The day after Trampus Haskvitz was entrapped and killed on the Coal Canyon fire on the Black Hills National Forest in southwest South Dakota, another entrapment was avoided on the same fire. Here is an excerpt from the summary of a Facilitated Learning Analysis (FLA) that was recently released:

The afternoon of August 12 during burnout operations on Division Zulu, firefighters experienced a sudden increase in fire behavior and were forced to implement entrapment avoidance procedures that resulted in no injuries to personnel. During the event a crew vehicle caught on fire and sustained significant damage to the rear of the vehicle. The leaders involved made good decisions that resulted in a good outcome for their crews.

The positives about this FLA:

• This FLA was done. The Black Hills National Forest deserves credit for initiating it and for releasing it quickly. Lessons can and will be learned.
• It is extremely well written. The person(s) that wrote and/or edited it is very skilled. I hope they are used to write future FLA’s. The images and maps are very useful.

The parts that have me scratching my head:

• Early in the firing operation, at 1300, the Crew Boss described the fire behavior as nothing out of the ordinary. Then the Crew Boss used a flare pistol to develop interior heat, and noticed that “the grass is igniting from the flare sparks and spreading readily before the flare hits the ground”. The Crew Boss ceased use of the flare pistol.
• The fire behavior leading up to the incident was not what the firefighters expected for the area.
• In the morning two engines were assigned as lookouts, but in the afternoon they were used as direct suppression resources. I was unable to find any other reference to lookouts being used in the afternoon, or that anyone clearly had the “big picture”. Maybe someone did. The entrapment avoidance near-entrapment occurred around 1500.
• I could find no reference to an Operations Chief, and very few mentions of a Division Supervisor.
• On the same fire the day before, several people and an engine were burned over and a firefighter was killed. Another firefighter has serious 3rd degree burns and is in a burn center.

The entire FLA is below. Click on Fullscreen for easier reading.