According to officials on Monday, a park contract worker at Yosemite National Park, Destiny Rose Texeira Borges, 20, from Stanislaus County, was killed when she was hit by a large Ponderosa Pine tree. Scott Gediman, speaking for Yosemite National Park, said the incident happened close to a campground in Half Dome Village. Borges reportedly worked at a retail outlet which comes under the umbrella of the park concession company, Yosemite Hospitality and had only been at the park for a few days.
High winds and heavy snow hit the park
High winds and heavy snow hit the park over the weekend, which has reportedly weakened and brought down several trees.
The Ponderosa Pine in question collapsed as Borges was standing near an area housing tents and wooden cabins for use by park employees and visitors. According to a report by SF Gate, no one else was injured in the incident, but Gediman did say one cabin was reportedly crushed by the tree – luckily with no one inside.
Almost two years since the last accident involving trees in the park
Gediman also said this is the first fatality of this nature in Yosemite since the summer of 2015. That summer, two teenagers from Southern California were reportedly killed by a falling tree limb from an oak tree in the Upper Pines Campground. Irvine resident, Justin Lee, 14 and Tustin resident, Dragon Kim, 14, were both killed as the branch fell on their tent, crushing them as they slept.
Two years prior to this, Annais Rittenbark, 21, was killed and four other women injured when a large tree fell on them at Camp Tawonga, just outside of the western border of Yosemite National Park. Besides accidents involving trees, officials say around 20 people die each year in the park, either from natural causes or accidents.
Woman killed by falling tree at Half Dome Village in Yosemite National Park https://t.co/g4yhjKS04J pic.twitter.com/YsxtXOYJiu
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) March 6, 2017
Village in Yosemite National Park temporarily closed
According to a report by the New York Daily News, park rangers closed the village and asked visitors to leave after the incident. Reportedly, due to weather conditions, Camp 4 and Upper Pines were also closed. However, these areas were expected to open on Monday afternoon.
