Line of Duty Death Report 2021-09: A Military Firefighter Killed and Two Firefighters Injured by a Wall Collapse at a Barn Fire - West Virginia

Details

• Personal Author:
  Loflin, Murrey E. ; Attwood, Wesley R. ; Ringer, Stephen J.
• Description:
  On December 27, 2020, a 30-year-old military firefighter was struck on the head and killed by a falling structural support beam while fighting a barn fire. The heavy timber beam fell on the firefighter during the collapse of the barn. At 01:59 hours, stations 60 and 80 along with county emergency medical services (EMS), were dispatched for a barn fire. Captain 60 and assistant chief 60 responded in their privately owned vehicles. While enroute, assistant chief 60 requested stations 1 and 16 be added to the barn fire call as stations 60 and 80 were already operating on-scene at a nearby residential structure fire. At 02:05 hours, station 16 was dispatched with Rescue Engine 16 (RE16) going enroute. At 02:13 hours, captain 60 arrived on-scene and reported a fully involved barn fire. Captain 60 established himself as the incident commander (IC) and reported to the emergency communications center (ECC) that a partial roof collapse occurred on Side Delta of the barn. He also reported a powerline down on the Side Alpha/Side Bravo corner and requested the local electric company respond. Engine 61 responded and laid a 5" supply line from the hydrant located on the road in front of the property to the end of the driveway near the entrance of the barn on the Side Alpha/Side Delta corner. Engine 3 arrived on-scene at approximately 02:15 hours. The driver/operator spotted the hydrant and the supply line laid by Engine 61. He connected to the hydrant through the front intake, connected the 5" to the discharge, and then sent water to Engine 61. Suppression efforts began with the use of the front bumper turret of Engine 61. The driver/operator of Tanker 61 deployed a 1¾" hoseline with a combination nozzle from the front bumper of Engine 61 while proceeding to Side Alpha. Engine 3's crew deployed a 1¾" hoseline to Side Delta. RE16 and Rescue Engine 31 (RE31) arrived on-scene at 02:18 hours. RE31's crew deployed 100ft of 2½" hoseline to Side Delta. RE16's crew were assigned to Side Alpha of the barn where they met the Engine 4 crew operating the 1¾" hoseline from Engine 61. The nozzle on this hoseline became clogged resulting in reduced flow, forcing the hoseline crew to move closer to the barn for their stream to reach the fire. RE16's officer asked if RE16 firefighter 4 (deceased firefighter) could take over the hoseline to get some experience. RE16 firefighter 4 was backed up on the hoseline by another RE16 firefighter. Tanker 61's driver/operator then noticed the Side Alpha wall was now unsupported. He notified Engine 4's officer and requested that the firefighters on Side Alpha be told to back away from the barn. Engine 4's officer acknowledged but stated he would keep an eye on the barn and let the firefighters know when to back away. At 02:33 hours, the Side Alpha wall of the barn began to collapse. Multiple firefighters yelled that the wall was collapsing, and crews attempted to retreat while an EMS officer called a Mayday. The wall fell, striking three firefighters (RE16, Engine 4, and Engine 61) and knocking down seven others. One firefighter was struck in the shoulder, and another sustained a leg injury. RE16 firefighter 4 was trapped under a large timber frame. He was unconscious and not breathing with apparent blunt force trauma to his head sustained from a fallen beam. RE16 firefighter 4 was pulled towards the road. Firefighters performed a primary assessment and began CPR. Fire suppression efforts were halted. RE16 firefighter 4 was transported to a local medical center where he was pronounced deceased. Contributing Factors Scene size-up and risk assessment; Collapse zone; Hoseline selection and deployment; Equipment malfunction; Mutual aid training. Key Recommendations - Fire departments should ensure: 1) Initial and ongoing size-ups and risk assessments are conducted throughout the incident. 2) Fire officers and firefighters are trained to understand building performance under fire conditions and the potential for structural collapse. 3) Safety officers with training on structural collapse are utilized for fireground incident management. 4) Selection and use of appropriate hoseline based on conditions. 5) Fire officers and firefighters are trained to react appropriately to equipment malfunction. 6) Firefighters properly flush hydrants before establishing a water supply. 7) Periodic mutual aid training is conducted.
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Firefighters Fires Mortality Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Region 3; Fire fighters; Fire fighting; Fatalities; Emergency responders; Recommendations; Structural failure; Safety practices; Falling objects
• FACE - Firefighter:
  Cause of Death Trauma (0004) ; Structure Fire (0011) ; Non-Residential (0013) ; Arson (0016)
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  Firefighter Fatality Investigation
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study ; Report
• Place as Subject:
  West Virginia ; Philadelphia Region [OSHA]
• 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:
  13 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Guiste, David
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20071019
• 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 F2021-09, 2025 May; :1-11
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2025
• NORA Priority Area:
  Public Safety
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  92 - Public Administration - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  20201227
• Source Full Name:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:02712967f52c990c88abdcecb3d43f336753d1a87e58ba4201d09c62fa077cbeae7e47d62466ab77b5012ec327c260f594355651efe12cf2526db0011ef9a0c8
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/257796/cdc_257796_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 505.50 KB ]