Forklift Operator Crushed To Death At NorCal Wine Storage Facility

WINDSOR, CA — A forklift operator was killed Thursday while working at a Sonoma County wine storage facility, according to news reports.

Emergency medical personnel with the Sonoma County Fire District responded shortly before 1 p.m. Thursday to a commercial building in the 1000 block of Shiloh Road in Windsor. There, they found a 40-year-old man who had been crushed to death.

Windsor police Sgt. Jason Little said an investigation was underway but it appeared the man was working with a stack of full wine pallets weighing around 3,000 pounds each. It is believed the forklift became stuck and when the operator got out to inspect it, a pallet fell on top of him, Little said.

There were no witnesses, Little said.

The man's name was not disclosed pending the notification of his next of kin.

The Sonoma County Sheriff-Coroner's Office will work to determine his exact cause of death.

The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health — CalOSHA—will take over the investigation.

Bay City News Service contributed to this report.