Texas firefighters comment on NIOSH fatal fire report
Alvin W. White Jr., president of the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association, IAFF Local 341, issued the following statement concerning a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) on the catastrophic 2013 Southwest Inn Fire in Houston on May 31, 2013, in which four Houston firefighters perished.
Houston fire fighters appreciate the resources committed by NIOSH to the investigation of the May 31, 2013, fire at the Southwest Inn in Houston. This 106-page report comprehensively addresses the factors at the fire that contributed to the deaths of four Houston fire fighters and the injuries of 16 others.
Houston fire fighters remain concerned about the Houston Fire Department (HFD) equipment, policies and training, and staffing issues raised in the NIOSH report. We note that while the report cites numerous revisions of HFD procedures made since the 2013 fire, the department has not actually implemented several of the cited revisions.
The truth is, we still face staffing shortages, systemic radio failures and other technology problems, an aging fleet and facilities, and inconsistent provision of training.
HFD is a world-class department in many respects, but seven fire fighters have died in the line of duty in four catastrophic incidents during the Parker Administration. Because of the current environment at City Hall, HFD is too politically timid and reactive to major incidents. More must be done to better and proactively ensure fire fighter and public safety. Our obligations to our lost-Robert Bebee, Robert Garner, Matthew Renaud, and Anne Sullivan-and the 16 injured fire fighters demand that lessons be learned from their sacrifices. For that reason, we urge HFD to immediately adopt the 15 recommendations in the NIOSH report and the recommendations of the 2014 HFD Recovery Committee report on the incident.
The NIOSH report is available online at: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire/reports/face201316.html.
Momentum for extending the Zadroga Act indefinitely
The Zadroga Act, which umbrellas the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program and the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund and other programs, is set to expire beginning in October 2015 (after press time). Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (NY); Staten Island Borough (NY) President James Oddo; Councilwoman (New York City) Debi Rose; Pat Lynch, president of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association; John Feal, founder of the FealGood Foundation; WTC first responders and survivors; doctors; and advocates have been working to have the Act extended indefinitely. Participants in the 9/11 Health Program live in all 50 states and in 429 of the 435 congressional districts. “We have a moral obligation to continue to provide the critically needed care and compensation that our 9/11 heroes, survivors, and their families deserve,” Gillibrand states in a release on her Web site dated August 11, 2015.
Gillibrand and a bipartisan group of members of the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives introduced, in April, the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Reauthorization Act to permanently extend these programs. More than 33,000 responders and other survivors of the attacks, including area residents, workers, and children, have an illness or injury caused by the WTC attacks or their aftermath; more than two-thirds have more than one illness, the release explains. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that so far, 4,385 cancers have been found among 9/11 responders and other survivors. The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, passed by Congress in 2010, helped ensure proper monitoring and treatment for the men, women, and children who face potential life-threatening health effects caused by exposure to the toxins released at Ground Zero in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.
The Gillibrand release notes that the new James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Reauthorization Act would make it possible to do the following:
- Continue the WTC Health Program, administered by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, which monitors more than 62,000 9/11 first responders for 9/11-related illnesses and treats more than 8,475 injured 9/11 survivors.
- Continue to monitor and treat responders to the WTC; the Pentagon; and the Shanksville, Pennsylvania, crash site who live outside the New York metropolitan area.
- Continue the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund. Under the bill, the fund, which is scheduled to close on October 3, 2016, would remain open and be fully funded to provide compensation for economic damages and loss for responders and survivors injured by exposure to the toxins at Ground Zero.
- Make the programs permanent. Many of the responders and survivors have chronic WTC-related illnesses requiring long-term care. Some will have delayed onset of illnesses, especially cancers. Making the programs permanent would be similar to legislation that provides medical and compensation benefits for workers at our nuclear facilities.
- Continue NYC cost share. NYC would continue to contribute a 10-percent matching cost share of the total costs of the WTC Health Program.
- Continue research in diagnosing and treating WTC-related illnesses.
The complete release is at http://1.usa.gov/1UDqimY.
Legionnaire’s disease kills 12 in NYC
An outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease in New York City (NYC) claimed the lives of 12 people and sickened 115 at last count, at press time. The NYC Health Department described the fatalities as elderly or individuals with underlying medical problems. At press time, health officials said they believed the outbreak had peaked and were anticipating a drop in the number of new cases. They said there might be a few, however, because of the long incubation period (two to 10 days).
The disease, authorities said, is not passed from human to human. It is caused by inhaling water droplets containing Legionella bacteria. The bacteria are found in the cooling mist from air-conditioners on the top of the buildings, whirlpool spas, hot tubs, humidifiers, hot water tanks, cooling towers, and evaporative condensers of large air-conditioning systems.
In NYC, five cooling towers in the South Bronx reportedly had tested positive for Legionella bacteria. The towers were cleaned and flushed. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he will propose legislation designed to prevent future outbreaks. Infectious disease experts say the outbreak has raised many questions. For example, how were the victims exposed to the Legionella bacteria and why did the outbreak occur in the Bronx even though the bacteria occur naturally in the environment and many cooling towers/air-conditioning systems are present in other areas?
