Orleans Complex Learning Review narrative released
On July 18, 2025, while working on the Butler Fire as part of the Orleans Complex, a Region 5 Interagency Hotshot Crew was conducting direct attack uphill adjacent to the black when a fire‑weakened madrone tree fell into the crew. The crew boss spotted the falling tree and yelled a warning, allowing several firefighters to evade the tree, but one crew member sustained a direct strike and two…
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Emigrant Fire Learning Review narrative released
On Sept. 8, 2025, while working on the Emigrant Fire on the Willamette National Forest, a tree hit a member of an Interagency Hotshot Crew who was working as a felling boss with a contracted felling module. The snag—a 75-foot buckskin hung in the canopy of a live hemlock—released unpredictably during cutting operations, striking the individual in the head, neck and spine. A rapid and complex…
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Ready for Wildfires
Wildfires are growing bigger, faster and more unpredictable. Drought conditions and years of accumulated dry vegetation continue to raise the stakes, and the U.S. Forest Service is prepared.The Forest Service coordinates the largest and most capable firefighting systems in the world. The mission: keep the public and firefighters safe, protect communities and actively manage forests.A National…
#Priorities, #Recreation, #ForestInventoryAndAnalysis, #Fire, #EmergencyPreparedness, #Wildfire, #EmergencyResponse, #Aviation, #Firefighters, #FirefighterSafety, #Firesafety, #Smokejumpers, #Helicopter
Scientists, managers partner to reduce severe injuries to wildland firefighters
Federal wildland firefighters perform hazardous tasks in hazardous environments. (Forest Service photo by Kari Greer)
Even the best-trained and well-resourced firefighter can get seriously, or even fatally, injured while protecting lives and resources. Advancing our understanding about…
#FirefighterSafety, #Firefighters, #Safety
What’s on their skin?
Inyo Hotshot protects communities around the Garnet Fire. Firefighters like this are routinely exposed to smoke, ash and dirt as part of their jobs. They sometimes go days or even weeks without showers. (Forest Service Photo by Sam Wu)
At the end of a long shift, black stains cover yellow…
#Firefighters, #FirefighterSafety, #Health
A season of milestones: National Helicopter Rappel Program
Rappellers descend from the Super Puma Type 1 Helicopter. The Super Puma is larger and can carry more firefighters and gear. (USDA Forest Service photo)
For firefighters who rappel down ropes from helicopters, this year brought historic achievements and a renewed sense of purpose. The USDA Forest Service’s…