Arrivng on scene of the Dry Creek Fire, I was briefed as a FALB to start limbing and fell the single tree juniper. Main objective; get the tree on the ground and cold trail.
The hike to the fire was 30 minutes. During the quick brief I sat the saw on the ground 20 feet from the non active, smoldering tree for approximately 5 minutes.
At 1700 hours I buckled on my chaps, grabed the saw, and walked about 10 feet closer to the tree.
Starting procedure: On the second pull in full choke the saw popped.
On the third pull the saw ran briefly, less than 5 seconds.
On the fourth pull the saw repeated itself.
I immediately thought, "Check to see if the saw is fueled."
With my left hand I tipped the saw on its side at waist level.
*With my right hand I turned the (quarter turn) cap and had an immediate burst of fuel spray upward. My gloved hand deflected all the fuel around my waist line. The chaps, zipper area of nomex pants,yellow nomex, and inside shirt were soaked with fuel.
*My immediate reaction was to throw the saw down and back away quickly.
* In those few seconds; the mixture of light upslope winds, fumes, and embers nearby, caused the saw to errups into flames.
***The overall issue is the Sthil 460 chainsaw maybe had an issue with the gas tank not venting properly. |
