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SAFENET

Wildland Fire Safety & Health Reporting Network

SAFENET Event Information

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SAFENET ID:

20180805-0001

Event Start Date:

08/04/2018 1400

Event Stop Date:

 

Incident Name:

Goose Creek Fire

Fire Number:

L1TV 

State:

Nevada

Jurisdiction:

BLM

Local Unit:

Elko BLM

Incident Type:

Wildland

Incident Activity:

Line

Stage of Incident:

Extended Attack

Position Title:

Task Force Leader, IHC Sup. 

Task:

Burn Out And Holding Operations 

Management Level:

1

Resources Involved:

2- UTV Honda Pioneer 700 

Contributing Factors

Contributing Factors:

Equipment, Environmental

Human Factors:

Situational Awareness  

Other Factors:

Vegetation (dry brush and grass) Buildup between the skidplate, frame, motor and exhaust on both UTV's. 

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 #1 date 8/4/18 A small fire started in the skid plate which melted the wiring harness, throttle cable, and parking brake line. the fire started due to built up of natural debris between the skid plate, frame and return coolant line system, which ignited the material on fire. It was difficult to suppress the fire and verify that it was completely out. It was difficult to see the fire and only notice it when the UTV started to short out due to the wiring harness being melted. The fire also melted the parking brake line which locked the parking brake in place. This made it difficult to push or pull the UTV to a safe spot. We had to remove the parking brake cable from the rear axle to release the brake. Both operator and passenger was wearing full PPE and suffered no injuries. UTV #2 date 8/4/18 While performing a crew shuttle during ignition operations, the passenger could smell burning plastic and stopped the driver they stopped and found a small fire, the Honda UTV wiring harness was on fire from dry vegetation that accumulated between the skid plate and return coolant line system. The operator and passenger quickly extinguished the fire with water from their packs. The fire damaged some wiring, throttle cable, and gear shift cable. Both operator and passenger was wearing full PPE and suffered no injuries.

Immediate Action Taken

Reporting Individual : please describe actions you took to correct or mitigate the unsafe/unhealthful event.

UTV #1 Before operations that day the operator cleaned as much of the undercarriage as possible because he noticed a buildup from the previous shift. The operator cleaned the air filter and debris from around the brakes as well. It was difficult to clean the entire skid plate because of access. The UTV operator states "I don't want this narrative to hinder or stop anyone from using these very helpful tools to support their people. I just want people to be aware that it can happen. Clean them and treat them like the rest of our equipment and carry a fire extinguisher if you have one." UTV #2 Operator had a mechanic come up to assist. He was able to make the vehicle operate to get to the road. Everyone was in proper PPE and operating in a safe and professional manner. The 4 other UTV's assigned to the fire were removed from the fire line. The Agency Administrators, IC, Logistics and Operations were briefed with this issue. The Safety Officers and above groups recommended to file a SAFENET to give a heads up to the rest of the Firefighting community on this issue. Note both UTV's issues occurred the same day, vegetation type and on the same location of same make and model of UTV. Recommendation when ordering UTV's for an incident, supply them with a fire extinguisher.

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