Effect of Firefighting Intervention on Occupant Tenability During a Residential Fire

Details

• Personal Author:
  Fent, Kenneth W. ; Horn, Gavin P. ; Kerber, Stephen ; Regan JW ; Smith, Denise L.
• Description:
  This study examines the impact of firefighting intervention on occupant tenability to provide actionable guidance for selecting firefighting tactics that are based upon empirical rather than anecdotal evidence. Twelve fire experiments were conducted utilizing a full-sized residential structure to assess the impact of firefighting tactics on occupant exposure. Six groups of firefighters, recruited from fire departments throughout the country, participated in two experiments each. Two attack tactics were examined: (1) interior attack-water applied from the interior while a search team searched for simulated trapped occupants, and (2) transitional attack-exterior water application before transitioning to the interior while a search team searched for simulated trapped occupants. Gas concentration and temperature measurements were analyzed using a fractional effective dose (FED) approach to determine the impact of firefighter tactics on the exposure for potential trapped occupants. Water application by the fire attack teams resulted in a rapid drop in temperatures throughout the structure, followed shortly afterward by a decrease in the FED rate. There was no significant difference between the magnitude of the temperature decrease or the time until the inflection point in the FED curve between transitional attack and interior attack. As the removal time for the occupant increased, the toxic exposure to the occupant increased, despite the decreasing FED rate due to suppression. Occupant tenability analysis showed that the most threatened occupants are not always closest to the seat of the fire, while occupants near the fire but behind closed doors may have received a low exposure. As such, the results emphasized the need for rapid removal of occupants and coordination of suppression and ventilation tactics to limit toxic exposures. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Environmental Exposure Firefighters Fires Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Firefighting Exposure Levels Fire Dynamics Fire Extinguishing Agents Fire Fighters Fire Fighting Fire Fighting Equipment Fire Safety Fire Service Fire Suppression Risk Factors Tenability

  More +
• ISSN:
  0015-2684
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Illinois ; Maryland ; New York ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 2 ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  55
• Issue:
  6
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20055941
• Citation:
  Fire Technol 2019 Nov; 55(6):2289-2316
• Contact Point Address:
  Steve Kerber, Underwriters Laboratories Inc, 6200 Old Dobbin Lane, Suite 150, Columbia, MD 21045
• Email:
  stephen.kerber@ul.com
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2020
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Fire Technology
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e72f6192c5ebf30c7eb43e24b1aa9ab95e2a400e8c3ff701769637b910ecb783f7ecebe61a55f44bb21f7103f65966187fe30609e3103a6addb009606bcd1d7b
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/213689/cdc_213689_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 816.31 KB ]