Fire Origins
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On Protection of Towns from Fire — Benjamin Franklin, 1735

On Making Official History Honest — Kent Robert Greenfield, 1954

LCES—a Key to Safety in the Wildland Fire Environment — Paul Gleason, 1991

Attitude Check — Bill Fish, 1995

TriData Phase IV, “Developing a Cooperative Approach to Wildfire Protection” — Charles Perrow, 1998

Lessons From Thirtymile: Transition Fires And Fire Orders — Jerry Williams, 2001

Loop Fire Disaster Brief — November, 1966

1967 Task Force Report

• Preface
• Introduction
• Downhill Line Operations and “Chimneys”
• Communications
• Improve Scouting at All Critical Points
• Organization
• Protective Shelters
• Fire Protective Clothing
• Pre-Attack Planning and Construction
• Fuelbreak System
• Fire Behavior and Fire Research
• Appendix

2005 Fire Prevention and Safety grant application

• Synopsis and Budget
• Risk Assessment
• Evaluation
• Implementation Plan
• Justification

REPORT OF
THE FIRE SAFETY REVIEW TEAM

MARCH 1967

A PLAN TO FURTHER REDUCE
THE CHANCES OF MEN BEING BURNED WHILE FIGHTING FIRES

DOWNHILL LINE OPERATIONS AND “CHIMNEYS”

The Loop Fire Analysis Group recommended a physical checklist for downhill line operations whereby such an operation would be done only when all critical factors are aligned favorably and checked off the list.  Further, that this checklist include complete factual knowledge that the toe of fire edge will be held in a safe condition.

Men lost their lives by burning while constructing fireline downhill on the Inaja, Silver Creek and Loop fires.

At the present time there are no written instructions for correct procedure and what factors to be considered on how to locate and construct a fireline downhill.  Downhill line construction is an acceptable practice in many forest areas and has not created an unusual safety hazard except in the flashy brush types.

A physical checklist was prepared for downhill line operations by the Fire Safety Review Team and found that it was not practicable on most situations.  A checklist of this type would weaken our present Ten Standard Firefighting Orders.

Recommendations:

Instructions for correct procedure on how to locate and construct fireline downhill should be included in Fireman’s Handbook, Chapter 50.  These instructions should also be included in the Sector, Crew Boss and Line Scout training outlines and other appropriate places to get the message to field employees.

To construct fireline in the flashy brush types downhill, requirements that are a must are:

1. Be sure the toe of the fire is anchored and communications established with crew at the toe of the fire.

2. Establish an anchor point (safety zone) before starting down.

3. Fireline can be built on fire edge or burned out as you go, and always have access far enough into burned portion of fire for safety (have one foot in the burn).

4. No “chimney,” “chute,” or “flue” on or adjacent to the proposed line exists with unburned fuel below.

5. When the control line cannot be built directly on the fire edge, its location should be far enough from the fire edge to provide adequate time for line to be constructed and fired out, and also allow enough margin for safety.  Make certain that qualified firemen make this decision only after scouting in advance.

WASHINGTON OFFICE COMMENTS:

We agree with the Review Team’s findings that a physical checklist to be carried by firefighters is not needed.  But a checklist would be valuable to serve as a basis for training and to remind fire overhead of factors to consider when planning downhill line building strategy.  The team’s recommendations on this point are, therefore, modified to include preparation of a checklist to be inserted in the Fireman’s Handbook, appropriate training materials and regional fireline notebooks.

Instructions and training should specify the responsibilities of the crew at the bottom of the slope as well as those of the crew coming down and other overhead.

Requirements a, b, d and e are approved.  To Requirement c should be added:  “When line is built downhill away from the fire edge, it is desirable to finish autonomous sections of line before burning them out.”

ACTION GUIDES:

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