May 19, 2011
California

Fatal accident: Bean Canyon, May 11

By: Tina Forde, Staff Writer, www.tehachapinews.com 19 May 2011

An employee of a Colorado company that installs wind-measuring anemometers died May 11, when he fell with his Polaris Ranger work utility vehicle 200 feet down a steep ravine in Bean Canyon near Willow Springs Road and Backus Road.

Fellow employees reported Daniel Alexander Hamilton, 31, missing on Wednesday.

Volunteers from the Desert Search and Rescue Team, the Tehachapi Search and Rescue Team, the Mounted Search and Rescue Team and a Sheriff’s helicopter went to the area to assist in the search, the Kern County Sheriff’s Office said.

Hamilton’s body was found at 1:30 p.m. the next day, May 12.

The Sheriff’s helicopter lifted him out of the rugged terrain.

Hamilton was in the process of surveying and looking for places to locate wind turbines when the accident occurred, said Officer Ed Smith of the California Highway Patrol.

The CHP is carrying out the investigation because it is a vehicle accident.

Hamilton’s home is listed as Hollywood.

Smith said he had a Colorado driver’s license and an ID card that said Santa Monica.

Hamilton was employed by Harness Energy of Boulder, Colo.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/05/19/fatal-accident-bean-canyon-may-11/