Disaster Sparks Firefighter Reform Protective Measures Follow In Wake Of Kuna Deaths

A federal panel convened to look into the July grass fire that killed two Kuna volunteer firefighters recommended Friday that all people who fight fires in the wild should have protective shelters.

That was one of 23 recommendations made by an interagency team to prevent future disasters such as the wind-whipped fire that killed Kuna volunteer firemen Bill Buttram, 31, and Josh Oliver, 18, on July 28.

On that night, Buttram and Oliver were battling a grass fire near Kuna, 16 miles southwest of Boise. They were in a 40-year-old fire truck with a history of mechanical troubles.

Investigators said the two men died when they drove into an area of unburned fuels, the truck stalled, they had no water left to fight flames, and sudden winds of 40 to 50 mph fanned the fire over their position.

“When the decision to leave the burned area and drive into heavy, unburned fuels was grouped with Kuna RFD Engine 620 stalling and the advent of 40 to 50 mph winds from the thunderstorm, it proved to be a fatal combination of events,” the report said.

Mike Green, Burns, Ore., district manager for the Bureau of Land Management and co-leader of the study team, said the recommendations could help prevent future tragedies.

“From the start, we wanted to factually reconstruct what happened and what we can learn to help prevent these kinds of tragedies in the future,” he said.

Major recommendations:

All wildlife firefighters should be equipped with fire shelters.

Engines should reserve enough water in their tanks to provide protection in case of emergency.

Equipment must be certified to be in working order before being placed in service.

Equipment with a history of mechanical failure should not be used in off-road wildland firefighting efforts.

The state should set up an agency with oversight responsibility for setting standards for wildland firefighter qualifications, training and equipment.

Roles should be clarified when several agencies are involved in fighting fires, and mutual aid agreements developed among federal, state and local agencies.

The nine-member team worked about six weeks on the 255-page report.