Two Fire Fighters Die and Eight Fire Fighters are Injured from a Silo Explosion at a Lumber Company – Ohio

Details

• Personal Author:
  Berardinelli, Stephen P. Jr. ; Guglielmo, Carolyn ; McFall, Mark F.
• 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 October 1, 2003, a 44-year-old male volunteer fire fighter and a 42-year-old male volunteer fire fighter were fatally injured by a silo explosion at a lumber company. The victims responded to a mutual aid call from a neighboring volunteer fire department already on the scene at the silo fire. Prior to the explosion, fire fighters had opened some exterior hatches at the base of an oxygen-limiting silo and were flowing water through the hatch openings with a piercing nozzle. Fire fighters were also flowing water into the top of the silo via an aerial apparatus. At the time of the explosion, one victim was standing on top of the silo and the other victim was in the aerial basket positioned beside the top of the silo. Eight other fire fighters were injured during the explosion, two requiring hospitalization. The fatally injured victims were transported to regional hospitals via ambulance where they were later pronounced dead. NIOSH investigators concluded that, to minimize the risk of similar occurrences, fire departments should: 1. Train officers and fire fighters on the hazards associated with different types of silos and the appropriate fire fighting tactics
  
  2. Develop and implement standard operating guidelines (SOGs) for fighting oxygen-limiting silo fires
  
  and, 3. Ensure that pre-emergency planning is completed for silos within their jurisdictions. Additionally: 1. Facilities with oxygen-limiting silos should ensure the proper operation and maintenance of their silos
  
  2. Municipalities should consider requiring an exterior placard with specific silo information for use during fire fighting efforts
  
  and, 3. Silo manufacturers and research organizations should consider researching the causes and mechanisms of silo fires involving wood products and developing engineering approaches to reduce the risks to fire fighters.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Dust Emergency Responders Explosions Firefighters Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Accident-prevention Emergency-responders Explosive-atmospheres Explosive-dusts Explosive-hazards Fire-fighters Injuries Injury-prevention OSHA Region 5 Traumatic-injuries
• FACE - Firefighter:
  Cause of Death: Trauma ; Non-Structure Fire: Residential ; Structure Fire: Miscellaneous ; 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/NIOSHFFFACEF200332
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study ; Report
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; 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:
  1-12
• Contributor:
  Halpin, Ted
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20025791
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2005-101519
• 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 F2003-32, 2004 Dec ; :1-12
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2005
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  92 - Public Administration - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2003/10/01
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:681b2b192169340216bdb6e0cae3f809d09fe43f08ae06ccaad9cb87b39c9a1fefb0d5ae111fbfb180aaa6ef5c2a2d32bcd3d6d4509561a1812e608ebe8cf2cf
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/163744/cdc_163744_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 781.04 KB ]