“Firefighter Charlie Morton radioed that he was trapped in a “corner.”
That was the last anyone would hear from him….” Hours later, about 2340 hours, searchers found Morton’s body with his scorched fire shelter next to him, barely unfolded. Almost all of Morton’s clothing was burned off his body. He was still wearing what was left of his pack. Flames had consumed the wooden handle of the hoe that he carried.
The U.S. Forest Service Firefighter who was killed in the Line of Duty on Sept. 17, 2020, while fighting the El Dorado fire. Morton died when he was overcome by flames when hiking alone to assess spot fires, a new Forest Service report said.
Two reports released this month (links below) by the Forest Service detail not only the on-the-ground actions and circumstances that preceded the death of 39-year-old Morton but also the Forest Service’s policies, culture and a lack of experienced Firefighters that officials worried contributed to Morton’s death and may put others at risk on future wildfires.
Firefighters who commonly worked in the San Bernardino National Forest would later comment that they were surprised by the intense fire behavior. Yet when Morton’s crew members looked behind them, there was Morton “calmly using a (hose) to put out spots on his way down.”
It was then that Morton headed back toward the bulldozer line to get a better look at how many spot fires had crossed it. Morton radioed his recommended plan of attack and followed that up with his uncertain “We’ll see” comment to his Captain.
And then something went terribly wrong.
The next time the captain radioed Morton, there was no response. “He then heard Charlie call in desperation, ‘I’m in a corner.’ ”
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