The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recently released a report on the 2013 line-of-duty death of Dallas (TX) Firefighter Stan Wilson in an apartment building fire.
On May 20, 2013, Wilson, 51, was conducting a primary search for occupants after the fourth alarm at a fire in an apartment complex and was killed inside the building when it collapsed. The victim and his partner were in the first floor hallway knocking on doors to the apartments, which were inset from the hallway by small vestibules. The victim’s partner was in the vestibule knocking on the third door to the left and the victim was in the hallway going to knock on the third door on the right. In an instant, the second floor walkway and possibly the third floor walkway collapsed into the first floor hallway, killing the victim. The victim’s partner was trapped in the inset of the doorway.
The report cited the following contributing factors:
- Inadequate building construction
- Sprinkler system not working near origin of fire
- Incident command
- Communications
- Inadequate Size-up
- Tactics
For the key recommendations and to read the full report, go to http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire/reports/face201317.html.
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