Our Agency launched an unsecured waterway from aerial truck yesterday during company level training. The latch appeared to be horizontal (latched in rescue position), and when I turned on the aerial supply valve with hydrant pressure alone, it let loose and launched about 75 feet into the adjacent woods. Nobody was hurt, but the appliance/controls/terminal section sustained a lot of damage.

Lessons Learned: We have read the warnings, seen the results that have killed our brothers. It may have been a blessing in disguise, that it didn't happen at a working fire.

The aerialscope was being test driven by the department mechanic when he drove off the side of the road to avoid an oncoming truck. The shoulder gave way.

Holley-Navarre Fire District firefighters had a close call while cleaning up the scene of a motor vehicle crash scene. While collecting information for the run report and waiting on a tow truck to move the wrecked car, members of Engine 41 narrowly escaped injury as a Toyota SUV piloted by a 26 year old female, who seemed “intoxicated” and reeked of alcohol, clipped a Santa Rosa County Deputy’s cruiser, impacted the already totaled car and then slammed in to the side of Engine 41. The force of her impact into the car sent it into the engine as well.

 
The engine and wrecked car were located in the median of the 4-lane highway and both inside lanes were blocked with law enforcement vehicles. The incident is being investigated by the Florida Highway Patrol.

I was a passenger in a Chiefs vehicle on the way to a reported deck fire, when the Assistant Chief went through a controlled intersection against the light, and without the traffic pre-emption device. Another Assistant Chief had captured the traffic pre-emption device and gone through the intersection from another direction. Our Expedition was broadsided on the driver’s side by a school bus. Side curtain airbags deployed and we were pushed and spun for approximately 30 yards. I was able to open my passenger door and remove myself, but the Assistant Chief was wedged between the driver’s door and the middle console. The rescue arrived and the Assistant Chief was able to now move enough to self extricate over the console. The Chiefs Ford Expedition was totaled and we were both transported by ambulance for evaluation. There were no reported injuries on the bus, and the Assistant Chief and I were released with minor injuries.

Lessons Learned: Stop and clear all intersections that you do not have control of. Realize other drivers may be distracted by other emergency vehicles that have gone through the intersection or coming from another direction.

A serious crash near the intersection of Ironwood and Ashmont Place in South Bend, IN Monday morning (5-25-09) sent emergency responders to investigate and volunteers to block the roads. What happened two hours later at the same crash scene could have been a lot worse.

The first accident happened just before 3 a.m. Police found Darius Battle, 23, unconscious behind the wheel of his car. Investigators later said he was southbound on Ironwood when his car left the road, hit some trees then came to a stop in the middle of the road. He was transported to a local hospital.
Russ Lavine and his son, Russell, are on St. Joseph County’s V.E.S.T (Volunteer Emergency Service Team). The two were activated to block roads and help police and firefighters with traffic control.
The Lavines are two of about 30 people involved in V.E.S.T. The team isn't paid for blocking traffic, fire rehabilitation or any of the other services it provides.
“We were sitting there blocking the road and there was this car coming at us,” said Russell. “I don't know, probably faster than 40 [miles per hour].”
It happened in a matter of seconds.
“He wasn’t slowing down,” remembered Russ. “I went to get out of my car and he swerved over toward us and I jumped out of the way.”
Russell said he quickly pulled his foot inside the jeep and closed the door.
“If I had never done that, I could have [had] a broken leg. Or worse, if I would have gotten out of the car, I would [have been] smashed,” he told WSBT.
Instead, the car jerked to the left and just clipped the corner of the Jeep. Its lights and lights from at least one other V.E.S.T unit had been flashing, warning drivers of the closed road.
“By the time he stopped,” estimated Russ, “he missed the firefighters, county [police] within five feet of their accident scene.”
Police said the driver of that car — 26-year-old Kyle Mallory, of Granger — was drunk. His blood alcohol content was 0.21. The legal driving limit is 0.08.
The Lavines and others on the scene could have easily become statistics. According to ResponderSafety.com, so far in the United States this year, 18 first responders have been hit while on duty at an accident, two died.
“There are hundreds more every year that are near misses or close calls as well,” said Clay Fire Territory Division Chief Brian Kazmierzak.
Federal law is supposed to make everyone highly visible.
All responders, whether it be police, fire, ambulance, tow truck drivers or even the news media, while operating on highways are required to be wearing vests,” said Kazmierzak. “[That] helps bring the eye of the driver toward the responders and kind of helps them see what's going on.”
But accidents can happen so quickly.
“Last night was really close, and it hits close to home when these kinds of things happen,” Kazmierzak explained.
“[It] could have been a lot worse,” said Russ.
Police preliminarily charged Mallory with criminal recklessness, driving under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident.
Battle, the driver of the car from the first crash, was still listed in serious condition Monday evening.
 
