SEVEN FIRE FIGHTERS CAUGHT IN EXPLOSION
SAFETY
But turnout coats helped save their lives despite the surface temperature estimated at 1200 degrees.
What seemed like a routine second-floor bedroom fire turned into a nightmare for seven Fairfield, Conn., fire fighters on Nov. 21, 1981 There was some lazy light smoke coming out of an attic vent but none of the signs of a backdraft possibility, such as smoke puffing out under the eaves or around windows and doors.
Two cars in the driveway indicated the possibility of occupants, so a search was ordered. The men in full turnout gear entered the house with a preconnected 1 3/4 -inch line and proceeded to the second floor No one was found at home.
In the words of Fire Fighter Michael Moens: “Four of us entered the bedroom ant) made a quick searc h of the bed. We saw no some from an electric blanket that had been left on while the family was away). We hadn’t been in the room more than 10 to 15 seconds when the explosion occurred. I was kneeling down, keeping close to the floor, when it blew It was like a fireball coming across the floor. There were flames all around me. After the explosion, I was 6 to 8 feet from my original position and I can only assume I was moved by the force of the blast.”
The explosion blew out an 8 X 12-foot section of the bedroom wall, which landed in the yard in a single piece. Laboratory test results on Moen s turnout coat of Nomex III indicated that it had been exposed to temperatures of from 1200 to 1400 degrees for approximately two seconds.
Two of the four men in the room, Lieutenant Raymond Bullard and Moens, received first and second-degree burns on the face, neck and ears. The other two, Alan Menillo and Chester Zomzinsky, sustained minor burns. Fire Fighters Charles Young and Charles Zadrovicz, in the hallway outside the exploding bedroom, each sustained first and second-degree burns of the face, neck and ears. Fire Fighter Robert Edmonds, who was in the adjoining bedroom at the time of the explosion, received minor burns on the neck and wrists.
Two important safety items shielded these men from possible death. One was their SCBA, which prevented the men from breathing the superheated gases. The other was their turnout coats of Nomex III aramid, a fiber made by the Du Pont Company. At such high temperatures as in the explosion, the coats may discolor and char, but they will not ignite, a Du Pont representative stated.
Despite being knocked down by the explosion and burned about the face, neck and ears, the fire fighters were able to recover quickly.
“We stayed in the room,” explained Moens, “and extinguished the small flame in the bed and pushed what remained of the bed out the blown-out portion of the room. We were soon relieved by another crew. I didn’t even know I was burned until after I got out of the building.”
To prevent future neck and ear burns, our department recently purchased hoods made of Nomex. These hoods slide rapidly over the head, covering everything but the mouth, nose and eyes, which are protected by the breathing apparatus facepiece.
It cost us about $1500 to equip the entire department with the hoods, but in terms of potential man-hours saved and the additional potential saving in human suffering, we feel they are well worth the price.
