A Volunteer Fire Fighter and Volunteer Assistant Lieutenant Die After a Smoke Explosion at a Town House Complex – Wyoming

Details

• Personal Author:
  Tarley, Jay L. ; Bowyer, Matt E. ; Merinar, Timothy R.
• 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 April 18, 2005, a 23-year-old male volunteer fire fighter (Victim #1) and a 39-year-old male volunteer Assistant Lieutenant (Victim #2) died after a smoke explosion at a town house complex. Both victims were in the first apparatus to arrive on the scene and were advised that there were children inside on the second floor of the fire unit. The victims made entry into the structure and proceeded to the second floor with a charged hoseline. Within minutes, Victim #2 returned to the front door to request a thermal imaging camera and returned to the second floor just as another crew prepared to provide back-up. As the back-up crew entered the front door an explosion occurred forcing them back down the porch stairs and entrapping the victims in the bedroom on the second floor. The fire, which intensified after the explosion, had to be knocked down before the victims could be recovered. NIOSH investigators concluded that, to minimize the risk of similar occurrences, fire departments should: 1. develop and enforce standard operating procedures (SOPs) for structural fire fighting that include, but are not limited to, the incident command system, accountability, ventilation, and emergency evacuation
  
  2. ensure that the Incident Commander completes a size-up of the incident and continuously evaluates the risk versus benefit during the entire operation
  
  3. ensure that adequate numbers of staff are available to immediately respond to emergency incidents
  
  4. ensure that the Incident Commander maintains the role of director of fireground operations and does not become directly involved in firefighting operations
  
  5. ensure that the Incident Commander is clearly identified as the only individual with overall authority for management of all activities at an incident
  
  6. ensure that fire fighters are trained to identify truss roof systems and their potential hazards.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Burns Firefighters Fires Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory Protective Devices Safety
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-prevention Fire-fighters Fire-fighting Fire-fighting-equipment Fire-hazards Fire-protection-equipment Fire-safety Injuries Injury-prevention OSHA Region 8 Respiratory-protection Respiratory-protective-equipment Self-contained-breathing-apparatus Surveillance Traumatic-injuries

  More +
• FACE - Firefighter:
  Cause of Death: Trauma ; Structure Fire: Residential ; Structure Fire: Explosion
• Series:
  Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP)
• Subseries:
  Death in the Line of Duty Report
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHFFFACEF200513
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study ; Report
• Place as Subject:
  Wyoming ; OSHA Region 8
• 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:
  1-14
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20029621
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2006-106734
• 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 F2005-13, 2006 Feb ; :1-14
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2006
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  92 - Public Administration - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2005/04/18
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8331a3e71c1644f17584e7185285b597cd65226cf6a45c2908426570f4407a4fcbc42ea9d918607422aa0ba695cacace00dde1e8973b6eb0c8e23a564f51b096
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/163693/cdc_163693_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 4.61 MB ]