One of the big takeaways from the 2023 summary of incident reports from the Wildland Fire Lessoned Learned Center was the increase of UTV related incidents. Over the past 14 years, the most UTV related incidents in one year was 5. In 2023 however, there were 13 related incidents. The graph shows 15 accumulated years of UTV involved incidents, including rollovers, entrapments, equipment damage, and tree strikes.
Almost 60% of the reported UTV related incidents have occurred during prescribed fires. While only 8% have occurred during the training process. The graph below has a breakdown of percentages over the last 15 years based on prescribed fire, initial attack, extended attack, and training. While it seems there has been an increasing number of UTV related incidents, you can’t forget about the benefits that have been a result of more UTVs on the fireground. The use of UTVs have streamlined many aspects of fire related work.
There were 16 separate burn injuries reported in 2023. The most common scenario resulting in a burn injury is through the use of a drip torch and falling into hot ash or active flame. In addition, direct contact with flames and the ignition of flammable liquid were also reported to regularly occur.
There were 12 hit by tree incidents, along with 4 chainsaw cut incidents. The tree strikes occurred in 7 different states. It is important to remember that tree strikes can happen in a variety of locations and conditions.
When involved in an incident, always make sure to receive a full body check regardless of how “okay” you feel, adrenaline response can cover up injuries that normally would need to be addressed.
For more information, be sure to check out the full incident report here!