Fire Shelter Deployment

Direct link to July 2013 video from The Bulletin on YouTube

I am in the process of reading another book on wildland firefighting, Fury and the Beast by Dave Scott, Mr. Scott chronicles his 27 year career as a wildland firefighter. He also provides photos and maps of wildfires. I am currently reading his account of the 1996 Shepard Mountain Fire in Montana where wildland firefighters had to deploy shelters as their only option to stay safe. Only one firefighter was injured with second degree burns, no firefighter died. About one hundred residents were evacuated. Thirty-five residences and forty out buildings were destroyed. I do not know the exact date of when this fire was brought under control, but I know from this September 8, 1996 Associated Press Article in the Spokane Review that the fire had burned 18,500 acres.

In their Six Minutes for Safety Section, The National Wildlife Coordinating Group (NWCG) has an article on deploying fire shelters, go here to read the NWCG article on deploying fire shelters. The NWCG says that "Firefighters must never rely on fire shelters. Instead, they depend on well-defined and pre-located escape routes and safety zones. However, if the need for shelter deployment should ever arise, it is imperative that firefighters know how to deploy and use the fire shelter." They go onto discuss several points regarding the deployment of fire shelters, I learned about fire shelter deployment from reading this article, they say in part:

• Do not think of your fire shelter as a tactical tool.
• Recognize when deployment is your only option. When considering escape, remember that you can hold your breath for only about 15 seconds while running through flames or superheated air.
• If time runs out while attempting to escape, get on the ground before the flame front arrives and finish deploying on the ground. Death is almost certain if the fire catches a person upright (the optimal survival zone with or without a shelter is within a foot of the ground). Once entrapped, the highest priority is to protect the lungs and airways.