Initial reports are that Chief Dan Packer may have been lost in a burnover while scouting the fire. Another firefighter was injured during the same incident during mutual fire shelter deployments. A service crew of four was able to get to the scene Sunday and recover the body, confirming the chief’s death.
East Pierce Fire and Rescue Chief Dan Packer andfirefighter Craig Williams during a training exercise
this past year.
Photo courtesy of East Pierce Fire and Rescue
Nice article and photo's at: The Courier-Herald
Fire Chief Dan Packer of East Pierce Fire and Rescue died Saturday in a wildfire in northern California.
The 49-year-old Packer was preparing to take over the division supervisor duties for the Panther Fire south of Happy Camp in Siskiyou County in northern California.
Assistant Chief Russ McCallion said Packer was “scouting the fire when the incident happened. The fire blew up and blew over him. It was incredibly rapid and Chief Packer was overrun.”
Packer was with another firefighter during the incident. Both deployed a shelter when the wind shifted and the fire overtook them. The other firefighter survived, but was injured.
The Panther Fire is part of the Siskiyou complex fire near Yreka, Calif. The wildfire has burned more than 50,000 acres.
Assistant Chief Dave Wakefield described Packer as “a firefighter’s fire chief. Not only could he mix with the command staff, but with the people on the line and the newest recruit. His door was always open.”
McCallion said Packer was a “visionary and he could communicate his vision.
“He could get out front and lead and everyone would follow,” he said. “And you just can’t overestimate how instrumental he was in creating East Pierce.”
Packer, a Lake Tapps resident, grew up in Montana. Before becoming a fireman he was a bull rider on the rodeo circuit.
He began his career as a firefighter in 1981 in Burien. Packer took on the duties of fire chief in Bonney Lake in 1995. Under his leadership and vision, the chief transformed the department of six firefighters into the East Pierce fire district with 100 firefighters and support staff and more than 40 volunteers. The district serves nearly 75,000 people and covers the areas of Bonney Lake, Sumner, Lake Tapps, the Ridge Communities, South Prairie and Wilkeson, about 142 square miles.
Packer is survived by his wife, four daughters, two grandchildren and his mother.East Pierce will be posting information concerning the memorial on its Web site at www.eastpiercefire.org
Chief of East Pierce (WA) Fire and Rescue, Chief Packer was supervising firefighting efforts in the area in California as a member of an interagency emergency management team battling the blaze. His position was overrun by a wildfire following an unexpected shift in the wind.
This LODD came just hours after Olympic National Park FF Andrew Palmer was killed by a falling tree while fighting the separate Eagle fire in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.
Updated 07-27-08: Chief Dan Packer, Fire Chief of East Pierce (Washington State) Fire & Rescue and Immediate Past President of the Washington Fire Chiefs, died in the Line of Duty in that California Wildfire yesterday, Saturday, July 26, 2008.
Situation: Chief Packer was deployed on Friday and was serving as Division Supervisor on the Panther Fire in the Siskiyou mountains in Northern California. Tragically, while operating, he was trapped, and burned over by the fire when the winds shifted unexpectedly.
Fire Chief of East Pierce - Fire & Rescue
Washington State
This would be second Wildland fire Line of Duty Death in California this month, Both Firefighters were from Washington State.
Funeral Service Info when available will be posted here.
Location: Chief Packer was killed yesterday while working on the Panther Fire south of Happy Camp in Siskiyou County.
The 250-acre Panther Fire was started by a lightning strike Monday night about 15 miles south of Happy Camp and has since burned toward Ukonom Creek and the Klamath River.
Family, friends and fellow firefighters of Chief Dan Packer--we in California respect and honor our firefighters, none more than those who come from out-of-state to assist us...and, among those, none more than Chief Packer. Our condolences to his folks and to the entirety of the State of Washington for their loss.
ReplyDeleteWith respect Rey Radillo