In a unit field exercise at Riley, a simulated gas attack with smoke grenades turned into a grass fire that was quite destructive.
Ring a bell?
Different time. We were out there for Spring Fire. I was a Mess Sgt. One of my dummies was starting an immersion heater and when it caught on fire from an unclosed fill screw opening leaking, he kicked it all over thinking that would put out the fire.
Of course, since the gas tank was now hot, the gas was spraying in the air and rather that being put out, sprayed flaming gas everywhere lighting that buffalo grass above Funston to the north. It burned real quick in three directions due to the wind.
Another of my dummies decided he would use all the small extinguishers trying to put out grass. I ended up taking a large CO2 and walking into the middle of it to get the tank out and cooled down. I let truck drivers worry about the grass which took another 20 minutes.
I think it was about April of ‘73
I think it was the same year we lost a guy in grenade training — just damn.