(NVR) - A Napa winery employee was pronounced dead on the scene by paramedics after a stack of metal wine barrel racks fell on him, according to the Napa County Sheriff’s Office.

Jose Alberto Avina, 43, of Napa was working last Wednesday with two others to unload the metal racks from a truck at Joel Gott Wines on Hoffman Lane south of Yountville, Capt. Keith Behlmer said.

The racks, which weigh 85 pounds each, were stacked high, so Avina and another man served as guides as they were backed out of the truck by a third person using a forklift, Behlmer said.

When the racks began to tip, the other workers jumped out of the way, but Avina tripped and fell, so the racks to fall on him, Behlmer said.

Avina was pronounced dead on the scene at Joel Gott Wines at 11 a.m., Behlmer said.

Although the Sheriff’s Office wasn’t sure exactly how many racks fell on Avina, the stack was about 12 feet high, Behlmer said. There were 17 racks in the truck, weighing 1,445 pounds.