California IN BRIEF : KINGS CANYON NATIONAL PARK : Employee Killed in Fall From Tree

A National Park Service employee died after falling from a large tree in the Sentinel Campground. Truman James, 50, fell as he was preparing to rappel an estimated 150 to 175 feet to the ground after removing dead branches from a tree, park spokesman Bill Tweed said. “That should have been an impossible accident. There should have been safety lines in place. We do not yet know what went wrong,” Tweed said. The park service and the Occupational Health and Safety Administration were investigating. James, of Lemon Cove, was a 28-year employee of the park service.