George Jackson, Project leader, and Tony Petrilli, Designer
All persons operating heavy equipment on wildland fires should have their fire shelters on them at all times. It is difficult to wear a shelter on your belt if you work from the seat of a dozer, or if your work requires that you continually get in and out of an engine. Many operators keep their fire shelter on the seat, in a compartment, or hanging from a knob. The fire shelter could easily be forgotten in an entrapment situation when the operator must abandon the equipment.
The Missoula Technology and Development Center (MTDC) has developed a harness for heavy equipment and engine operators that allows them to carry their fire shelter on their chest (figure 1). The harness consists of a 3-inch-wide chest attachment pad supported around the waist and over the shoulders by 1-inch straps. The harness (figure 2) uses the military slide fasteners that come with the fire shelter carrying case to hold the shelter horizontally. The harness has a wide range of adjustments allowing it to fit most people and to be positioned where it is most comfortable.
The MTDC fire shelter chest harness is available from the General Services Administration (NSN 8465-01-463-4648) or from the Fire Cache system (NFES #0294).
Figure 1—The new chest harness allows the fire
shelter to be worn at all times by persons
operating heavy equipment or engines.
Figure 2—Rear view of the chest harness
with shelter attached.
George Jackson has been part of the Forest Service's Fire and Aviation Program since he began working on a district fire crew for the Lolo National Forest in 1970. From 1974 to 1991, he was a smokejumper at the Missoula Smokejumper Base. During the winters he was detailed to MTDC where he worked on fire and aviation projects. He has been a Project Leader at MTDC since 1991. In addition to project work, he is an Air Tactical Group Supervisor and has served on many wildland fire entrapment and fatality investigations.
Tony Petrilli is an Equipment Specialist in the Fire, Aviation, and Safety and Health Programs at MTDC. He began working at MTDC over the winters in 1992 and joined the Center full time in 2000. Tony has spent more than 17 years as a firefighter for ranger districts on the Lewis and Clark and Beaverhead National Forests and as a smokejumper for the Northern Region. He is qualified as a Division/Group Supervisor. He is a master parachute rigger and understands textiles and their uses in firefighting.
Additional single copies of this document may be ordered from:
USDA Forest Service
Missoula Technology and Development Center
5785 Hwy 10 West
Missoula, MT 59808-9361
Phone: (406) 329-3978
Fax: (406) 329-3719
E-mail: wo_mtdc_pubs@fs.fed.us
For further technical information, please contact George Jackson at the address above.
Phone: (406) 329-3967
Fax: (406) 329-3719
E-mail: gjackson@fs.fed.us
