Hazard Trees and Me

May 2002

1. Recall the last snag that fell near me. My immediate reaction was:

a. Glad I still had the foot speed of a world-class sprinter.

b. Felt a rush and then noted the type of tree.

c. Stopped nearby operations immediately and reassessed plans.

d. Made a note to report the event at the next planning meeting.

e. _____________

2. In developing the project or incident action plan, how often do I list snags as a hazard?

a. Nearly always

b. Occasionally

c. Seldom

3. When snags are listed as a hazard, how often do we significantly change operational plans?

a. Nearly always

b. Occasionally

c. Seldom (we can usually mitigate hazards by following standard practices.)

4. When the accident investigator shows up, I will tell them that “our standard operating practices to mitigate snag hazards are:”

a. __________________________________________

b. Give me a minute, I can find them in the Health and Safety handbook.

5. In assessing hazardous trees, I normally coach others to:

a. Watch out for snags!

b. Look up

c. Look down

d. Learn to recognize structure defect indicators

e. __________________

Why? __________________________

6. Who decides whether an area is free of dangerous trees and safe to work?

a. District Ranger / Incident Commander

b. Safety Officer

c. Firefighter/qualified “C” faller

d. Field supervisor

e. OSHA inspector

7. Besides my experience, what is the best information source to help determine what trees are dangerous, and how hazards should be addressed?

a. Fireline handbook

b. My agency health and safety code

c. Reserve Tree Guide

d. OSHA regulations

e. Hazard Tree Web Page

f. My experience is better than all of the sources listed above.

8. “Danger” trees are commonly classified by considering:

a. Height

b. Diameter

c. Species

d. Condition of roots, trunk, and branches

e. Direction and angle of lean

9. What is a safe distance to have employees working from a known “danger” tree?

Answer: ___________________ (give yourself half credit for writing “depends”)

10. After answering these questions, I am:

a. Good to go, OPS normal.

b. Ready to write a book as an authority.

c. Needing to learn more about hazardous trees and considering changes in tactics.