LODD REVIEWS Homewood, Illinois 3/30/10

Homewood Illinois March 30, 2010

Photo by Warren Skalski

Homewood, Illinois Mar 30, 2010

Homewood Fire Department

• Career fire department for 109 years • 15 full-time firefighters and 17 part-time firefighters

• 1 fire station with 4-6 personnel/shift • Serving a population of 20,000 within a 4 square mile area

• Member of Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS)

The House

• Single story, wood-framed built in 1951

• Approximately 950 ft2 living area

• 2 car garage on side-C connected to house by a family room addition

• Built on concrete slab, hip style roof

• There was no recorded building permit for the family room addition

A/B Corner 17622 Lincoln Ave Photo by David Pierini

Side-B Family Room Addition

NIOSH F2010-10

NIOSH F2010-10

Initial Dispatch: • At 2055 local dispatch center receives a 911 call from a resident stating that her paralyzed husband’s chair was on fire

• At 2057 Homewood and Auto Aid departments are dispatched

• 2059 a police officer on scene reports the house is fully engulfed in flame

• 2100 Police officer reports the resident in the chair is still inside and the officer is unable to make entry

1st Alarm Assignment: Homewood E-534 Lieutenant, Engineer and Firefighter

Homewood A-564 2-Firefghter/EMT-P’s (Brian Carey and Karra Kopas)

1st arriving auto aid T-1220 Lieutenant, Engineer, 2-FF’s

2nd arriving auto aid E-1340 Lieutenant, Engineer, 3-FF’s

3rd arriving auto aid T-1145 Lieutenant, Engineer, 2-FF’s

4th arriving auto aid S-440Lieutenant and 3-FF’s

Homewood Fire Chief Robert Grabowski

Firefighting Operations • At 2101 T-1220 arrives on scene and observes a single family house with heavy fire showing from side-C

• E-534 arrives just behind T-1220, Lieutenant assumes command and reports “heavy fire showing”

• E-534 Lieutenant and firefighter pull a “skid-load” while the Engineer and T-2120 firefighter hand-jack a 5” supply to a hydrant

• 2-members of T-2120 prepare to conduct a primary search while the other 2 go to the roof for vertical ventilation

Firefighting Operations • E-534 Lieutenant (IC) assists T-2120 in forcing entry on side-A

• T-2120 members initiate a left-hand primary search

• E-534 Lieutenant notes that the upper smoke layer is banked down to 3 feet above the floor

• A-564 arrives right after E-534, don their PPE and report to command

• A-564 is assigned to work with E-534 firefighter to stretch 21/2-inch attack line to support the search

Firefighting Operations • The IC then walks along side-B toward the rear of the building to size-up conditions

• He returns to side-A and assumes a fixed command position in the cab of E-534 (in order to monitor multiple radio frequencies)

Firefighting Operations • E-546 FF is on the nozzle followed by FF Carey and FF Kopas as they advanced toward the kitchen

• T-1220 firefighters pass in front of E-534 and A-564 personnel as they search toward the bedrooms

• Interior crews note that the smoke level is dropping and that the temperature at floor level is increasing

Living Room

Kitchen Utility Room

Bed Room 1

Bed Room 2

Bath Room

T-1220

T-1220

A-564

A-564

E-534

Side A

Family Room Addition

victim, and injured fire fighter/paramedic made entry into house stopping at the doorway between the kitchen and utility room

Victim, and injured fire fighter/paramedic made entry into house stopping at the doorway between the kitchen and utility room

Firefighting Operations • At 2103 E-1340 arrives on scene and requests an assignment from the IC

• The E-1340 officer is directed to pull an exposure line to side-D

• 2 FF’s are directed to vent the windows on side-B and side-D

• The remaining E-1340 FF is sent to the roof to assist with opening a vent hole

E-534

T-1220

Exposure D2

Exposure D

Exposure B

Exposure B2

17622

Garage Additio

n

1-3/4”

2-1/2”

5”supply

Conditions within structure preceding the flashover. Windows vented on B-, C-, and D-sides.

Photo by Warren Skalski

Scene conditions after crews advanced inside. (Photo courtesy of Warren Skalski.)

