FIRE SHELTER SURVIVAL

Do's and Don'ts That Could Save Your Life

© 1997 Kelly Andersson www.wildfirenews.com
Fire shelters have saved the lives of more than 270 firefighters. Countless serious injuries have been prevented by using shelters on the fire line. But 28 firefighters who were carrying shelters have died, some because they didn't get their shelters out of the cases, and others because they didn't know how to safely use them. Ted Putnam, a specialist in protective clothing and equipment at the U.S. Forest Service's Missoula Technology & Development Center, explains that many firefighters who once considered the fire shelter just excess baggage have survived entrapments because they used their shelters. But training and practice are critical. Six firefighters died in 1990 when their escape plans failed and the fire caught them before they could deploy shelters. It can take an untrained person several minutes to get into a shelter, but practice sessions can cut that to 20 seconds or less. Shelter training should include deployments under turbulent conditions, because high winds associated with the arrival of a flame front can rip a shelter away from you. Keep an arm or leg through the shelter strap so it's not blown away. "We have some footage from a practice exercise," says Putnam, "where firefighters were deploying fire shelters under very windy conditions. The shelters would wrap around people and blow between their legs." Practice removing the shelter from the case while running. Firefighters have died because they couldn't get their shelters out while trying to outrun a flame front. Putnam says on-the-run practice may have saved some lives on the Dude Fire, where seconds mattered. "In this case, the fire came and split that crew in half. If they'd run without their packs, they would have all made it out the bottom. When that finger split some of them off, though, they turned around. When they did, one of them remembered, 'Ohboy, we're cut off now and we've got to get into our fire shelters.' But he couldn't reach his shelter and get it out with one hand; he had to take his pack off to get his shelter out. Then he looked up the road and saw there was fire between him and the other people, who had spun around and started back up the road. He deployed right there. He didn't have any problem because he got into it right away, before the area between the two fingers closed in on him. The other people were running uphill with their packs on, yelling, 'Get your fire shelters!' But they couldn't get them, because the lid for the shelters was in their center back area and their packs kept hitting down on the lids. They'd start to lift, and then the pack would come down on their hand." "As they continued up the road," he says, "they came to a steep pitch. They were exhausted, so they stopped. The first six people there got into their shelters. One of the people in the upper six said later that when he was going under his shelter the other people were just starting to get their shelters unfolded when the fire caught them. All the physical evidence very clearly indicated something like the fire catching them prior to getting under their shelters." Once you get into a shelter, you should prepare yourself mentally to stick it out. Keep your nose to the dirt and don't get out. "On the Dude fire one guy got out right when the flames got there," Putnam says. "I think he yelled, 'I'm being burned.' The people there in shelters next to him said that's the time that the shelter material started to heat up. He jumped up and started down the road, and he hit someone else's shelter and knocked a hole in it, which allowed hot air to get in. It wasn't too long after he got up that another firefighter got up. He survived, but was burned pretty badly as he went up the road. He should have stayed put. The hotshots up above saw him coming and rescued him. He was dragging his shelter on the ground, and if he'd held it over his back as a shield he would have probably come out of it in pretty good shape." Putnam explains that the clothing on one firefighter they examined did not suffer the damage that would be expected when someone is overrun by flames. "His clothing looked good compared to a lot of people who were burned and survived," says Putnam. "He got out of his fire shelter, and apparently was dragging his shelter on the ground. We found a trail of fire shelter material. He picked up a lot of radiant burns from walking around in the hot air. Because we found huge pieces of shelter material later, this indicates the fire shelter had done its job during the flame passage. We think if he had just stayed in place, the shelter would have kept providing protection." It's important in an entrapment that firefighters stay down on the ground. "Once you're up off the ground," says Putnam, "hot gases can come under the shelter and right up into your face. We warn people to stay out of chimneys, but when you stand up, you in fact become a chimney. When fire gets around a human body it will just run right up into your face, which is the worst place you can have it come." Research by Putnam and Bret Butler of the Fire Sciences Lab of the Intermountain Research Station, also at Missoula, indicates that the difference in air temperature close to the ground and just a short distance above the ground could be significant for survival. They found in testing fire shelters set up in prescribed burns that air temperatures increase at a rate of 9ºF. per inch rise above the floor of the shelter. Findings from these studies are reported in a to-be-published paper. If you have to get in with someone else and share a shelter, be sure you let them know you're trying to get in. "On the Buchanan Burn," says Putnam, "one firefighter was having trouble getting into his shelter. Another was fully deployed on the ground, and the edge of his shelter started to lift up. He grabbed it and held it down -- which is what we recommend you do -- but it turns out it was one of his fellow firefighters trying to get in." "The fire shelter, when we found it, had a huge tear in it," he says. The firefighters said later they thought they'd torn it when they were wrestling with it. Putnam recommends that firefighters yell, "Can I get in?" if they have to share. "I think most people are going to let you in," says Putnam. "The problem is when they don't know what's out there." Water can make the difference in an entrapment, but only if you drink it. Don't try to wet down your skin, your clothes, or your