Incident Name: Golden Gate Estates Fire
Date: 01/30/85, 1515 hrs
Personnel: Marco A Miranda
Age: 26
Agency/Organization: Florida Division of Forestry
Position: Forest Ranger
Summary: Marco Miranda was using a tractor to construct a fireline when the head of the fire blew up with great intensity. Unusual fire behavior was brought on by drought conditions and a hard freeze that occurred on January 21 and 22, which had killed much of the fine fuels and normally green vegetation. The victim died of carbon monoxide poisoning secondary to smoke inhalation, according to the Coroner’s Report.
Maps
Accident Site (approximate) {mosmap lat=’26.227362’| lon=’-81.631359’|text=’Burnover location for the Golden Gate Estates Fire’}
Reports, Documentation, Lessons Learned
- Ft Meyers District, Florida Division of Forestry: Fire Fatality Accident Report (244 K pdf)
- Golden Gate Estates Fire Fatality Case Study, LLC YouTube, Published April 20, 2012. Case study of a tractor plow operator fatality in Florida in 1985.
Return to top
Wildlandfire.com Links:
Media Articles and Reports.
Photos, Videos, & Tributes
- USFA Database: Marco Miranda
- Marco Miranda is honored on the USFA National Fallen Firefighters Memorial in Emmitsburg, MD. Look for his name under Florida:
Contributors to this article: Doug Campbell, Mellie
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