On Thursday, November 30th, 2023 Polk County Sheriff’s Office Deputies and Polk County Fire Rescue responded to Westlake Royal Roofing Solutions located at 200 Story Road in Lake Wales regarding a forklift accident. Upon arrival, Polk County Fire Rescue was directed by employees to an unresponsive male patient later identified as Christian Torres. Mr. Torres was an employee of the business who was discovered unresponsive pinned between a stack of roofing pallets and a forklift. As a result, Mr. Torres was transported to Advent Health in Lake Wales by PCFR where he was pronounced deceased at 1417 hours.
Torres been employed by Westlake Royal Roofing Solutions for five years and is a certified forklift operator.
He was observed at approximately 1145 hours going to lunch and later observed after his lunch break operating his forklift in his assigned area.
A coworker later saw Torres’ hardhat on the ground and as he approached the area he realized Torres was pinned between the forklift and a stack of pallets. The coworker then immediately called for help with his business radio. CPR commenced until first responders arrived on scene and assumed life saving measures.
Torres was transported to the District 10 Medical Examiner’s Office where an autopsy will occur at a later date. OSHA was notified of this industrial accident and initiated an independent investigation into the incident.
