Incident Name: 323 Fire, East Sidywnicks
Date: 4/15/11
Personnel: Gregory Mack Simmons
Age: 50, 1300 hours
Agency/Organization: Eastland Volunteer Fire Department
Position: firefighter
Summary: While seeking safety from an area being overrun by flames during wildland firefighting operations, Firefighter Simmons passed away from blunt force trauma consistent with being struck by a vehicle. Reports indicate that while he and other firefighters were trying to escape the fire, Simmons exited his apparatus and ran into or near a smoke obscured roadway and was struck by an unknown vehicle.
Maps
Accident Location: County Road 323, Carbon/Eastland, TX (USNG: 14S NA 21 70)
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Reports, Documentation, Lessons Learned
- Texas State Fire Marshall: Firefighter Fatality Investigation – Firefighter Gregory Mack Simmons, Eastland Fire Department
- NIOSH Report: Death in the Line of Duty – Volunteer Fire Fighter Dies and 5 Volunteer Fire Fighters are Injured during Wildland Urban Interface Fire —Texas (717 K pdf)
- USFA Memorial Database: Greg Mack Simmons
Wildlandfire.com Links:
- Hotlist: Thread including condolences
Media Articles and Reports.
Some Texans Return To Homes Charred By Wildfires
Angela K Brown, Associated Press : No longer online
April 16, 2011
excerpt:
A 3,000-acre Eastland County fire was 95 percent contained Saturday, a day after volunteer firefighter Gregory M. Simmons died in that area. Eastland officials initially said Simmons died after being overcome by smoke and falling in a ditch after he and other firefighters jumped out of a fire truck being chased by flames. But a preliminary autopsy report shows that Simmons died from blunt force trauma, and the Texas Department of Public Safety will determine whether he died in a crash or after fleeing the vehicle, state trooper Phillip “Sparky” Dean said late Saturday.
… Wildfires have spread across more than 700,000 acres – about the size of Rhode Island – in the past week in drought-stricken Texas, including half a dozen massive fires still burning.
Photos, Videos, & Tributes
Contributors to this article: Mellie, RJM
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