A Cal Fire report released Saturday found the cause of death of a firefighter killed by a falling tree during the Mendocino Complex Fire was due to an air tanker dropping fire retardant from low altitude.
Saturday, August 13 started off as a good day for firefighters battling the Mendocino Complex Fire on the north-central coast, as President Donald Trump certified the area as a major disaster and strong winds were pushing the fire away from population areas, according to the local NBC affiliate.
Although the fire had just passed the 2007 Zaca Fire, which burned 240,000 acres in Santa Barbara County to become the fifth largest in California history, some local residents were being allowed to return. Businesses, too, were reopening in Lake Port as courageous firefighting reinforcements from around the United States were pouring in to fight what would soon become the largest fire in the state’s history.
But Draper City, Utah, Fire Department Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett, who had been working on the Mendocino Fire for almost two-weeks, died in a tragic accident that afternoon when he was crushed by the top of an 87-foot Douglas Fir that was sheared off by a 19,200-gallon retardant drop from the Evergreen Boeing B-747-400 Supertanker.
According to a Cal Fire Incident “Green Sheet” report, the Supertanker was being guided into its mountainous drop zone near Ukiah, California, by a supervisor in a small lead plane, who failed to recognize that there was a hill in the flight path.
The Boeing 747 went from flying at 361 feet above the ground to 190 feet. The pilot unknowingly released the huge load of pink retardant at about 100 feet above the treetops.
Three firefighters were injured by sheared-off tree tops and falling branches. Two firefighters recovered from their injuries, but Battalion Chief Burchett died from broken ribs, deep muscle contusions, ligament damage to extremities, scratches, and abrasions.
Although supervisors were ordered to evacuate the expected drop zones, one of the “Incidental Issues / Lessons Learned” in the report is that firefighters like to video drops:
“Fireline personnel have used their cell phones to video the aerial retardant drops. The focus on recording the retardant drops on video may distract firefighters. This activity may impair their ability to recognize the hazards and take appropriate evasive action possibly reducing or eliminating injuries.”
The Mendocino Complex Fire’s cause is still under investigation, but from July to early September, it burned 459,123 acres in Colusa County, Lake County, Mendocino County, and Glenn County. Matthew Burchett was the only fatality, and 160 homes were lost.
The California fire season that runs from May 14 through December is just halfway over, with the biggest fires normally hitting in October. There currently are 15 named fires burning in California, with the largest being the 60,018 acres Delta Fire burning in Shasta and Trinity counties,. The Delta Fire is 64 percent contained, according to Cal Fire.
Photo: file
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