bandanna. Wet clothing conducts heat to the skin five times faster than dry clothing, and moist hot air will damage airways and lungs sooner than dry air will. "If you go into a steam room, 130 degrees is about as hot as you can stand it," says Putnam. "In a dry sauna, though, you can take 180 degrees. You can tolerate hot dry air better than moist air." Of course the best way to survive a burnover is to avoid one. Pick out safety zones in advance, and make sure your escape route is good. "At South Canyon, people ran through survival zones," says Putnam. "They went into the East Canyon, and there were spot fires in it as they were going down. It was just touch and go to get below them, and 15 minutes after they got out of there, the canyon went up." The fire at South Canyon came through a saddle, and firefighters had planned a longer path out -- the way they'd come in. "When the fire burned into that area," says Putnam, "they turned around and headed straight out. I think they got out of there probably 20 or 30 minutes faster than they would have with the other plan. That could in fact have saved some lives. They were regressing back to a known route, rather than seeing clearly the need for the fastest route out." "We talked to everybody," he says, "and they didn't have a clue where they could deploy a fire shelter. I don't know how many people I talked to, and I asked them if they'd ever read the literature on shelters. Most weren't even aware of it. Prior to South Canyon most firefighters' only training was practicing getting into a shelter." Failure to choose a safe site for deployment can be fatal. In an entrapment on Montana's Shepard Mountain Fire, firefighters deployed on a sidehill rock slide. "These people were in a rock slide safety zone for more than an hour and a half before the fire got there," says Putnam. "One person was burned there after he deployed his shelter near some brush. They were probably waiting, waiting, waiting, and they didn't do anything until the fire was right there. And maybe at the last minute it came a little too quick." If you think you may be trapped or overrun, ditch the fusees. They will autoignite at 375 degrees, which is about 50 degrees hotter than the melting point of goggles and hardhats, a temperature that's common under escape conditions. "They're the most dangerous things firefighters carry," says Putnam. "There was a firefighter who died without extensive burn injuries. Looking at his clothing, it appeared that he should have survived." So what killed him? It became apparent during the investigation that a possible cause of the problem was in the backpack. The body was found face down, with the burned backpack on the firefighter's back. "A fusee or fusees had ignited in the pack," explains Putnam, "and burned a hole into his back. The fusees could not be ruled out as a cause of death. If you're carrying fusees and time is running out, it's another reason to drop your pack." Perhaps one of the most critical survival skills is one that's most difficult to actually do on a fire. In the last seven years, 23 firefighters have died carrying packs and tools while running uphill from a fire. If you're going to escape, you have got to get your shelter out, drop your packs, and run. You're up to 20 percent faster without your gear. Most of these fatal entrapments, according to Putnam, could have been survived if firefighters had dropped their gear and run with only their shelters. At South Canyon no firefighters dropped packs; two dropped their tools only when they started to get burned. "If they'd dropped their packs," says Putnam, "the projection shows that they all make it. Scott Blecha was the last one to make a run for it. When he left the crew, if he had run without his pack, chances are good he would have made it. Three people made it up over the top of the ridge -- the first one over just had light radiation burns, like sunburn, and the second one had second-degree burns, and the third one had third-degree burns. And Scott Blecha wasn't that far behind those people." "Firefighters on the Dude Fire saw the fire coming over the top of the ridge," Putnam says. "Their escape route was down the road. They all had their packs on, and as they ran down the hill, one of them saw that the person ahead of him was running with a chainsaw. He ran up next to him and said, 'Get rid of that damn chainsaw!' When the guy wouldn't do it, he grabbed it away from him. But when they finally got to the road, he still had the chainsaw in his hand." Putnam says even though one of the firefighters saw it was possible to run faster without the saw, once he got hold of it, he held on to it. "It showed, from a human factors standpoint, that your equipment becomes an extension of yourself -- it almost becomes invisible -- and it's very hard to let go," says Putnam. The best way to avoid an entrapment, of course, is to not get into an area where it'll happen. But the best thing you can do to survive one, should you get caught, is to be prepared. Read the books, know the material, get the training. "We need to be more aggressive about our training," Putnam says. "We need to make sure that people not only go to the classes, but then we need to talk to them. We're trying to encourage crew leaders and safety officers to spot-check fire shelters, and ASK people questions about fire shelters, to see whether they know that material. Training is one thing, but then we need to ask: did the training take? We know that this critical information must be overlearned to be available when you're under the mental stress of a fast-moving flame front." Chances of surviving an entrapment have increased from under 50 percent to about 98 percent since agencies made fire shelters mandatory equipment. In the last 17 years, though, we've lost 28 firefighters who were carrying fire shelters. Why? Half these people didn't remove their shelters from the cases. Eight others were critically burned before they could get under their shelters. Three of them got out of their shelters instead of staying put. Most of these people could have survived if they'd known and followed the guidelines for shelter deployment. You have a proven life-saver. Learn how to use it. Carry it. Fight fire safely, so you don't need to use the shelter. Remember that it can happen to you. If it does, proper use of a fire shelter can save your life.
For further information, contact: Missoula Technology & Development Center Building 1 Fort Missoula Missoula Montana 59804 (406)329-3965