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Stand 5 - The Upper Helispot

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

At the morning briefing on July 17th, the Mormon Lake Hotshots were assigned to improve the line on top, the ridge which was previously worked by the night shift. Line construction was just to the lee side of the slope. Fire shelters were not mandatory equipment for BLM personnel at the time of the fire. The Mormon Lake Hotshots had fire shelters but left them in camp that morning because of their weight - a common practice at the time.

The Mormon Lake Hotshots arrived at the helibase at 0730; due to a series of other priorities, they never reached the upper helispot until about 1100. At this time they began improving the line from the rock bluff back down to the upper helispot.

From their position along the top of the ridge, Mormon Lake Hotshot crewmembers would have seen residual smoke in the 16th Bowl and few smokes along the dozer line from the burnout operation on July 16th.

Fire activity was established in the bottom of the 17th Bowl from the Happy Jack Hotshots' burnout operation. The 17th Bowl mirrors the 16th Bowl in fuel and topography. Suppression actions on July 17th were based on the previous days' fire behavior in the 16th Bowl.

Radios at the time were typically single-channel or had only a few channels. Radios had "crystals" in them and could not be field programmed like today. They were also very expensive and only issued to key personnel. Crew Boss Tony Czak had to carry two radios: one to talk to his crew and a second to talk to overhead.

From the upper helispot looking south, up the slope, evidence of the old fireline can be seen, tying the lee side of the slope to the cliff face. Note the vegetation change of the northeast aspect slopes, large thick stands of aspen.

From the upper helispot looking south, up the slope, evidence of the old fireline can be seen, tying the lee side of the slope to the cliff face. Note the vegetation change of the northeast aspect slopes to large thick stands of aspen.

To the east of the upper helispot, you can see the edge of the Roan Plateau, and in the far distance, the Flat Tops Wilderness and Storm King Mountain. Storm King Mountain was the site of the fatalities which occurred during the South Canyon Fire on Storm King Mountain in 1994.

To the east of the upper helispot, you can see the edge of the Roan Plateau, and in the far distance, the Flat Tops Wilderness and Storm King Mountain. Storm King Mountain was the site of the fatalities which occurred during the South Canyon Fire on Storm King Mountain in 1994.

 
Location (SRS)
POINT (-107.9525167 39.4306833)
Related Stand
Staff Ride to the Battlement Creek Fire

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RMC Safety Bulletin 26-001: Rhabdomyolysis in Wildland Firefighters

Date:  May 28, 2026
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The Risk Management Committee (RMC) has issued Safety Bulletin 26-001: Rhabdomyolysis in Wildland Firefighters. Research from 2016 to 2025 shows that 88 cases of rhabdomyolysis (rhabdo) were reported. Analysis of reports from eSafety, the Safety Management Information System (SMIS), and the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center (LLC) indicates that rhabdo is common during this time of year due to Work Capacity Tests and contributing factors such as weather, hydration, nutrition, and medication or supplement use.

RMC issued this safety bulletin to raise awareness in the Wildland Fire Community, and to provide research findings and educational resources that support reducing future cases of rhabdo.

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RMC Safety Bulletin 26-001: Rhabdomyolysis in Wildland Firefighters

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NWCG is pleased to announce the new D-110, Expanded Dispatch Recorder (Instructor-led) course is now available on the Wildland Fire Learning Portal (WFLP). Developed through the National Coordination System Committee, this course introduces the structure and function of expanded dispatch, the qualities of an effective dispatcher, and provides hands-on experience with the Interagency Resource Ordering Capability (IROC) system. 

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The NWCG Leadership Committee promotes and enables leadership development across the wildland fire service. The committee provides education, training opportunities, and support for leadership innovation and best practices throughout the community.

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Incident Operations Subcommittee Updates the Next Generation Position Task Book for FFT1

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The NWCG Incident Operations Subcommittee (IOSC) has updated the NWCG Position Task Book for Firefighter Type 1 (Squad Boss) (FFT1), PMS 311‑14. The FFT1 Position Task Book transitioned to the Next Generation (Next Gen PTB) format in June 2025 through the Incident Performance and Training Modernization effort. Since then, IOSC has received feedback from the wildland fire community regarding coding for one of the tasks. Task #13 has been updated to include the option of evaluation in a simulation.

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