Coal Canyon fire fatality funeral arrangements

The funeral for Trampus Haskvisk who died fighting the Coal Canyon fire north of Edgemont, South Dakota will be at 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, August 16 at the Mueller Center on 6th Street in Hot Springs, SD. Trampus was a five-year veteran with the South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression Division so I hope there is a large turnout as a show of respect for him and his family.

Below is the information about the funeral service that was distributed by Rod Seals, Operations Chief for the Rapid City Fire Department:

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Schedule for Funeral Service for Firefighter Trampus Haskvitz

 Note:  All Public Safety and Emergency Responders are encouraged to attend the funeral/celebration of life services for Trampus Haskvitz.  Because we are unsure of the number of you that will be attending, we ask that you RSVP by calling Rapid City Fire Department, Station 1 at (605) 394-4180 with the following information:  Agency name, total number of personnel attending (including family)  and number of emergency vehicles that will be in the procession.

Tuesday Line-Up:

  All South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression Division, Black Hills National Forest – Hells Canyon District, and the National Park Service – Wind Cave personnel are asked to arrive at the Mueller’s Civic Center 11:30 to line up for the procession. Line-up for these agencies will be in front of the Muellers Center on 6th street. Your family is welcome to sit with you in a designated seating area.

 All WFS, BHNF-Hells Canyon District, and NPS-Wind Cave personnel are asked to follow the signs to the staging area within the Mueller’s Civic Center. Seating will begin at 1:30 pm.

  All other Public Safety Departments & Agency Personnel not included in the list above are asked to line up on Galveston Avenue (1/2 block east of the Mueller Center) starting at 12:30 pm. Departments are asked to use the following route when lining up on Galveston Ave. Highway 18 Bypass turning right onto Galveston Avenue.

   Seating will begin at 1:00 pm.

   The funeral service will begin at 2:00 pm.

Tuesday Procession:

  Following the service, WFS, BHNF-Hells Canyon District, and NPS-Wind Cave personnel should line up outside the Mueller Civic Center as Firefighter Trampus Haskvitz is escorted to a fire engine. After Trampus is escorted firefighters are asked to return to their vehicles as quickly as possible.

  The procession will run west of 6th street, left on South River Street, right on Cold Brook Avenue, left on School Street, entering Evergreen Cemetery. A map will be handed out as you line up in the staging area.

 During the procession the Fall River County Dispatch will sound the emergency sirens twice.

   If your agency provides you with a Class A Uniform, please wear it.

  Should you not have a Class A Uniform, you are asked to wear your Class B (tie and uniform shirt) or Class C Uniform (agency uniform with no tie).

   Crew personnel should wear their crew shirts.

  Incident personnel should wear either a Rocky Mountain Team shirt or nomex.

Update on the fatal Coal Canyon fire, August 13, 2011

Road leading through Coal Canyon fire
Road leading through Coal Canyon fire. Credit: Black Hills National Forest

A few more details are now available about the incident that claimed the life of Trampus Haskvitz, 23, of Hot Springs, South Dakota on August 11, 2011. In addition to Mr. Haskvitz four other firefighters, two others from the state of South Dakota and two from the U.S. Forest Service, were injured. Austin Whitney, 20, of Hot Springs suffered third-degree burns to his hands and neck and is being treated at a burn center in Greeley, Colo. Kevin Fees, 20, also of Hot Springs, was treated and released Thursday at Rapid City Regional Medical Center after suffering burns to his hands and neck. Both Mr. Whitney and Mr. Fees are employed by the state of South Dakota.

Other than the fact that they were treated for injuries and released and one worked out of Custer and the other out of Hot Springs, nothing else has been released about the USFS firefighters.

Joe Lowe, director of the South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression Division, said during a news conference Friday that the firefighters had been making an initial attack with an engine on a lightning caused fire approximately 9 miles north of Edgemont, South Dakota. (It is unclear if Lowe’s description includes the two USFS injured firefighters or just the three firefighters from the state of South Dakota.)  Some of the firefighters were working on a flank of the fire from a mid-slope road when strong winds from thunderstorm activity caused spotting below them. The firefighters could not suppress the spot fire and became trapped between it and the main fire. They deployed fire shelters in the timber fuel type but the heat was very intense. The aluminum hose bed on an engine melted off.

Coal fire 8-13-2011
Map of the Coal fire 8-13-2011, showing heat detected by satellites. MODIS

Rocky Mountain Type 2 Incident Management Team C, Jay Esperance Incident Commander, took over management of the fire at 6 p.m., Friday evening August 12. The fire has burned 1,325 acres and is 20% contained as of Saturday night.

Visitation for Mr. Haskvitz will be held from 6:00 pm until 9:00 pm, Monday, August 15, 2011, at McColley’s Chapel of the Hills in Hot Springs, SD.

Funeral services will be held at 2:00 pm, Tuesday, August 16, 2011, at the Mueller Auditorium in Hot Springs with Chaplain Morris Nelson officiating.

The Argus Leader had this quote from Joe Lowe:

We will send this fire back to hell, where it belongs. It has taken one of ours and become very personal.

South Dakota firefighter killed on wildfire

On Thursday, August 11, a firefighter employed by the state of South Dakota was killed in an entrapment on a wildfire. Here is an excerpt from theRapid City Journal:

A Hot Springs seasonal firefighter died and two others were injured after being caught in a burn-over while fighting the Coal Canyon Fire near Edgemont on Thursday afternoon.

Trampus Haskvitz, 23, died from injuries he suffered when winds from a storm system pushed the fire into the area he was working, trapping him and two others.

Haskvitz and the others were fighting a lightning-sparked fire about 9 miles north of Edgemont.

The injured are Austin Whitney and Kevin Fees, also of Hot Springs. The men were airlifted to Rapid City Regional Hospital.

Whitney is being transferred tonight to a burn center in Greeley, Colo.

Fees is in stable condition at Rapid City Regional Hospital.

“This is very sad news,” Gov. Dennis Daugaard said in a prepared statement. “Linda and I are praying for Trampus’ loved ones, and for the firefighters who were injured. Too many times in recent weeks, South Dakotans have been reminded just how much we owe to the firefighters, law enforcement and others who risk their lives to protect us all.”

The three firefighters were seasonal employees of the South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression Division.

Our sincere condolences go out to the families and co-workers, and we hope for a quick recovery for the two injured firefighters.

South Dakota firefighters have been busy over the last month. The WhoopUp fire that burned from Wyoming into South Dakota blackened over 10,000 acres in mid-July and prompted a fire behavior advisory that warned of unusually high rates of spread on fires due to heavier than normal winter and spring rains that led to a thick growth of grass.

 

Thanks go out to Jerome and Robert