Railroad Prescribed Fire Ash Pit Burn Injury 2026

On Sunday, May 31, 2026, a Payette National Forest West Zone Type 4 engine crew arrived to patrol a recent spring prescribed burn, the Railroad Prescribed Fire, on the Central Zone of the Forest.

As they were making their way through the black down the slope, the Engine Boss saw smoke on the downhill side of a mid-slope road in the unit that matched up with a GPS hotspot point they had been given. As the Engine Boss went to investigate the smoke, she stepped off the roadbed and the ground below her fell away as she tumbled into what she very quickly realized was a hot ash pit. She understood that getting out immediately was a priority, so she scrambled out of the downhill side of this huge ash pit.

She noticed a small quarter-inch spot there that appeared “melty.” But aside from some general pain, she self-assessed as a “Green” medical. During this self-assessment she also took note of some minor pain coming from above the boot/sock line on both legs. The Engine Boss did a more thorough inspection of her legs and found raised red burn marks on her calves above the sock line.

The engine boss was transported to the local hospital where the ER doctor determined that referral to a burn center was unnecessary and released the employee with instructions on when and how to change the wound dressings. Two days later, one of the burns developed a large blister, and the engine boss elected to visit the local Urgent Care facility.