Ransom Road Fire Fatalities 1981

Four fires were ignited on June 7, 1981 by lightning on the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge near the NASA facility at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The fires were jointly initial attacked by firefighting resources of the USFWS and NASA. After 1530, a tractor-plow unit staffed by USFWS firefighters Scott Maness and Beau Sauselein unloaded the tractor-plow and began constructing line on Fire #2. Soon after, the fire boss of the lightning fires communicated with Maness about the formation of a second head on Fire #2. A thunderstorm was active in the area at this time. At approximately 1605 the tractor-plow became stuck on a stump and was abandoned. On foot, the firefighters continued to attempt escape, and deployed a single shelter in a small opening. They were found critically burned within 20 minutes and arrived at a nearby hospital via ambulance about 70-90 minutes after the entrapment. Both Maness and Sauselein subsequently succumbed to their injuries in the hospital. 

Fatality, Heavy Equipment, Fire Shelter Deployment, Initial Attack, Entrapment, Burn Injury