Thankfully the three firefighters that were burned over in an engine while protecting a structure on the Cowiche Mill fire west of Yakima, Washington on July 18 are OK, suffering only minor injuries while escaping from their Type 1 structural engine as it began to burn. Here is an excerpt from an article at SeattlePI, describing the incident as seen through the eyes of a second-year volunteer firefighter:
This camera phone photo of the remains of the burned-over engine was distributed by Brian Schaeffer.
From his rear seat on Engine 31, Michael Rhine watched the fire, seemingly at a safe distance. But as the engineer swung the truck around to face the one way out, a big stand of sagebrush blew up into a 40-foot wall of flame. Amid zero visibility and intense heat, Engine 31 was engulfed, crashing through a dirt barrier and a barbed-wire fence before faltering to a stop.
“They’re off the road,” someone yelled on the radio. “Probably need a mayday.”
The two firefighters in front bailed out the driver’s door, but Rhine couldn’t budge the back door. It was so hot his hand blistered as he tried to push it open.
The others yelled at him to go out the front, but he couldn’t hear over the roar of the fire. He dove over the seat, out the door and to the ground, and they began to flee. As the three sprinted across a field in search of safety, Rhine felt the fire burning his ears. He kept running.
The three firefighters on board suffered minor injuries. But their narrow escape illustrates the dangers of fighting wildfire in the arid West, where tinder-dry land and blustery winds can almost instantly turn a routine blaze into a killer.
We have a copy of the summary report, or “Green Sheet”, of the burnovers that occurred on the Jesusita fire on May 6 near Santa Barbara, California. The report is on our Documents page.
It is an amazing read, providing details and maps of the serious accident in which three firefighers were seriously burned, and five other “near miss” incidents.
Here is the Summary from the report:
On the afternoon of Wednesday, May 6, 2009, several engine companies assigned to structure protection on the Jesusita Fire, North of the City of Santa Barbara, experienced extreme fire behavior related to the surfacing of strong down slope (sundowner) winds typical of the area. This sudden increase in fire behavior resulted in the burn over of a Ventura County engine company, causing burns and smoke inhalation to the engine crew members, and major damage to the fire engine.
During this same fire behavior event, several other engine companies and overhead personnel were required to take refuge in structures and apparatus. This event resulted in significant damage to one Type One engine, minor damage to three Type One engines, destroyed two light duty vehicles, and minor injuries to fire personnel.
On Friday Wildfire Today covered the two burnovers on the Highway 31 fire near North Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. The Post and Courier interviewed the tractor plow operators that became entrapped and has a very interesting article told from their points of view. Here is how the article begins, but you should read the whole piece at the Post and Courier (link no longer works).
Eight hours into the state’s worst wildfire in 30 years, with visibility next to nothing and flames shooting up pine trees, Wayne Springs and Terry Cook manned bulldozers on the fire’s left flank.
The smoke was bad enough, but now it was getting dark. They were working in a muddy area around a power pole when Springs’ bulldozer got stuck. Cook came around to help pull him out, but she got stuck too.
The wind shifted. Suddenly, instead of being behind the fire, they were in its path.
[…]
Springs radioed for help, but the fire was running too fast now, faster than he or Cook ever could run. The fire was like a giant tumbleweed, throwing off embers into the distance as the mass of flames rolled toward them.
Neither Springs or Cook had seen anything like this before. Springs, 43, had been running plows for the Forest Commission for five years, and Cook, 44, had been doing it for four.
But their training kicked in, and they quickly pulled out bags containing special reflective aluminum blankets. “We’re deploying our shelters,” Springs said over the radio, the equivalent of sending a mayday.
They crouched in the bog, water up to their knees, and put the shelters over their heads as the fire roared closer. In western wildfires, some firefighters have panicked and run as the fire passed over, dying in the process.
Springs and Cook fought the urge to bolt as the 10-story-high flames neared. They heard bay bushes pop all around them, the waxy leaves fueling the fire with a substance as flammable as petroleum.
When Cook got under her shelter, she noticed the light from the fires turned the blanket orange.
Two minutes later, it was over.
Springs and Cook pulled off the blankets and watched the fire race ahead of them and out of sight. The forest smoldered around them. Cook got out her cell phone and snapped a photo of Springs with his shelter slung over his shoulder and thought she would remember that image for the rest of her life.
Justin Gibbins, battalion chief with the Horry County Fire and Rescue, heard the drama over the radio and waited. “We were holding our breaths,” he said. “When they came out, they looked very startled.”
[…]
At one point, Gibbins found himself in smoke so dense that he couldn’t see more than a few feet ahead. Less than 100 feet away, a Forestry Commission truck drove up with a bulldozer on a trailer bed. But the fire shot toward the worker as he tried to pull off the bulldozer’s chains.
“The fire came so quick, he had to run,” Gibbins said. The driver managed to save the truck, but the fire claimed the dozer.
