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Granite Mountain Hotshots Were Asked if they Could Protect Yarnell

December 11, 2013 By John Dougherty 53 Comments

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By John Dougherty

Published Wed., Dec. 11 2013 at 11:38 AM in Phoenix New Times

yarnell-feature-12-12.jpg
Illustration by Pat Kinsella

A state fire supervisor asked the Granite Mountain Hotshots whether they could assist in Yarnell minutes before the 19-member crew left a burned-over safety zone along a mountain ridge and began its descent into a chaparral-choked box canyon where the men died in a firestorm.

See Also: Complete coverage of the Yarnell Hill Fire here.

The request, which was not disclosed in the Serious Accident Investigation Report commissioned by the Arizona Forestry Division (released in late September), provides important new insight into why the Granite Mountain crew decided to abandon their safe position as a powerful thunderstorm rapidly approached the wildfire raging below. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Current Investigations, Featured, Previous Reporting, Yarnell Hill Fire

State Forestry Divison fined nearly $560,000 for mistakes in managing Yarnell Hill Fire that killed 19 Hotshots

December 4, 2013 By John Dougherty 609 Comments

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The Arizona Industrial Commission today released the following reports in connection with the deaths of 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots on June 30 during the Yarnell Hill Fire:

AZ Dept. of Occupational Safety and Health Agenda 12/4/13

Inspection Narrative–ASFD

Worksheets for Proposed Citations

Supporting Photo and Maps

Wildland Fire Associates Report

InvestigativeMedia has also attached an important essay by Ted Putnam on the impossibility of firefighters following the 10 Standards Fire Orders. Putnam’s paper written in 2000 concludes:

“Currently the fire organization is not very proactive in making safety a major
influence in strategies and tactics. Getting the job done, money and image
concerns push firefighters into taking excessive risk. What is needed
organizationally is truthful fire investigations, an honest reporting system that
tracks physical, mental, cultural and social aspects of firefighting and a
willingness to become a learning organization. If safety is ever to become No.
1 in the fire community then the fire community must be willing to spend more
time, money and effort to make it No. 1. The fire community must get beyond
its superficial practices like saying over and over again that safety is No. 1
without any true, longer-term, institutionalized commitment.”

InvestigativeMedia will have a complete report shortly.

Filed Under: Current Investigations, Featured, Uncategorized, Yarnell Hill Fire Tagged With: Arizona Industrial Commission, Maps Wildland Fire Associates, Occupational Safety and Health Agenda, State Forestry Divison, Ted Putnam

Arizona Forestry Division Type 2 Short team roster at the Yarnell Hill Fire

November 13, 2013 By John Dougherty Leave a Comment

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The members of the state’s Type 2 Short Team is posted here.

Filed Under: Current Investigations, Featured, Yarnell Hill Fire

Yarnell Hill Fire Investigation Ignored Major Mistakes by the State

October 17, 2013 By John Dougherty 1,038 Comments

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The following story and videos were produced and reported by InvestigativeMEDIA and appeared in the Phoenix New Times.
By John Dougherty
Published Wed., Oct. 16 2013 at 12:00 PM
Phoenix New Times
Yarnell-Cover-10.17.13.jpg
Illustration by Justin Renteria.

Former Yarnell Fire Chief Peter Andersen sat under a tree in his front yard having his morning coffee on Sunday, June 30, when the Granite Mountain Hotshots drove past his Glen Ilah home.

“At 8:03, [their] two buggies went by,” Andersen says. “Right after they went by, the leaves started to blow. I shook my head. [The state] didn’t listen to me.”

Andersen, who resigned as Yarnell chief in 2011 after 12 years of service, was aggravated because he had warned an Arizona Forestry Division fire manager the night before that it was crucial to attack the steadily expanding fire in the hills above Yarnell at dawn, before prevailing southwesterly winds picked up about 8 in the morning. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Current Investigations, Featured, Previous Reporting, Yarnell Hill Fire

State releases Yarnell Hill Fire investigation on the deaths of 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots

September 30, 2013 By John Dougherty 2 Comments

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The Yarnell Hill Fire Serious Accident Investigation Report was released on Sept. 28, 2013 during a press conference in Prescott, AZ.

InvestigativeMEDIA is continuing to investigate the events that led up to the deaths of 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots during the June 30 wildfire.

Videos of the entire press conference and an interview with lead investigator, Florida State Forester Jim Karels, are posted below.

Opening statements by the Serious Accident Investigation Team:

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Current Investigations, Featured, Yarnell Hill Fire Tagged With: Granite Mountain Hotshots, Press Conference

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