State workplace regulators have penalized the firm that hired the man killed while helping to fight the Nuns Fire in Napa County last month for failing to provide workers' compensation insurance.
Garrett Paiz, 38, died Oct. 16 when his water tanker overturned on Oakville Grade on the west side of the Napa Valley.
Paiz was the only firefighter to die in the series of blazes that killed 42 others and destroyed 8,900 structure in four counties.
Cal Fire requires contractors that supply bulldozers and water tenders, as well as people to operate them, to provide workers' compensation coverage.
The company that employed Paiz, Red Bluff-based Tehama Transport, registered with the agency as an owner/operator, according to state fire officials. Under that classification, the firm was saying that Paiz had ownership in the firm or was a relative of someone who did.