Hourglass 3 incidents 1994

On the morning of July 1, 1994, a fire was reported near Pingree Park on the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests. Two deployment incidents and one near entrapment occurred. 

First Incident. 10:40 a.m. two Forest Service employees from the Estes Poudre Ranger District were sent to the scene. The crew began to dig a fire line on the north side of the fire when the plane relayed a message for the crew to retreat. They had already identified their safe zone in the burned area downhill (south) from their location; retreating would have sent them uphill and in front of the advancing fire. The crew decided to stay in this area as the fire approached. At 1:30 p.m. the fire crossed their hand line and began to burn in the crown of the trees, and heavy smoke and the proximity of the fire prompted both crew members to deploy their fire shelters. 

Second Incident. A Forest Service crew was working at the Colorado State University Pingree Park Campus approximately one mile east of the first incident and fire origin. Three crew members were attempting to protect structures at the Campus by clearing the building perimeters of combustibles. At 5:00 p.m. the crew noticed that the fire was crowning and coming directly toward their location. They had already identified a creek and meadow northeast of their location as a safe zone. When the fire threatened they went to the creek for protection. Dense smoke and falling embers from the fire burning around them caused the crew to deploy their fire shelters while they were kneeling next to the bank in the creek.  

Third Incident. The Squad Boss of the individuals in the second incident could not talk to anyone due to communication problems and decided to run to the dining hall (1100 feet to the southwest) of the campus where the incident commander was located. After informing the incident commander that there were embers "the size of my fist" falling on the buildings, the squad boss ran back to the shop building where the crew was located. Enroute, a Sheriffs Deputy in a vehicle picked him up and they proceeded to drive toward the north end of the campus. They pulled into a cul-de-sac and were immediately surrounded by flames which cut off their route back down the road. The squad boss identified an escape route to the south of their location after deciding not to deploy because the deputy did not have a fire shelter or nomex clothing.