"They are on our radar now," Lopes said in an interview. "They've been going without a workers' comp policy, telling us they've got no employees."
The license board learned about Reagan's employment at Czirban from KQED, which asked questions about the company's history after learning Cal/OSHA had launched its probe.
It's Cal/OSHA's first investigation into an incident related to Czirban, but not the license board's first probe. The company has gotten into trouble repeatedly over how much workers' comp it offers its workers and its payments to its employees and suppliers.
In July 2012, CSLB investigators found that a crew employed by the company was not covered by workers' compensation insurance. Czirban was then cited and fined $3,500.
The company did not pay that fine right away, so its contractors license was suspended. The firm agreed to a payment plan with the agency to pay the fine -- but it failed to make a payment and its license was suspended again.
The company's license was then suspended several other times because its subcontractors and material suppliers were not paid, Lopes said.
"The fact is whenever they've gotten into a situation where they've had to pay some sort of fines or pay back a bond, they've really dragged their feet and it's forced the contractors board to suspend their license and turn up the heat on them."
The current investigation could lead the agency to pull Czirban's license again.
If the company had no workers' compensation insurance, it could be harder for Reagan's relatives to collect money because of his death.
Czirban Concrete is one of a number of companies Cal Fire has contracted with on the Soberanes Fire -- a practice the agency employs on large fires.
"We have many companies that we contract with throughout the state and they can be utilized in any area," Cal Fire spokeswoman Lynne Tolmachoff said. "The only time they are hired is for emergency incidents. We do not use these contracts for day-to-day projects."
In an email, Cal Fire confirmed its Madera-Mariposa-Merced unit has a "call when needed" vendor contract with Czirban, and that the vendor has responded to 10 fires in the last 10 years, nine of those times with a bulldozer.
Cal Fire also emphasized that it requires vendors to have workers' compensation insurance, and that vendors must sign an agreement to that effect under penalty of perjury.
Cal Fire's Serious Accident Investigation Team is looking into the circumstances surrounding Reagan's death, but few details have been released about it.
Cal Fire says he died sometime between last Tuesday night and the following Wednesday morning.
Reagan was not in the middle of a firefight at the time, according to U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Paula Martinez.
"He was just coming on shift so it wasn't like he was actively engaged in fire suppression at the time of the accident," Martinez said, adding that the incident took place in the Palo Colorado Canyon area.
Editor's Note: In a previous version of this story, we said the construction company's license was "revoked several other times." We should have instead used the word "suspended." We regret the error.
