This past October in the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge (Comanche County, OK, USA) a skid steer masticator was conducting a hazardous fuels reduction treatment along a paved road. There was additional road grading and other mechanical fuel reduction work for a future prescribed burn occurring on other parts of the refuge that day. Unfortunately, the masticator hit a rock that was hidden underneath the vegetation and, unknowingly, sparked a fire.
The operator reversed the machine and was able to see the flames. He turned further to see that the fire had ignited a few hundred feet behind him and was the size of a pickup truck already. By the time the engine was able to get there in response to his call, the fire had grown to several acres in size. This fire grew to 12,462 acres over the next several days before a perimeter was secured.
Here are some lessons learned from this event:
When designing and implementing mechanical treatments:
- Establish triggers when environmental conditions warrant pausing mechanical treatments and/or requiring on-site contingency resources for potential unintended ignitions and high probabilities of starts.
- Develop an SOP to determine the need for on-site contingency resources (engine/dozer/UTV with sprayer).
- Consider adding onboard suppression mechanisms.
- Have a spotter or another resource working in the same area to watch for ignitions.
Here are some successes from this event:
Despite the unintended wildfire, this incident highlighted several successes
- Recent fuel break improvements allowed firefighters to fight the fire safely and effectively.
- Previous fuel treatments across the landscape reduced the fuel loading in adjacent areas.
- Long-term relationships with cooperators allowed for a timely response with area familiarization.
For more information and the full story, be sure to read it here.