Line of Duty Death Report: Career Firefighter Dies After Being Trapped by Collapse of Two Vacant Commercial Buildings – New York

Details

• Personal Author:
  Attwood, Wesley R. ; Johnson, James ; Seaton, Jeffrey
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP)
• Description:
  On February 12, 2025, a career firefighter died after being trapped by the collapse of two vacant commercial buildings. At 21:39 hours, Squad 21 (SQ21), Quint 21- 2 (QT212), Quint 21-3 (QT213), Tower 21 (TW21), Engine 21-4 (EN214), and Car 21 were dispatched for reports of a building fire. The fire ambulance (7121) arrived on-scene and provided a size-up confirming a working fire with heavy smoke and visible flames from 1 Main to 3 Main. Once the incident commander (IC) arrived, he requested a 2nd alarm, additional apparatus, fire investigators, safety officer, and utilities be dispatched to the scene. The off-duty chief officers went to the scene when they heard the 2nd alarm requested. On-scene crews began fire suppression operations deploying hoselines around the buildings and evacuating residents from 5 Main while two other firefighters began opening 1 and 3 Main to flow water. At 21:48 hours, IC announced a defensive strategy for operations and ordered all units to exit the buildings. At 21:51 hours, IC reported a major collapse on Side Charlie on talk group 3 and dispatch channels. One firefighter (SQ21 firefighter) was trapped by this collapse under the fully intact facade which spanned from the sidewalk to a street parked car on Side Alpha. For about 19 minutes, multiple crews attempted to extricate the SQ21 firefighter from under the facade. After 20 minutes, two firefighters lifted the facade using spreaders and a combination tool. This provided enough room for crews to pull the SQ21 firefighter out towards the building. The SQ21 firefighter was placed on a stretcher and loaded into 7121 while a fire investigator performed CPR. Fire ambulance 7121 went to the local hospital where the SQ21 firefighter was later pronounced deceased.
• Subjects:
  Emergency Responders Firefighters Fires Mortality Occupational Health Safety
• FACE - Firefighter:
  Cause of Death: Trauma ; Structure Fire: Non-Residential ; Structure Fire: Collapse
• Series:
  Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP)
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study ; Case Report
• Place as Subject:
  New York
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSR - Division of Safety Research ; DFSE - Division of Field Studies and Engineering
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  27 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20070979
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2024
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  922160 - Fire Protection - (NAICS 2022)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:fe4eaf1a308675495a0737f213d6186211e649881df9799bb5befa344d9654ca956ccb58905830a68e889474c42e7b8a1876e0cbd7ce4cb3251c782ae9c67dbc
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/232211/cdc_232211_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.10 MB ]