Tractor rollover kills driver, sparks fire in rural SLO County
A heavy equipment operator died on Wednesday afternoon after their tractor rolled over, fell into a canal and caught on fire, Cal Fire said.
Cal Fire received a call for help at 12:09 p.m. because a John Deere tractor rolled into a canal and pinned the driver underneath the vehicle, Cal Fire spokesperson Eva Grady told The Tribune.
The tractor overturned in a remote area without phone reception off Highway 166 in Cuyama. Cal Fire received the call from a call box two miles away from the incident, she said.
The crash sparked a fire that burned about half an acre of vegetation, Grady said.
Firefighters stopped forward progress of the fire at 12:45 p.m.
The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office and Santa Barbara County Fire Department responded to the fire first, and Cal Fire followed, Grady said.
Emergency responders on the scene confirmed that the tractor driver died, she said.
