Dawson 1981

On June 17, 1981, while engaged in suppression actions on the Dawson Fire, California Department of Forestry (CDF) Fire Captains Michael Williams and Dale Brusewitz were approached by two civilians who offered the use of their bulldozer to help suppress the fire. Captain Brusewitz subsequently gave both men explicit instructions to work on a narrow dirt road. The men proceeded into a small drainage on the dirt road to carry out this assignment. When they reached a point just beyond the lowest point on the road, the wind stopped blowing and became calm. The canyon filled with smoke, hiding the dozer from CDF personnel on the ridgetop and from an engine crew that had just entered the canyon. After a very short time, the fire spotted across the road and the slope above the dozer's location. The slope, comprising approximately three acres, burned in a matter of a seconds. Both of the civilian dozer team members received extensive second- and third-degree burns to their faces, arms, chests, and backs. Both men were evacuated to a clearing and transported to the San Bernardino County Hospital Burn Ward by helicopter.

Burn Injury, Initial Attack, Heavy Equipment, Entrapment