Firefighter Falling Fatality

[smokechase II]

"According to unofficial reports, the crew was working along a bulldozed fire line about 2,000 feet from a road. They were along the southwest flank of the Eagle Fire near Junction City, but were not in an active fire zone. The crew's job was to "snag hazard trees" in advance of ground crews doing fire mop-up duty.

The family has been told that Andy was in a safety zone. A tree was cut downhill from his position. It slid downhill and springboarded into another tree, which caused a third tree to flip back uphill. That flying object struck Palmer.

The accident occurred about 2:20 p.m. Friday. Andy received emergency first aid at the scene, and was hoisted into a rescue basket lowered by a U.S. Coast Guard medivac helicopter. The accident scene was about 50 air miles west of Redding, Calif."

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From; http://www.ptleader.com/Main.asp?SectionID=4&SubSectionID=4&ArticleID=21451

This was an 18 year old first season firefighter.


As more information comes available I will post.

Oftentimes the early reports can be incorrect.

===============

This sounds pretty unusual.

Here is the official 24 hour report:
http://www.wildlandfire.com/docs/2008/lessons-learn/palmer-fatality-iron-cplx-24hr.doc

 

[Burvol]

Poor kid, have to say some prayers for him and his family. I've heard of a lot of guys getting killed on super steep ground by having stuff spring back. It happens.

 

[2dogs]

Darn shame. He will be in my thoughts.

 

[Gologit]

Sad day.

 

[mile9socounty]

Himself and his family will be in my prayer's tonight.

 

[smokechase II]

72 hour report

"Narrative: On July 22, 2008, an Engine from Olympic National Park received a resource order to report to the Iron Complex on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest near Weaverville, CA. Upon arrival to the Incident Command Post (ICP) on July 23, the crew reported mechanical problems with the engine that required the engine captain to drive the vehicle into Redding, CA for service. The remainder of the engine module stayed at ICP and on July 24, were given a logistical assignment in camp. On July 25, while the engine captain was attempting to obtain a replacement engine from Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, the three crew members were assigned as a Class B falling team to Bravo Division on the Eagle Fire. Their assignment was to support hand and engine crews during mop-up operations mitigating hazard trees ahead of them along the fireline. At approximately 1350 hours, the crew called for medical assistance for a severely injured firefighter/swamper on their crew. Emergency medical personnel responded and treated the injured firefighter Andrew J. Palmer. Due to heavy smoke conditions requiring IFR capability, primary helicopter resources were unable to respond to the injured firefighter's location. Personnel carried Palmer, by litter, to a location where he was hoisted into a U.S. Coast Guard rescue helicopter at approximately 1630 hours. En route to the Redding Municipal Airport, to meet the ambulance, Palmer went into cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead on arrival at approximately 1706 hours at the Redding Municipal Airport."

Plus a press release:

http://www.wildlandfire.com/docs/2008/lessons-learn/FIRE-72hr-report.doc

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Note the “We have no time frame for the completion of our investigation.”
This is because in the past pessure to get reports out by _________ have resulted in incomplete investigations.

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It'll be a few months from now but I'll be sure and get the report posted here.

 

[2dogs]

Thanks.

 

[smokechase II]

Rumors

Don't treat this as part of a factual report.

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It appears as if this was the very first fire, the very first fireline shift this bright eyed young man was ever on.

That the Engine Captain that he was assigned to was not there as he was getting a replacement vehicle.

That even at a 'B' level of cutting they were out in front of a crew snagging in Northern California.
This is almost always a very serious job in N Cal.

This should result in a series of investigations/meetings/events where in the wildland fire community we study and teach from this at the same level of the larger multiple fatality events.

If all this is true we need our butts kicked.

It is actually more common than not for fires in the modern mega-fire era to be significantly short on resources for at least the first few days and we are taking too many gambles.

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Good time to get out.

 

[Gologit]

Don't treat this as part of a factual report.

----------

It appears as if this was the very first fire, the very first fireline shift this bright eyed young man was ever on.

That the Engine Captain that he was assigned to was not there as he was getting a replacement vehicle.

That even at a 'B' level of cutting they were out in front of a crew snagging in Northern California.
This is almost always a very serious job in N Cal.

This should result in a series of investigations/meetings/events where in the wildland fire community we study and teach from this at the same level of the larger multiple fatality events.

If all this is true we need our butts kicked.

It is actually more common than not for fires in the modern mega-fire era to be significantly short on resources for at least the first few days and we are taking too many gambles.

----------

Good time to get out.

Well said. Excellent post.

 

[046]

very sad... the first go for a promising young man.

would it had made any difference for this freak accident. experienced or not?

 

[joesawer]

very sad... the first go for a promising young man.

would it had made any difference for this freak accident. experienced or not?

An accident can and does happen to even the most experienced. With that said, he probably never had a chance to learn to recognize the domino effect of the over sized mouse trap that got him.
What really sucks about these kind of jobs and conditions is the remote and isolated nature that can cause such a long time to pass before medical treatment can be given. It sounds like that young man lived well past the "Golden Hour".