Man Dies in Wood Chipper Accident

A worker at Reimen’s Ranch was killed Thursday when he fell into a large wood chipper while disposing of tree trimmings, according to authorities.

Efrain Gonzales, 43, was tossing trimmings from a lemon orchard into a chipper--capable of grinding trees up to 16 inches in diameter--when he apparently got caught in the machine’s blades and was pulled in, said Ventura County Fire Capt. Ron Topolinski.

At the time of the accident, another employee was cutting limbs from the trees before handing them to Gonzales for disposal. The worker told authorities that he had just left the chipper area to cut additional branches when he heard something, said Dean Fryer, spokesman for Cal-OSHA. “When he turned around, the worker was gone,” Fryer added.

A safety lever was on the chipper, but the victim apparently could not reach it in time, authorities said. Fryer said Gonzales was wearing a long sleeved shirt and it is believed the cuff may have gotten caught in the chipper.

Topolinski said Gonzales had worked on the ranch for more than 10 years and lived there with his wife, Berta, and their three children. Relatives also live on the ranch and were grieving Thursday.

The Sheriff’s Department has ruled the incident an industrial accident. Cal-OSHA investigators arrived at the ranch, owned by Borchard Co., to determine if Gonzales had been trained to use the chipper and if the machine was functioning properly, Fryer said.