OSHA proposes exposure limit for beryllium
In August, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a proposed rule to revise the beryllium workplace permissible exposure limit (PEL). Beryllium, used in the construction industry, metalwork, electronics manufacturing, and nuclear energy sector and laboratories that work with nuclear materials, is known to cause cancer and other fatal diseases, such as chronic beryllium disease of the lungs, when inhaled.
According to Public Citizen, a nonprofit organization that serves as the people’s voice in the nation’s capital, it had petitioned OSHA 14 years ago to lower the PEL for beryllium to 0.2 micrograms per cubic meter of air, one-tenth of the current PEL of 2.0 micrograms per cubic meter of air. The petition also asked OSHA to require medical surveillance of beryllium-exposed workers. Public Citizen’s petition noted at the time that even a PEL of 0.2 micrograms per cubic meter of air could prove too high should additional scientific evidence emerge of beryllium’s harms below this level. New evidence has shown that OSHA’s proposed PEL of 0.2 micrograms per cubic meter of air (and even its alternative proposed PEL of 0.1 micrograms per cubic meter of air) would still leave too many workers exposed to unsafe levels of beryllium.
In 2009, the American Conference of Industrial Hygienists (ACIH) lowered its recommended maximum threshold for workplace beryllium exposure to 0.05 micrograms per cubic meter of air, one quarter of the limit in OSHA’s proposed level. ACIH’s decision was based on its assessment, subsequently corroborated by a separate 2012 National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health study, documenting that beryllium sensitization (the precursor to chronic beryllium disease) can occur at exposures significantly below average beryllium concentrations of 0.2 micrograms per cubic meter of air.
OSHA acknowledges this fact in its proposal, stating that “significant risks of sensitization and [chronic beryllium disease] remain” at both its proposed PEL of 0.2 micrograms per cubic meter of air and its alternative proposal of 0.1 micrograms per cubic meter of air.
Public Citizen notes that it has been more than 15 years since the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) finalized an action level of 0.2 micrograms per cubic meter of air for beryllium-exposed workers, including DOE contractors, at DOE facilities. This action level, while not an absolute limit like OSHA’s PEL, has triggered certain workplace precautions and control measures. OSHA’s proposal includes an action level of 0.1 micrograms per cubic meter of air that would similarly trigger protective measures, but it would stop short of prohibiting exposures to this now-acknowledged, dangerous concentration of beryllium. The complete Public Citizen release is online at http://www.citizen.org/Page.aspx?pid=2281.
NIST explosion under investigation
An explosion, in July, at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology could have resulted from the illicit production of methamphetamines, according to Chemical & Engineering News and other reports. A security guard injured in the blast resigned from NIST. The incident is under investigation; no charges had been filed at press time.
Rep. Lamar S. Smith (TX), who chairs the House of Representatives Science Committee, has asked Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker to brief his committee on the situation (NIST is part of the Department of Commerce). The reports are at http://bit.ly/1IfFAFL and http://bit.ly/1DPVCLn.
People with disabilities star in PSAs
The Ad Council and the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have launched the “We Prepare Every Day” public service advertisement (PSA) highlighting the importance of being prepared for emergencies. It is the first in a series that shows people with disabilities taking charge in preparing themselves and their families for emergencies. The PSA features open captioning, a certified deaf interpreter (https://www.fema.gov/media-library/assets/videos/107810), and audio description for viewers who are blind or have low vision.
“As we celebrate a quarter century of the Americans with Disabilities Act, we look to people with disabilities as leading the way,” said Craig Fugate, FEMA administrator. “By taking their own preparedness actions every day, they set an example for all of us.” The introduction of the PSA coincided with the 25th anniversary of the ADA on July 26, 2015. “Everyone can and should think about their specific needs and prepare for the kinds of emergencies that can happen where they live, work, or visit,” notes Lisa Sherman, president and CEO of the Ad Council.
The new PSA emphasizes the Ready Campaign’s four building blocks of preparedness: Build a Kit, Make a Plan, Be Informed, and Get Involved. Additional information is at http://www.ready.gov/myplan. The PSA was created pro-bono by Free Range Studios and is available for download from FEMA’s media library.
LINE-OF-DUTY DEATHS
July 15. Engineer John Whelan, 46, Denver (CO) Fire Department: injuries sustained on June 28 in a fall through a skylight while checking for fire extension.
July 26. Firefighter Tyron Weston, 51, Columbia (SC) Fire Department: to be determined.
July 27. Captain James Alan Hicks, 44, North Carolina Air National Guard Fire and Emergency Services, Charlotte: to be determined.
July 30. Acting Assistant District Fire Management Officer David “Dave” Ruhl, 38, Big Valley Ranger District of the Modoc National Forest, Alturas, CA: asphyxiation; incident under investigation.
Source: USFA Firefighters Memorial Database
