Soberanes Fire Water Tender Close Call 2016

A Water Tender full of water headed to Division UU on a stretch of road that he had already been up and down several times. The operator was intentionally staying in the middle of the road due to the presence of tire-damaging rock near the inside edge. As he approached a slight curve in the road he had no special concern—and then he felt the right rear duals give way.

The Water Tender Operator immediately stopped and assessed the situation. He dumped the water to lighten the load and lower the center of gravity. The operator then notified his Task Force Leader of this predicament. In surveying the scene, he also noticed that all the dirt of the road edge was uncompacted fill. The Task Force Leader and Task Force Leader Trainee arrived within minutes. The Division Supervisor parked up from the scene and held traffic. A Rapid Extraction Module (REM) assigned to the area heard the radio traffic and responded to offer assistance. The REM suggested stabilizing the truck with some of their equipment which they were able to do relatively quickly. In discussion with everyone on scene, the Water Tender Operator quickly agreed that that the best option was to pull the truck out with a bulldozer. As it became apparent to the the Division Supervisor that this operation would last some time and still involved significant risk, he decided to designate it as an Incident Within an Incident.

Equipment, RLS, Driving, Water Tender Incident or Accident, Close Call