Cattail Fire UTV Destroyed 2015

On Sunday, June 14th 2015 at 1209 hours, the Cattail Fire was reported on the northern end of the Osceola Ranger District of the National Forests in Florida. A Type 6 engine, detailed from North Carolina, and an Incident Commander Type 4 (ICT4), local district employee, were dispatched to the reported fire. After scouting the fire, identifying the best roads for burnout operations and clearing those roads, the firefighters started burning out. During burnout operations, two firefighters experienced a shift and increase in the winds. The fire went from a 4-6 foot flanking fire to a head fire with 15-20 foot flames that pushed toward them. As the head fire approached their location the two firefighters decided to disengage from the firing operation. They returned to the UTV support vehicle to drive out of the area. As they jumped into the UTV, the fire spotted over the road in two locations adjacent to the UTV.  As they put the UTV in gear, it died. They restarted the UTV and placed it in gear. The machine died again. At this point, the firefighters decided to abandon the UTV and leave the area on foot.

Entrapment, Equipment, Initial Attack, Firing, Driving, Narrow Escape, Utility Task Vehicle (UTV) Incident