UTV Spring Pole Near Miss 2016

This incident occurred at the Alaska Fire Service's Fort Wainwright Training Area in Fairbanks, Alaska, during UTV training along a flat, two-track road that had sustained considerable vegetation damage from the previous fall's early snow storm. While operating the UTV there was a sudden “thud/thunk” sound and an abrupt deceleration. Within a fraction of a second, the operator was pinned to the driver’s seat. From the adjacent thick vegetation, a "spring pole" had pierced through the roll cage, pressing across the operator's lap—with the tip protruding about three inches outside the door frame. (A spring pole is a tree, a segment of a tree, limb, or sapling which is under stress or tension due to the pressure or weight of another tree or object.)

RLS, Driving, Training, Non Fire, Utility Task Vehicle (UTV) Incident