Incident Name: Ransome Road Fire at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge
Date: incident date: 6/8/1981; Scott died that day, Beau died on June 9, 1981
Personnel: 2 lives lost
Age:
Agency/Organization: US Fish and Wildlife Service
Position: firefighters
Summary:
Scott Maness, 32
Beau Sauselein, 32
On 6/8/1081, Scott Maness & Beau Sauselein, a tractor plow team were cutting line and fighting the Ransom Road Fire in heavy fuels stressed by drought consitions, near Kennedy Space Center, FL. A second fire was discovered. A heavy rainstorm came in. It laid the fires down but made the smoke worse. The fire changed direction unexpectedly, shifting 90 degrees, and the wind increased to 45 mph. The tractor plow high centered on a stump concealed by palmetto. The two men tried to outrun the fire but were overrun. Both were badly burned. Scott died that evening, Beau died the next morning.
Maps
Ransom Road Fire
{mosmap lat=’28.503053’|lon=’-80.649671’|marker=’0’|text=’Accident Location’}
Scott died at Jess Parish Memorial Hospital in Titusville, FL
Beau died at Shands Medical Center Burn Unit in Gainesville, FL
Reports, Documentation, Lessons Learned
- Fish and Wildlife Service: Ransom Road Fire Fatalities Report – Regional “or Merritt Island NWR Wildfire Fatalities Report) (3.650 MB pdf)
- Wildfire on Merritt Island – Report to the Committee on Appropriations US House of Representatives (4.439 MB pdf)
Wildlandfire.com Links:
Media Articles and Reports
Photos, Videos, & Tributes
- USFA Memorial Database: Scott J Maness | Beau W Sauselein
- Today’s Fire Management at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge
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