In early November, Ernest was at the controls of his backhoe, and Miranda was his spotter, when he noticed smoke coming from the engine compartment. He immediately maneuvered the backhoe to a safe location, shut it down and grabbed the fire extinguisher. When he opened the engine compartment and noticed flames, he discharged the extinguisher.
Miranda called 911, secured the area for their safe arrival and directed emergency personnel to the scene.
Upon further investigation, a rat’s nest was found at the back of the engine compartment next to the firewall. Ernest and Miranda couldn’t see the nest during a pre-use inspection due to its location in the engine compartment.
Ernest and Miranda’s quick thinking likely prevented injuries, fire damage to the surrounding area and more extensive damage to the backhoe. Their actions exemplify N3B’s mission and values as they employed their training and immediately took appropriate action when the unexpected occurred.
Well done, Ernest and Miranda! Your exemplary situational awareness, emergency response and communication while operating and spotting heavy equipment operations make you N3B Safety Champions!