Abstract: Employee #1 and two coworkers, all firefighters, were battling a brush fire. They were using a brush truck that contained water for fighting the fire, and Employee #1 was manning one of the hoses on the truck. The truck's pump for supplying water malfunctioned several times while Employee #1 was at the edge of the fire zone. The three workers decided to retreat from the fire zone and return to the incident command center. While moving away, Employee #1 became separated from the others and was not reported as missing for approximately 20 minutes. He was found lying on the ground in full bunker gear, well clear of the fire zone. A subsequent autopsy revealed that he had died of thermal inhalation.