SAFENET


SAFENET

Wildland Fire Safety & Health Reporting Network

SAFENET Event Information
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SAFENET ID:
20160707-0001
Event Start Date:
07/04/2016 1730
Event Stop Date:
07/04/2016 2230 
Incident Name:
Hagerman Fire
Fire Number:
KD3Z 
State:
New Mexico
Jurisdiction:
BLM
Local Unit:
Pecos District
Incident Type:
Wildland
Incident Activity:
Line
Stage of Incident:
Initial Attack
Position Title:
Senior Firefighter 
Task:
Suppression 
Management Level:
5
Resources Involved:
UTV 
Contributing Factors
Contributing Factors:
Equipment, Environmental
Human Factors:
 
Other Factors:
 
Narrative
Describe in detail what happened including the concern or potential issue, the environment (weather, terrain, fire behavior, etc), and the resulting health issue.
UTV temperature overheating; Possible vegetation lodged between skid plate and underbody ignited, burning hole through floorboard.

Equipmment: 2009 Polaris Ranger 6X6 700 EFI w/pump package.

Environmental conditions:
Temperature @ 17:30 is 100 degrees. Temp @22:30 is 86 degrees.
Terrain: Sandhills with shinnery oak, grass and shrub vegetation.
Fire Behavior: Running and flanking with 2-5 foot flame lengths

At approximately 21:00 as fire line suppression activities were slowing down the UTV began to overheat and engine power was reduced involuntarily. Crew with UTV slowly returned to staging area to assess. Upon reaching staging area UTV was shut down. Coolant was overflowing from engine bay. Two minutes later firefighter noticed flames protruding through the floorboard. A shovel with sand and the UTV fire extinguisher were used to suppress the flames. The UTV was then allowed to cool before loading on trailer under its own power. There were no injuries, only equipment damage.
Immediate Action Taken
Reporting Individual : please describe actions you took to correct or mitigate the unsafe/unhealthful event.
UTV has history of overheating in hot conditions under heavy load. After each use UTV is thoroughly checked for proper fluid levels, air filter and foreign debris. It is possible vegetation accumulated during fire suppression activities and ignited from ember or hot equipment on UTV.

UTV is currently at maintenance shop to evaluate the cooling system and see why it is inadequate. Crew continues to clean undercarriage of foreign debris after each use to prevent debris ignition.


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