Career Fire Fighter Dies and Two Career Fire Fighters Injured in a Flashover During a House Fire – Ohio

Details

• Personal Author:
  Berardinelli, Stephen P. Jr. ; McFall, Mark F. ; Merinar, Timothy R. ; Baldwin, Tommy N.
• 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 March 21, 2003, a 25-year old male career fire fighter (the victim) was fatally injured in a flashover during a house fire. The victim and two other fire fighters were on an interior attack crew and had just gone through the front door of a single family residence. The hose line was uncharged and the crew was calling for water when a flashover occurred. From the time the victim arrived on scene until the flashover was approximately four minutes. After the flashover, fire fighters on the front porch witnessed the victim walk toward the front door then turn and retreat into the structure. The two other fire fighters on the interior crew exited through the front door. They were injured and transported to the hospital where they were treated and released. The victim was located and removed from the structure within 10 minutes. He was transported via ambulance to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. NIOSH investigators concluded that, to minimize the risk of similar occurrences, fire departments should: 1. review and revise existing standard operating procedures (SOPs) for structural fire fighting to ensure fire fighters enter burning structures with charged hose lines
  
  2. ensure that a Rapid Intervention Team (RIT) is established and in position prior to initiating an interior attack
  
  3. ensure that ventilation is closely coordinated with interior operations
  
  4. ensure that crew continuity is maintained on the fireground
  
  and, 5. ensure that fire command always maintains close accountability for all personnel operating on the fireground. Additionally, emergency dispatchers should obtain as much information as possible from the caller and report it to the responding fire fighters.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Emergency Responders Firefighters Fires Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Accident-prevention Emergency-responders Fire-fighters Fire-hazards Fire-safety Injuries Injury-prevention OSHA Region 5 Traumatic-injuries
• FACE - Firefighter:
  Cause of Death: Trauma ; Structure Fire: Residential ; Structure Fire: Flashover
• Series:
  Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP)
• Subseries:
  Death in the Line of Duty Report
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHFFFACEF200312
• 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 ; DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-11
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20025789
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2005-101518
• 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 F2003-12, 2005 Jan ; :1-11
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2005
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  92 - Public Administration - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2003/03/31
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:dae6889f7c274d3a5f509b9ef088ba935cee0b86ec207e777d0dec2a1512804a53dbc8921069ba4b68a29bdd53d369a663b88afc04f462708ad87e9dd6171b75
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/163745/cdc_163745_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 509.10 KB ]