stuck in a ‘nook’ – Orange County Register

Plan of the US Forest Service on the 18th of the fire of El Dorado will burn The 22,680 acres and the destruction of five homes in San Bernardino and Riverside counties were to cut off the blaze that would protect Angelus Oaks and ignite the blazes to direct the flames away from Big Bear.

Around 7 p.m. on September 17, 2020, after gusts of an estimated 60 mph dumped embers over the bulldozer line and Highway 38, Charlie Morton, a crew boss in a Big Bear Forest Service shooting team, left his group and walked alone along the unburnt side of the bulldozer line to check for fires in place.

He told the captain that his crew, aided by a few engine companies, could quell these new threats.

But soon, the wind picked up again, and the fire burned through the growth of vegetation that had accumulated over the years as a result of aggressive fire containment policies became more and more intense. The captain asked Morton if he could go out. “We’ll see,” Morton replied.

Moments later, Morton broadcasts that he was trapped in a “corner”. That was the last people heard from him.

Hours later, around 11:40 p.m., searchers found Morton’s body with the scorched bunker next to it, barely opened. Almost all of Morton’s clothes were burned away from his body. He was still wearing what was left of his pack. The fire consumed the wooden hoe handle he was carrying.

Two reports released by the Forest Service this month detail not only the actions and actual circumstances prior to 39-year-old Morton’s death, but also the Forest Service’s policies, culture, and lack of information. experienced firefighters that officials feared contributed. resulted in Morton’s death and could put others at risk of future wildfires.

Reports generated through interviews with firefighters and others – El Dorado Organization Learning Report and El Dorado Learning Assessment Report, posted on wildfirelessons.net – does not specifically blame any person, tactics or policy for Morton’s death.

That can become important as an attorney prepares to defend Refugio and Angelina Jimenez, person accused of involuntary manslaughter and arson crimes after authorities said the pyrotechnic device they used during their gender reveal photo session at Yucaipa Park caught fire on September 5.

San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson has said he can demonstrate a straight line from the crash that led to Morton’s death.

Jimenezes has pleaded not guilty to all charges. The messages were left on Tuesday, January 11, with their attorney, Michael Scafiddi, as well as Anderson seeking comment.

High winds ‘from nowhere’

For the Oceanside native Morton and other members of the crew, Big Bear is their “grass field” – although very few crew members can actually afford to live there – and they believe Mountain towns must be protected.

But the fire behavior at San Bernardino Peak on the day of Morton’s death was disturbing. The fire is heating up and watchers fear it will threaten the Great Bear Lake area. Bulldozers were building lines behind Angelus Oaks, but that crew, after observing the flames, pulled out.

Even so, the operation to redirect the El Dorado fire into the burns of the 2015 Lake Fire was going well… until it didn’t.

Out of nowhere, gusts of wind (some say it felt like a 60 mph gust) came up and blew up spots on both Highway 38 and the bulldozer track, the report said. ” the report said.

Firefighters who normally work in the San Bernardino National Forest later commented that they were surprised by the intense fire behavior.

“Shortly after the second strong wind, a strike leader… called everyone out of the line and released the siege. What started as a walk becomes a downhill run. Cal Fire strike team members described feeling panic as the intensity of the fire on the black side of the burn increased dramatically and a local fire was developing in the (unburnt area). “

However, when Morton’s crew members looked behind them, there was Morton “calmly using (the hose) to create points on the way down.”

Morton then returned to the bulldozer track to get a better look at how many spot fires had overtaken it.

Morton broadcast his proposed attack plan and followed it with the uncertain “We’ll see” comment to his captain.

And then something went terribly wrong.

The next time the captain called Morton, there was no response. “Then he heard Charlie desperately calling, ‘I’m in the corner.’ ”

The organization’s research report said that the spinning vortices, created by the extreme heat from combustion, “appeared to have formed just as Charlie was walking along the bulldozer line, at the main spot. his body while he was walking there.”

How the Forest Service determined that this happened was unclear on Tuesday, as Morton was the only witness.

Morton no longer answers the captain’s calls. Radio information about a missing firefighter began to spread through the mountain crews. The captain boarded a truck with the warden and headed uphill, calling Morton over the loudspeaker. Morton’s cell phone was pinged. Teams of law enforcement helicopters attempted to use their thermal sensors to locate Morton, but the heat from the blaze made that impossible. A helicopter crew calls out Morton over its loudspeaker.

A safety officer and a paramedic considered hiking in search of Morton. The conditions were so dangerous that, later, the paramedic said he used his phone to send a pin code to another doctor to mark his location, in case he didn’t return. Okay. The pair eventually stopped searching after encountering a grueling team of motor companies.

“The engine company members’ eyes watered, they coughed and snotted, and runny noses came out. The way up the bulldozer route is extremely unpleasant, hard to see and dangerous. The report said.

That night, as conditions improved, a National Forest battalion commander and Big Bear fire chief searched, each occupying one side of the bulldozer line.

“A rapid reflection of light from an equipped and not deployed bunker caught the eye (of the battalion commander) at the edge of the bulldozer track near a bend. They stopped 25 feet away and were able to determine that Charlie had not survived.”

Forest Service officials called Morton’s fiancé, Monica Tapia of Irvine, and told her they needed to see her.

Before they could arrive, Tapia called the director of the Forest Service.

“Charlie’s fiancée told (him) to tell her Charlie was fine, that he wasn’t lost, that he was fine,” the report said.

But the general manager just couldn’t stand the bad news, so he handed over the phone. A support services worker told Tapia that Morton had died in the line of duty.

Forest Service Trouble

The organization’s learning report says Morton’s death has highlighted problems within the Forest Service that are not new:

• Its fire behavior models cannot predict this type of fire behavior, and none of its analysts are trained to recognize spinning vortices – known as retrograde pairs – that form in these things. which case.

• Agencies and organizations like PG&E that employ fire professionals are enticing experienced Forest Service staff to leave with higher wages and better work-life balance.

• Flames that burn fuels that accumulate a lot of fuel are difficult to extinguish. “Our current model of fire as an enemy to be destroyed contributed to the state of the forest at the time of the fire,” the report said.

• Treating firepower as an enemy can also have an effect on local resources “trying to defend their home turf” against that enemy, the report said. “We continue to ask our wildland fire responders to save communities that are becoming increasingly unbelievable. At what point do we claim that communities without any defensive space don’t have any image worth the risk when trying to save in extreme fire behavior conditions? ”