Country Fire Engine Burnover 2019

On Tuesday, September 3, 2019, local government fire personnel were conducting a hoselay near the head of the Country Fire near Cool, California. Shortly after starting the hoselay, fire conditions intensified. The fire engine would not shift into drive, therefore fire personnel had to take refuge in the fire engine and deploy a fire shelter in the cab. Due to the off gassing from the plastic in the cab, the fire personnel were forced to exit the cab and relocate into the black.

The LLC YouTube Channel now houses the following video about this event:

"I just didn't know how much heat the engine could take before it was going to be worse inside than it would be outside." -Captain

Within 3 minutes of being in the cab of the engine it became apparent that it was not a safe place to take shelter.

"We needed to get out of the engine. Being outside of the engine, as bad of a situation as that was, was a better option than being inside the engine." -Engineer

"Deploying your shelter inside an engine can be an option, but it's not going to be sustainable for very long." -Engineer

To see the complete 2019 report on this incident:

Country Fire Engine Burnover 2019 | Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center (wildfire.gov)