Abstract: Employee #1 was operating a Caterpillar 621E water wagon down a 12 1/2 percent grade. The machine was fully loaded with 8,000 gallons of water at the start of the trip. At some unknown point the machine lost braking power due to overheating of the brake shoes and brake drums. There were no direct eyewitnesses, but evidence indicates that Employee #1 suddenly was confronted with the possibility of rear-ending a lowboy tractor trailer, which was traveling down the grade in front of the 621E. The 621E was not equipped with a secondary or emergency braking system nor was it equipped with an engine retarding system. Evidence indicates that Employee #1 steered the machine to the right and then jumped off the machine. The right front wheel struck a low embankment and redirected the machine back to the left and across the forward path of Employee #1, who was being carried alongside the machine by his own forward momentum. He was struck by the left rear tire of the machine and suffered multiple injuries, including massive skull fractures with spilling of the cerebral cortex, multiple spinal and skeletal fractures, and multiple internal injuries. Employee #1 died of his injuries.