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**Wildland FF LODD**
Dead....from burns suffered at a prescribed burn. That's right...you read it correctly...a PRESCRIBED burn. Why people? What was he doing working ALONE? Good grief...haven't we learned anything?
PHOENIX (AP) - A firefighter widely credited with helping save
Show Low from the ravages of last year's Rodeo-Chediski fire died
Thursday of injuries suffered in a prescribed burn.
Rick Lupe, 43, had been hospitalized for more than a month after
he suffered third-degree burns over 40 percent of his body during a
prescribed burn operation near Whiteriver on the Fort Apache Indian
Reservation.
Lupe and his crew performed prescribed burns on May 12 and 13.
On May 14, they were doing fire mop up and putting out hotspots,
said family spokesman Wendell Peacock.
Winds kicked up and Lupe, who was by himself at the time, was
engulfed in flames. He deployed his fire shelter, but it got away
from him, Peacock said.
The incident was investigated, but the only witness to what
happened was Lupe.
"What happened we don't know," said Peacock, a Bureau of Land
Management spokesman who has temporarily been assigned to the
Bureau of Indian Affairs. "Something went wrong and only Rick
knows."
Lupe, who was being treated at Maricopa Medical Center,
underwent three skin-graft operations and had been in a drug
induced coma since the accident, Peacock said.
Lupe is largely regarded as a hero in Show Low and
Pinetop-Lakeside. He led the crew that built fire line in Hop
Canyon, stopping the Rodeo-Chediski fire from crossing a highway
and burning into Show Low.
"What else can you say, he kind of saved us," said Show Low
Mayor Gene Kelley.
The city's flags were lowered to half-staff Thursday. Gov. Janet
Napolitano also ordered the state's flags lowered in Lupe's honor.
"He was very, very well-respected and rightfully so," Kelley
said. "We know those people go out there and have a very high risk
job, but you just don't think about it until you lose one."
Lupe, who had been a firefighter for two decades, died almost
exactly a year after the Rodeo-Chediski fire started in two parts
on the Apache reservation. The fire, which was the largest in state
history, grew to 469,000 acres and forced the evacuation of about
30,000 people in Show Low and neighboring communities before it was
stopped.
To show their support for Lupe, the residents of Show Low and
Pinetop-Lakeside held a fund-raiser for his family so they could be
near him at Maricopa Medical Center, Kelley said. About $16,000
were raised.
"They don't come any more intelligible or careful or safety
conscious than Rick Lupe," Peacock said. "This was just a very
unfortunate accident."
Lupe is survived by his wife, Evelyn, and three sons.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Rest in peace brother....may God aid and comfort your family!
PHOENIX (AP) - A firefighter widely credited with helping save
Show Low from the ravages of last year's Rodeo-Chediski fire died
Thursday of injuries suffered in a prescribed burn.
Rick Lupe, 43, had been hospitalized for more than a month after
he suffered third-degree burns over 40 percent of his body during a
prescribed burn operation near Whiteriver on the Fort Apache Indian
Reservation.
Lupe and his crew performed prescribed burns on May 12 and 13.
On May 14, they were doing fire mop up and putting out hotspots,
said family spokesman Wendell Peacock.
Winds kicked up and Lupe, who was by himself at the time, was
engulfed in flames. He deployed his fire shelter, but it got away
from him, Peacock said.
The incident was investigated, but the only witness to what
happened was Lupe.
"What happened we don't know," said Peacock, a Bureau of Land
Management spokesman who has temporarily been assigned to the
Bureau of Indian Affairs. "Something went wrong and only Rick
knows."
Lupe, who was being treated at Maricopa Medical Center,
underwent three skin-graft operations and had been in a drug
induced coma since the accident, Peacock said.
Lupe is largely regarded as a hero in Show Low and
Pinetop-Lakeside. He led the crew that built fire line in Hop
Canyon, stopping the Rodeo-Chediski fire from crossing a highway
and burning into Show Low.
"What else can you say, he kind of saved us," said Show Low
Mayor Gene Kelley.
The city's flags were lowered to half-staff Thursday. Gov. Janet
Napolitano also ordered the state's flags lowered in Lupe's honor.
"He was very, very well-respected and rightfully so," Kelley
said. "We know those people go out there and have a very high risk
job, but you just don't think about it until you lose one."
Lupe, who had been a firefighter for two decades, died almost
exactly a year after the Rodeo-Chediski fire started in two parts
on the Apache reservation. The fire, which was the largest in state
history, grew to 469,000 acres and forced the evacuation of about
30,000 people in Show Low and neighboring communities before it was
stopped.
To show their support for Lupe, the residents of Show Low and
Pinetop-Lakeside held a fund-raiser for his family so they could be
near him at Maricopa Medical Center, Kelley said. About $16,000
were raised.
"They don't come any more intelligible or careful or safety
conscious than Rick Lupe," Peacock said. "This was just a very
unfortunate accident."
Lupe is survived by his wife, Evelyn, and three sons.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Rest in peace brother....may God aid and comfort your family!
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