Forklifts were involved in fires in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and Fort Bragg, California.

A blaze on a forklift at Bachman Services Inc required more than five dozen responders from the Oklahoma City fire department on 24 July.

Explosions occurred and evacuations took place, but no-one was injured at Bachman, an oilfield chemical supplier, or the adjacent repair service Horizon Hydraulics Inc.

Firefighters used foam on portions of the fire near chemicals that could combust with water. Bachman Services processes chemicals including the flammable and toxic oil emulsion breaker triazine and, on site, had hundreds of 55 gal. (209 l) drums of materials and mixes.

Meanwhile late on 23 July in California, Fred Franco, 75, was moving logs on his property with his old high-capacity diesel-powered Hyster.

He heard a backfire-type sound, observed the start of a fire, steered the forklift away from a fence and log pile, unscrewed the gas cap and jumped to the ground.

Franco saw flames from both sides of the equipment and used five fire extinguishers without meaningful success.

The fire department in Fort Bragg and a unit from Mendocino responded and kept the blaze from spreading into the log pile and nearby trees and homes. Burning of the diesel fuel and hydraulic fluid produced dense smoke that caught residents' attention.

Initially, Georgia-Pacific Corp acquired the Hyster in the early 1970s for use at a lumber mill it operated in Fort Bragg. About 10 years ago, Franco bought the forklift, which the fire department says was a total loss.