'Serious' safety blunders in fire deaths By REBECCA BOONE, AP
Investigators from both the Forest Service and OSHA eventually concluded that fire managers and commanders violated the 10 most-basic firefighting safety rules and ignored or disregarded 10 of the 18 warnings signs for danger.
As the Cramer fire shifted and grew July 21-22 -- the day before and the day of the firefighters' deaths -- the Forest Service failed to increase firefighter support or properly analyze the blaze, according to the report.
District rangers were not adequately trained and equipment was not adequately maintained, OSHA said.
Allen and Heath died after they rappelled onto a ridge to clear a helicopter landing pad.
They called at least twice for a helicopter to pick them up when the fire advanced in their direction. But when one was finally sent, it was too smoky to find the two.