SAFENET

SAFENET Notification

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SAFENET

Wildland Fire Safety & Health Reporting Network

SAFENET Event Information
Create Agency Response

SAFENET ID:
20190806-0001
Event Start Date:
08/02/2019 1300
Event Stop Date:
08/02/2019 1330 
Incident Name:
Kusshi Creek
Fire Number:
MG8T 
State:
Washington
Jurisdiction:
BIA
Local Unit:
Yakama Nation Fire Management
Incident Type:
Wildland
Incident Activity:
Readiness/Preparedness
Stage of Incident:
Other
Position Title:
Supply Cache Clerk & Camp Crew Boss 
Task:
Back hauled hose 
Management Level:
3
Resources Involved:
FMO, Camp Crew, Engine Crew, Heavy Equipment Operator  
Contributing Factors
Contributing Factors:
Equipment, Other
Human Factors:
Risk Assessment, Situational Awareness  
Other Factors:
wildlife 
Narrative
Describe in detail what happened including the concern or potential issue, the environment (weather, terrain, fire behavior, etc), and the resulting health issue.
During the Kusshi Creek Fire, located on highway 97 outside of Toppenish, Washington, the fire was starting to downsize in resources. During backhaul operations, a pile of hose had been hand loaded and dropped off at the fire cache. This same hose was off-loaded by hand and strung out to wash. At that time, fire personnel noticed that a snake came out of the pile of hose. The snake was identified as a fourteen inch rattlesnake with nine “buttons” on the tail. The rattle snake was very much alive and active.
Immediate Action Taken
Reporting Individual : please describe actions you took to correct or mitigate the unsafe/unhealthful event.
All personnel were made aware of the snake. Appropriate action was taken to move the snake away from human contact with no harm to the snake. Please let this serve as a reminder for folks to wear all appropriate PPE when performing tasks in an outdoor environment. By no means is it expected that a long sleeve nomex shirt or gloves will prevent a snake bite, but it is clear that we should expect the unexpected, be it a sharp stick or fourteen inch rattle snake. One can imagine the difficulty of identifying a snake within a pile of hose, especially when handling hundreds of feet of varying sizes of hose. Be prepared, wear your PPE and identify hazards.
No animals were harmed in the actions taken by camp crew members during this incident.


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