RIP: 14 wildland firefighters died at South Canyon Fire (July 6, 1994)

On July 6, 1994 the South Canyon Fire on Storm King Mountain in Colorado blew up and the winds shifted. Fourteen wildland firefighters died in that day: nine from the Prineville Hotshots, three smokejumpers and two helitack crew members. I will always remember this fire because in the very early days of doing this blog, I was doing a lot of reading. I came across John N. Maclean's book, Fire on the Mountain. I probably read the book sometime in late 2008 or early 2009. It made an impression on me for the shear number of lives lost that day. To read more about the South Canyon Fire, go to this page on Always Remember

RIP Storm King 14. I will always remember.

NJFFS Division A Wildland Fire Fatality - Funeral for Jeff Scheuerer

RIP Jeff Scheuerer



direct link to video from WFMZ 69

photo gallery 1 from Hunterdon County Democrat -- the procession to the Church

photo gallery 2 from Hunterdon County Democrat -- just outside the Church

Hunterdon County Democrat article on Jeff Scheuerer's funeral

Note: the video that I embedded above may not work in all browsers. I got it to work in firefox and safari but it did not seem to work in Chrome.

Added April 4: video of funeral procession by Brain McCarthy reported by NJ101.5

NJFFS Division A Wildland Fire Fatality

It is with profound sadness that I write today about the death of New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) Firefighter Jeffrey Scheuerer On March 28, 2013. Jeffrey, a wildland firefighter with Division A of the NJFFS died after being struck and killed by an automobile while doing a prescribed burn at the Round Valley Reservoir in Clinton Township, Hunterdon County New Jersey. Jeffrey was also a member of the Readington Volunteer Fire Department.

The winds shifted resulting in heavy smoke near the road that may have contributed to the accident.

I live in Division A and am quite familiar with Round Valley Reservoir and the area surrounding the reservoir. Like many other places in New Jersey, that area had seen a lot of fallen trees as a result of Super Storm Sandy or the June 29 Derecho. Jeffrey died trying to keep the Clinton Township residents safe. Jeffrey, you won't be forgotten. My thoughts and prayers are with Jeffrey's family and friends, the New Jersey State Forest Fire Service, and the Readington Volunteer Fire Department.

Story from the Hunterdon Democrat

Story from CBS2 in New York

Wildfire Today story

2008 wildfire fatalities

For a summary of 2008 wildfire fatalities, see this post from wildfire today.

In Memoriam: El Cariso Hotshots

I saw a reference to this post on the LA fire department news and information blog. This post tells a story behind the Sayre Fire story. That the command post for the command post is in El Cariso Park. El Cariso Park memorializes 12 members of the El Cariso Hotshots (wildfire fighters) who died in the 1996 Loop fire in LA.