Personnel from a Northern California Fire Protection District were assigned to Structure Protection on the Atlas Peak Incident in the Green Valley area of Napa and Solano counties. An engine was assigned to perform Structure Protection and as a result of parking the unit approximately 8-10 feet from a barn, the vehicle sustained moderate flame and heat impingement damage to the driver side of the vehicle. Damage includes cracked driver side windshield and gasket melted, driver side, side window cracked and gasket melted, paint bubbling, emergency lighting melted, marker lights melted, all pump panel gauges and controls melted and unreadable and 1.75" hose melted in the crosslay bed. Structure Protection of the barn appears to have been performed with a 0.75" hard booster line with no WUI Structure Protection lines deployed. It should be noted it does not appear the engine was backed in to perform structure protection which may have played a factor in deciding to leave the vehicle in place and not moving. This was compounded by the fact that many, if not all four (4) crew members do not have any NWCG and/or CICCS Wildland Firefighter Qualifications or Certifications for the positions they held on the Type I Engine for this assignment. It is unknown at this time if the vehicle was removed from the incident and/or if it has even been reported to the Atlas Peak Incident Commander or Safety Officer for the Division assigned. In addition to the lack of Qualifications and Certifications, it is believed this is a result of a lack of situational awareness in the WUI by utilizing a 0.75" booster line for the fire conditions presented. |