The ideal escape route includes a downhill direction over the shortest possible distance to the safety zone, thereby maximizing firefighter travel rates while minimizing fire spread rates. The underburned Gambel oak was significant in that it did not provide a safety zone. The blowup did not occur in the previously underburned Gambel oak. Thus, the underburned Gambel oak caused increased fire intensity as the fire burned above the West Flank Fireline, but it was not a factor for the burning below the fireline and therefore did not contribute significantly to the entrapment of the 14 firefighters. However, the amount of unburned vegetation remaining above the West Flank Fireline precluded it from being an adequate safety zone.
Smoke can significantly reduce the firefighter's abilities to sense changes in fire behavior.
This is certainly realized by any firefighter who has had to breath smoke. There is some evidence that the area around the fatality site was quickly engulfed in smoke just prior to or during the burnover. The lack of a clear view of the fire and the loud noise created by the fire would have prevented the group from fully sensing how fast the fire was closing the gap between it and them and may have distracted the group from their objective of reaching safety. Their likely inability to identify the location of the fire is one explanation for the evidence suggesting that the group was surprised by the fire and did not realize how close the fire was or where to go to escape it. Lookouts positioned outside the burn area or overhead can communicate urgency and help firefighters identify the best escape routes relative to the fire position, direction, and rate of spread.