Costa Mesa lumber yard employee dies after pile of wood falls on top of him

An employee at a lumber yard in Costa Mesa died Friday night after a pile of wood shifted and fell on top of him, authorities said.

Firefighters with Costa Mesa Fire & Rescue responded to Ganahl Lumber in the 1100 block of Bristol Street about 9:30 p.m. for a confined space rescue, Capt. Joe Noceti said.

First arriving firefighters found the victim, identified by coroner’s officials as 28-year-old Ricardo Castorena of Santa Ana, trapped against a forklift under a heavy pile of high-stored lumber that shifted and toppled over, Noceti said.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene and firefighters worked for about three hours to pull the pile of wood off of him so the coroner could conduct an investigation, Noceti said.

The incident looked accidental in nature, Noceti said, but the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was also conducting an investigation.

Ganahl Lumber has 10 locations in Southern California, including seven in Orange County, according to its website.