More common denominators of tragedy fires.
(Photo: Happy Camp Complex, 2014, by Kari Greer.)
About forty years ago Carl Wilson, one of the early wildland fire researchers, developed his list of four "Common Denominators of Fire Behavior on Tragedy Fires", that is, fatal and near-fatal fires.
- Relatively small fires or deceptively quiet areas of large fires.
- In relatively light fuels, such as grass, herbs, and light brush.
- When there is an unexpected shift in wind direction or wind speed.
- When fire responds to topographic conditions and runs uphill. Alignment of topography and wind during the burning period should always be considered a trigger point to re-evaluate strategy and tactics.
Our study of the 440 fatalities from 1990 through 2014 shows that entrapments are the fourth leading cause of deaths on wildland fires. The top four categories which account for 88 percent are, in descending order, medical issues, aircraft accidents, vehicle accidents, and entrapments. The numbers for those four are remarkably similar, ranging from 23 to 21 percent of the total. Entrapments were at 21 percent.
But as Matt Holmstrom, Superintendent of the Lewis and Clark Interagency Hotshot Crew recently wrote for an article in Wildfire Magazine, Mr. Wilson's common denominators only address fire behavior.
Mr. Holmstrom explored eight human factors that he believes merit consideration. I'm generously paraphrasing, but here are the areas he mentioned:
- Number of years of experience.
- Time of day (especially between 2:48 p.m. and 4:42 p.m.)
- Poorly defined leadership or organization.
- Transition from Initial Attack to Extended Attack.
- Earlier close calls or near misses on the same fire.
- Personality conflicts.
- Using an escape route that is inadequate.
- Communication failures.
He goes into much detail for each item and cites numerous fires which he said were examples. It is a thought-provoking article. Check it out.
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