Sonoma Vineyard Worker Dies In Tractor Incident

SONOMA VALLEY, CA — A Sonoma County vineyard worker who died Tuesday morning while fixing a tractor has been identified by the Sonoma County Sheriff-Coroner's Office as 34-year-old Franklin Palacios Carrillo, of Fairfield. The fatal incident was reported at about 8 a.m. at a vineyard in the 2300 block of Napa Road in Sonoma, sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Crum said in a news release.

Deputies responded to call about a deceased worker and when they arrived at the scene they found that the worker had become trapped beneath a tiller attachment. Vineyard wire was entangled in the tractor’s tilling tines, the sergeant said, and the worker was trying to free the wire from the tines when the attachment dropped on him, crushing him, Crum said.

A co-worker found the Fairfield man dead underneath the tiller and notified authorities, according to the sergeant.

Carrillo's death is being investigated as an industrial accident, Crum said, and was referred to the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health.

Cal OSHA will examine the tractor, equipment and will determine exactly what happened, the sergeant said.

The state agency confirmed it received a report Tuesday from Walsh Vineyards Management about the fatal incident.

CAL OSHA Spokesman Frank Polizzi said inspections generally take a few weeks to several months. The division has six months to issue citations for any violations of workplace safety regulations.

Early Tuesday afternoon, the sheriff's office clarified the location of the fatal incident.

"Earlier we reported on a fatal tractor accident located at Scribe Winery," Crum said in an updated statement. "The property where the accident happened was actually determined to be in a vineyard next to their winery at a location called Arrowhead Vineyard. Scribe Winery was not involved in this incident."

Bay City News Service contributed to this report.

Photo by Al Francis/Napasonomaphotos.com