1:53 p.m. PDT August 12, 2021
Four firefighters assigned to the Skyline Ridge Complex of fires in Oregon were transported by ambulance Wednesday morning August 11 after their vehicle rolled over.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office reported that a crew vehicle transporting fire personnel from their night shift assignment on the Skyline Ridge Complex east of Canyonville struck approximately 60 to 70 feet of guardrail before driving up a hillside and rolling over. The crash resulted in non-life threatening injuries to four firefighters who were transported by ambulance to Mercy Medical Center in Roseburg, Oregon where they were treated and later released.
The call came in to 9-1-1 at approximately 9:53 a.m. of a single vehicle rollover crash in the 15000-block of Tiller Trail Highway roughly 10 miles east of Canyonville and Interstate 5.
The injured personnel are part of a 20-person crew assigned to the fire. Additional crew members traveling in two other vehicles were not involved in the accident.
Deputies determined the driver, a 38-year-old wildland firefighter from Salem, Oregon fell asleep at the wheel while returning to fire camp after working the night shift on the fire. Alcohol and speed were not contributing factors in the crash and no citations or arrests were made.
The Skyline Ridge Complex is a group of fires started from lightning on August 1, 2021 about south-southeast of Roseburg, Oregon. Combined, the fires have burned 3,546 acres.
These firefighters were very lucky. From 1990 through 2014, 22 percent of the wildland firefighter fatalities were the result of vehicle accidents.
Articles on Wildfire Today tagged “sleep”.
Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Kelly.
Permitting FF’s to drive after extended hours of work is foolish. If they are off the clock and in their personal vehicle, so it goes. A company vehicle, hence still on the clock? A recipe for FUBAR. Thank goodness for the guard rail!!
OK. From the late 60’s. Extended hours on the line? Snooze when you can if you are in patrol mode or the fire has gone to bed. Someone is always on the lookout. With active fire, direct or indirect, you just keep on moving. If nothing else the adrenaline kicks in for hours on end. It’s zombieland on the line until things pop. Then you jump-start into concentrated action/effort. Off the line, you snuggle into a safe place be it fire camp or in a safety zone. It is absurd to imagine that anyone “driving home”, so to speak, after an extended period on the line will always make it there safely. You long distance/endless hours/all-night drivers (non-fire) getting from a visit with your girlfriend 1000 miles away back to your 8AM workplace know the sensation of drifting over the fog line or towards the side of a semi you’re passing as though it’s a magnet. LR
I’m glad all are ok. Night shift is very difficult but a bigger problem is the flawed math of the 2:1 work/rest ratio. Back in the day, through the 90’s we worked 12 on and 12 off which gave you time for meals and a shower and actually getting 8 hours sleep or a little more if needed. Now working 16+ hours every day we are getting 4 to maybe 6 hours sleep a day and no one seems to see the problem. No one on the fire and especially the people on the line and people operating engines, tenders, dozers etc. should be working that many hours a day. FMCSA doesn’t allow over the road drivers to work that many hours a day and they are on blacktop. We need to go back to the math that actually makes sense. You can’t split day shift and night shift evenly with 16+ hour shifts. This is first grade math!
The longer any fire burns, the more injuries, vehicle accidents, workers COMP etc. goes up people, wake up all you sheep !
It’s not just the Forest burning up, it’s private property, peoples lives, everything.
The best attack is a strong, heavy initial attack, followed up with good forest management, timber harvesting and controlled burns.
Yes, the climate has changed, so should policies and tactics !
Sure. Ok.
This could have been me. Seriously. While assigned to night shift on the Dixie Fire, resources who are only supposed to claim 16 hour work days, in order to maintain the 2:1 work:rest ratio, are often on the line 18-2o hours awaiting day shift to transition. And then you are told you’ll have a chance to mitigate out on the line the following shift…sure sometimes. This is not sustainable.
Thank God the injuries are minor. I’ve been on some incidents that had fatalities and you never get over it.
Praying for their quick recovery.
Night shift is so tough on the body (mine even moreso than many others I know). Glad these folks survived.
there are only so many hours you can be expected to push yourself beyond the already heroic limits. I am surprised this does not happen more often.