By Kathryn Reed

A Lake Valley fire captain is lucky to be alive after falling out of a moving truck going at least 25 mph.

The firefighter was released from the hospital Aug. 30, but it is not known when he will be back to work.

The incident happened Aug. 27 on Highway 50 in the Camp Sacramento area. The captain had to be airlifted from the accident site.

“They went to a vehicle accident and were on their way back. They were going about 25 to 30 mph around a sweeping turn. The door flew open and out he went,” Fire Chief Tim Alameda told Lake Tahoe News.

An internal investigation is going on with the help of CalFire. The state is also involved.

“CalOSHA has been notified of this incident and is currently investigating. This is all the information available at this time,” Jeanne-Mairie Duval with CalOSHA told Lake Tahoe News.

The state agency has six months to issue any citations. Until findings are made the case is confidential.

The captain, whose name has not been released, was a passenger in the fire engine. It is the law that everyone in a fire vehicle must be wearing a seat belt. Clearly, this was not the case on Sunday. It is a serious violation not to do so. What kind of discipline the captain might face will be determined after the investigation is finished.

It is normal for buzzers to go off when the belt is not on, just like in a passenger vehicle. It is not known if those were tampered with or if the other two people in the fire truck knew the seat belt was not being worn.

Lake Valley is governed by a board of directors. Those elected officials were not formally made aware of this incident.