Incident Name: driving to a grass fire
Date: date of incident: 7/22/14, 1000 hrs ; date of death: 8/25/2014
Personnel: Dave Anderson
Age: 66
Agency/Organization: Fort Shaw Fire Department
Position: firefighter, chief
Summary: Several weeks after being injured in a collision between two Fort Shaw fire trucks responding to a grass fire near Vaughn, Montana, Fire Chief Anderson passed away in Peace Hospice of Great Falls. According to media reports, Montana Highway Patrol said the driver of the other truck, a brush truck, missed a turnoff en route to the fire and was making a U-turn when Anderson crashed into him. The water tender (tanker) truck driven by Anderson tipped on its side and Anderson had to be extricated from the wreck. He was then transported to the hospital by ambulance. Anderson was later transferred to a Billings rehabilitation facility that specializes in traumatic brain injury, and then transferred to Peace Hospice. The driver of the second vehicle involved in the accident was not injured.
credit: the Anderson family
Incident Location: Hwy US 89 near Vaughn, MT (U.S. National Grid: 12T VT 578 669)
Died a month later at Peace Hospice of Great Falls, MT
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Reports, Documentation, Lessons Learned
- USFA Memorial Database: Dave Anderson
Wildlandfire.com Links:
- Fort Shaw fire chief dies one month after crash8/26/14 | Online Article
“David Anderson of the Fort Shaw Fire Department passed away as result of injuries he received during a motor vehicle accident earlier this summer, and complications from cardiac issues,” a cause of death report filed by Cascade County Deputy Coroner Jason Boyd states. “He was pronounced deceased on August 25th at 5 a.m.”
Anderson’s influence on Montana’s firefighting community extends well beyond the Sun River Valley where he lived. He worked for many years as an emergency medical technician instructor, training scores of firefighters and first responders who have gone on to serve both as volunteers and as professionals in fire departments throughout northcentral Montana. (more at the link…)
- Memorial Service: Sept. 6, 2014Location: Family Living Center
Montana ExpoPark, Great Falls, MT
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