So far in 2009 www.ResponderSafety.com have recorded 18 “struck-by” incidents so far this year in the U.S. involving firefighters, fire trucks and/or emergency medical personnel and vehicles. There have been two (2) FF LODD from being struck by vehicles so far in 2009.  
 
There were 6 LODD’s in 2008 in the U.S. involving Fire & EMS personnel.
 
They have also recorded a total of 55 “struck-by” incidents in 2008 involving firefighters, fire trucks and/or EMS personnel and vehicles.  These incidents include the 6 LODD’s as well as injury to personnel and damage to emergency apparatus.
 
Other talking points to consider:
 
·         Drivers should move over and/or slow down when approaching stationary emergency apparatus.
·         Emergency personnel are wearing hi-viz garments to make them more visible to motorists.
·         Apparatus is used to block work areas at emergency scenes because of the number of DUI and sleepy drivers.
·         New fire apparatus are being equipped with hi-viz chevrons to make them more visible to motorists.
·         Drivers should use caution and pay attention to any and all traffic control devices (cones, flares, signs etc.) at emergency scenes.
 
Some short video clips (PSAs) at the respondersafety.com website, highlight the issue including: 
 
Slow Down/ Move Over - http://www.respondersafety.com/SlowDown.aspx
 
It’s No Picnic Out Here! - http://www.respondersafety.com/NoPicnic.aspx - Perfect for the Holiday!
 
It’s not just about the vest. There is a system that should be followed to improve the chances of everyone going home after an incident. Although written specifically to address issues involving hi-viz vests, the document also has other advice on how FDs should prepare to protect their personnel at roadway incidents.

Last week, Greenville Fire Rescue experienced a very close call with an aerial device and a 7,200 volt power line. Fortunately for us, all crew members are fine and we are only dealing with damaged equipment. I share this information with you in an effort to help keep your people safe and as a reminder of how quickly things can, and do, go wrong.  We only ask that if you opt to share it with others within your department, that it be shared from a teaching perspective. We have staff preparing to place this on Firefighter Close Calls.com.
 
Last week, we had a reserve 55 foot pumper/aerial in service, in place of the usual 75 foot pumper/aerial. The assigned driver was a seasoned member who has years of experience with this unit. During a routine operations check on the front apron of his station, the driver had extended the ladder and was standing on the pull out step. The driver was momentarily distracted and took his eyes off the controls and the ladder. He operated the control in an effort to retract the ladder. However, rather than retract the ladder, he inadvertently extended the ladder into a 7,200 volt line. 
 
The driver was unaware that he had contacted the wire, and another co-worker began yelling to him that the truck was on fire. The driver stepped down from the safety platform, and looked at the rear where the tires were on fire. He presumed there was some sort of electrical fire onboard the truck, and then accessed the cab to turn the truck off. After shutting off the truck, the operator learned of the power line.
 
The acting officer radioed for additional units and the crew managed the fire with extinguishers from a reserve engine. All power in the area was out, along with all traffic signals nearby. Greenville Utilities arrived and assisted in removing the aerial from the line once they were confident the line was not energized.
 
The truck involved has been shipped off by a low boy hauler to Triad Fire Equipment’s Fayetteville shop for damage assessment. The rear tires were likely destroyed, with holes burned in at least one. We have asked the vendor to do a complete assessment of the unit, including a third party evaluation of the aerial device itself. The damage at the outrigger contact points with the concrete was very impressive, with the minerals being pulled from the concrete, spalling, and some steel belts from the tires stuck to the concrete.  
 
The driver has been very forthcoming with the incident, has taken ownership, and is doing fine. He said that he normally completes his operational check in the rear of the station, but for unknown reasons opted to conduct the check on the front apron. He attributes this close call to being distracted and acknowledges that complacency had a role in this outcome.  
 
