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84 Survives Texas Flashover Cecil
Conner, Chief of the Kimble County Ranch Fire Assn. Fire
Department wrote in 2005,
Kimble County Ranch Fire Unit 84 is a 1968 M715 operated by
the
Junction Volunteer Fire Department
in Texas. Junction VFD Capt. Lee Hall says, "The Jeep has a
350 V-8 Chevy engine. After replacing six overhead cam
engines, we put this V-8 in it. Bought the conversion kit
from a company in California. This truck was obtained
through the Texas Forest Service and it is a surplus truck.
It has been a real workhorse and has been on way too many
fires to even count. We have already discussed that when
this engine goes we may look at putting a small diesel
engine in it." |
workhorse Unit 84 is a good truck. Last month four other
firefighters and myself were involved in a firestorm and a
wildland flashover. The oxygen was sucked out of the air and
the M715 died. The crew went back into the burned area and
although they were burned they survived. I was in a truck
ahead of them (fuel injected) and was able to get out. When
I returned I found the truck on fire. I called in another
truck with me and I had them put the truck out while I
located the crew. The area was still unstable when we left.
I crawled behind the wheel and drove the old horse right out
to a staging area. We will be repainting and refurbishing
the truck soon." 
