Worker critically injured in fall at Pinto Dam

PINTO DAM - A man suffered life-threatening injuries after a fall Monday morning at the Pinto Dam at the south end of Billy Clapp Lake, about 18 miles east of Ephrata.

According to the sheriff's office, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation employee was working at an active construction site at the dam and apparently slipped on icy concrete and fell about 35 feet to a concrete surface below the dam.

EMTs from Grant County Fire District 12 and American Medical Response paramedics rescued the man and brought him to Samaritan Hospital in Moses Lake. He was later flown by MedStart to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. The extent of the man's injuries have not been determined although the sheriff's office has indicated the injuries are believed to be life-threatening.

The sheriff's office is withholding the man's name until his family can be notified.

The state Department of Labor and Industries is investigating the incident.

Pinto Dam impounds Billy Clapp Lake just north of state Route 28.

-Staff report