Question.906 - nstructions Recall in Unit I that the eTextbook introduced the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program. This program conducts independent investigations of firefighter line-of-duty deaths. For this assignment, you will visit the interactive Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program webpage to search for and choose a fatality investigation in which fire resistance, flame spread, and building hazard factors all contributed to the incident’s fatal outcome. You must work from the full investigation and cite it properly. You cannot use the investigation from the Texas fire, which was examined in the video in this unit’s Required Unit Resources. The interactive search options on the page will assist you in locating an investigation. Searching by keyword will help you narrow down your choices. Be sure that all factors listed above played a role in the incident (may not have necessarily caused the fatality but, rather, created unfavorable conditions that resulted in a fatal outcome). Your case study must include the following elements: a brief synopsis of the incident in your own words; a summary of how fire behavior, to include fire resistance and flame spread, factored into the scene and affected fireground operations and safety; identification of specific risks and hazards inherent to the building structure and construction materials that may have impaired firefighting efforts and safety; and a clear connection to and understanding of concepts presented in this unit. The full investigations can be lengthy; ensure you are drilling down to the important causal factors as you complete the above requirements. The final recommendations of the investigators can help you determine the important takeaways that you will need for this assignment. Your case study should present an insightful and thorough analysis in your own words. Employ strong arguments and present external evidence to support your analysis. This evidence must include relating your own personal or department experience or training or your own personal research in incidents with similar factors or buildings as you explain the factors above. Your case study must be at least two pages in length, not counting the title and reference pages. You must use at least two additional resources to support your analysis outside of the NIOSH webpage, which is linked above. One of those resources may be your eTextbook. All sources used must be properly cited and referenced in APA Style.
Answer Below:
Unit IV Case Study Tyler Ackley Columbia Southern University FIR 2301: Principles of Fire and Emergency Services Professor Paul HasenmeierMarch 20th, 2023 Unit IV Case Study Analysis of the incident In 2020 the California state lost two firefighters to an incident at a commercial structure, and the fire was caused by arson in the library. The incident occurred around 16:16 when the communication center had dispatched the emergency ("Career Captain and Career Firefighter Die After Running Out of Air During a Search in a Public Library,"?2022). In detail, the engine 71, 72, and 83, along with the Battalion 77 ("Career Captain and Career Firefighter Die After Running Out of Air During a Search in a Public Library,"?2022). The police reported the first floor was clear. The firefighters took around two mins to reach the location; the reports claim that the initial call was made at 16:16, and the first engine 71 arrived at the incident at 16:18 since the rear wall of the fire station and the library shares a common wall ("Career Captain and Career Firefighter Die After Running Out of Air During a Search in a Public Library,"?2022). The captain reported that the Alpha side had intense fire smoke that blinded their vision to enter the Alpha ended. The fire incident received aid from the adjacent fire station, where battalion 70 had responded to the event. The police communicated the information of the woman stuck on the second floor with a walker. The first break-in was by engine 71 crew without appropriate communication with battalion chief 70, and the entry was made without the hose line ("Career Captain and Career Firefighter Die After Running Out of Air During a Search in a Public Library,"?2022). At 16:21, the report claims that battalion 77 arrived at the scene and took command, and depending on the fire situation, they advised everyone to head to channel 2 ("Career Captain and Career Firefighter Die After Running Out of Air During a Search in a Public Library,"?2022). While engine 71 was parked at the front of the building and battalion 77 tried to communicate with engine 71 to know the condition inside and if they were present - they received a revert back from the engine 71 captain on channel 1 to battalion chief 77 that division 2 was cleared and they were heading to the stairwell for division 1 ("Career Captain and Career Firefighter Die After Running Out of Air During a Search in a Public Library,"?2022). From the reports, around 16:26, five minutes after the battalion had arrived the fire had worsened. Battalion 77 declared the defensive attack and tried to contact engine 71 on the radio but did not receive any response. Five minutes later, around 16:31, a rapid intervention team was developed since there was no response from the engine 71 crew in order to locate them ("Career Captain and Career Firefighter Die After Running Out of Air During a Search in a Public Library,"?2022). Then there was a mayday call from division 2 by the fire chief of engine 71, who stated that the captain and their men were running short on air in the banquet room and were trying to locate the stairs. Seven minutes later, around 16:38, the rapid intervention team reported that there was no fire but intense smoke in the stairwell that led to the second floor ("Career Captain and Career Firefighter Die After Running Out of Air During a Search in a Public Library,"?2022). Then the pass alarm was heard by the rapid intervention team, and the engine 71 captain was found by the bathroom and handed over to the second rapid intervention team since the first RIT team was struggling with low air. Several attempts were made by the rapid intervention teams to locate the engine 71 firefighters, but due to progressing fire, which blazed through the library halls leading to intense smoke, they were not able to find the firefighters on time, and the efforts were suspended and slowed down, the structural elements were