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Report on Knowles Fire deaths urges staffing, communications fixes
A Serious Accident Investigation Team found more than 20 issues, including dispatch vacancies and outdated equipment, contributed to the deaths of four helitack firefighters in Mesa County in June. The report recommends filling vacant posts, consolidating cross-jurisdictional dispatch and improving trigger-point guidance.
GRAND JUNCTION â A newly released Serious Accident Investigation Team report identifies more than 20 problems that hampered firefighters before four members of a helitack crew were killed when fires converged in Mesa County in June, and it recommends a series of staffing, communications and operational changes.
The four firefighters who died were Emily Barker, Nick Hutcherson, Nathan Matthews and Sydney Watson.
The investigation examined a series of fires that merged in June, creating extreme fire weather and a dangerous entrapment situation. Among the findings were breakdowns in communication, limited aerial support and supervision gaps.
Staffing emerged as a central theme. The report points to vacancies in communications, dispatch, helitack and supervisory positions. Dispatch centers handling the fires were largely staffed by trainees, and vacancies left them understaffed. The team recommends addressing qualification levels, especially during peak fire season, and reconfiguring the physical layout of the dispatch center to improve communication between teams.
Helitack crews were stretched thin. A vacant managerial position at the U.S. Wildland Fire Service and unfilled seasonal roles meant teams lacked depth and flexibility when fires lasted multiple days. The report recommends funding the vacant assistant foreman position and maintaining minimum staffing requirements for helitack roles.
Communication problems spanned jurisdictions and equipment. The report cites dated equipment at the communications site on Black Ridge near Colorado National Monument and recommends immediately filling a vacant telecommunications specialist position, giving handheld tracking devices to helitack members and combining multiple fires into one incident sooner to avoid miscommunication.
Because the fires crossed state lines, dispatchers had to repeatedly log in and out of separate systems, adding delays in relaying information. The report recommends consolidating agencies and establishing uniform systems across dispatch centers.
The report also addresses âtrigger pointâ guidance. With air support limited when the Rifle Helitack team was on the ground, it was difficult to relay that a larger fire was threatening to overtake them. The team had set a landmark to watch â a trigger point â indicating when they had to leave if fire reached that area. The guidance recommends dedicating ground lookouts independent of air operations to better determine when to leave, and building in additional time to evacuate in the event of smoke or wind like that which plagued the evacuation during the June burnover.
The full list of findings and recommendations appears in the final seven pages of the report.