Steep Corner Fire Fatality 2012

On August 10, 2012, a fire started in deep logging slash on a steep, active logging unit just outside the boundary of the Clearwater National Forest in Idaho. Initial attack of the fire includes both firefighters from the local timber protective association and the US Forest Service. Good progress is made that day, though the fire burns actively at night. The following day, a hotshot crew arrives on the fire but do not engage due to their perception of unmitigated hazards. On August 12 the fire had grown to 70 acres and by midday has crossed Steep Creek. As a sawyer cuts snags in the vicinity of the Steep Creek slopover. While Forest Service firefighter Anne Veseth and a colleague observe the falling operation, a fire-weakened green tree fell from across the creek and struck Veseth as she attempted escape the falling tree. Fellow firefighters determine that Veseth was killed instantly by tree strike.  

Fatality, Extended Attack, Hand Crews, Hit by Tree