Career Firefighter Dies After Falling into a Light/Air Shaft During a Fire in a Four-Story Mixed Occupancy Structure – Illinois

Details

• Personal Author:
  Attwood WR ; Funke JR ; Lago LR ; Montague, Patrick R.
• Description:
  On November 13, 2023, a 39-year-old career firefighter died after falling down a light/air shaft while performing roof operations. The Type III constructed building was a four-story mixed occupancy built in 1894. The first floor was occupied by a full-service restaurant. Floors two through four contained 12 occupied apartments. The roof contained a mixture of exhaust vents, several large natural openings, two sky lights, and two light/air shafts measuring 9 ½ feet by 5 feet. Additionally, the roof had several heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) units, satellite dishes, metal beams in the center of the roof, numerous cables, wires, and various tripping hazards. At approximately 05:27 hours, a 9-1-1 call reporting a fire was received from a cleaning person employed by the restaurant. Approximately two minutes later, the dispatch was issued for a "Still" alarm Box 103607. The following companies were dispatched: Engine 55 (E55), Truck 44 (T44), Battalion Chief 12 (BC12), Engine 22 (E22), and Tower Ladder 10 (TL10). BC12 was the first arriving unit at 05:31:20 hours. BC12 was met by the caller, advising him the kitchen of the first-floor restaurant was on fire. Along with the 9-1-1 caller, BC12 proceeded to the rear/west side of the building where he observed smoke emanating from a rear door. At 05:31:48, E55 arrived, led out a cross-lay and gained access through a door on side Alpha. T44 also arrived at this same time, assisting with forcible entry on the side Alpha door that E55 utilized for entry into the structure. T44's crew was separated into two teams. The officer and firefighter assisted with forcible entry. The T44-3 firefighter (deceased firefighter) and another firefighter T44-2 raised the aerial ladder and proceeded to the roof to perform ventilation. A working fire was declared and dispatched at 05:33:10 hours. Between 05:38 and 05:51 hours, the working fire units arrived. Squad 1 (SQ1) sent two personnel to the roof to assist with ventilation operations. They accessed the roof from T44's aerial ladder. Once on the roof, they assisted the two members from T44 with ventilating the vertical openings on the roof which were emanating smoke. They removed the translucent corrugated panels from the south light/air shaft. The north side light/air shaft was ventilated by puncturing several holes in the translucent corrugated panels. There was a concern about the large open south light/airshaft so a firefighter from SQ1 (SQ1-1) removed his helmet and directed the helmet light on the shaft to alert firefighters operating nearby. Around this time, T44-2 left the roof to retrieve equipment to probe the roof openings. T44-3 was observed cutting a hole in the roof adjacent to the north light/air shaft. The hole he was cutting measured approximately 2 feet by 2 feet. He appeared to have finished cutting the hole in the roof and put the saw down. A firefighter from SQ1 discussed a plan to widen the hole and picked up the saw to begin cutting, expanding the ventilation hole. During that time, the other firefighter from SQ1 (SQ1-2) noticed T44-3 was on his knees and adjusting his self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) facepiece. SQ1-2 then returned to assisting his partner with cutting the hole. When T44-2 returned, he noticed that T44-3 was not there and asked the members of SQ1 if they knew where T44-3 was located. SQ1 personnel noted not seeing T44-3 after observing him adjusting his facepiece. They began searching the area along the sides of the roof. During the search, they heard a Personal Alert Safety System (PASS) device alarm coming from the opened light/air shaft and immediately declared a Mayday at 05:53:47 hours. It was determined that T44-3 fell 54 feet down the South open light/air shaft and was laying critically injured in a dry well below a platform adjacent to the first floor of the building. At 06:11:04 hours, rescue personnel begin extrication efforts. The officer of SQ1 directed his personnel to assemble equipment to execute a vertical rescue operation into the shaft from the roof. As the equipment was being retrieved, additional units were searching for other areas to quickly access T44-3. The Rapid Intervention Team (RIT) found a window leading to the light/air shaft on the 2nd floor that was covered with plywood. They removed the covering, which enabled them to observe the injured firefighter who was conscious, critically injured, and unable to move. A firefighter (SQ1-3) was lowered from the 2nd floor window to the injured firefighter. At 06:23:06 hours, SQ1-3 made a rapid assessment of T44-3's injuries and prepared him for extrication. During the initial contact with the injured firefighter, personnel from Squad 2 (SQ2) gained access through a breach in the masonry wall on the first floor. The breach point opened to the platform approximately eight feet above the dry well containing the injured firefighter. T44-3 was removed from the dry well through this breach at 06:33:17 hours. He was treated and transported to a medical facility where he was pronounced deceased. The fire was contained to the restaurant's kitchen with slight extension to the apartment directly above and quickly extinguished. Contributing Factors - Incident command division supervision; Communications; Crew integrity; Situational awareness; Poor visibility; Sleep deprivation/disturbance. Key Recommendations; Fire departments should ensure: 1) Incident command implements the National Incident Management System (NIMS), including establishing functional and geographical assignments at the beginning and maintaining them throughout operations 2) Firefighters immediately notify the incident commander (IC) and all units operating on the fireground when the roof is ventilated and/or translucent corrugated roof panels are identified 3) Personnel maintain crew integrity at all times throughout an incident 4) The development and maintenance of effective situational awareness during emergency incidents 5) Firefighters, company officers, and chief officers are aware of and are trained to recognize the hazards of roof operations including operating in limited/low visibility conditions 6) Fire department management understands and communicate the effects of sleep deprivation and the potential impact on work performance and safety to firefighters before they participate in an incident response. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Emergency Responders Firefighters Fires Mortality Occupational Health Safety Sleep Sleep Initiation And Maintenance Disorders Ventilation
• Keywords:
  Emergency Responders Fatalities Fire Fighters Fire Fighting Fire Safety Recommendations Region 5 Roof Falls Situational Awareness Sleep Deprivation
• FACE - Firefighter:
  Cause of Death: Trauma ; Structure Fire ; Structure Fire: Non-Residential
• Series:
  Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHFFFACEF202312
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study ; Case Report
• Place as Subject:
  Chicago Region [OSHA] ; Illinois ; Philadelphia Region [OSHA] ; West Virginia
• 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:
  1-32
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20070926
• 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 F2023-12, 2025 Mar; :1-32
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2025
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  92 - Public Administration - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  20231113
• Source Full Name:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:3145a7204faab3602eb616ffbb3fee143372ede8e26ce5b941736d695af9b12791a649890370b188e34229c4bf098e6145b8c8686456dc15ff84a2bdd2f4835b
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/228498/cdc_228498_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.01 MB ]