You are on an incident and suddenly you escape route is cut off. You are unable to locate a suitable safety zone but you have located an acceptable deployment site. What actions should you be taking at this time?

What Are The Critical Issues

Firefighters must never rely on fire shelters, but instead should depend on well-defined and pre-located escape routes and safety zones.

Critical Safety Measures

However, if the need for shelter deployment should ever arise, it is imperative that the firefighter knows how to deploy and use the shelter.

• Inspect your shelter monthly for signs of fatigue, i.e. pin holes, pull tab safety alert, tears.
  
• Don't think of your fire shelter as a tactical tool.
  
• Recognize when deployment is your only option. When considering escape, remember that you can hold your breath for only about 15 seconds while running through flames or superheated air.
• If time runs out while attempting to escape, get on the ground before the flame front arrives and finish deploying on the ground. Death is almost certain if the fire catches a person off the ground. (The optimal survival zone with or without a shelter is within a foot of the ground.) Once entrapped, the highest priority is to protect the lungs and airways.
• When deploying, remove packs and place them away from the deployment area.
• Most burnovers occur during initial attack or extend initial attack. However, burnovers have occurred when crews or individuals initiated action without direction from an Incident Management Team, adequate communication, or knowledge of current fire weather.
• Escaped fires often overwhelm the resources of initial attack forces. Many wildland fire fatalities can be directly attributed to failure to follow basic wildland fire strategy and tactics-10 Standard Fire Orders, 18 Watchout Situations, and the Downhill Checklist. Use personal protective equipment. Fire shelters are mandatory.
• Even though deploying your shelter is a last resort, time is critical when entrapped. Play it safe; give yourself ample time to deploy. Failure to adequately anticipate the severity and timing of the burnover and failure to utilize the best location and proper deployment techniques contributed to the fatalities and injuries on the Thirtymile incident. Don't let the cost of opening a shelter become a factor in your decision. If the shelter isn't needed, carefully refold it and put it back in its case until you can get a new one. Save the opened shelter for training.
• Before passing through superheated gases, try to close the front of your shroud. You can take your shelter out of the plastic bag and use it for a heat shield to pass quickly through a hot area. If you use the shelter in this way, don't drop it or allow it to snag on brush. Remember that your lungs are still vulnerable.
• If flames contact the shelter, the glass/foil fabric heats up more rapidly. If flame contact is prolonged, spots of aluminum foil can melt or tear away, reducing protection. Even if this happens, it is still safer inside the shelter. Your flame-resistant clothing becomes your backup protection. It's even more critical to keep your nose pressed to the ground and stay in your shelter.
• Remember direct contact with flames or hot gases is the biggest threat to your shelter. It is vital to deploy in a spot that offers the least chance of such contact. The heavier the fuels, the bigger your fuel break needs to be.
• Remember, once you commit yourself to the shelter, stay there. No matter how bad it gets inside, it is usually much worse outside. If you panic and leave the shelter, one breath of hot toxic gases could damage your lungs. Suffocation may follow. Most firefighters were killed as a result of heat-damaged airways and lungs, not by external burns. Protect your airways and lungs at all costs by keeping your face close to the ground and staying in your shelter.

Reference

Your Fire Shelter (MTDC)