Line of Duty Death Report: Report Slides: Firefighter Dies After Becoming Lost in an Attic at a Residential Structure Fire – Illinois

Details

• Personal Author:
  Loflin, Murrey E. ; Montague, Patrick R. ; Saunders, Robert ; Barger, Alexandra ; Attwood, Wesley R.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP)
• Description:
  On April 4, 2023, a 49-year-old firefighter died after becoming lost in the attic of a residential structure. At 03:23 hours, the Office of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC) transmitted a Still Alarm (first response) for a residential structure fire for Box 142016. Battalion Chief 22 (BC22), Engine 75 (E75), Engine 115 (E115), Tower Ladder 24 (TL24), and Truck 27 (T27) were dispatched. OEMC transmitted a Working Fire Dispatch (confirmed fire, additional resources deployed) for Box 142016 at 03:25 hours with several additional units dispatched. E75 arrived on-scene at 03:26 hours and advised this was a working fire. E75 stretched a horseshoe hose load (100- feet of 2 -inch and 100-feet of 1 -inch) to the fire building (middle building in Photo 1) but there was a delay in getting water due to a lack of water pressure. TL24 and BC22 arrived at 03:29 hours. A member of TL24 forced the door of the fire building for E75. The E75 nozzle and E75 officer were going up the stairs to the 2nd floor where the fire was located. The stairs were compromised, and they were ordered out of the building. The Incident Commander (IC) requested a Still and Box Alarm for Box 142016 at 03:31 hours and the OEMC dispatched several additional units. E75 hydrant (establishes water supply to the engine) (deceased firefighter) was assigned to take the hoseline from E75 nozzle to knock down the fire showing from the Delta 1 exposure (side of the structure shown on the right in photographs) (white building to the right in Photo 1). At approximately 03:37 hours, E75 hydrant and E75 officer went into the Delta 1 exposure and worked their way to the attic. The conditions in the attic were hot with heavy smoke, and there was fire in the side Alpha/side Bravo corner of the attic. E75 hydrant was attacking the fire, when E75 officer s low-air alarm or end-of-service-time-indicator (EOSTI) sounded. IC ordered an evacuation of the Delta 1 exposure at 03:55 hours. The E75 officer told E75 hydrant that they were to leave the attic, which E75 hydrant acknowledged. When E75 officer got down to the 1st floor, E75 hydrant was not behind him. He radioed E75 hydrant with no response and also called IC asking the location of E75 hydrant. IC transmitted a Mayday at approximately 04:04 hours. Squad 5 (SQ5) entered the Delta 1 exposure and went to the attic. SQ5 found E75 hydrant in the knee wall of the attic on the side Charlie corner at approximately 04:11 hours. A master stream flowing from TL24 into the attic was shut down. SQ5 and a member of T27 got E75 hydrant out of the attic while his EOSTI was sounding. They brought him down the stairs and out of the building at 04:18 hours. While coming down the stairs, E75 hydrant had his SCBA facepiece on, but it became dislodged. E75 hydrant was transported to a local trauma center at 04:28 hours where he was subsequently pronounced deceased. The medical examiner later reported his cause of death to be carbon monoxide (CO) toxicity from smoke and soot inhalation, with contribution of thermal injuries and hypertensive arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The fire at Box 142016 was declared under control at 06:10 hours.
• Subjects:
  Emergency Responders Firefighters Fires Mortality Occupational Health Safety
• FACE - Firefighter:
  Cause of Death: Trauma ; Structure Fire: Residential ; Structure Fire: Arson ; Cause of Death: Medical ; Non-Cardiac: Carbon Monoxide Poisoning ; Cardivascular
• Series:
  Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP)
• Document Type:
  Still Image
• Genre:
  Presentation
• Place as Subject:
  Illinois
• 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:
  12 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20070992
• CAS Registry Number:
  Carbon monoxide (CAS RN 630-08-0)
• 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-512:767ec681bd41aa5c4eb2e95e90a15c8b31407261dad7e25a5a08c3dbbad1bbed10f0596d519f0434ad2009de3d391a307f02316284fbba48aa46aa0f10cf9963
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/232198/cdc_232198_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 468.56 KB ]