dobbin of the Ventura County Fire Department.

Tomas Sanchez Gonzalez, 32, and his cousin Salvador Martinez Gonzalez, 27, were working in a spraying rig called a “pug” when the accident happened around 12:30 p.m., Dobbin said.

The vehicle, with Salvador Gonzalez at the wheel, was carrying a 30-gallon mixture of pesticide and water, mounted on the back. When the men reached the top of an incline, the rig toppled backward down a 40-foot embankment, said Sheriff’s Capt. Keith Parks.

“They were traveling either up to the orchard or down, and [the rig] just started tumbling. It’s like driving it over a cliff,” said Dobbin, who was first on the scene. “When it rolled over, it probably threw one of the guys off.”

No one witnessed the accident, but nearby ranchers found the two men, both Newhall residents, nearly an hour later and called rescuers, according to Parks. When rescue workers reached the scene, they found a badly injured Tomas Gonzalez, who appeared to have a broken back, according to Dobbin.

“He could not move his legs,” he said.

Tomas Gonzalez, who was unable to talk, was airlifted by sheriff’s helicopter to Ventura County Medical Center. He remains in critical condition, said nurse Dee McCormick.

Salvador Gonzalez, who sustained moderate injuries, was rushed by ambulance to Santa Paula Hospital.

Tomas Gonzalez had recently talked his cousin into coming to work for the family-run farm, said Albert Bellio, owner of the ranch in the 3000 block of Telegraph Road.

The 48-acre ranch, which grows lemons, avocados and oranges, has been tended by Tomas Gonzalez for the past eight years.

“That kid is like family to me,” Bellio said of Tomas Gonzalez. “He’s like my second son.”