Compartment 22 Prescribed Fire Entrapment 2024

A firefighter was mitigating a snag inside the prescribed fire unit on the Savannah River Site, Georgia, when fire behavior increased. As the firefighter quickly moved back towards the line, they became caught up in vegetation and had fire and heat impact their location. Burn injuries were assessed by on-scene EMT, who called for an ambulance. Firefighter was transported to Augusta, GA to an emergency room at a Level II trauma center and was subsequently transferred to the hospital’s burn center. The firefighter received skin grafts on 3/21/24 to both knees, both elbows and an inner thigh.  A follow-up appointment is set for 3/29/24.

Entrapment, Prescribed Fire, Falling Operation, Burn Injury

[This data was provided by the USFS Weekly Summary Report.]