Protective clothing saves firefighters at a “routine” structural alarm
Dispatches
DEPARTMENTS
How many times have your company and chief officers warned you to “wear your protective equipment”? Yet, every year we read about firefighters who sustained injuries because they failed to heed this warning when handling the “routine” alarm.
Fortunately, six members of the Churchville, NY, Fire Department did heed their officer’s warning last winter when they responded to a ” routine” structure fire at a local farm.
First-arriving units at the scene encountered light, gray smoke issuing from the large, 2 1/2-story wood-frame farmhouse. According to the occupants, the furnace had exploded.
A 1 3/4-inch handline was advanced through an outside basement door, but progress was slowed by cluttered storage and what appeared to be six inches of water on the floor. A second 1 3/4inch line was brought into the basement via an interior stairway and extinguished the small fire that remained.
The men advancing the first line now entered the fire area, and began to perform overhaul operations. As the smoke started to clear, two members removed their gloves.
Overhaul continued until overhead electrical wires began to arc, sending a shower of sparks to the floor. As soon as the sparks made contact with the liquid covering the floor, there was a violent eruption of flames, which engulfed the men who were working in the area.
Unknown to the firefighters on the scene, the liquid on the basement floor was actually a mixture of water and gasoline. A nearby 1,000-gallon underground gasoline storage tank had been leaking, and high-ground water conditions created by a rapid spring thaw had carried the water and gasoline onto the basement floor.
The firefighters scrambled to safety, but not before six of them had been burned. Three of these men required treatment at a nearby burn unit. The “routine” basement fire resulted in firefighter injuries that could have been fatal if the men had not been wearing their protective equipment.
All members on the scene were wearing department-issued coats, boots, helmets, gloves, and self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA).Several members had augmented this basic equipment with bunker pants and Nomex hoods, which they purchased at their own expense.
After the incident, Churchville Fire Chief Michael Sadden said, “The protective gear, where worn, did its job. Nomex hoods protected the individuals whose helmets were lost in the explosion. SCBA protected the firefighters’ airways, thereby greatly reducing the seriousness of the injuries.”
Firefighters today have the finest protective equipment in the history of our profession. However, all this protection is of little value if it is not utilized. It must be worn at the routine alarms, as well as at the working fires.
Six firefighters are alive today because they wore their protective equipment. The next time your unit responds to a “routine” emergency, will you be wearing yours?
Steven J. Trenton
Captain
Rochester Fire Department
Rochester, NY
