Police ID worker who died in a fall at the Oak Creek Amazon facility construction site
A 24-year-old Wisconsin man died Wednesday, July 10, at the Amazon construction site in Oak Creek after falling approximately 30 to 40 feet, police said.
Police received a call at 10:09 a.m. for an industrial accident at the future Amazon site, 9700 S. 13th St.
Zachary Dassow of Kansasville, Wisconsin, was operating a four-wheel ATV on an upper floor and drove it out a window, falling more than 30 feet, according to police.
Dassow was transported to Froedtert Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The Oak Creek Police Department is investigating along with the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office and OSHA. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources also assisted in the investigation, according to Oak Creek Police.
The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office said an autopsy will be performed Thursday.
Dassow worked for Lewis Construction, a Schofield, Wisconsin-based company.
“Earlier today, a member of our team was in a tragic accident at the Amazon construction site in Oak Creek," the statement said. "We are devastated to learn that this incident has resulted in the passing of this team member.
"We have been working at this site for months and have numerous safety procedures in place for the construction of this facility. The safety of our workers is paramount to our operation and we are proactively working with investigators to better understand how this accident occurred."
Building toward 2020
The fulfillment center is under construction in the Ryan Business Park in Oak Creek and is scheduled to open in early 2020.
The facility, expected to employ 1,500 people, will be 2.6 million square feet on 75 acres adjacent to the I-94/Highway 100 (Ryan Road) interchange.
The center will be about 20 miles north of the Amazon fulfillment center in Kenosha, which opened in 2015. The Kenosha center, 3501 120th Ave. off I-94, is 1.5 million square feet on 165 acres.
Amazon, headquartered in Seattle, is the largest online retailer in the U.S., according to eMarketer.
Contact Christopher Kuhagen at (262) 446-6634 or christopher.kuhagen@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ckuhagen and our newsroom Instagram accounts at MyCommunityNow and Lake Country Now.
