Paid-on-call Fire Fighter Killed by Exterior Wall Collapse during Defensive Operations at a Commercial Structure Fire – Illinois

Details

• Personal Author:
  Merinar, Timothy R. ; Loflin, Murrey E.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP)
• Description:
  Death in the Line of Duty…a Summary of a NIOSH Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation
  
  On June 17, 2011, a 22-year-old male paid-on-call fire fighter received fatal injuries when he was struck by bricks and falling debris during an exterior wall collapse at a commercial structure fire. Crews worked using defensive operations for about 45 minutes attempting to extinguish the fire in the 96 year-old brick and masonry structure that housed an antique store with living quarters located in a rear addition. The victim and another fire fighter were moving a 35-foot aluminum ground ladder away from the Side D (east) wall of the structure when the top part of the exterior wall collapsed. No other fire fighters were injured in the collapse. Contributing Factors: 1. 96 year-old brick masonry structure degraded by fire burning for over 45 minutes. 2. Fire fighters with limited experience entered collapse zone to move ground ladder. 3. Entering collapse zone in close proximity to master stream directed onto roof. 4. Limited visibility at side and rear of structure may have obscured signs of pending collapse. 5. Limited training on structure collapse hazards. Key Recommendations: 1. Establish and monitor a collapse zone when conditions indicate the potential for structural collapse. 2. Train all fire fighting personnel on the risks and hazards related to structural collapse. 3. Train on and understand the effects of master streams on structural degradation. 4. Conduct regular mutual aid training with neighboring departments. 5. Designate a staging area for all unassigned fire fighters and apparatus. 6. Implement national fire fighter and fire officer training standards and requirements.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Emergency Responders Firefighters Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety Safety Management Staff Development
• Keywords:
  Accident-prevention Emergency-responders Fire-fighters Fire-fighting Injuries Injury-prevention OSHA Region 5 Personal-protection Personal-protective-equipment Protective-equipment Protective-measures Safety-equipment Safety-measures Safety-practices Surveillance Training Traumatic-injuries

  More +
• FACE - Firefighter:
  Cause of Death: Trauma ; Non-Structure Fire: Residential ; Structure Fire: Collapse
• Series:
  Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP)
• Subseries:
  Death in the Line of Duty Report
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHFFFACEF201115
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study ; Report
• Place as Subject:
  Illinois ; OSHA Region 5
• 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:
  1-34
• Contributor:
  Goldfeder, William
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20040155
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2012-103689
• 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, FACE F2011-15, 2011 Dec ; :1-34
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2012
• NORA Priority Area:
  Public Safety
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  92 - Public Administration - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2011/06/17
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:9ee0e3f197ebc4a947f46e4a1e1d6c415be002714ae4fdef026c5e5eab6f3e9fdeaaa68e70d5b1f27c635e1fa81768fe4548197569478092acd2c51f70c80748
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/163507/cdc_163507_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 4.91 MB ]