Injuries to 2 Contractors, 1 Inmate Firefighter in Kincade Blaze Prompt State Investigations

State workplace regulators have launched investigations into three separate incidents that injured two private contractors and an inmate firefighter in the massive Kincade Fire that has ravaged parts of Sonoma County over the last two weeks.

The contractors were employed by two Oregon-based firms, and their injuries have raised concerns among one of California's leading firefighter advocacy organizations.

"The presence of private fire crews in California puts our public safety responders at greater risk, since they are the ones who are ultimately responsible for the safety of those contractors," said Carroll Wills, a representative for California Professional Firefighters, a leading advocacy organization for public employee, career firefighters.

The most recent injury involved a private firefighter on a handcrew run by the Sutherlin, Oregon-based company, Diamond Fire Inc. The unidentified contractor was hurt last Wednesday after he was struck in the face and head by an object during a fireline assignment, according to a preliminary Cal Fire review.

That report, known as a Blue Sheet, says the Diamond Fire crew was assigned to work on Division E of the fire, located in the southeast portion of the blaze, northwest of Calistoga.

Mike Sulffridge, general manager at Diamond Fire, said the worker was mopping up — a firefighting term used to describe work like extinguishing or removing burning material near a control line — when the injury took place.

The firefighter pulled on a limb attached to a small log when the log turned, forcing the limb to flip up and hit the worker in the face, knocking him over. He suffered moderate injuries to his face and head.

The firefighter was treated near the site of the injury, driven to a hospital in Santa Rosa and released a day later, according to Sulffridge.

The Diamond Fire crew was part of a contingent of out-of-state firefighters brought in through coordination from the California Office of Emergency Services and the U.S. Forest Service, according to Cal Fire spokesman Scott McLean.

On Oct. 27 a firefighter identified as 29-year-old Titan Cheatham, who was hired by the Ashland-Oregon based firm Pacific Oasis, was seriously injured in the Kincade Fire. Cheatham's identity was first revealed by Jefferson Public Radio and later confirmed by a Pacific Oasis official.

State workplace regulators said Cheatham was operating a chainsaw when the device's fuel cap came off and splashed his pants with fuel, which then ignited from a nearby spot fire.

Cheatham received second- and third-degree burns to his legs and was taken to UC Davis Medical Center.

"This accident resulted in severe burns to Titan's lower legs," said Steve Dodds, who co-owns Pacific Oasis, in an email. "Our main concerns remain his physical and mental condition and his recovery."

The Pacific Oasis crew was hired under an interagency agreement administered by the Oregon Department of Forestry and the U.S. Forest Service, according to Dodds.

Wills, with California Professional Firefighters, said the injuries raise worries about the potential of more contract firefighters being used in the state.

"We would be concerned about any increase in deployment of private firefighting crews in California," Wills said.

"When private crews are sent into California from other states, there is no guarantee they have the proper training, experience and safety standards required of California's paid and volunteer firefighters," he said. "This is especially dangerous given the number and intensity of wildfires in California."

Dodds, of Pacific Oasis, said his company has a long history of working for state agencies, the federal government and private landowners.

"Over the past 15 years we have provided wildland firefighting resources on almost every notable wildland fire incident in the western United States. Hundreds of wildland fires," Dodds said.

The third injury involved an inmate firefighter working through a program run by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), according to Frank Polizzi, a spokesman for California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA). Cal/OSHA is investigating all three incidents, Polizzi said.

The prisoner was cutting a fireline in the Healdsburg area on Oct. 28 when he or she was struck by a rolling dead tree and suffered a broken ankle. CDCR and Cal Fire officials did not have more details on that injury.

The inmate firefighter was one of more than 400 state prisoners who helped Cal Fire get a handle on the Kincade Fire.

In all, four firefighters were injured in the Kincade Fire. The other injury involved an eye injury to a firefighter, McLean said. No other details have been released about that case.

The Kincade blaze, which has burned close to 78,000 acres and destroyed 374 structures, is 84 percent contained, according to Cal Fire.