In Portugal, on September, 21st, Volunteer FF Pedro Manuel Santos Brito died in the Line of Duty from burns. He passed away in the University of Coimbra Hospital. A member of the Corpo de Bombeiros Voluntários de Côja, FF Brito suffered 2nd and 3rd degree burns while operating in a wildland fire in the woods of Casal Cimeiro, in Arganil, Portugal on Sep. 15th. The same fire also had already claimed the life of 25-year-old Volunteer FF Patrícia Alexandra Rodrigues Abreu. Three other FFs were injured in the blaze, but are recovering well. Our condolences to all affected. RIP.
An individual working as a timber faller on the Wenatchee Complex Fire near Entiat, Washington became ill on the fire line Monday afternoon, September 17. According to a news release by the Incident Management Team, he was treated by incident medical personnel and transported to a nearby hospital. He passed away later Monday evening.
At the request of the family, the individual’s name is being withheld.
We offer our sincere condolences to the family.
UPDATE at 12:19 p.m. MT, September 19, 2012:
Today the Incident Management Team on the Wenatchee Complex Fire identified the deceased as Chris Seelye, a timber faller from Darby, Montana.
A 64-year-old Chadron woman died Wednesday during evacuations ahead of the West Ash Creek Fire in northwest Nebraska. The Omaha World-Herald reported that Chadron dispatch logged a call from a neighbor, who discovered the woman with breathing difficulties when they went to check on her during the evacuation. The sheriff’s department and an ambulance responded; she was pronounced dead at the hospital. Preliminary reports are that the cause of death was a heart attack.
The sheriff’s department evacuated about 150 Dawes County residents and closed Chadron State Park. The sheriff has since issued a mandatory evacuation for residents in the west and south of the Metcalf Wildlife Area north of Hays Springs, because of a third fire in that area.
The Region 23 Complex fires have burned nearly 69,000 acres; the complex comprises two fires, the West Ash Fire near Chadron, and the Douthit Fire near Crawford. Containment this morning is estimated at 25 percent.
The fires were estimated at only 1,300 acres on Wednesday, but grew quickly as hot winds pushed flames through the dry timber and grasslands. Smoke forced additional road closures on Sand Creek, Cottonwood Road, and Highway 20 west of Fort Robinson. Sections of Table Road near Willow Creek Church are closed because of increased fire activity in the area. Highway 385 is open, but controlled in areas with one-lane traffic and pilot car.
The Lincoln Journal-Star reported that the two fires in Dawes County were started by lightning Tuesday. One is south of Chadron and the other’s burning between the smaller towns of Harrison and Crawford. State officials also were responding to fires in Sheridan and Sioux counties, all in the Nebraska Panhandle. Gov. Dave Heineman on Thursday dispatched the state’s mobile operations center to the region.
Anne Veseth, a 20-year-old firefighter from Moscow, Idaho, was killed August 12 while working on the Steep Corner Fire near Orofino, Idaho. The U.S. Forest Service firefighter was struck when one tree fell and crashed into another tree, causing it to fall in a domino effect.
On August 11, the day before Veseth was killed, the Flathead Hotshots arrived at the Clearwater-Potlatch Timber Protection Association (CPTPA) station to work on the Steep Corner Fire. They were briefed, received a radio clone, and showed up at the fire about 2 p.m., where they located the CPTPA incident commander. He briefed them on tactical duties, according to the SAFENET report filed three days later, but “had to be prompted for specifics on everything else.” The hotshot report said there was no direct link to Grangeville dispatch, no information on EMS or weather, and no medical plan besides “call the county.”
The report listed a slew of other heads-up flags on the incident, including no mention of hazards and no direction other than “jump in the middle and work south.” The IC was wearing jeans, and the hotshots immediately noticed several other CPTPA personnel without PPE or shelters.
The Flathead superintendent told the IC that they’d go scout the fire before committing the crew, and the IC told him to head down the burned line through the middle of the fire. The hotshot foreman then briefed the crew, and they established their own LCES and posted the first lookout of the day on the fire. The scouting superintendent radioed back that no one should be sent down the burned line — which was still hot — through the middle of the fire because of snag hazards and previously cut log decks. Continue reading “Safety issues noted one day before Steep Corner Fire fatality”
The 2,681-acre Buck Fire south of Hemet, California, was fully contained on Friday morning, and the North County Times reported that an inmate firefighter died yesterday after he became ill on the fire.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and Cal Fire are investigating the illness and subsequent death of 44-year-old Jimmy Randolph, who died at a hospital in Palm Springs with his family at his bedside. The cause of death will be announced after an autopsy is completed.
