Lynn Hollow Tree Incident 2009

On Saturday, November 07, 2009, the Firestorm Wildland Fire Suppression Crew (FWFS), a contract fire fighting company, was working in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The FWFS crew was tasked with “prepping” the Lynn Hollow drainage for a planned prescribed burn. The FWFS crew of 15 and one National Park Service employee arrived at the worksite, briefed as to the day’s work assignments, and began work at 0830 hours. At approximately 1305 hours, the faller was felling two beetle-kill snags that were leaning against a large limb approximately 45 feet above ground level on a healthy Chestnut Oak. The faller's cut on the first pine went as planned. As the faller's second pine began to fall in the intended direction, he began to egress along his planned route and was struck by a large chestnut oak limb that had been broken by the second beetle-kill pine as it fell. The patient was treated and released from Blount Memorial with soft tissue injuries to his back and shoulder with instructions not to return to work for three days. He also sustained minor cuts and abrasions to his face, neck, and upper back.

Prescribed Fire, Hit by Tree