Wildfire Today

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Wildfire Today

Tag: accident

Five USFS firefighters injured in engine rollover

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , ,
USFS engine rollover accident California Clovis
Five firefighters were injured, one seriously, when this engine collided with another vehicle near Clovis, California. Photo by California Highway Patrol.

Five U.S. Forest Service firefighters were injured when their Stanislaus National Forest fire engine collided with a small SUV at 7:30 a.m. Sunday, July 12 near Clovis, California (map).

According to the U.S. Forest Service, one of the firefighters had major injuries, another had moderate injuries, and the other three firefighters sustained minor injuries.

The driver of the SUV had minor injuries as well.

The firefighters were providing additional fire suppression coverage for the Sierra National Forest and were traveling from their hotel to the High Sierra Ranger District in Prather, California. There are no major wildfires on the Sierra National Forest at this time.

MyMotherload.com had some information about the cause of the crash:

Update on July 12 at 6am: The CHP reports that 53-year-old Maria Constable of Fresno was attempting to pass the fire engine in her Kia SUV, but collided with the side door. Both vehicles had been traveling east on Highway 168. The sideswipe caused the fire truck to drive off the road and overturn four times before ending up on its side. Constable’s SUV rolled over twice and landed on its rooftop. The crash is under investigation.

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Barbara.

Wednesday morning one-liners

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Engine rollover, Warm Springs, Oregon
Engine rollover, Warm Springs, Oregon, July 18, 2014.

*The Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center has published a report on a BIA engine that rolled over near Warm Springs, Oregon, July 18, 2014. Two people were injured, one seriously. The LLC says more than 50 fire vehicles have rolled over in the last 10 years.

*A Colorado artist has created a work consisting of rectilinear pillars suspended from the ceiling, each measuring nine feet tall, meant to convey the idea of a wildfire.

*A man spotted running from the 50-acre Foothill Fire in Ventura, California was arrested on suspicion of setting the blaze.

*Fire officials in Washington state suspect an arsonist is responsible for igniting 23 fires in less than two weeks. Most of them have been vegetation fires.

*A firefighting vehicle in Australia has been outfitted with drop-down steel wheels so that it can follow a steam-powered train, putting out wildfires started by the steam engine.

*In other news from Australia, a Senator gave a speech, titled, Thank you For Smoking, praising nicotine fiends for their $8 billion a year contribution to the economy. He said he did the math: Last year smokers cost the health care system $320 million and another $150 million in bushfire control.

*Researchers have found that “recent (2001–2010) beetle outbreak severity was unrelated to most field measures of subsequent fire severity, which was instead driven primarily by extreme burning conditions (weather) and topography.” Unfortunately, to read the article, researched and published by government employees, it will cost you $10 for two days of access. If the researchers, Brian J. Harvey, Daniel C. Donato, and Monica G. Turner, are going to hide the results of their taxpayer-funded research behind a pay wall, what’s the point in hiring researchers? Support Open Access.

*Firefighters are on alert in the Philippines for wildfires that may start from an eruption of the Mayon volcano.

*Firefighters are on lessened alert in the Black Hills after the area received two to five inches of rain over the last few days.

*California has burned through its wildfire-fighting budget — $209 million — just as it faces what is historically the worst of the fire season.

Hotshot seriously injured on Freezeout Ridge Fire

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , , ,
Freezeout Ridge Fire
Freezeout Ridge Fire, September 15, 2014. InciWeb photo.

KTVZ is reporting that a 51-year old member of the Winema Interagency Hotshot Crew was seriously injured by a falling snag while working on the 3,558-acre Freezeout Ridge Fire in the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area in western Idaho.

Below is an excerpt from the article:

…Richard (Wally) Ochoa Jr., 51, a member of the Winema Interagency Hotshot Crew, suffered a fractured skull, two broken arms, a broken jaw, a broken thumb and numerous cuts when he was struck by a snag while brushing fire line on the Freezeout Ridge Fire.

Fortunately, “no significant spine injury occurred,” the Monday evening announcement stated.

Winema IHC crew members and other nearby fire personnel began immediate first aid while others worked to clear an area for a helicopter to take Ochoa to a hospital in Boise. Officials said he was in stable condition in the intensive care unit late Monday, with family and several crew members on hand.

John Kidd, incident commander for the Freezeout Ridge Fire, credited those on scene for their swift actions and reliance on emergency response training and medical evacuation protocols.

“I, along with the members of my staff, am grateful for those who assisted Mr. Ochoa by providing timely and appropriate care,” Kidd said.”The coordination and professional actions of our firefighters, both on the ground and flying overhead, very likely reduced the potential magnitude of his injuries.”

Thanks and a hat tip go out to Steve.

Three accident reports: two heavy equipment rollovers and a bucking incident

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , ,

Rollovers

The Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center has posted three Rapid Lesson Sharing reports. The photos above are from two rollovers of heavy equipment, a forwarder and a hydro ax. Click on the image to see a larger version.

The photo below is from a report on a serious bucking accident in which two people were injured. Both were transported to a hospital, one in an ambulance and the other in a helicopter.

Bucking accidentAs Sgt. Phil Esterhaus said, “Let’s be careful out there.”

 

A firefighter life-flighted to hospital after engine rollover in Oregon

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags ,

A firefighter was transported by ambulance and then by a life flight helicopter to a hospital after an engine rollover in Oregon on July 18, 2014. According to the preliminary “24-Hour Report”, the Warm Springs Tribal engine with two on board was en route to the 73 Fire on an initial attack response. The other firefighter was transported to a hospital and released after an evaluation.

The “24-Hour Report” was posted on the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center almost 200 hours after the accident.

The entire one-page report: Warm Springs Engine MVA 24-Hour Report

UPDATE: A more complete version of the report was released around October 1, 2014.