FFR Venting B Window

Crews inside A Side door w/Line

Firefighting Operations • As the hoseline is being advanced into the kitchen the E-534 FF has a problem with his hood and hands the nozzle to FF Carey

• He directs Casey to pencil the nozzle into the smoke and exits the structure to fix his hood

• T-1220 FF’s are searching the bedrooms on side-D when the windows are being vented by E-1340

• FF Kopas can hear the sound of a chainsaw cutting the roof above her*

Photo by Warren Skalski

FFR exiting possibly to fix PPE issue

Photo by Warren Skalski

Photo by Warren Skalski

B C corner conditions

Firefighting Operations • T-1220 FF’s are searching the front bedroom when they feel the heat intensifying and see flames rolling towards them from the hallway

• They head back into the living room and look for the hoseline to lead them out of the structure

• They yell to the hoseline crew to get out of the building

• T-1220 FF’s exit just as the living room transitions to a fully developed fire

Living Room

Kitchen Utility Room

Bed Room 1

Bed Room 2

Bath Room

T-1220 T-1220

A-564

A-564

E-534 Side A

Windows and doors possibly breached by fire effects

window vented E-

1340 window

vented E-1340

Firefighting Operations • FF Kopas yells to FF Carey as she attempts to follow the line out of the structure but receives no reply

• She makes it to within 4 feet of the front door when her bunker gear gets stuck to the melting carpet

• T-1220 FF’s quickly reenter and pull her from the structure

Living Room

Kitchen Utility Room

Bed Room 1

Bed Room 2

Bath Room

T-1220 T-1220

A-564

A-564

E-534 Side A

Photo by Warren Skalski

Photo by Warren Skalski

Looking toward the A/D corner, flashover has occurred and fire can be seen blowing out the D-side window that was vented. (Photo courtesy of Warren Skalski.)

Command Reports FFR Down

Looking toward the A-side front door, the flashover has just occurred. FF1 is pulling on the 2½-inch hoseline and FF2 and FF3 are attempting to pull the injured fire fighter/paramedic from the house. She is just inside the door way and the downed fire fighter (victim) is still in the house. (Photo courtesy of Warren Skalski.)

Photo by Warren Skalski

Firefighter Rescue • The IC and FF from E-534 pull a second 13/4 attack line from E-534

• T-2120 FF’s take the line and reenter the structure to rescue FF Carey

• They knock down the fire as they make their way to the kitchen

• They find FF Carey in the kitchen tangled in the burnt through 21/2 inch line without his helmet or SCBA facepiece on

Firefighter Rescue • They quickly remove FF Carey from the structure • Members from T-1145 assist in providing care to FF’s Carey and Kopas

• FF Carey goes into respiratory and then cardiac arrest while they wait for an ambulance to arrive on scene

• FF Brian Carey is pronounced dead at a local hospital

• FF Karra Kopas suffers 2nd and 3rd degree burns to her lower back, buttocks and right wrist

At autopsy, the carboxyhemoglobin level in Firefighter Carey's blood was found to be 30 percent. Firefighter Carey had been wearing his facepiece when he entered the structure. It is unknown why he removed his equipment.

Photo by Warren Skalski

Photo by Warren Skalski

NIOSH REPORT TOP RECOMMENDATIONS & CONTRIBUTING FACTORS

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire/reports/face201010.html

Contributing Factors from NIOSH Well involved fire with entrapped civilian upon arrival

Incomplete 360 degree situational size-up

Inadequate risk-versus-gain analysis

Ineffective fire control tactics

Failure to recognize, understand, and react to deteriorating conditions

Uncoordinated ventilation and its effect on fire behavior

Removal of self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) facepiece

Inadequate command, control, and accountability

Insufficient staffing.

NIOSH Recommendations • Fire departments should ensure that a complete 360 degree

situational size-up is conducted on dwelling fires and others where it is physically possible and ensure that a risk-versus-gain analysis and a survivability profile for trapped occupants is conducted prior to committing to interior fire fighting operations.

• Fire departments should ensure that interior fire suppression crews attack the fire effectively to include appropriate fire flow for the given fire load and structure, use of fire streams, appropriate hose and nozzle selection, and adequate personnel to operate the hoseline.

NIOSH Recommendations • Fire departments should ensure that fire fighters maintain

crew integrity when operating on the fireground, especially when performing interior fire suppression activities.

• Fire departments should ensure that fire fighters and officers have a sound understanding of fire behavior and the ability to recognize indicators of fire development and the potential for extreme fire behavior.

NIOSH Recommendations • Fire departments should ensure that incident commanders

and fire fighters understand the influence of ventilation on fire behavior and effectively coordinate ventilation with suppression techniques to release smoke and heat.

• Fire departments and dispatch centers should ensure they are capable of communicating with each other without having to monitor multiple channels/frequencies on more than one radio.

NIOSH RECOMMENDATIONS • ICs and fire fighters need to consider the following and how it will affect

ventilation and overall control of the fire:

• Who will ventilate (knowledge and skills)?

• What type of ventilation?

• When to ventilate?

• Where to ventilate?

• Why ventilate?

• How to properly and safely ventilate?

• What are the expected results from ventilation?

Honor his memory by sharing the lessons learned with your crew