(UPDATED July 13, 2017. Mr. Randolf died in a hospital August 19, 2012 seven hours after he was found unresponsive where he was sleeping at the fire. The cause of death was listed as anoxic encephalopathy combined with complications of heat stroke.)
Fenner Canyon Conservation Camp on the Angeles National Forest houses minimum-security inmates and is operated jointly by CDCR and Cal Fire.
The Buck Fire also had a microburst rip through the ICP early Thursday, with hard rain and hail and 60 mph gusts that sent tents and much of the camp skittering across the ground. The fire, ignited by lightning last Tuesday, was also plagued with injuries; according to the Desert Sun, one firefighter was taken to a hospital for minor injuries. Three other firefighters incurred minor injuries, along with two civilians, one of whom suffered severe third-degree burns to his legs.
Riverside County Sheriff’s deputies are investigating a marijuana patch discovered in the area. According to the L.A. Times, firefighters encountered two men trying to protect the small grove of plants.
This fire had more than its share of weirdness. The Desert Sun also reported that a 59-year-old local man was charged with driving over a fire captain’s foot on Tuesday afternoon. Gregory Lance Good is being held in lieu of $30,000 bail on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and interfering with a firefighter in the line of duty. He was arraigned in Riverside County Superior Court and entered a “not guilty” plea.
Last May we had an article about the 1937 Blackwater fire that killed 15 firefighters east of Yellowstone National Park. On Sunday and Tuesday the U.S. Forest Service will be holding events to commemorate the 75th anniversary of that tragic fire.
A lightning strike on Aug. 18, 1937 in the Shoshone National Forest at the eastern border of Yellowstone National Park sparked a wildland fire that burned for two days in remote terrain before it was reported to the U.S. Forest Service.
The first men to respond were members of the Civilian Conservation Corps, a New Deal program that put the unemployed to work in the nation’s parks and public lands on a wide range of public works projects.
On Aug. 21, three days later, the Blackwater Fire had grown from a couple of acres to about 200, and dozens of men were fighting the fire in rugged terrain south of U.S. Highway 14/16/20, about 12 miles east of Yellowstone’s eastern boundary.
An oncoming cold front brought a sudden and unexpected shift of winds, catching many of the firefighters off-guard. Nine men were killed as the blaze quickly advanced, and six others later died from their burns. Another 38 were injured.
The 1937 Blackwater Fire burns in rugged country in the Shoshone National Forest east of Yellowstone National Park. (USFS archival photo)
The tragedy was the biggest loss of lives from a forest fire in a generation, and drew national headlines. A detailed investigation of the fatalities — the first of its kind — helped focus new attention on the importance of early attack of wildland fires, leading to the development of the smokejumper program.
The Forest Service has planned a series of events to mark the 75th anniversary of the fatal fire, including a ceremony at the roadside memorial between Cody, Wyo. and Yellowstone, and a hike to a backcountry memorial commemorating the fatalities.
To prepare for the 75th anniversary, the Forest Service has performed maintenance, restoration, and signing along the Blackwater National Recreation Trail and restoration work on the Clayton Gulch memorial marker.
On Sunday, Aug. 19, the Forest Service will lead a field trip at 9 a.m. from the Blackwater trailhead to the Clayton Gulch monument, with interpretation of points along the way. The 8-mile round-trip hike moves through moderately difficult terrain, with the trail starting at about 6,200 feet in elevation and rises to about 9,500 feet. Participants should plan on a six-hour trip. They should also bring their own lunch, drinking water, bear spray, appropriate attire for changing mountain weather and any additional necessary items.
On Tuesday, Aug. 21, the Forest Service will commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Blackwater fire with a wreath-laying ceremony at 10 a.m. at the Firefighters Memorial. Guests will include former U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson and Forest Service director of fire and aviation Tom Harbour. Thanks go out to Chris and Dick
