Drilling accident claims life of Mountain Home man

A Mountain Home man working for Hiddleston Drilling was killed in a construction accident in Idaho City last Wednesday.

Dan A. Czerwinski, 24, was riding on the rail cap of a drill rig that was drilling wells in a subdivision near Idaho City, greasing the rails, when the accident occurred.

As the operator of the drill rig, his best friend and roommate, Timoth G. Harrison, 34, began to lower him to the ground from the 50-foot-high derrick, Harrison noticed a kink in some hydraulic lines, Boise County Sheriff's Department Chief Deputy Bill Braddock said.

Harrison ran the drill cap back up to the top of the rig to unkink the lines, "but he went to far," Braddock said, and Czerwinski was crushed at the top of the rig.

Harrison immediately began CPR on his friend, and continued doing so until ambulances arrived, but Braddock said Czerwinski had suffered massive trauma and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Braddock said Harrison was extremely distraught over the loss of his best friend.

Braddock said the Boise County Sheriff's Department considered it to be an accident and was not recommending any charges in the incident, but as a matter of normal procedure the case has been submitted to the Boise County prosecutor's office for review.

Hiddleston Drilling did not respond to a request for comment by the Mountain home News, but the entire company was reported to be in mourning over the loss.

Donations to assist the family with funeral expenses can be sent to the Dan Czerwinski Memorial fund at Relyea Funeral Chapel in Boise, c/o Amy Cook.