It is not that unusual for a hand crew to have to abandon their assignment and move to a safety zone when unexpected fire behavior begins to compromise their safety. But it IS unusual for crewmembers to be in a situation in which they have to remove their packs in order to lighten their loads so they can hike uphill more quickly to safety.
Below is the text from a Prescott National Forest news release about an incident that occurred on the Gladiator Fire in Arizona. Thankfully, no one was injured.
=============================================================
Gladiator Fire Near Miss Statement
May 20, 2012 @ 3:15 pm
This morning at approximately 2 a.m. the Rincon Fire Crew was forced to move to a safe area due to threatening fire behavior. The crew, a Type 2 Initial Attack Handcrew, is from Kernville, CA, off the Sequoia National Forest.
The incident location was near the Division C/D break, north of the community of Crown King, on the Prescott National Forest. At the time, the crew was building handline downhill and burning out the line as it was constructed. The wind shifted and the fire began to flank the crew.
Observing that their position could soon be compromised, the crew exhibited good situational awareness and began moving uphill along their handline to a safe area. During this crew movement, the three crew members furthest downhill kept their tools and fire shelters but dropped their packs to hasten their ascent up the handline.
None of the crew members sustained injuries.
Notifications were made to the Incident Commander and Agency Administrators. The crew conducted an After Action Review and the incident is currently being reviewed.
A Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) team has been requested.
