Lessons Learned from Pile Burning Mishaps

By Erik Apland, Field Operations Specialist

Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center

It's easy to let one’s guard down while burning piles. Burning day after day, or burning hundreds of piles, can become very monotonous. Maybe the ear buds are in and the mind wanders. It might be cold, or raining, or snowing, the piles aren’t that well-built and getting each one burning is a frustrating chore. This work can become routine, but the hazards are still there and flames are just as hot as they were in August. 

Over the years, here at the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center, we have received several incident reports about accidents that happened during pile burn operations. Take a look at the following stories and the lessons learned by other pile burners. 

Juniper Lake Piles Burn Injury 2023

On December 5, 2023, an experienced three-person crew comprised of the Lassen Volcanic National Park Fire Crew and overhead were burning machine piles in the remote Juniper Lake area of Lassen Volcanic National Park. They were burning to further the park’s prescribed fire accomplishments and eliminate the accumulated piles created by the ongoing recovery from the Dixie Fire. Given the time of year and reduced staffing, the Fire Management Officer (FMO) joined the team for the day to work with staff after another long fire season.

Employee 1, operating a propane torch, was methodically igniting machine piles along the road and working independently to continue burning down the road. They had already lit several piles when they encountered one that seemed to require more fuel. After establishing a small fire in the pile and suspecting their propane was running low, Employee 1 left the pile with a small fire burning at one end.

Employee 1 glanced back at the pile they started and left, then noticed the Burn Boss approaching the pile with a fuel can. Concerned about the use of fuel, Employee 1 started toward the Burn Boss and was within 15-20 feet when they saw the Burn Boss pour fuel onto the pile around its mid-section, several feet away from the fire they had already lit. Though the flames initially flared, they quickly subsided, leading the employee to believe the fuel mix was off or had a high diesel ratio.

The FMO then proceeded to pour more fuel on the opposite side and upslope of the pile. The FMO was standing on the road shoulder which was elevated nearly six feet above the base of the pile, allowing the FMO to pour fuel directly onto the slash.

Employee 1 remembers a brief exchange with the Burn Boss after he asked if there was fire near his location. Employee 1 remembers saying “not yet." Moments later, while the Burn Boss was pouring fuel from the five-gallon can onto the pile, fire erupted from below the Burn Boss and the fuel container, engulfing him in flames. 

Lesson: Using a fuel can and adding fuel to a pile with an established ignition point or heat source significantly increased the risk of the accident.

Six Rivers National Forest Pile Burn Injury 2012

October 30 was the second day of burn operations in their project area. A steady and efficient pace was set from the beginning and maintained throughout this operation. Around 1445 hours the operation was winding down and bone piling was taking place on a half-burned wet pile to increase fire consumption. The crew was working in pairs and all fire lighters were in close proximity to one another.

At 1500 hours a member of the burn crew was placing one and ten-hour fuels on a burning hand pile when the crew member lost their footing and fell forward into the hand pile. 

The crew member immediately attempted to stand up while encountering heavy smoke and the helpless feeling of being unable to push themselves out of the pile, later explaining: “It was like I was suspended in the brush.” While attempting to push free, the crew member could feel the radiant heat from the coals through their gloved hands and slightly on their face when the one-hour fuels began to torch.

As the heat and smoke increased, the crew member felt direct flame impingement on the left side of their neck and face. The crew member then instinctively pulled away from the flames, gaining momentum and rolled out of the pile. The initial adrenaline rush to the crew member indicated that “everything was fine,” —they did not comprehend the damage that was already done. Immediately, the crew member’s adjacent burn crew member heard the yell and commotion of the fall into the burn pile and responded instantly.

Lesson: Ensure medical equipment is on-site and inspected prior to the start of a project. If transporting a patient in your own vehicle, consider bringing an extra person to maintain patient care, while another person drives.

Feather River Prescribed Fire Burn Injury 2010 

To the best of his recollection, the injured firefighter was lighting with his drip torch held upside down and over the pile with his right leg (which will be his injured leg) very close to where the dripping flame was landing within the pile.

A site inspection also revealed unburned branches slanted in the direction of the firefighter’s leg that could have carried liquid fuel mix to him. The site where he was standing, his work boots and fire-resistant pants all smelled of fuel mix. The firefighter did remember spilling some mix on his boot earlier in the day while filling his torch.

Fuel conditions were not conducive to lighting and required the firefighters to hold their torches in one position to build a heat source and allow the piles to ignite. This process brought the firing groups closer to flames for a longer period and created a flaming heat source directly under their torches. Because the injured firefighter cannot remember the exact events leading to his injury, it is also possible that his torch heated up. Drip torches have been known to pressurize under these conditions and allow flames to spurt or shoot in undesired directions. This may have contributed to his pant leg igniting.

Lesson: The project’s Job Hazard Analysis calls for avoiding fuel on clothing or PPE. Two of the three related documents even call for the employee to change their clothes once contaminated by flammable material. Because this is so clearly documented, I would expect that a change of clothes be available in the field. However, this was not the case. Only one participant had a change of clothes on the day of the incident.

Have you experienced an unintended outcome or near miss while pile burning? Before pile burning starts for the day, share these lessons—and your own—with everyone heading into the field with you. 

Also, check out this blog post about drip torch burns:

https://lessons.wildfire.gov/blog/2017-05-15/socks-matter