Authorities on Wednesday identified the hardwood company worker whose jacket snagged on a storage building's automatic door as it rose, plucking the man from the ground and lifting him to his death.

Michael R. Larson, of Fosston, Minn., was killed Tuesday morning at Bagley Hardwood Products in the Clearwater County community about 25 miles west of Bemidji, according to police.

Larson was standing next to a door measuring roughly 40 feet wide and 20 feet high when it started going up, snagging the longtime employee's jacket and lifting him about halfway up before the door stopped.

Larson was declared dead at the scene, two days before his 42nd birthday.

Minnesota OSHA, the workplace safety agency, is assisting police in trying to determine how the fatality occurred.

In 2012, during its most recent routine inspection by OSHA, Bagley Hardwood Products was fined $1,025 for violations involving elevated railing and storage of flammables. Four years earlier, it was fined $280 for noise violations.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482