Sandra JoAnn Bachman
Agency patch
Assistant to the Deputy Warden

Sandra JoAnn Bachman

Accident
End of Watch June 26, 1990
Age 43
Tour of Duty 7 yrs
The Vigil Panel 136 ›
Gender Female

Incident

Assistant to the Deputy Warden Sandra Bachman was killed in a wildfire while overseeing prisoners who were detailed as a firefighting crew.

The crew had been deployed to a large wildfire in the Tonto National Forest near Payson, Arizona. They were overtaken by the a fire storm and suffered severe smoke inhalation. Assistant Bachman and five inmates died as a result. Several other inmates and firefighters suffered severe injuries.

Assistant Bachman had served with the Arizona Department of Corrections for seven years and was assigned to the San Pedro Unit at Perryville.

Survivors

She was survived by her mother, sister, and grandmother.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-AZ-3A73BC07
Stewardship
Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw
April 2, 2026
Last updated
July 23, 2026

Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.

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Tributes

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Assistant to the Deputy Warden Bachman gave the Arizona Department of Corrections 7 years.
Thank you for your service to the people of Arizona. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Assistant to the Deputy Warden Bachman.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Location Phoenix, AZ
Platform Identity adcorr.maricopa.az.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch June 26, 1990
Tour of Duty 7 yrs
Age 43
Gender Female

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Assistant to the Deputy Warden Sandra JoAnn Bachman is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In AZ, 95 of 330 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 28.8% of this state's fallen. That is 2.2 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.

At Arizona Department of Corrections, 3 of 10 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 30% of this agency's fallen.

Arizona Department of Corrections
3
of 10 officers
30% Accident
AZ — Statewide
95
of 330 officers
28.8% Accident
Nationwide
10,088
of 32,508 officers
31% Accident

National Cause Distribution

How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Sandra JoAnn Bachman's cause is highlighted.

Felonious
17,623 (54.2%)
Accident
10,088 (31%)
Illness
2,974 (9.1%)
Cardiac
1,306 (4%)
Undetermined
260 (0.8%)
Suicide
256 (0.8%)
vehicular
1 (0%)

How Sandra JoAnn Bachman Compares

Age at End of Watch
43
This officer
Avg for Accident: 38.1 years
Years of Service
7
This officer
Avg for Accident: 9.1 years

When Accident Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Sandra JoAnn Bachman is highlighted in Jun.

Jan
820
Feb
730
Mar
748
Apr
707
May
847
Jun
795
Jul
897
Aug
937
Sep
913
Oct
925
Nov
872
Dec
897

Incident Location