10 & 18 Series - Seneca Fire

Article provided by Harney County

The following is a continuation of a multi-post documentation. Click here to begin from Part 1

Location

Seneca, Malheur National Forest, Oregon

Origin of Fire

On Sunday, September 4th, 1955, at about 2 PM a lightning strike hit Damon Creek, starting a brush fire 5 miles northwest of Seneca.

Events

Immediately after the strike, the fire rapidly spread through sagebrush and grass, fanned by the wind. A bulldozer crew attempted to suppress the fire, but the flames swept over the crew at a three-mile point west of Seneca. By Sunday night, the flames were presumably controlled. However, by Monday, the flames broke off into two additional acres. The fire burned an estimated 4,000 acres before contained, with a total of 120 men responsible for containment (6 bulldozers utilized). The fire caused several non-critical injuries and one fatality. Elwood Jackson burned to death, and it is believed, based off of the body's location, that Jackson was disoriented by the smoke.

Marker of Jackson's death

Conclusion

The contributing factors of the disaster included:

(a) Inadequate supervision of crew members

(b) Instructions were not followed and/or not received by crew members

(c) Search for missing was not conducted until it was too late

Sources

(1) https://www.wlfalwaysremember.org/incident-lists/327-elwood-jackson.html#reports

(2) https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/42289903/carey-elwood-jackson

Comments

Emergency Inside - Woodside Fire Protection District (CA)

Emergency Inside - Woodside Fire Protection District (CA) Station 7 Bay with Engine 7 and Rescue 7 The following is a summary of responses to interview questions regarding the department Interviewees: Justin Werle, Chris White, Jared Abbott, Stephen Bell, Kyle Emmert, Bob Erikson, Emil Picchi, Robert Douthit General Information Woodside Fire Protection District (WFPD) Website: https://www.woodsidefire.org/ Currently, WFPD has 55 personnel and 3 stations WFPD serves the city of Woodside , a small town located within the San Mateo County with a current population of about 25,000. Woodside is home to various outdoor activities such as horseback riding, trail hiking, and rock climbing. Additionally, Woodside is among the wealthiest communities in the United States. These two traits of Woodside are important to keep in mind when understanding WFPD's operations and practices Note: This interview was conducted at WFPD Station 7, therefore responses are more specifi

The Origins of the 10 & 18

The Origins of the 10 & 18 How the prevalent 10 Standard Firefighting Orders and 18 Watch out situations came to be today Context 10 Standard Firefighting orders - Based on the successful "General Orders" used by the United States Armed Forces, the 10 orders are sequential steps that serve as fundamental guidelines for all fire officials. They are intended to reduce preventable fireline casualties and improve safety for individuals. 18 Watch out Situations - Developed shortly after the 10 orders, the 18 are cautionary steps that are more specific and intended to expand on the 10. The application of the 18 is aimed at Wildland situations. Click Here to view the 10 & 18 ⇚⇛ Chapter 1 - Meeting On April 12, 1957 , a report was submitted to the Chief of Forest Service, Richard E. McArdle. The report was by a commissioned task force that was assigned to analyze 14 tragic fires that occurred from 1937 to 1956. From the rese

Emergency Inside - The Interview Series

Emergency Inside - The Interview Series Station 51 Bay My name is Katrina Sharonin. I am a high schooler with aspirations to work in the emergency response field. To pursue my interest, I have joined a fire explorer post. In addition, I have started a project to interview first responders from all backgrounds and departments; I aspire to have a diverse understanding of emergency response, whether it be fire, EMS or other. Below is a list of links leading to individual research articles about different departments. The purpose of this series is to establish the similarities and differences between emergency groups. Each interview poses different questions according to who the interviewee is, and responses are formatted in various ways. North Tahoe Fire Protection District (CA) http://emergencyradar.blogspot.com/2019/08/emergency-inside-north-tahoe-fire_24.html Central Country Fire (CA) http://emergencyradar.blogspot.com/2019/09/emergency-inside-central-country-fir

Emergency Radar

Search This Blog