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Narrative:
The Cramer Fire was first reported by a
Salmon-Challis National Forest fire lookout on Sunday afternoon, July 20,
2003. The fire was reconned by aircraft shortly after detection and reported
as three acres, burning midslope in Ponderosa pine and grass. The fire was
located on the Salmon River, near Cramer Creek, at an elevation of 4000-5000
feet. Engines, helitack, air attack, airtankers, and a heavy helicopter were
dispatched to the fire. By nightfall, the fire had grown to 10 acres.
A Type 3 IC, a Type II hand crew, one Type I
helicopter and two Type III helicopters and an airtanker were assigned to the
Cramer Fire on Monday, July 21, 2003. Suppression efforts were hampered by
steep terrain and rolling debris. By
the end of the day the fire had grown to approximately 220 acres.
On the morning of
Tuesday, July 22, two helicopter rappellers from the Indianola helirappell
crew, Jeff Allen and Shane Heath, rappelled onto a ridgeline above the fire
to cut a helispot. Three Type II hand
crews were flown into a helispot and initiated suppression action at the
bottom of the fire. An Air Attack Group Supervisor, Lead Plane, two airtankers and three helicopters
continued to work the fire.
By midafternoon the
handcrews that had been flown into the fire were pulled off the fireline due
to increased fire intensity at the lower helispot. The crews walked to the
Cache Bar boat ramp. Shortly
thereafter, the rappellers called for a helicopter to pick them up, saying
that it was becoming very smoky. A helicopter was launched to retrieve the
two rappellers but was unable to land due to extremely poor visibility.
Radio contact with the
rappellers was lost. Both helicopters assigned to the fire searched for Jeff
Allen and Shane Heath. Later in the
day, two more rappellers, rappelled into the fire area to search on foot for
the two missing crew members. While they were making their way towards the
helispot Jeff Allen and Shane Heath had been working on, personnel on the
other helicopter spotted the missing men and guided the rappellers to the
scene.
Thomas J. Mills,
Designated Safety and Health Official 2
Weather conditions on the
Cramer Fire were hot and dry, with afternoon high temperatures in the 90's
and minimum relative humidity in the teens to low 20's. No major frontal systems were in the area,
skies were clear, and winds were generally in the 10-15 mph range.
The bodies of Jeff Allen
and Shane Heath were found and personnel secured the site. Neither firefighter
was in a fire shelter. Jeff Allen was
a 24-year old native of Salmon, Idaho, and a 4-year member of the Indianola
helitack crew. Shane Heath, a 22-year old from Melba, Idaho, was in his
second year on the Indianola crew. Services for Jeff Allen took place in
Salmon, Idaho on Saturday July 26, 2003.
Services for Shane Heath are scheduled for Monday, July 28, 2003 in
Nampa, Idaho.
LINDA DONOGHUE
Team Leader
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