Red Owl 2002

On August 1, 2002, a 48-year-old volunteer firefighter on a South Dakota VFD was severely burned while suppressing a wildland fire. The firefighter was spraying water from the bed of a pickup truck that was equipped with a portable water tank and pump when he fell out of the truck bed into the fire. The firefighter ran approximately 200 yards trying to escape the fire. During this escape attempt, he was severely burned. With second- and third-degree burns over 70 percent of his body, five days later, the firefighter died from his burn injuries.

Initial Attack, Engines, Fatality, Entrapment