Staff Writer
A Pagosa Springs man died in a fall after a scaffolding collapsed in the Pagosa Lakes Ranch subdivision Monday afternoon.
Kenneth Wilson, 52, died after suffering a head injury.
Wilson and coworker Dan Haag, self-employed contractors, were working to stain a house on Caprichio Circle Monday afternoon when, shortly after 3:30, the scaffolding Wilson was working on collapsed, said Det. Scott Maxwell with the Pagosa Springs Police Department and Archuleta County Coroner Carl Macht.
Wilson was alone at the time of the fall, but Haag immediately ran around the house after hearing the scaffold fall, Macht and Maxwell said.
The owner of the house, whom Macht noted was an emergency room nurse, also ran to the site, with the homeowner tending to Wilson while Haag called 911 at 3:42 p.m.
Wilson died at the scene, with Macht tentatively ruling the cause of death to be a head injury, though an autopsy was performed Wednesday to determine if any other factors contributed.
“It’s just the right thing to do,” Macht said of the autopsy.
The exact height Wilson fell from is unknown, though Macht estimated it to be at least 10 feet above an asphalt driveway.
Both Macht and Maxwell said the fall appeared to be accidental, though the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is expected to perform an investigation this week to determine the cause of the scaffold collapse.
The PSPD investigation is continuing pending the outcome of the OSHA investigation, Maxwell said.
randi@pagosasun.com
