Tag: lodd

The Serious Accident Investigation Factual Report has been released for the July 7, 2011 fatality on the CR 337 fire in Texas. Caleb Hamm, a crewmember on the Bonneville Interagency Hotshot Crew, collapsed and died from hyperthemia, which is uncontrolled heating of the body’s core temperature. Hamm went into full cardiac arrest 31 minutes after he collapsed and arrived at the hospital 37 minutes after the full arrest.

Here are the findings from the report:

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FINDINGS

Findings are the conclusion of the investigation team based on the facts, weight of evidence, professional knowledge, and judgment. Findings are grouped by category: human, material, and environmental.

Finding 01: Environmental Factor

While working on the fire incident, Hamm lost consciousness and subsequently died. Signs and symptoms indicative of severe heat illness were not observed by co-workers or verbally communicated by Hamm. Autopsy report states the cause of death as hyperthermia.

Findings below did not directly impact the cause or outcome of this accident; however, they are significant enough to potentially result in improvements in the specified program areas.

Finding 02: Human Factor

Hamm was not severely dehydrated and his electrolytes were within the normal range.

Finding 03: Human Factor

The designated Division A “point of contact” (POC) did not have direct communication with accident scene personnel.

Finding 04: Human Factor

Cell phones were used to coordinate medical response per Incident Action Plan, resulting in others not being able to monitor critical communications.

Finding 05: Human Factor

The Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates for key locations were not identified in the Incident Medical Plan (ICS-206) on the Incident Action Plan (IAP) for the CR 337 fire.

Finding 06: Human Factor

The IAPs for the CR 337 fire for July 6 through July 8, 2011, and IAP Safety Analysis (ICS-215A) did not contain specific reference to extreme temperatures or hydration nor was it included in the IAP Safety Message.

Finding 07: Material Factor

Bonneville IHC was well prepared for a medical emergency with EMTs, backboard, trauma kit, and oxygen.

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UPDATE May 19, 2012

The Centers for Disease Control/National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH) has released their report on the fatality.
Thanks go out to Dick

Spain Review.net is reporting that a firefighter was entrapped on a wildland fire and killed on October 19:

A firefighter lost his life today while working to put out one of the many forest fires still raging in the north of Spain. The dead man was a member of the Castilla y León fire brigade and died after being surrounded by flames in a blaze in Molinaferrera (León).

Sixteen fires are still active in the province of Ourense, two of them razing huge areas – up to 1,800 hectares in Manzaneda and 1,000 in Lobios – as temperatures drop slightly, but still remain high for this time of year.

Our sincere condolences go out to the firefighter’s family and co-workers.

The Caldwell, Idaho owner of a private company with contracts to supply engines on wildfires was killed in a small plane crash Monday night, September 12. Jamie Sexton, 38, the owner of Blaze Runner, was a passenger in a Cessna 182 piloted by Jerry Reding, 55, of Nampa, that departed Salmon, Idaho at approximately 10:00 p.m. Monday night. They had just dropped off some firefighters assigned to the Salt fire in the Salmon-Challis National Forest, which is 16 miles southwest of Salmon.

According to the Idaho Press-Tribune, Angie Reding Thueson, Reding’s sister, the family received a text from Sexton before the men left Salmon, indicating that they experienced turbulence on the ride over and asking their family to pray for them on the way back.

The aircraft did not arrive at midnight at Caldwell as planned. Radar tracking indicated that it lost altitude and descended rapidly. According to the Idaho Transportation Department, around 11:30 p.m. a cabin owner near Stanley, who is a pilot, reported hearing what he described as a stalling aircraft engine. That reported location agreed with the last location recorded on radar.

Searchers  found the wreckage of the plane at 4:40 p.m. Tuesday west of Stanley. Both of the occupants died on impact.

Our condolences go out to the families and coworkers.

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.