NFPA Journal - July/August 2012 - (Page 77)

Drowned in Lake At 5:30 p.m., four firefighters were dispatched to rescue a 73-year-old man who had fallen from a small boat while fishing at a lake on private property. When they arrived, they saw another man in the boat approximately 100 feet (30 meters) from shore trying to keep the head of the unconscious man above water. Two of the firefighters, who were dressed in street clothes, entered the water and began swimming toward the boat. However, one of them came out of the water almost immediately because it was so cold—only 55oF (13oC). The other firefighter, who was 33 years old, kept swimming until he realized something was wrong and shouted for help. He went under the water, surfaced, and submerged again. While a civilian entered the water and rescued the firefighter, other units from the fire department reached the boat and rescued the two men. They started CPR and advanced life saving measures immediately on the firefighter and the man in the water and took them to an emergency room, where they were pronounced dead. An autopsy revealed that the firefighter died as a result of asphyxia due to drowning. The man who fell from the boat also drowned. Struck by Motor Vehicle At 12 noon, firefighters and apparatus were fighting a wind-driven fire in a pasture of native grass that the fire department reported had started when strong winds brought electric lines into contact with each other and the resulting sparks ignited the grass. Five water tankers were supplying water for five brush trucks. As the fire approached the tankers and conditions deteriorated, the firefighters decided to leave the area. During their escape, however, one brush truck blocked another at the gated entrance to the pasture. The firefighters on the two trucks, who were experiencing extreme heat, near-zero visibility from the thick smoke, and high winds, were afraid for their lives, so they jumped off the apparatus and ran for safety. After the fire had burned through the area, firefighters found the body of the man who had been driving the brush truck that was blocked by the other truck not far away in a ditch along the road. The autopsy report listed the cause of death as massive blunt force trauma consistent with being struck or run over by a motor Firefighters watch as a church burns in Indiana. One firefighter died in the blaze. usually heart attacks, and one was due to a stroke. The second leading cause of fatal injury was being caught or trapped, which resulted in 15 deaths. Seven of the 15 firefighters died as a result of rapid fire progress, four of them at three wildland fires and three in two structure fires. Three others were killed in separate structure fires when roofs or a ceiling collapsed. Two died when a silo exploded during suppression activities. One firefighter became lost inside at a structure fire. One drowned while attempting a water rescue. And one firefighter was perform- ing maintenance beneath a vehicle when the jack failed and the vehicle fell, crushing him. The next leading cause of fatal injury was being struck by, or coming into contact with, an object. The eight firefighters killed in this fashion included four who were involved in motor vehicle crashes and three who were struck by motor vehicles. These deaths involving motor vehicles are discussed in more detail in a separate section of this report. The eighth firefighter was killed when a wall collapsed at a structure fire. Five firefighters died in falls. One Photograph: AP/Wide World JULY/AUGUST 2012 NFPA JOURNAL 77

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - July/August 2012

NFPA Journal - July/august 2012
Contents
First Word
Mail Call
In a Flash
Perspectives
Firewatch
Research
Heads Up
Structural Ops
In Compliance
Buzzwords
Outreach
Electrical Safety
Wildfire Watch
Fenway at 100
Crowning Achievement
Safety at Center Stage
Firefighter Fatalities in the United States, 2011
What’s Hot
Looking Back

NFPA Journal - July/August 2012