U.S. Forest Service is contesting citations and fines imposed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration after LODD

Friday, April 5, 2013

U.S. Forest Service is contesting citations and fines imposed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration after LODD

USFS Contests OSHA Fine Following Firefighter's Death

20-year-old Forest Service firefighter was struck and killed by a falling tree while fighting the Steep Corner Fire
GRANGEVILLE, Idaho (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service is contesting citations and fines imposed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration following the death of a 20-year-old Forest Service firefighter last summer.

OSHA spokeswoman Deanne Amaden told the Lewiston Tribune (http://bit.ly/16BAcwC) in a story published Friday that the two agencies are negotiating after each conducted investigations and reached separate conclusions.

Anne Veseth of Moscow died Aug. 12 after being struck and killed by a falling tree while fighting the Steep Corner Fire near Orofino.

OSHA in a report released in February said the Forest Service failed to maintain safe working conditions and fined the agency $14,000.

A Forest Service report released the same month concluded that Veseth's death wasn't the result of human error but was due to the inherent dangers of fighting wildfires where risks can't be completely eliminated.

The federal safety agency has already reduced a similar fine against the state firefighting organization, the Clearwater-Potlatch Timber Protective Association, to $10,500.

OSHA also modified the original citation, after the state objected that it would have required firefighters to leave any fire where standard firefighting orders couldn't be followed or dangerous situations were present. The state contended that the original citation would have prevented personnel from making an initial attack on many fires, allowing them to grow and become more dangerous.

Veseth was in her second season as a wildfire fighter. She was part of a crew assigned to reinforce a fire line on one perimeter of the 43-acre Steep Corner Fire that burned near Orofino in August when she was struck by the tree and killed.

An anonymous federal reporting system for wildland firefighters indicated that a Montana-based firefighting team declined to join suppression efforts on the Steep Corner Fire the day before Veseth died, citing safety concerns.
___

Information from: Lewiston Tribune, http://www.lmtribune.com

CFN - California Fire News 2013

No comments:

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.

CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States. CDF - CAL FIRE Firefighters answer the call more than 300,000 times a year. CAL FIRE Firefighters make up the fire department for 30 of our 58 counties in California and more than 100 local communities. We serve as the incident command during many of California’s most serious disasters. CAL FIRE Firefighters respond to many various types and forms of calls ranging from structural fires, to auto accidents, to earthquakes, to floods, to the spilling of hazardous materials, to every conceivable disaster; CAL FIRE answer's the calls. CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States . CAL FIRE firefighters protect 33 million acres of State Responsibility Area (SRA). We have over 4,000 members within CAL FIRE and CAL FIRE is associated with the California Professional Firefighters (CPF) and the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF).

CFN - CALIFORNIA FIRE NEWS - CAL FIRE NEWS

Friday, April 5, 2013