Firefighter takes shelter from flames, suffers burns
A firefighter on a massive range fire in southeastern Oregon suffered minor burns after she crawled inside her emergency fire shelter in an area overrun by swirling winds filled with fire.
Fire information officers say the woman was treated Sunday evening at a hospital in Winnemucca, Nev., for minor burns to a leg and forearm and minor smoke inhalation.
The rest of her 20-person federal crew made it to a safety zone.
The incident is under investigation, and the crew has been pulled off the fire.
The Holloway fire has burned 525 square miles in remote and rugged country straddling the Oregon-Nevada border.
On the Nevada side, five ranches were evacuated Sunday evening in the Kings River Valley about 10 miles southeast of Denio, Nev.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press
She followed instructions in deploying the shelter it appears. Good for her!! I wonder what the rest of the story will be, as in what happened to the rest of the crew that they made it out. Usually the crew sticks together and keeps track of each other. We were usually in groups of 10.
Wow! "Scary" doesn't begin to cover it..!  I have nothing but admiration and respect for our firefighters..! Â
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Soooo glad this firefighter's injuries were minor, although even small burns are always so painful... Hope she'll recover real fast! :-)
 @margay1Â
Before WWII my grandfather was in the US Army Air corps. He had enlisted under a false name to hopefully get sent overseas to avoid some legal trouble he got into. While they let him in, when the war started had failed a background check (we have a German last name so they investigated). He was kicked out.
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But he was still 1A, so likely to be drafted. So the Army gave him an option, stay as a rifleman, or go serve in the civilian defense as a forest firefighter. My grandfather chose to forestry service.
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He lasted 3 months and joined the Navy. Served war plus 6 months there before being discharged.
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He would rather spend 5 years on a boat at sea in a war (the PTO) than 4 fighting forest fires just three months of the year in Montana.
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Nice work young woman. You remembered your training and saved your own life. You will have some stories to tell your kids.
There are trees near Winnemucca? I don't recall seeing anything but ranchland.
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Good things this firefighter knew how to use her shelter. I am certain her burns would have been worse even if she had survived the lack of oxygen.
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Scary - I'm very glad she made it through with only minor injuries. Those emergency flame shelters are pretty amazing but I don't think I'd want to have to test one for real.