Line of Duty Death Report: Career Lieutenant Dies and Five Injured in Structural Collapse of Mixed-Use Occupancy During Cause and Origin Investigation – Pennsylvania

Details

• Personal Author:
  Ringer, Stephen J. ; Loflin, Murrey E. ; Knuth, Rebecca
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP)
• Description:
  On June 18, 2022, at approximately 01:53 hours, the Fire Communications Center (FCC) dispatched Box 443 in response to a reported fire in a third-floor apartment, with initial reports indicating potential trapped occupants. Multiple units responded immediately. Engine 2 (E2) arrived on the scene within four minutes of dispatch, reporting smoke conditions and initiating suppression efforts. By 02:05 hours, Incident Command (IC) escalated operations, declaring "all hands in service" to fully address the fire. At 02:12 hours, IC reported that primary searches were negative, the fire had been knocked down, and secondary searches were underway. The fire was officially placed under control at 02:18 hours, and units began clearing the scene. Post-fire operations continued, with Fire Marshal 21 (FM21) arriving at 02:33 hours to begin an investigation, and Licensing and Inspection (L&I) officials arriving at 03:14 hours to assess structural stability. Approximately 90 minutes after the initial dispatch, at 03:23 hours, the structure collapsed, trapping multiple firefighters inside. FCC dispatched additional suppression units, including Rescue 1, Collapse Unit 1, and additional emergency medical service (EMS) units. Engine 50 (E50) confirmed a full collapse at 03:27 hours and reported missing personnel. Battalion Chief 8 (BC8) requested a second alarm at approximately 03:30 hours to expand search and rescue operations. At approximately 04:09 hours, IC confirmed contact with three trapped firefighters, while a fourth trapped firefighter could not be accounted for. Over the next several hours, intensive rescue operations occurred, with four firefighters successfully extricated between 05:01 and 05:14 hours and transported to local hospitals. By 07:05 hours, IC reported that all personnel had been removed, and the final firefighter was transported at 07:11 hours. The IC officially marked the incident under control at 07:13 hours and began demobilizing response units.
• Subjects:
  Emergency Responders Firefighters Fires Mortality Occupational Health Safety
• FACE - Firefighter:
  Cause of Death: Trauma ; Structure Fire: Non-Residential ; Structure Fire: Collapse
• Series:
  Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP)
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study ; Case Report
• Place as Subject:
  Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSR - Division of Safety Research ; DFSE - Division of Field Studies and Engineering
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  20 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Ridley, Robert ; Reynolds, Ray
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20070976
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2025
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  922160 - Fire Protection - (NAICS 2022)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ac890506f1f0429e241cdd55c11fa3126fdb0bae803ef9313e7395073415ecc09d6fbd9961558db40b3e676fecb73786133abb88739b5512f4c3df6fff77fdab
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/232196/cdc_232196_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.34 MB ]