Haight Creek Fire Water Tender Accident 2023

Early in the morning of July 19, a water tender operator got the call for a work assignment on the Haight Creek Fire. As the operator got closer to the ICP, she observed that the highway was becoming “incredibly winding and narrow.” She, therefore, used extra caution. As she rounded a curve, she saw an oncoming log truck that was partially over the centerline. She gently nudged the steering wheel to move the tender as close to the edge of the road as possible—but its dual back wheels caught soft dirt along the ditch line. The tender fishtailed uncontrollably and then rolled one and a half times on the highway, coming to rest on the passenger side. As soon as the tender stopped rolling, the operator climbed out of the cab and checked herself for serious injuries, finding none.