Never Forget 1978: Three Six Rivers NF engine crewmembers killed in collision

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Never Forget 1978: Three Six Rivers NF engine crewmembers killed in collision

On July 26, 1978, Six Rivers NF engine crewmembers Richard Montano, Gayle Tsutsumi, and David Perrine were killed, and Mark Evans and Gene Schmoker injured when their engine collided with a logging truck south of Orleans, California. The Orleans engine was responding to fires in Weitchpec when the accident occurred.

Incident Name: Weitchpec Dump fires
Date: July 26, 1978
Personnel: 3 lives lost, 2 injured critically
Age:
Agency/Organization: US Forest Service
Position: wildland firefighters

Summary:
Loves lost:
Richard A. Montano, age 22 of Santa Ana
Gayle Tsutsumi, age 26 of Redondo Beach and Arcata
David Perrine, 27 of Hamburg NY
Also injured:
Mark P. Evans, age 22 of Moraga CA
Gene Schmoker, age 26 of Orleans (crew foreman)

On Wednesday July 26, 1978 at about 1345 hours, a Forest Service "Tanker Truck" (now called an "Engine") was responding at the request of CDF to arson fires at the Weitchpec dump. It's believed that the tanker rounded a curve, crossed the center line and clipped the rear wheels of an empty logging truck. The FS tanker went over the road bank and came to rest 250 feet below along the edge of the Klamath River. One firefighter was dead at the scene, two were transported by helicopters to Mad River Hospital in Arcata and pronounced dead on arrival. Two others were critically injured. The logging truck was flipped on its side but stayed on the highway; its 2 passengers were treated and released from the hospital.

For more information, visit http://www.wlfalwaysremember.org/incident-lists/235-orleans-tanker.html

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How fires get their names

Every year in California thousands of wildfires start throughout the state. In most cases, the dispatch center sending the initial resources to a wildland fire will designate a name for the fire, but the first on scene engine or fire official can also name the incident. Fires are usually named for the area in which they start – a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc. Quickly naming the fire provides responding fire resources with an additional locater, and allows fire officials to track and prioritize incidents by name. For example during the Southern California Fire Siege of 2003, the largest wildland fire in California history, the Cedar Fire in San Diego County, was named after the Cedar Creek Falls area where it started. The destructive Old Fire, which burned during the same time period in San Bernardino County, was named after the road along which it started - Old Waterman Canyon Road.

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Tuesday, July 26, 2011