FORKS — Nicholas Rodriguez, 25, of Forks, was identified this afternoon by a state Department Labor and Industries official as the man who died Monday morning in an industrial logging accident in the remote Nolan Creek area of West Jefferson County.
Rodriguez was hit by a swinging log, said Rick White, a health and safety compliance officer.
He later was pronounced dead at Forks Community Hospital after the approximately 9:15 a.m. Monday accident.
Rodriguez was an experienced rigging slinger-chokerman and was working in that capacity when the accident occurred, White said.
A rigging slinger-chokerman spots a logging carriage from which chokers hang that wrap around logs being lifted to the site landing, he said.
In an earlier report, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department said Rodriguez was filling in at position that was not his permanent task.
The incident is being investigated by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and the state Department of Labor and Industries.