CDC STACKS serves as an archival repository of CDC-published products including scientific findings, journal articles, guidelines, recommendations, or other public health information authored or co-authored by CDC or funded partners.
As a repository, CDC STACKS retains documents in their original published format to ensure public access to scientific information.
i
Volunteer Captain Runs Low on Air, Becomes Disoriented, and Dies While Attempting to Exit a Large Commercial Structure – Texas
-
2011/08/29
[PDF-1.65 MB]
Details:
-
Personal Author:
-
Corporate Authors:
-
Description:Death in the line of duty…A summary of a NIOSH fire fighter fatality investigation
On July 3, 2010, a 30-year-old male volunteer Captain died while attempting to locate and extinguish a late night fire in the back of an egg processing plant. The seat of the fire was located in a dry storage area at the back of the plant that housed paper and styrofoam products for packaging the eggs. When the fire department arrived, flames were visible from the roof of the dry storage area. The victim's crew attempted to breach a wall for more direct access to where they thought the seat of the fire was located. The access was blocked by stacks of wooden pallets. Two captains made entry with an uncharged hoseline through the front door to find and extinguish the fire. The front of the plant was charged with heavy dark smoke and high heat conditions. They became disoriented in the thick smoke, lost the hoseline and called a Mayday that was not heard and acted upon. While searching for the handline, the captains ran out of air, got more disoriented and were separated. One captain attempted to kick out a section of wall and was heard by exterior crews who breached the wall and rescued him. Intense fire conditions thwarted all further rescue efforts until the fire was extinguished. The victim was found the next morning. Contributing Factors: 1. lack of scene management and risk analysis; 2. inadequate water supply; 3. apparatus specifications and equipment; 4. ineffective tactics; 5. ineffective communications; 6. inefficient training concerns; 7. rapid intervention team (RIT) not established; 8. structure built with little or no protection against fire growth. Key Recommendations: 1. ensure that the incident commander conducts an initial size-up and risk assessment of the incident scene before beginning interior fire fighting operations and continually evaluates the conditions to determine if operations should become defensive; 2. train fire fighters to communicate interior and exterior conditions to the incident commander as soon as possible and to provide regular updates; 3. ensure that an adequate water supply is established and maintained; 4. conduct pre-incident planning inspections of buildings to facilitate development of safe fireground strategies and tactics.
-
Subjects:
-
Keywords:
-
FACE - Firefighter:
-
Series:
-
DOI:
-
Publisher:
-
Document Type:
-
Genre:
-
Place as Subject:
-
CIO:
-
Division:
-
Topic:
-
Location:
-
Pages in Document:1-20
-
Contributor:Quinn, Kevin D.
-
NIOSHTIC Number:20039525
-
NTIS Accession Number:PB2011-114170
-
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 F2010-16, 2011 Aug; :1-20
-
Federal Fiscal Year:2011
-
NORA Priority Area:
-
Peer Reviewed:False
-
NAICS and SIC Codes:
-
Start Date:2010/07/03
-
Resource Number:FACE-F2010-16
-
Collection(s):
-
Main Document Checksum:
-
Download URL:
-
File Type:
