Serious Injury Report F2025-10: Career Firefighter Sustains Serious Burns and Another Injured in Carport Collapse at Residential Structure Fire - Texas

Details

• Personal Author:
  Lago, Louis ; Attwood, Wesley R.
• Description:
  On September 3, 2025, a career firefighter from Engine 11 was seriously injured and his officer received minor injuries while operating at a residential structure fire. At 10:51 hours, the public safety answering point (PSAP) received a 911 call from a neighbor reporting a fire at the house across the street. At 10:53 hours, the PSAP dispatched Engines 14, 11, 5, 1, Towers 1 and 2, and Battalion 1 and 2. Engine 3 and Truck 14 self-dispatched. At 10:56 hours, Engine 11 arrived on scene. Engine 11 officer gave a size-up of a one-story residence showing heavy fire. He reported that his crew would deploy a hoseline. At 10:57 hours, Engine 5, Battalion 2, and Engine 14 arrived on scene. Engine 11 firefighter deployed a 200 ft 1 ¾-inch pre-connect and began to extinguish fire under the carport by starting on the left side and moving right. Engine 11 officer directed him to the Side Alpha/Delta corner to extinguish a burning car under the carport. Engine 11 firefighter took one step under the carport at the corner and started extinguishing the wood support beam. Seconds later at 10:59 hours, the carport experienced a lean-to-style collapse with the roof remaining attached to the residence. This collapse trapped Engine 11 firefighter under the burning roof. Battalion 2 directed Engine 14 to send their crew to the scene immediately, then called a Mayday stating a firefighter was trapped under the partial collapse of the building on Side Alpha. He requested Truck 14 bring rescue tools and called for the PSAP to dispatch a second alarm. Engine 5 officer and firefighters from other units tried to extricate Engine 11 firefighter from the collapse. They used hand tools and manually lifted the roof enough to pull the firefighter out. At 11:01 hours, Engine 11 firefighter was extricated and put onto a stretcher for treatment and transport. He was airlifted to a medical facility for treatment. Engine 11 officer was also transported for smoke inhalation injuries. After the extrication, multiple hoselines and a defensive strategy were used to bring the fire under control at 11:54 hours. Contributing Factors: Structural collapse; Scene size-up and risk assessment; Incident command; Scene access. Key Recommendations - Fire departments should: 1) Ensure firefighters extinguish fires from a relative area of safety when performing exterior fire control as part of a transitional attack. 2) Educate fire officers and firefighters in building performance under fire conditions and the potential for structural collapse. 3) Complete an initial scene size-up and risk assessment to inform a risk-benefit analysis. 4) Train incident commanders how to spot and correct task saturation to quickly refocus emergency response operations. 5) Coordinate with law enforcement agencies to overcome challenges of scene access for responding fire apparatus.
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Firefighters Fires Occupational Health Occupational Injuries Safety
• Keywords:
  Region 6; Fire fighters; Fire fighting; Emergency responders; Recommendations; Fire safety; Training; Risk assessment; Smoke inhalation; Safety education; Structural failure
• FACE - Firefighter:
  Cause of Death Trauma (0004) ; Structure Fire (0011) ; Residential (0012) ; Collapse (0014)
• 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:
  Texas ; West Virginia ; Pennsylvania ; Philadelphia Region [OSHA] ; Dallas 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:
  15 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Burgess, Frank ; Coe, Thomas ; Madrzykowski, Dan
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20071041
• 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 F2025-10, 2026 Jan; :1-13
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2026
• NORA Priority Area:
  Public Safety
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  92 - Public Administration - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  20250905
• Source Full Name:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:0078c754da66c03986089bc9eea1b79a0a4400c2a66743cd2e8740fe677302a749d3ef5ed08de764e0a73ee75eb5bfaadcd62c6e65be3f67023cd30ad3a341f2
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/257817/cdc_257817_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.34 MB ]