On Wednesday an inmate that was training with CAL FIRE died. Our condolences go out to the family, friends, and coworkers.

Here is an excerpt from a news release by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation:

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2012

Inmate Firefighter Dies of Presumed Natural Causes

SAN LUIS OBISPO – A California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) inmate firefighter assigned to Cuesta Fire Camp at the California Men’s Colony died of presumed natural causes Wednesday afternoon during a training exercise with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention (CAL FIRE).

The inmate, Crisanto Leo Lionell, 54, was participating in a training exercise at the California National Guard’s Camp San Luis when he lost consciousness. Emergency personnel transported him to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead at approximately 4:45 p.m.

Lionell was received by CDCR on February 10, 2010, to serve an 11-year sentence for transportation and possession for sale of controlled substances in Tulare County.

CDCR and CAL FIRE will conduct a review of the incident.

CDCR currently operates 44 adult and two Division of Juvenile Justice Conservation Camps in California. CDCR jointly manages 39 adult and juvenile camps with CAL FIRE and five adult camps with the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Nearly 4,000 offenders participate in the Conservation Camp Program (CCP), which has approximately 200 fire crews.

Since 1946, the CCP has provided the State’s cooperative agencies with an able-bodied, trained workforce for fire suppression and other emergencies, such as floods and earthquakes.

UPDATE January 6, 2012:

The body of the seventh firefighter killed while trying to contain a blaze on the property of the Mininco Forestry company was recovered early Friday.

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Six firefighters working on a wildfire in Chile were killed on Thursday when they were entrapped and overrun by flames. Local governor Miguel Mellado was quoted as saying, “the fire suddenly surrounded them because of the wind, they drew closer together, one against another, and saw the fire pass above them”.

During the incident, the group of ten firefighters working for a forestry company were entrapped while they were suppressing the wildfire in a forest near Carahue in Araucania. Six of them were killed, two were badly burned and evacuated by helicopter, one escaped, and one is listed as missing.

Authorities suspect that since multiple fires started almost simultaneously in the regions of Biobio, Maule and Araucania, that the fires were ignited by arsonists.

Our sincere condolences to the family, friends, and coworkers of these firefighters.

Caleb Hamm

The Serious Accident Investigation Factual Report has been released for the July 7, 2011 fatality on the CR 337 fire in Texas. Caleb Hamm, a crewmember on the Bonneville Interagency Hotshot Crew, collapsed and died from hyperthemia, which is uncontrolled heating of the body’s core temperature. Hamm went into full cardiac arrest 31 minutes after he collapsed and arrived at the hospital 37 minutes after the full arrest.

Here are the findings from the report:

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FINDINGS

Findings are the conclusion of the investigation team based on the facts, weight of evidence, professional knowledge, and judgment. Findings are grouped by category: human, material, and environmental.

Finding 01: Environmental Factor

While working on the fire incident, Hamm lost consciousness and subsequently died. Signs and symptoms indicative of severe heat illness were not observed by co-workers or verbally communicated by Hamm. Autopsy report states the cause of death as hyperthermia.

Findings below did not directly impact the cause or outcome of this accident; however, they are significant enough to potentially result in improvements in the specified program areas.

Finding 02: Human Factor

Hamm was not severely dehydrated and his electrolytes were within the normal range.

Finding 03: Human Factor

The designated Division A “point of contact” (POC) did not have direct communication with accident scene personnel.

Finding 04: Human Factor

Cell phones were used to coordinate medical response per Incident Action Plan, resulting in others not being able to monitor critical communications.

Finding 05: Human Factor

The Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates for key locations were not identified in the Incident Medical Plan (ICS-206) on the Incident Action Plan (IAP) for the CR 337 fire.

Finding 06: Human Factor

The IAPs for the CR 337 fire for July 6 through July 8, 2011, and IAP Safety Analysis (ICS-215A) did not contain specific reference to extreme temperatures or hydration nor was it included in the IAP Safety Message.

Finding 07: Material Factor

Bonneville IHC was well prepared for a medical emergency with EMTs, backboard, trauma kit, and oxygen.

 
Thanks go out to Dick

Spain Review.net is reporting that a firefighter was entrapped on a wildland fire and killed on October 19:

A firefighter lost his life today while working to put out one of the many forest fires still raging in the north of Spain. The dead man was a member of the Castilla y León fire brigade and died after being surrounded by flames in a blaze in Molinaferrera (León).

Sixteen fires are still active in the province of Ourense, two of them razing huge areas – up to 1,800 hectares in Manzaneda and 1,000 in Lobios – as temperatures drop slightly, but still remain high for this time of year.

Our sincere condolences go out to the firefighter’s family and co-workers.