Nut Hill Tree Incident 2013

he Nut Hill Fire, spotted on July 19, 2013 at 1512 by the Oregon Butte Lookout, was located on the Red River Ranger District approximately 20 miles south of Elk City, Idaho, and 2.5 miles west of Dixie, Idaho. Started by lightning, it was burning in subalpine fir and lodge pole pine with numerous snags, and was burning mid-slope up to the ridge-top on an east facing aspect. The management strategy for the fire was full suppression using direct attack tactics. The focus of the suppression effort was felling hazard trees, digging hand line around the fire, and suppressing spot fires created by torching subalpine fir. It was around 22:00 when one of the forks at the top of a snag broke and fell approximately 45 feet striking a firefighter in the head, shoulder and back, knocking the firefighter to the ground.