On Wednesday, April 22 during the initial attack phase of the Highway 31 fire near North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, there were two separate incidents in which tractor-plow units were burned over.
The South Carolina Forestry Commission (SCFC) has released 24-Hour Preliminary Briefing reports on both incidents. There were no injuries or fatalities in either case. Both reports refer to extreme fire behavior with spotting occurring 400-500 yards ahead of the main fire, which was burning in bay fuels. The fire reached approximately 9,000 acres during the initial operational period.
Here are excerpts from the SCFC reports:
Incident #1:
During the initial attack, a SCFC tractor-plow operator was on his tractor in the process of unloading while parked on a road right-of-way. Before the tractor was unloaded, the fire came out of the woods adjacent to the right-of-way and the operator left his unit and ran to a nearby safety zone. The operator was not injured, but the fire burned over the firefighting unit (tractor and transport) and was significantly damaged.
Incident #2:
During night operations, 5 SCFC tractor-plow units were constructing firebreaks in a power line right-of-way. Two units reached a wet area ahead of the remaining tractors and became stuck. The fire rapidly approached the right-of-way, and both tractor operators exited their units. The tractor-plow operators located a wet area within the firebreak and deployed their fire shelters in close proximity to their tractors to deflect radiant heat from the approaching fire. They remained in the shelters for a very short time period and suffered no burns or other injuries. The fire caused no damage to the tractor-plow units.
Geeze. Be careful out there folks.
In case you are not familiar with tractor plows, here are some photos that I took on the Blackjack fire on the Okeefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia in 2002. On this particular plow, hydraulics are used to raise the tires, which in effect lowers the disks and the plow into the soil.
Tractor plow. Photo: Bill GabbertTractor plow up close. Photo: Bill Gabbert
A fire whirl, during the final run of the fire onto the burnover site. The blurry image of an air tanker coming in to assist can barely be seen.
On February 3, 2009 CalFire released the report about a burnover that occurred July 6, 2007 on the Seven Oak Fire which was part of the Inyo Complex on the Inyo National Forest in California. Nine firefighters from two engines suffered injuries and were treated at a burn center in Fresno, California.
Photo taken during the burnover
The report is very well constructed, and highlights a lot of good decisions, as well as some that contributed to the burnover.
You should read the entire document, but here are some of the report’s findings and contributory factors:
The two engines were defending a structure that had been identified as undefendable.
The burnover occurred during a transition to an Incident Management Team.
Providing medical treatment and air transportation for the injured to the Burn Center was much delayed.
Two fire fighters experienced difficulties removing their fire shelters from the PVC bag.
Fire suppression personnel resorted to their core training, which saved their lives. Per statements taken, the pond had been identified as a safety zone, if needed, by Engineer 4480. When things did not work as planned, each employee resorted to their core training and gathered at their identified safety zone. They communicated with, and supported one other. Working as a team, they survived this incident.
Another engine burnover–this time it was two Placer County Fire Department brush engines on the Nicolaus fire near Lincoln, CA on June 11. Here is an excerpt from CalFire’s “24-hour report” recently released:
On June 11, 2008 at 0949 hours, Placer County Fire units were dispatched to a vegetation fire at Nicolaus Road near Dowd Road, west of the City of Lincoln in Placer County. The fire occurred during a north wind event under a Red Flag Warning. BR 75, staffed with one Placer County Volunteer Firefighter, arrived first at scene reporting a wind driven five acre fire.
BR 75 drove down a dirt road paralleling the left flank of the fire. Engine 70 (E70) arrived and reported 7-10 acres with no structures threatened and assumed incident command (IC). BR 73 arrived next, staffed with one CAL FIRE Fire Apparatus Engineer and one Firefighter I. BR 73 followed BR 75 down the dirt road on the left flank. The right flank was inaccessible at this time.
Approximately seven minutes into the fire, E70 (IC) reported that units were being burned over. Appropriate EMS was requested.
The volunteer firefighter from BR 75 sought refuge on the leeward side of the apparatus. The fire intensity continued to increase and he retreated to safety, crossing a barbed wire fence, into a stubble field immediately to the east of the dirt road. He was met by apparatus and personnel from Lincoln Fire Department and escorted to ambulance personnel.
The CAL FIRE Firefighters from BR 73 tried to seek refuge in the cab, but were quickly overrun. They retreated through the flame front to the west, into the burn. Both of the firefighters walked north through the burn and exited where E70 was parked on Nicolaus Road.
All firefighters were treated and transported to UC Davis Medical Center. The volunteer firefighter from BR 75 received burns to the nose, was treated and released. The firefighters from BR 73 remain in the Burn Unit in stable condition with burns to the face and hands. They are expected to remain at UC Davis Medical Center for 7 to 10 days.
The Nicolaus Fire was contained at 1140 hours to 65 acres on June 11, 2008.
