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U.S. NEWS Saturday 15 September 2018

Firefighter’s death caused by retardant drop from 747

By DON THOMPSON, to the warning, though the
Associated Press report says that “when per-
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) sonnel are working under
— A firefighter battling the a tree canopy, supervisors
largest wildfire in California must ensure the drop path
history was killed last month is cleared.”
when thousands of gallons Allen said the supervisor
of flame-suppressing liquid could face discipline for
were dropped from an air- not getting an acknowl-
craft flying barely above edgement that the fire-
the treetops because spot- fighters were evacuating.
ters mistakenly sent it on It is not uncommon to have
a route too close to the firefighters under retar-
ground, according to state dant drops, McLean said,
investigation findings re- though he could not say
leased Friday if the four firefighters knew
The pilot and a supervi- they were in the flight path
sor flying ahead in a small or why they didn’t acknowl-
guide plane led the giant edge or act on the radioed
modified Boeing 747 nearly warning. A firefighter who
into the trees on Aug. 13 can’t move out of the way
because the pilots failed to is trained to lie spread-ea-
recognize that there was gled, face down, toward
a hill in the flight path, ac- the oncoming aircraft, one
cording to the Green Sheet hand holding the top of the
report by the state’s fire- helmet as it takes the brunt
fighting agency. of the impact from the fall-
Because of the near ing slurry and air turbulence
ground-level release, the This undated photo provided by the Unified Fire Authority shows Utah firefighter Mathew Burchett. that can threaten to lift a
retardant struck with such Associated Press firefighter off the ground.
force it uprooted an 87- California Department of a ‘show me’ run” for the hind. Burchett, a suburban Salt
foot (27-meter) tree that Forestry and Fire Protection 747 pilot over the intend- “He laid down the line and Lake City firefighter, was
fell on Matthew Burchett, a spokesman Scott McLean ed path for the retardant he was directing the tanker crushed by the uprooted
42-year-old battalion chief said there are ongoing in- drop, and marked the path and the tanker was follow- tree, while the others were
from Utah helping with the ternal investigations into for the jet with a smoke trail, ing direction,” said Allen, stuck by falling tree debris.
Mendocino Complex Fire what went wrong. according to the report. the union president. Two had deep muscle con-
north of San Francisco. “We definitely don’t want “Obscured by heavy veg- McLean said spotters have tusions and ligament dam-
Another large tree was this to ever happen again,” etation and unknown to a difficult job because “the age. One also suffered
snapped by the force McLean said. the (747) pilot, a rise in el- ground is very deceptive broken ribs, while the fourth
of nearly 20,000 gallons The 747 was flying only 100 evation occurred along and very hard to read.” firefighter had scratches
(75,700 liters) of liquid and feet (30 meters) above the the flight path.” The ground The retardant drops were and abrasions.q
three firefighters were in- treetops, at least 100 feet sloped up about 170 feet intended to help secure a
jured, one seriously. too low, officials said. The (50 meters) in the middle of firebreak cut through the
Two supervisors — one in goal is to fly high enough what otherwise was a flat trees by a bulldozer to stop
the air and one on the for the retardant to dis- area, according to the re- advancing flames. Bur-
ground — potentially face perse and fall like rain, but port. chett and the other three
discipline or loss of their at such a low level they The guide planes have two firefighters were working
current positions because said the slurry would have people aboard, a pilot and on the hill next to the fire-
of multiple compounding hit the trees at nearly the an “air tactical supervisor,” break when the drop was
mistakes, said Cliff Allen, same speed as the aircraft a specially trained firefight- announced over a radio
president of the union rep- — more than 160 mph (260 er who directs the pilots of and firefighters were told to
resenting California’s wild- kph). both the guide plane and “Clear the area out.”
land firefighters. The guide pilot “made the airtanker trailing be- The four did not respond