04_07_2023_Post-Incident Review_Pender_Escaped Fire

Post-Incident Review Meeting
Following any incident involving employee injuries or significant equipment damages, Conti shall
coordinate a Post-Incident Review Meeting within 48 hours of the incident. The Conti Project
Manager, Superintendent, Health and Safety Manager, and responsible Foremen. If incident
involves a subcontractor the subcontractor’s Project Manager, Superintendent and responsible
Foreman shall attend this meeting.

Attendees:

Name Company
Zac Wilson, CSP, CHST – Safety Manger Conti Civil, LLC
John Kristensen, PE – Project Manager Conti Civil, LLC
Bryce Locke – Superintendent Conti Civil, LLC
James Day – Assistant Project Manager Conti Civil, LLC
Kate Keller – Safety Engineer Conti Civil, LLC
Chad Knowles – Foreman Atlantic Coast Land
Braxton Carter – Operator Atlantic Coast Land
Isaiah Barbee – Operator Atlantic Coast Land

Agenda and Notes:

1. A statement by the Safety Engineer regarding the purpose of the meeting (identification
of casual and contributing factors, prevention of future incidents).

Kate Keller introduced the purpose of the meeting as a review of the conditions that contributed
to the escaped fire incident that occurred on April 6, 2023.

2. A review of the incident, including the chronology of events, responses, and outcomes.
Two new fires were set at approximately 1:00PM. (Five piles had been burning for two
days.) The whole crew was on fire watch. The foreman has a valid burn permit in his name.
The humidity was in the seventies. The wind was roughly 5mph that morning but had
increased to 9mph around noon. The new fires burned for roughly 1.5 hours before they
began to get out of control. The fire department was called at 3:00PM. Conti Civil
operators attempted to assist on the west side of the fire (upwind) by creating a fire break
around 3:10PM. The Pender County fire department was onsite around 3:30PM. The chief
from the NC Forest Service arrived onsite at 3:45PM. Air support arrived at approximately
4:30PM. Conti Civil operators were pulled from the scene at 4:40PM. – Water was
dropped on the machines from air support and the smoke was creating visibility issues.
The NC Forest Service brought in four dozers with cutters on the back to complete the
fire break Conti Civil operators had begun. A second fire break was completed before the
dozers left the site. The NC Forest Service had two bomber planes, one crop duster, and
one helicopter dropping water on the fire. They also had two spotter planes and one
helicopter transporting the chief. The fire chief confirmed that approximately 15.1 acres
burned. Eight acres burned where the fire jumped the silt fence. The fire was contained
by approximately 9:00PM and the NC Forest Service left the site.
3. A participatory review of all the factors that contributed and/or led up to the incident,
and identification of the root cause of the incident. (The root cause is the single point of
the incident that if changed would have prevented the incident from occurring).
Contributing Factor/s:
Change in weather – The wind changed in speed and direction.
Root Cause:
Lack of buffer space
4. A participatory review of corrective actions, and identification of completion times and
responsibilities. All corrective actions must identify the action, the required time for
completion, and the person(s) responsible for implementation of the action.
 Establish a minimum distance requirement from standing timber, will be included
in the permit process (Due Date: 4/14/2023) – Conti
 Create and distribute a pre-burn checklist using the Conti permits QR code
(Due Date: 4/14/2023) – Conti
 Complete pre-task (take 5) meetings (Completed on 4/10/2023) – Atlantic
 Assign and appoint an individual to act as fire watch
(Due Date: 4/10/2023) – Atlantic