Officials from the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have not completed their investigation of a fatal cannon accident that occurred Aug. 8 in Oregon.
Christopher Kroker, 16, of Aumsville, died Aug. 12 of head injuries received when a cannon he was firing at Boy Scout Camp Meriwether near Tillamook blew apart and he was hit in the head by metal.
OSHA spokesman Steven J. Corson said the agency’s policy is to keep details of investigations confidential until the investigation is complete and the employer is notified. By law, investigations have to be completed within six months but he said they could take longer if laboratory testing is required.
Cascade Pacific Council, Boy Scouts of America, spokesman Don Cornell said the incident was the first in the 77-year history of the camp, which serves more than 3,000 youths each summer. Kroker was a camp counselor performing the ritual flag ceremony firing at the close of day.
Cornell told reporter Patrick O’Neill of The Oregonian newspaper in Portland that the cannon was fired during the evening salute for the past four years. The type of cannon or its maker has not been disclosed. O’Neill reported the gun as being about 2.5 feet long with a bore of 1.25 to 1.5 inches.
The gun did not fire during the ceremony. Afterwards Kroker tried to reignite it. The newspaper was told that an adult supervisor was there and that proper loading and firing procedures were being followed.
Local police were investigating a report that, in addition to rag-type wadding, a potato may have been inserted into the bore as a projectile. (A potato and rag combination could constitute a sufficient barrel obstruction to result in a spike of unexpectedly high pressure leading to the energetic disassembly.)
Kroker was in his second year on the summer staff and had been trained in firing muzzle-loading weapons. The camp has a frontier theme and its programs include blackpowder rifle classes, which continue. Camp Meriwether and another scout camp will no longer fire cannon.
The teen was going into his junior year at Cascade High School where he participated in varsity football, wrestling and track. He was a member of the National Honor Society,, was a blacksmith and member of 4H. He was a scout since 1993 and his father is a scoutmaster.