NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 73

gable wall collapsed, striking him as he operated
at a fire at a single-family home. A firefighter died
at the scene of a hotel fire when he tripped getting
out of the driver's side of his truck, fell into the
path of a passing vehicle, and was run over. Three
more firefighters experienced sudden cardiac
death while working at structure fires.
Two of the three deaths on wildland fires
resulted from burns. One firefighter was overrun
while trying to escape a grass fire on foot, and
the other was igniting small fires at a controlled
burn when the torch attached to her vehicle over
pressured and ruptured, engulfing her in flames.
In the third incident, a firefighter was killed when
the helicopter he was operating from crashed
during a prescribed burn.

Other activities when fatal injuries
occurred
Nine firefighters died at non-fire emergencies in
the US in 2019.
Of those, seven were operating at motor vehicle crashes: two suffered sudden cardiac death,
one suffered a stroke, two were struck by passing
vehicles, one fell from an elevated roadway, and
one stepped on downed power lines at a crash
scene and was electrocuted.
Fatalities at non-fire emergencies also included
a firefighter on a medical call who was shot and
killed by the patient, and a firefighter who was
killed (in addition to six others who were seriously injured) in a propane gas explosion while
they were investigating a reported smell of gas.
Nine firefighters were killed responding to
or returning from alarms, marking the third
consecutive year with 10 or fewer deaths in this
category. Four of the nine were killed in motor
vehicle crashes, one was struck by a vehicle, three
suffered fatal cardiac events, and one fell from
the cab of a responding apparatus as it turned at
an intersection. All of the victims were volunteer
firefighters. (All vehicle-related and sudden cardiac deaths are discussed in more detail later in
this report.) There has been a marked reduction
in both crash deaths and cardiac-related deaths
while responding to or returning from alarms
over the past 40 years. Over the first 10 years that
NFPA conducted this study, from 1977 through
1986, an average of 36 deaths per year occurred
while firefighters were responding to or returning
from alarms. The number of deaths that occurred
while responding to or returning from calls has
averaged 13 per year over the past 10 years and 11
per year over the past five years.
Five deaths occurred during training activities.
Sudden cardiac death claimed the lives of four
firefighters, and one died of heat stroke. One of
the victims had been the instructor at a Rapid
Intervention Team (RIT) drill. One was involved
in vehicle extrication training at the fire station.

Selected 2019 U.S.
Firefighter Fatality Incidents
FALL FROM ROOF IN SILO
EXPLOSION
Firefighters responded to an
early morning report of a fire
smoldering in a concrete silo
at a corn processing plant. The
silo held gluten pellets. Two
firefighters were operating on
the roof of the silo when an
explosion occurred. One firefighter fell nearly 100 feet (30
meters) to the ground, suffering
fatal injuries, and the second
fell into the silo, suffering serious injuries in the fall.
The fire was discovered by
workers who had been working
at the site to clear a blockage
near the bottom of the silo. The
clearing process involved using
a high-pressure water head to
break up the material blocking
the flow of product. When they
arrived at work that day, they
found that material that had
been removed from the silo the
previous day was smoldering.
They attempted to extinguish
the fire themselves until they
noticed more burning material
falling out of the hopper at the
bottom of the silo and called
the fire department.
Arriving firefighters focused
their initial attack in the pit area
near the bottom of the silo.
After making several unsuccessful attempts to extinguish
the fire over the course of
approximately two hours, they
decided to change their plan
of attack and fight the fire from
the roof of the silo. The bucket
of the ladder truck could not
reach the top of the silo-it was
about 10 feet (3 meters) short-
so two firefighters carried two
50-foot (15-meter) sections of
3-inch (7.6-centimeter) hose to
the roof of the silo. Guided by a
plant employee, it took them 15
to 20 minutes, via stairs and an
elevator, to reach the catwalk
on top of the silos, at which
point the employee retreated
due to the smoky conditions.
Once atop the silo, the firefighters lowered one section
of hose down to a firefighter
in the bucket, who connected
the hose to the discharge in the
front of the bucket while the
two firefighters dropped the
hose into the silo through an
access vent and began flowing
water into the silo.
About 10 minutes later,
an explosion occurred in
the silo, and the victim, a
33-year-old career lieutenant,
fell from the roof, striking a
canopy below before falling
to the ground. Resuscitation
efforts began immediately,
and the firefighter was taken

by helicopter to the hospital
where he died of traumatic
injuries. The firefighter who
fell into the silo was removed
through an access hatch on
a small platform between the
burning silo and an adjacent
silo. Once extricated, he was
flown by helicopter to the hospital where he was treated for
traumatic injuries. He returned
to firefighting activities several
months later. The firefighter in
the bucket of the aerial apparatus and another firefighter on
the ground suffered bruising
and muscular injuries when
they were knocked down by the
force of the explosion.
The fire was finally extinguished the following
afternoon.
Investigators determined
that the explosion most likely
resulted from the ignition of
combustible gas but could not
completely rule out a combustible dust explosion. They also
determined that the root cause
of the explosion was the application of water from the top of
the silo. As a result of the state
OSHA investigation, the plant
operator and cleaning company
were cited and fined for several
safety violations related to their
handling of the incident.
FIREFIGHTERS TRAPPED IN
STRUCTURE FIRE
A fire captain died as a result
of exposure to intense fire and
heat conditions while conducting search operations at a
fire in a three-story apartment
building.
Just before 11 a.m., an emergency call reported smoke in a
three-story apartment building
with a person trapped on the
third floor. Firefighters arrived
at the six-unit building to find
heavy fire at the rear of the
structure. While one firefighter
raised a ladder on the side of
the building to a third-floor
window where a person was
last seen, a 32-year-old captain
and a 20-year-old firefighter
went up the front stairs to conduct a primary search of the
apartment. Leaving the charged
hose line in the stairwell, they
entered the apartment where
they encountered intense heat
and zero visibility.
As they proceeded through
the apartment, they heard
over the radio that the trapped
occupant had been rescued
from a window. They turned
back towards the stairwell to
leave the building but encountered extreme fire conditions
and were trapped. They

N F PA . O R G / J O U R N A L * NFPA JOURNAL

FFF Report_08.20 R3 DCS FINAL.indd 73

| 73

7/1/20 5:23 PM

http://NFPA.ORG/JOURNAL

NFPA Journal - July/August 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - July/August 2020