El Dorado Incident - Learning Review Narrative

On Thursday, September 17, 2020, Charles ‘Charlie’ Morton was fatally burned while conducting fire suppression actions on the El Dorado Fire on the San Bernardino National Forest. Charlie is survived by his fiancé, daughter, parents, two brothers, cousins, friends, and Big Bear Hotshots. Charlie was holding the line on the slopes of San Bernardino Peak when he was overtaken by fire.

The El Dorado Fire started in San Bernardino County, California at the lower elevations of the San Bernardino Mountains on September 5, 2020. Within one operational period, the fire burned through the El Dorado Ranch Park in San Bernardino County and onto the San Bernardino National Forest. Over the next several weeks, firefighters from numerous agencies worked together to suppress the fire, alongside them was Charlie.

This document is a complex narrative that attempts to tell the story of the events that led up to Charlie’s passing as seen by those around him.
We honor Charlie through learning.