**United States Department of Agriculture**

**Forest Service**

***Safety Advisory***

> **DATE: September 23, 2005**
>
> **SUBJECT: Hazard Trees**
>
> **AREA OF CONCERN: All operations involving hazard tree assessment,
> mitigation, and felling**
>
> **DISCUSSION:** Recently, a firefighter was seriously injured while
> attempting to fell a "hang-up" hazard
> tree![](media/image1.png){width="2.645138888888889in"
> height="3.482638888888889in"} (pictured below). Details of the
> incident are included in the attached Expanded 72-Hour Briefing.
>
> For decades, hazard trees have been associated with numerous deaths of
> people assigned fire operation and project work. Incidents involving
> hazard trees in the top 3 categories of accidental deaths of Forest
> Service employees, along with wildfire entrapments and motor vehicle
> accidents. In the private sector, logging is recognized as the most
> hazardous occupation in the nation, and many associated fatalities
> involve hazard trees. Moreover, hazard tree dangers mount in areas
> where forest health conditions decline.
>
> Notable advancements have been made in our understanding of the
> chronic safety problem associated with hazard trees, while the demand
> for trained and skilled employees required to manage this high-risk
> environment continues to increase. [The Hazard Tree Awareness and
> Prevention Program -- R8](http://fsweb.r8.fs.fed.us/snags/), [Hazard
> Tree Safety/Up-The-Anti --
> R1](http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/projects/haztree_index.shtml),
> [Interagency Hazard Tree
> JHA](http://fsweb.boise-nf.r4.fs.fed.us/safety/fire_safety.htm), S-212
> Chain Saw Training Course update, and [Regional Chain Saw
> Training/Certification
> programs](http://fsweb.r4.fs.fed.us/unit/rf/safety_wellness/training/chainsaw_program/index.html)
> are solid examples of actions taken to strengthen our ability to
> safely manage hazard trees.
>
> The purpose of this advisory is to serve as a reminder of how vital it
> is to constantly apply and maintain situational awareness and
> wariness, particularly when faced with a hang-up hazard tree. In most
> cases, safely handling a hang-up requires extreme caution and
> expertise due to characteristic complexity. The following are some
> topics advanced sawyers should review during 6 minutes for
> safety/tailgate safety discussions and cover in training modules
> specifically designed to address hang-up hazard trees:

+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| -   Establish Cut/No Cut       | -   Pushing/driver tree opportunity |
|     (walk-a-way) criteria      |                                     |
|                                | -   Felling trees tied together     |
| -   Risk assessment            |                                     |
|                                | -   Sidewinder potential            |
| -   [Situational awareness     |                                     |
|     chec                       | -   Hazards of obscured view of top |
| klist](http://fsweb.boise-nf.r |                                     |
| 4.fs.fed.us/safety/alerts.htm) | -   Need to keep looking up         |
|                                |                                     |
| -   Secure area                | -   Weak/spiked tops, limb          |
|                                |     location/condition/density, and |
| -   Relocate work area         |     hidden defect/rot               |
|                                |                                     |
| -   Blasting option            | -   Prescribed step down (fence     |
|                                |     post/wafer) cutting techniques  |
| -   Equipment/cable option     |                                     |
|                                | -   Escape route procedures         |
| -   Role/responsibility of     |     following each step down cut    |
|     swamper/lookout            |                                     |
|                                |                                     |
| -   Use of warning devices     |                                     |
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+

> */s/ Jim Morrison*
>
> Acting R-4 Safety Manager

+---+-------+-----------------------+---------+----+--------------------+---+
|   | >     | > 6730                |         | >  | September 11, 2005 |   |
|   |  File |                       |         |  D |                    |   |
|   | >     |                       |         | at |                    |   |
|   | Code: |                       |         | e: |                    |   |
+---+-------+-----------------------+---------+----+--------------------+---+
|   | >     |                       |         |    |                    |   |
|   | Route |                       |         |    |                    |   |
|   | > To: |                       |         |    |                    |   |
+---+-------+-----------------------+---------+----+--------------------+---+
|   |       |                       |         |    |                    |   |
+---+-------+-----------------------+---------+----+--------------------+---+
|   | > Sub | > Expanded (72-Hour)  |         |    |                    |   |
|   | ject: | > Briefing            |         |    |                    |   |
|   |       | >                     |         |    |                    |   |
|   |       | > Missouri Ridge Tree |         |    |                    |   |
|   |       | > Felling Incident    |         |    |                    |   |
|   |       | >                     |         |    |                    |   |
|   |       | > Krassel Ranger      |         |    |                    |   |
|   |       | > District, Payette   |         |    |                    |   |
|   |       | > National Forest     |         |    |                    |   |
|   |       | >                     |         |    |                    |   |
|   |       | > September 6, 2005,  |         |    |                    |   |
|   |       | > approximately 1158  |         |    |                    |   |
+---+-------+-----------------------+---------+----+--------------------+---+
|   |       |                       |         |    |                    |   |
+---+-------+-----------------------+---------+----+--------------------+---+
|   | > To: | > Mary Wagner, Acting |         |    |                    |   |
|   |       | > Regional Forester   |         |    |                    |   |
+---+-------+-----------------------+---------+----+--------------------+---+
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+---+-------+-----------------------+---------+----+--------------------+---+

The accident occurred on the 6,500+ acre Missouri Ridge Wildland Fire
Use (WFU) Fire which is part of the 40,000+ acre Frank Church WFU
complex that has been burning since August 1, 2005. The Missouri Ridge
Fire is located on the Krassel Ranger District, Payette National Forest
50 miles northeast of McCall, ID.

While conducting saw line hazard tree felling operations, the top of a
snag broke off, and struck the hardhat of a Class C sawyer. This caused
significant injuries which included a linear skull fracture, vertebral
fracture and multiple rib fractures. The nearby swamper immediately
provided emergency first-aid, and activated the planned medical
evacuation procedure. The injured sawyer received advanced medical care
by adjacent Fire Use Module EMTs within minutes of the accident.

An effective evacuation involving the entire Division/Group including
Helitack, Hotshots, and Overhead which resulted in a prompt and
successful patient transfer to a Life Flight Helicopter standing by in a
nearby emergency medi-vac landing zone. The injured sawyer was flown and
treated at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, Idaho.
While the sawyer's injuries were serious, he was released from the
hospital, and the outlook for a full recovery and return to the job is
positive.

[Additional Details of Accident:]{.underline}

The snag was 120 feet tall, 30 inches at the base, and naturally leaning
into a larger green tree. There was no fire in the snag or on the nearby
ground. The sawyer was step-cutting the lower sections from the snag
base, in an effort to lower and move it towards the base of the green
tree so the snag would fall to the ground. As the second section was cut
and released, an approximately 20 foot / 41 pound top section broke
loose and fell, while the sawyer was next to the base of the snag. The
hardhat sustained a small indentation and crack, and the liner remained
secure and intact. The hardhat will be sent to the Missoula Technology
and Development Center (MTDC) for future fact finding analysis.

[Qualifications:]{.underline}

The sawyer is a designated Forest Chain Saw Program Manager in the
Intermountain Region. In addition, he is a qualified and experienced
C-Certifier Sawyer and Falling Boss.

+-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
|                                   |                                  |
+-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| PAUL CHAMBERLIN                   |                                  |
|                                   |                                  |
| Team Leader                       |                                  |
+-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
|                                   |                                  |
+-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| cc:                               |                                  |
|                                   |                                  |
| Regional Forester                 |                                  |
|                                   |                                  |
| Jim Morrison, (acting) Regional   |                                  |
| Safety Manager                    |                                  |
+-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+