Details emerge about Fremont Canyon fatality
CASPER (WNE) — Details have begun to emerge in the death last week of Eric Blevins, 65, of Pueblo, Colorado, who lost his life while operating an excavator during an engineering job at the Fremont Canyon Power Plant near Alcova.
Blevins was working to replace a series of five rockfall mitigation nets slung along the canyon walls above the Fremont Canyon Power Plant.
The 30-foot-deep, 50-foot-wide nets hang from cemented bolts at staggered elevations and are meant to prevent rockfall damage to plant infrastructure. After more than 60 years in service, they were due for replacement, but not a single net had yet been replaced when the Natrona County Sheriff’s Department received an emergency call about an excavator accident in the canyon.
A Natrona County Fire District squadron arrived around 10:30 a.m. and rapidly drew up a “low angle, rope rescue” plan, according to Leighton Burgen, fire engineer and information officer with the fire district.
“They were able to climb up to the individual using a manlift and some climbing gear. The individual was pronounced deceased on the scene,” Burgen told the Star-Tribune.
The incident is currently under investigation by the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which could not be reached for comment.
In 2023, the Reclamation Bureau solicited proposals to replace the nets, and of two submissions it selected engineering firm Geovert, who then subcontracted Eric Bevins as the lead.
Eric Blevins leaves behind a wife, three children and six grandchildren.
This story was published on June 28, 2024.