burning leading to a collapse. The captain was removed from the building and rushed to the hospital, where he lost his life. The engine 71 firefighters were located by an urban search and rescue team. Some of the contributing factors that led to the fire incident were the air management factors at the task and the tactical level, poor risk assessment, and the rapidly growing difficulty; the primary search was not performed appropriately since the hose line was not taken in with the first entry, the search area was large, and it was a public place with full occupancy, the integrity of the operational crew were lost during the search, there were difficulties in the radio communication that was not responsive, and rapid-fire growth within with the building. The alpha side of the building was emitting heavy smoke; the intensity was so high it even blinded the thermal imagers hampering the ingress, which deviated the rapid intervention team. To have structural analysis it was a commercial building that was a 2-storied structure with concrete slab blocks exterior, trusses made of light steel, and the building did not have any sprinklers with a structure that was built during the 1950s is over 60 years old ("Career Captain and Career Firefighter Die After Running Out of Air During a Search in a Public Library,"?2022). The construction was made with a flat roof; when exposed to intense heat and blazing flame, it was weakened, and the ceiling materials fell down to the floor, which blocked the thermal visions and pushed back the rapid intervention team. Since it was an older building with few minor alterations over the last three decades, the wall collapsed on the Charlie side, which compromised the frequency of the PASS alarm sound ("Career Captain and Career Firefighter Die After Running Out of Air During a Search in a Public Library,"?2022). The building structure forced the firefighter to use the side delta to engage with the water through a vented roof that was about to collapse, but that was the one way for the firefighters to enter another risky factor in the construction was how the flat roof was supported by light steel beams that were exposed to extreme heat. The cause of the death in the report was asphyxiation and smoke inhalation; since soot traces were found in the lungs, several burns and traumas on the body. Recommendations Establish fire service risk management standards in terms of operation for the structural fires to assess the occupancy capacity of the building and evaluate structural mapping with a contingency plan; every fire station has its own plan of operation; although it is practical, the building across the states can be categorized and provided a proper plan of operations. Considering the scenario discussed, it is important to incorporate the dynamic nature of the fire in accordance with the NFPA 1500 standards on the fire department occupational safety, health, and wellness program (Intini et al., 2020; O'Neal, 2017). The standard operating guidelines should be adaptive to the present structural use of plastics that provide hotter and more fierce fires in a rapid manner with increased levels of toxic smoke. A pound of plastic is capable enough to produce 19,900 British Thermal Units that produce increased levels of carbon monoxide leading to blockage of oxygen absorption levels in the hemoglobin which was the case in the above-discussed structural fire (Intini et al., 2020). The initial level of a training program for a firefighter is to make use of a hose line to evade the visibility issue, which was not the practice implemented in this case. The complexity of placing and also locating the tagline needs to be made easier; the hindrance, in this case, was the firefighters were not able to locate the tagline since it was a large area. The firefighter needs to be trained for larger area operations in order to develop over-learned muscle memory response for SCBA regulations (O'Neal, 2017). The training interventions should include three situational awareness depending on the large occupied structures, in terms of improving their social awareness in three levels first one being developing a perception about the situation and the structure, secondly comprehension to employ the trained learning to the situation, and evaluate the structure in terms of hazards, and thirdly implementation. One of the reasons the captain lost the cognitive ability to communicate effectively while being stuck was that he was breathing carbon monoxide (Intini et al., 2020). The firefighters need to assess the sustainability of the structure in order to under how to transmit the MAYDAY code. The first reporting commander needs to assess the construction class in terms of how combustible they are in order to develop an operational strategy. In the scenario discussed, where the physical barrier was present, leading to a 360 deg size up, making it impractical, the priority for the first responding officer should be to get the operational breach on the rear Charlie side of the building. The type of smoke could indicate how the structural setting is accommodated. When the interior is consuming the structure, the smoke might turn from dark to light depending on what it feeds on; commercial fires need to incorporate into the training guidelines; another observation, in this case, was the building was a small commercial setup of two-story filled with books with minimal cockloft and attic that lead to rapid fire spread causing the interiors to blaze in fire and collapse yet the building did not house any automatic sprinklers (O'Neal, 2017). While the state rule is when it is over 5000 sqft, it is mandatory to incorporate automatic sprinklers (Intini et al., 2020). References cdc.gov. (2022).?Career Captain and Career Firefighter Die After Running Out of Air During a Search in a Public Library California?. Line of Duty Death Report. Retrieved March 20, 2023, from https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire/pdfs/face202010RS.pdf Intini, P., Ronchi, E., Gwynne, S., & Benichou, N. (2020). Guidance on design and construction of the built environment against wildland urban interface fire hazard: a review.?Fire technology,?56, 1853-1883. O'Neal, N. (2017).?Evaluating the Performance of Rural Fire Departments in California: Discerning Appropriate Indicators. California State University, Long Beach.More Articles From Research
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