1. Week 6 Seminar Lessons learned from Colorado and Iowa tragedies

2. Objectives The details and significance of the residential fire in Keokuk Iowa on December 22, 1999 The significant factors that contributed to the deaths of three fire fighters in Keokuk, Iowa The factors leading to the deaths of 14 firefighters in Glenwood, Colorado The direct and contributory causes that contributed to the entrapment on the South Canyon Fire

3. Lessons learned from Tragedies As discussed in Unit 4, lessons can be learned from tragedies regardless of their size and complexity Incidents such as Keokuk, Iowa and Storm Canyon, Colorado are similar even though they occurred 5 years and many states apart The applicable lessons and similarity between these incidents may be used to prevent future tragedies from occurring

4. Keokuk Iowa, December 22, 1999 Residential fire at 8:24 a.m. Women screaming children trapped inside Additional calls to dispatch Keokuk units were responding after finishing an MVA approximately two miles away Available personnel responding

5. On Scene Arrival 8:28 a.m. 2 story multi family dwelling Water supply Available apparatus Incident command Establishment of command Command staff

6. Search and rescue Personnel assignments Victims Additional hose placement and associated problems affecting operations

7. Personnel Accountability Firefighter and victim locations unknown Additional resources applied to search for downed firefighters Three firefighters and three victims died, all in various locations The fire was extinguished at 1:30 pm

8. Contributing Factors to Tragedy Lack of size up (risk / benefit) Lack of IMS Lack of accountability system Insufficient resources for interior operations Absence of RIC

9. South Canyon Fire Investigation July 7, 1994 7 miles West of Glenwood Springs, Colorado Lightning Terrain and accessibility Additional incidents caused the district to set priorities for attack based upon many factors including life and property

10. Incident Attack Personnel assigned to fire attack –BLM/Forest Service crew –Air tankers –Smokejumpers July 6 th Personnel assignment –BLM/Forest Service crew –Smokejumpers –hotshots

11. Turn of Events Weather factors Terrain Decision making processes 35 firefighters escape Combined effects leading to the deaths of 12 firefighters and 2 helitack crew members

12. The Investigation Formed within 3 hours of tragedy Investigation team and assignments Investigation process

13. Direct Causes Fire behavior –Fuels –Weather –Topography –Predicted behavior –Observed behavior Incident Management Safety briefings Involved personnel and equipment

14. Contributory Causes Incident management and control mechanisms Support structure

15. Summary Although the incidents were not very similar, the end result and the factors surrounding each indent were very similar Lessons learned regardless of the type of event can be applied throughout the fire service How do tragedies such as these affect the organizations who lose personnel?