U.S. Dept of Agriculture

An employee was using a chainsaw to remove a pine tree. When the pine tree struck the ground, the vibration caused a nearby dead maple tree to fall. It struck the injured employee in the right shoulder, fracturing the shoulder. The employee was hospitalized.

An employee was managing a prescribed burn when the fire behavior increased and he retreated to the road. His tool and foot got entangled in vines which slowed his retreat, and the fire encased his route back to the road. This resulted in blistering and second-degree burns to both elbows, both knees, the back of one thigh, the inner thigh, and his nose.

An employee's right middle finger was crushed by an excavator bucket, resulting in an amputation.

An employee was unloading a trailer when their left thumb was caught between parts of the trailer body, resulting in a partial amputation.

An employee had been felling hazardous trees in a campground. The top of a tree detached, fell, and struck the employee. The employee sustained injury to the head, shoulder, and arm.

An employee was driving a tractor to create a burn line. The tractor stalled. The employee was forced to flee through a burning field and suffered burns to his hands, arms, knees, legs, and face (about 27 percent burns overall). He was hospitalized.

A blister on a wildland firefighter's hand became infected. He was hospitalized.

Employees were fighting wildfires when the wind changed and blew the fire back onto the firefighters. The employees sustained multiple burn injuries and one firefighter was run over by a UTV while trying to escape the flames.

Three firefighters were hospitalized for burns while fighting a forest fire.

An EMT was responding to a grass fire and went into a home to evacuate it. The employee suffered smoke inhalation and was hospitalized.

A smoke jumper parachuted out of a helicopter during a forest fire response, landed on steep rugged terrain, and suffered femur and rib fractures and a liver laceration. The employee was hospitalized.

Employees were troubleshooting dual duct detectors in a room. The injured employee was on the second rung from the top of a forward-facing 12-foot A-frame ladder. He was reinstalling the duct detector in the furthest duct from him (18 inches). When he pushed the duct detector into the existing holes, the duct broke free and fell, striking his back and shoulders. He was knocked forward over the ladder and fell to the floor. The employee sustained a head injury.

An employee was descending an 8-foot A-frame ladder when he tripped over the fourth step/rung and fell, contacting the floor and a sprinkler pipe that was set on the ground. The employee sustained fractures to his left arm.

An employee working as a contracted firefighter was using a bulldozer to push back an active fire line when they became entrapped in flames, resulting in first- and second-degree burns.

An employee was engaging in daily physical training in preparation for fire season as a smokejumper. The employee sustained swelling and stiffness in their arms and was hospitalized with rhabdomyolysis.

An employee was delivering materials. He was doing his pre-delivery inspection on the roof of the jobsite (a warehouse) when he fell through a plexiglass skylight. He landed on his feet on the concrete floor 14 feet below. The employee sustained fractures to his spine, left ulnar/radius, and right heel. The employee required surgery.

An employee was cutting cabinet trim using a table saw when four fingers on his left hand were severed, resulting in hospitalization and amputation.

An employee was removing packaging from a roll of printing substrate. The blade of their utility knife got stuck. The employee used both hands to free the knife and the blade partially amputated their left little fingertip.

A concrete batch plant operator was assisting with clearing spoil piles using a skid steer. The skid steer backed into a stationary screen plant. The employee's left little finger was crushed between the controls of the skid steer and the screen plant, resulting in a fracture and laceration. The employee's finger was surgically amputated.

An employee was standing on an extension ladder, using a torquing tool to remove bolts that secured blades to a rotor. When the torquing tool activated, its reaction arm came around and pinched the employee's right middle finger against a lifting eye. His fingertip was amputated.