# "Station bay door crushes and kills visiting civilian in Idaho."



## HAZMAT (Oct 5, 2009)

http://firefighterclosecalls.com/fullstory.php?93995
 Monday, October 5, 2009 
-
A Caldwell (Idaho) woman and former employee of Canyon County Paramedics died after she was found pinned under a garage door at the Canyon County Paramedics building on Specht Avenue in Caldwell.

A report from the Ada County Coroner's Office stated 35-year-old Melissa Farris died of asphyxiation at 2 a.m. Friday at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise.

Units were dispatched to the building Thursday at about 11:25 p.m. after a report of a woman possibly trapped under the garage door.

Officers found Farris pinned under the door and not conscious or breathing. They were able to raise the door and were assisted by firefighters and paramedics.

Farris was transported to Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, but later died from her injuries.

Investigators believe Farris attempted to go under the door as it was closing after an ambulance with two emergency responders left the building. CPD Chief Chris Allgood said no one was in the building after the ambulance left. Police located Farris' vehicle in a parking lot across the street and she may have waited for an ambulance to leave to attempt entry.

Investigators are unsure why Farris was attempting to enter the building, and said on-duty personnel were unaware of her presence and were not expecting her to visit.

Investigators are working to determine why the door's safety mechanisms did not engage.

Canyon County Paramedics Deputy Director Scott Tucker said Farris worked for the agency from October 2001 to December 2008. He could not discuss why Farris left the agency because it is a personnel matter.

Canyon County Coroner Vicki DeGeus-Morris, who had worked with Farris, said the accident "is just a tragic, tragic thing."


----------



## Meursault (Oct 5, 2009)

Former employee attempts to sneak back into station, gets squished.
We don't know why she left, but I think "visiting civilian" is a stretch.


----------



## JCampbell (Oct 5, 2009)

I wonder if the call the first responders left on was called in by her?


----------



## WolfmanHarris (Oct 6, 2009)

I used to hate that our bay doors weren't on a timer here. Then I started to think about security and whether I'd want to leave the base with my all my stuff open like that after leaving L&S (a nice beacon for people to know, hey we just left and won't be back for a bit). This story and the one with the pt they ran over just confirms for me that having one medic open the door and then have to move outside the bay and wait until the truck clears to punch the code to close it makes a heck of a lot of sense.


----------



## Seaglass (Oct 6, 2009)

MrConspiracy said:


> Former employee attempts to sneak back into station, gets squished.
> We don't know why she left, but I think "visiting civilian" is a stretch.



Agreed. Your username is perfect for this topic.


----------



## nomofica (Oct 6, 2009)

Seaglass said:


> Agreed. Your username is perfect for this topic.



i lol'd


----------



## Jon (Oct 6, 2009)

WolfmanHarris said:


> I used to hate that our bay doors weren't on a timer here. Then I started to think about security and whether I'd want to leave the base with my all my stuff open like that after leaving L&S (a nice beacon for people to know, hey we just left and won't be back for a bit). This story and the one with the pt they ran over just confirms for me that having one medic open the door and then have to move outside the bay and wait until the truck clears to punch the code to close it makes a heck of a lot of sense.


around here, we have remote controls. And we usually leave the bays open in nice weather during the day, as we are in an office right off of the apparatus floor.

We have timers that are enabled at night, so that if we forget to put the door down, it will go down in a couple of minutes.

Every door has an electric eye, as well as a sensor strip on the bottom of the door to sense an obstruction.


Still... I think Conspiricy is right - a visiting civilian would knock on the door... not skulk in the parking lot until the crew left, and try to sneak under a closing door.


----------



## JCampbell (Oct 7, 2009)

*I made a good guess*

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hMLws5P18rl_dNmyK2jeJQGzgTIgD9B5T5I81

Woman killed by garage door made fake 9-1-1 call

(AP) – 15 hours ago

BOISE, Idaho — An Idaho woman who died after being pinned under a garage door at the paramedic building where she used to work first lured emergency workers away with a fake 9-1-1 call.

KTVB-TV reports that 35-year-old Melissa Farris of Caldwell told dispatchers late last Thursday that a car had driven off a road. As an ambulance left the Canyon County paramedic building to respond, she attempted to slip under the garage door — and was trapped beneath it.

Farris, a former Canyon County paramedic, died after being transported to a local hospital. Her car was found parked near the paramedic building.

Authorities have released no information on Farris' possible motive for trying to sneak into the station.

Her reasons for leaving the agency in December after seven years on the job also have not been made public. Canyon County says it's a personnel matter.


----------



## firecoins (Oct 7, 2009)

very odd


----------



## daedalus (Oct 7, 2009)

*former employee, maybe,*

Unless she was a drug seeker or was looking to stock up on needles and supplies.


----------



## Cory (Oct 7, 2009)

regardless of her intentions, she was still killed in a terrible way.


----------



## PotatoMedic (Oct 7, 2009)

Not to sound unsympathetic in the way she died... but I wonder if she will get a darwin?


----------



## judoka5446 (Oct 8, 2009)

FireWA1 said:


> Not to sound unsympathetic in the way she died... but I wonder if she will get a darwin?



Runner up at the very least.


----------