While there will be some important lessons to come from this experience, here are some to be reinforced already:
 
1.      If your hands are on the controls, your eyes need to be on the aerial device.
2.      When conducting operational tests, choose a location that is free from such hazards whenever possible.
3.      If your fire truck is suddenly on fire, presume first that you have made contact with an energized line and work backwards from there. DO NOT step from the truck to the ground unless your safety is threatened by the ensuing fire. If you must dismount the unit for your safety, jump with both feet as far as you can jump and strive to land on both feet at the same time. Do NOT step down.  
4.     Most any electrical distribution lines that make contact with the ground (including through a ladder) will attempt to cycle back on several times before the system acknowledges a true fault and de-energizes the line. Once you are clear, DO NOT attempt to get near the truck until utility crews deem it safe. In this incident, the system took 40+ seconds to complete this entire process per GUC. It is presumed that the driver was extremely fortunate to have touched the truck a second time in an effort to shut it down, and that it was either after the 40 second cycle, or that his timing coincided with the ground fault interruption of power if within that 40 seconds.

While responding to my station for a call of a possible structure fire, smoke showing, in a dwelling, I came upon a busy intersection. The light was red in my direction of travel and there were two vehicles ahead of me in my lane but nothing coming toward me in the opposing direction of travel. I was in my personal vehicle and had activated my light and siren and moved into the other left lane and come to a complete stop at the intersection. The traffic to my right and ahead had come to a complete stop but the traffic to my left was still flowing. The only vehicle approaching from my left was a dump truck and he began to slow and I assumed he was going to stop and that I would have the room to clear the intersection. I was wrong. As I began to cross the intersection, the dump truck picked up speed. That caused me to quickly speed through the intersection and caused the driver of the dump truck to have to slam on his breaks. We did not collide but I felt like a complete idiot and I know everyone at the intersection was looking at me like I was the idiot that I was. Just goes to show that even when you come to a complete stop you can goof up. Wait till everyone stops and sees you. The call ended up being a false alarm. The city was smoking the sewers and some leaked into the residence.

Lessons Learned: Stop at the intersection. Don't go until everybody else has stopped.

City Of Norfolk Virginia Firefighter falls Asleep while driving back to fire station. While driving back from the hospital around 5:30AM, a firefighter driving an ambulance on the way back to the station fell asleep and running in too two trees damaging totaling the medic. Both Firefighters were ok due to wearing their seat belts. This show seat belts save lives.

On Saturday morning (4/18/09) at approx. 02:15, Squad 303 was in the process of clearing a 1050 pi rollover on the innerloop of 695 between Greensring Ave. & I83, when it was struck by another vehicle. 

At the time of the incident Squad 303’s crew was located by the rear of the squad. Due to one firefighter’s quick action by recognizing that the car was speeding towards them, all crew members were able to get out of the path of the rapidly approaching car.  One member had to dive into the squad to avoid being hit. Luckily, no injuries occurred to the crew. 
 
The squad suffered extensive damage to the driver’s compartments and the rear…minor compared to the potential for catastrophic loss!
 
Please take the time to review apparatus placement, crew safety and stress the importance of not being complacent on the most routine calls!!! Keep your head on a swivel!!!!

At 2:37 a.m. Thursday, Stations 1, 9 and 10 were dispatched for an accident, with reported entrapment, on SB I-95 at Rt-100. Units arrived to find no entrapment and one Priority 3 patient. Command held Engine 92 for a buffer until a tow truck could arrive. Lt. Ferguson and his crew were sitting in the engine when out of no where they were struck by a vehicle in the officers side front door. A new assignment was dispatched and responded to assist. Luckily no one was injured in the crash.

I was responding alone last August 2008 to a serious head on crash with 6 patients driving our brush truck with 1000 gallons of water on board and all of our newest extrication equipment on board. With lights, siren and air horn activated I stopped at the first intersection and NO ONE would yield to me, even though they looked me right in the eye. I waited until the few cars cleared and proceeded on toward the accident. It was a two lane highway and traffic was backed up over two miles. I had to proceed down the opposing lane with full lights, headlights, siren and air horn activated. Two well groomed men in their 60's came at me on two newer Harley Davidson motorcycles head-on. I found a spot to pull over and stop and wait for the motorcycles to pass by, otherwise I would have killed them both. I continued on to the scene and people waiting by their cars helped clear traffic for me the rest of the way. The scene I was enroute to ended as a double fatal head-on collision with one of the dead known closely by our fire department.

