The Havre Daily News is reporting that a woman died Thursday, August 25 from burns that she suffered on a grass fire August 22 in northern Montana between Gildford and Kremlin.
A Hi-Line native injured in a fire south of Gildford Monday died Thursday morning at a hospital in Salt Lake City.
A spokeswoman for the University of Utah Medical Center told the Havre Daily News Thursday afternoon that NellieKim Sorenson died about 11 a. m. as a result of the burns she sustained in the fire.
A representative of the Kremlin fire department, one of several volunteer fire departments that responded, said Tuesday that Monday’s fire, south of U. S. Highway 2 between Gildford and Kremlin, burned more than 100 acres starting about 5 p. m. before it was extinguished about 7 p. m.
Additional details about the cause of the fire or how Sorenson was injured have not been available to the Havre Daily News so far.
The Great Falls Tribune reported that the victim “was identified as one of those who went to help firefighters.”
Our sincere condolences to the family of Ms. Sorenson.
At least two media sources are reporting a fatality on a wildfire in Greece. From Ekathimerini news:
Firemen from Gythio, in the southern Peloponnese, on Monday recovered the charred remains of the 49-year-old head of the regional fire service from the site of a blaze on forest land in the area of Vathy.
According to firemen in the first engine dispatched to the scene, Constantinos Kastris disembarked from the vehicle and ordered the driver to return with backup as the blaze was larger than anticipated.
When the firemen returned, they found the fire chief’s charred corpse. Kastris is the first firefighter to have died in the line of duty since huge fires ravaged central Greece and the Peloponnese in the summer of 2007, killing 84 people including nine firefighters.
Monday’s blaze in Vathy – which spread quickly, fanned by strong winds – had been extinguished by late afternoon.
Our sincere condolences go out to Chief Kastris’ family and coworkers.
Below is a portion of the “Expanded 72-hour report” issued by the U. S. Forest Service’s Washington Office for the incident on the Coal Canyon fire which resulted in the death of firefighter Trampus S. Haskvitz.
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.
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.
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.
Sunday morning, July 24, a firefighter that had been missing on the Diamond fire near Whiteriver, Arizona (map) was found dead after a search by firefighters and law enforcement authorities. Here is the “24-hour” report submitted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Fort Apache Agency, Whiteriver, Arizona:
LOCATION: Diamond Fire, Whiteriver, AZ
DATE OF OCCURRENCE: July 24, 2011
TIME OF OCCURRENCE: Approximately 0600 hours (Arizona Time)
ACTIVITY: Wildland Fire Suppression
NUMBER & TYPE OF INJURY: 1, Fatality
NARRATIVE:
The lightning caused Diamond Fire was reported to Show Low Dispatch on Saturday, July 23rd, 2011 at approximately 1200 hours Arizona time. The location of the fire was confirmed by a helicopter to be north of the Black River on Fort Apache, approximately 2.5 miles northeast of Ten of Diamonds Ranch.
The Fort Apache Helitack and Fort Apache Hotshots were dispatched as Initial Attack resources and were flown to a helispot located on a ridge top on Patty Butte near the fire start. Terrain in the area is steep and rocky with a dense woodlands fuel type. Following completion of a handline around the approximately 35 acre fire all resources hiked back up to the helispot (spike camp). As resources returned to helispot, the Incident Commander determined that one firefighter was not accounted for and initiated a search to locate the missing firefighter. The firefighter was in possession of a handheld radio and attempts to contact him throughout the evening were not successful. After several sweeps of the area, law enforcement from local, county and state agencies were requested to assist with the search efforts. Search efforts continued throughout the night until the missing firefighter was found deceased at 6:18 am.
A Critical Incident Stress Management and a Serious Accident Investigation Team have been ordered.
SUBMITTED BY: Lynn Polacca, BIA, Fort Apache Agency, Deputy Superintendent
Our sincere condolences go out to the firefighter’s family and co-workers.
