Calexico man ID'd as victim of fatal fall insider Whitewater turbine | Colin Atagi | Palm Springs Desert Sun | Jan. 4, 2021 | www.desertsun.com
A 52-year-old Calexico man was identified as the victim of a fatal fall that occurred Wednesday inside a wind turbine in Whitewater, investigators said.
Mario Contreras Jr. died in the incident that was reported just after 11 a.m. Wednesday in an area west of Highway 62, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health reported Contreras fell 100 feet near near 59-967 16th Avenue and his death is under investigation.
The agency reported Contreras was an employee for Site Constructors Inc. in Chico.
Its website describes itself as a California-based company that’s “actively involved in the hydroelectric and wind power generation industries” and services turbines, generators, pumps, motors, valves, gates, penstocks, manifolds, steel dams and other large equipment.
The Desert Sun has reached out to Site Constructors for comment.
Last week’s incident is the second workplace fatality to occur in the Coachella Valley in about a month.
On Dec. 7, a construction worker died outside the Agua Caliente Cathedral City Casino at Date Palm and East Palm Canyon drives.
He was identified as Jay Ayers, 41, of Temecula. According to the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, he worked for the Raymond Group, a sub-contractor of the Penta Building Group.
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2021/01/05/calexico-man-identified-as-victim-of-fatal-100-foot-fall-inside-whitewater-turbine/