Lessons Learned: Yield, yield, yield. If I had not used my over 1 million miles of driving experience and also yielded to all while enroute, I would have seriously injured or killed someone not associated with the accident that day. As you know many people drive with their head up their A## all of the time and it is your responsibility while responding as a firefighter/driver not to hit, hurt or kill them, no matter what - no exceptions! It is your responsibility 100% not to hit, hurt or kill someone while you are driving to a fire, accident or medical call. If someone tells you otherwise, they should be removed from service on the spot, retrained or permanently removed from service if they can't get it. REALLY, NO KIDDING, NO B.S. , ABSOLUTELY NO EXCEPTIONS, EVER, NEVER, EVER. IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME, READ THE LATEST NEWS ON THIS WEBSITE!!! Thank you.

Two volunteer firefighters in Spotsylvania County were charged yesterday after an early morning truck crash sent them to the hospital with injuries.

Spotsylvania Volunteer Fire Chief Norman Brooks said the crash occurred on Harrison Road between U.S. 1 and the Kingswood subdivision shortly after midnight yesterday. The firefighters were responding to a house fire.

The truck crossed the road's double yellow line and crashed into an embankment, said Maj. Michael Timm of the Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Office.

Timm said the truck's driver, Andrew Debord, was charged with failure to maintain control of a vehicle and failure to wear a seatbelt.

The front seat passenger and officer in charge, Michael Gray II, also was charged with failure to wear a seatbelt, Timm said.

Timm said two other firefighters were riding in the truck when it crashed. They were taken to the hospital for examination but were released.

Debord and Gray were still at Mary Washington Hospital last night, Timm said.

Brooks said both men are expected to recover fully.

Both Brooks and Timm said yesterday that the wet road might have played a role in the crash.

Timm said speed also appears to have been a factor, but the crash is still under investigation.

He said a brake on the truck's engine was engaged, as was the transmission retarder. Both mechanisms are used to slow a truck, Timm said.

This accident highlights some key points of the strength of custom cabs, and the reason we specify 9G mounting.  It also proves the need for a STRONG SEAT BELT policy and enforcement as these firefighters probably would have been ok if they would have been belted.

 
1)      The truck rolled and landed PS down.  After righting it with a wrecker, they DROVE it up to the roadway (they had landed in a lower field).
2)      The pump still pumps
3)      The generator still works (although cover was smashed
4)      Crew compartment is completely intact, as is the driver/officer area
5)      The cab raises and lowers, and latches completely
6)      All cab/crew doors open and close, save the officer door, where the PS mirror somewhat inhibits a complete close
7)      All windows except one held- the other windows you see that are covered with wrap or laying in the crew area were  removed by extrication crews
8)      Had the firefighters been wearing seat belts (none of them were), they would have all likely walked away.  They took some abuse from flying air packs, which, again, would probably have stayed restrained had the FFs been secured in their seats.  The worst injury was a broken collarbone. 

We responded for a vehicle fire on 3/30/09 at 7276 Hwy 61/67 in Jefferson County Mo. Upon arrival we had a minivan 90% involved, after the fire was out and while talking to the bystanders we were informed that they thought something flew off of the minivan and struck another car prior to our arrival. Further investigation showed that one of the rear hatch struts had flown from the vehicle a distance of about 50 – 60 yards down Hwy 61/67.

Lessons Learned: Always be aware, there is no routine fire. 5 minutes earlier on the scene and we could have had problems.

Last week, while enroute to a reported house fire with a mutual co, our fire company avoided a close call with their tanker.  Our engine and tanker rolled out 1 and 2.  With proper response guidelines, the tanker I was in followed at a significant distance behind our engine.  Good thing we did.  as we approached the top of a hill, approx. 100 yds. from an intersection,  a car that approached the intersection from the north, blew a stop sign just after the engine went thru the intersection ( the eng. did not have a stop sign in the direction we were traveling) and was now traveling the same direction as us.  As I was making the driver of the tanker aware that a car was approaching, he said he saw it coming.  So I laid on the horns (we had our lights and sirens on).  The car dramatically swerved into left lanes (facing the wrong way) and let us pass.  if we had been any closer to our engine, we surely would have made contact.   Important thing to remember is use caution at ALL times while responding and obey all traffic laws.  We were safe and it saved not only our lives, but the moron who blew the stop sign.