Meadows Rescues by Light Force 70
THE NORTHRIDGE EARTHQUAKE
After reporting to Battalion 15 Commander Larry Schneider the conditions they found on their district drive-through, members of Light Force (LF) 70 (Engine 270 and Truck 70) were directed to the Northridge Meadows Apartments.
On arrival, they encountered many ambulatory victims who had sustained lacerations, fractures, and associated injuries. Most victims removed themselves from the structure, although many were still trapped on the collapsed first floor.
Captain Robert V. Fickett directed members of his command to perform a fast sweep of the building for victims, using the hailing method. He also established a medical treatment area and called for additional resources.
Apartment 101. By 051 1 hours, the members of LF 70 were involved with their first physical rescue of what was to become a very long, arduous day. Members dug vertically through the collapsed floor to what was Apartment 101 to rescue a victim with fractured legs.
At about this time, other resources arrived at the scene. Among them were additional truck and engine companies, paramedic ambulances. a USAR team, and Battalion Chief Robert De Feo.
Apartment 104. LF 70’s second attempted rescue ended in tragedy. Firefighters heard the calls of a 14year-old boy trapped in Apartment 104. They worked in very difficult conditions for one and a half hours, but when they found the victim, he already had expired. This was emotionally very stressful tor the Firefighters.
(Photo courtesy LAFD.)
Apartment 106: Victim 1. LF 70 personnel then were directed to Apartment 106 by a resident who said she heard trapped victims there. Apartment 106 was located on the southeast comer of the complex. When the building collapsed, it shifted and fell eight to 10 feet to the north. This left the foundation exposed and the victims trapped under the exterior and interior walls, which were not horizontally under the second and third floors.
After a survey of the area, loose debris, furniture, and broken structural material were removed. The first victim, Jerry Prezioso, was found. His legs and lower abdomen were exposed from under a fallen exterior wall. He was lying supine on his bed with 16 penny nails from a heavy structural member embedded in his abdomen. The victim was conscious throughout the rescue.
Firefighter Lee Lewis, Truck 70, straddled the victim in an attempt to force the bed down and relieve pressure on the victim. Meanwhile, Firefighter Ken Clark used a hacksaw to remove the legs from the bed frame. As the operation progressed, Fickett directed other members to shore and crib for safety using lumber available from the collapsed structure. Twelveand 22-ton air bags also were effective in the shoring effort.
As vertical clearance was gained, Clark used wire cutters to sever the nails in the victim’s abdomen. Apparatus Operator Mike Henry then used a chain saw to remove the structural member by cutting from the bottom up and away from the victim. The victim was placed on a backboard and removed horizontally from the building. He had been trapped for more than five hours and sustained a fractured and lacerated leg, fractured ribs, and head injuries, in addition to his abdominal injuries.
While Prezioso was being treated by the paramedics, he conveyed the possible location of his roommate, Steve Langdon, as being 15 to 20 feet farther inside the collapsed structure.
Apartment 106: Victim 2. With this information in hand, Fickett asked for additional USAR assistance in the rescue of the second victim from Apartment 106.
I arrived with my USAR crew. We were directed to assist LF 70. While LF 70 made deeper horizontal access to the victim by digging through the rubble, we began vertical access through the floor of the apartment above. After studying the building floor plans and the victim’s estimated location and determining the direction and extent of the building collapse, we breached the floor beside the victim. We used chain saws, sledgehammers, and axes to breach the floor, which was lightweight concrete over plywood nailed to the floor joists.
After the floor was opened, the interior wall, now horizontal over the victim, had to be removed. This proved to be a delicate operation because the victim’s head was trapped between the bed and the wall, and the wall was bearing the weight of the two upper floors.
Efforts to remove building materials from above were met with screams of agony. The decision was made to end this tactic and to search all potential void spaces adjacent to the victim for another access route; the USAR team would assist LF 70 with horizontal access.
After building debris and furniture were removed horizontally, Lewis accessed the victim through an 18to 24-inch void space. The victim, supine on the floor with his head trapped, was conscious but unable to move his extremities.
The only way to effect his rescue was to lift the structure from his head. Any movement of the bed caused him extreme pain. To this end, the USAR team placed a 74-ton air bag under the extreme southeast comer of the building. In conjunction with wellplaced cribbing, this allowed a vertical lift of five inches, which proved to be enough to allow Lewis, using a bar for leverage, to push aside the bed and free the victim’s head. The victim was placed on a backboard and removed horizontally from the structure. He had been trapped for six hours and sustained a flail chest, fractured ribs and clavicle, and a collapsed lung.
During these rescues, the firefighters operated in very difficult circumstances. Many aftershocks were experienced throughout the day; shoring and cribbing for safety were extremely important whenever members were under the collapsed structure.
All members involved in this incident realized they were operating in a “life-and-death” environment, which caused a great deal of mental stress during the rescue operations.
The crew of LF 70 is very experienced; its six members represent more than 100 years of seniority. This factor undoubtedly contributed to the success of the rescue efforts and to the result that no department member sustained serious injury.
The air bags proved their value as a physical rescue tool. Chain saws, axes, pry bars, sledgehammers, and rotary saws were the tools of choice for removing building material (nothing exotic, just good truck company equipment).
Finally, although specialized USAR skills and equipment were beneficial, good common-sense truck work and knowledge of building construction were of paramount importance during this incident.
