A Story of Impact: NIOSH Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation Helps Incident Commander Choose Strategy and Tactics to Control Flow Path and Protect Fire Fighters

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bowyer, Matt E. ; Loflin, Murrey E. ; Merinar, Timothy R. ; Miles, Stephen T. ; Moore, Paul H. ; Orr B ; Webb, Sydney ; Wertman, Stacy C.
• Description:
  Every time fire fighters enter a burning building they put themselves at risk of injury and death. Each year 80 to 100 fire fighters die in the line of duty. To prevent these deaths, the NIOSH Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program conducts independent investigations, analyzes information collected, and prepares a report with prevention recommendations. In March 2014, a fire lieutenant and a fire fighter died fighting a structure fire in a residential Brownstone. The fire started as a result of welders installing a hand rail at the rear (Side Charlie) of the building. The first fire fighters on the scene entered the building through the front door (Side Alpha) and moved to the basement, searching for the fire and a potential victim. The fire grew quickly due to the rear door being left open after a maintenance worker checked the activated smoke detector and residents fled the building, and from 60 mile per hour (mph) winds. A wind-driven fire, like this one, is particularly dangerous to fight because of the potential for strong and sudden increases in fire, heat, and smoke conditions. The open doors at the front and rear of the Brownstone created a flow path for air pushed by the high winds to feed the fire, allowing the fire to spread quickly. This trapped the fire lieutenant and fire fighter in the basement. NIOSH investigated the incident and published the report: Lieutenant and Fire Fighter Die and 13 Fire Fighters Injured in a Wind-Driven Fire in Brownstone- Massachusetts. Using fire dynamics research conducted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and Underwriters Laboratories, this report identified three key recommendations related to flow path: 1) incident commanders should conduct a risk assessment upon arrival and consider options to safely attack the fire, 2) incident commanders should adjust fire-fighting tactics based on weather conditions during structure fires, and 3) fire departments should educate fire fighters on the impact of wind. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Emergency Responders Firefighters Fires Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Emergency Responders Fire Fighters Fire Fighting Fire Hazards Surveillance
• Series:
  NIOSH Numbered Publications
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHPUB2017200
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Handout/Flyer
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSR - Division of Safety Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20050479
• Citation:
  Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2017-200, 2017 Sep; :1-2
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2017
• NORA Priority Area:
  Public Safety
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:9ef73c6906cb4e57381bf7e885eb17acbdbdb1add39af9a650e936758575b5bfe0b234ed675aadf7d269903f6ab8e3c74cba5a8b0f5e0e39292383c1f08d5612
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/210096/cdc_210096_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 354.80 KB ]