We were performing hose testing at our station. We were using a 5” storz x 2.5”M adapter connected to a 2.5”F X 2.5” F Kochek coupling connected to 2.5” discharge on engine 901. As the pump pressure was approaching 195 psi. An Explorer approached and straddled the 5”. I told him he was in a bad place and needed to come around the other side of the truck. As he stepped around the truck (less than 10 seconds) the 2.5” Kochek fitting failed. The pump pressure was approaching 215 psi. and the discharge pressure was between 205 psi and 210 psi. The 5’ hose and fitting launched into the air with the end of the hose landing approximately 20 feet away. Prior to the hose testing, I held a short safety meeting using examples from firefighter close calls to demonstrate the dangers associated with failure of hose, appliance, and fittings. The Explorer was not present at the safety meeting.

Lessons Learned: Make sure everyone in the vicinity of hose test operations are aware of the dangers and are wearing proper PPE including helmets. It will be a good practice to appoint a safety officer to watch for late arrivals and ensure they make everyone aware of the hazards. Fittings and hose can violently fail without warning. Never walk over or straddle any hose being pressurized for testing. Inspect Kochek FXF fittings for signs of deflection by removing gaskets and looking for wrinkled or missing paint.

I was training with a group of volunteer fire academy trainees at a live burn building . We had made it to the second floor and getting ready to enter the fire room. I was on the nozzle when I started to cramp from the heat. I will admit that I should have been pre-hydrating better than what I did but that's not the whole issue. I stood up just a little and my PASS/Low Air alarm went off. I knew that I had 3/4 (or better) of air in my MSA SCBA. Our team leader, tapped me on the should and asked what was wrong. I said that was my low air alarm and he send me out. In Detroit we had always been told if one has a problem that requires a hasty exit from the structure, such as a low air alarm, then all exit. The team leader was chastised by the training cadre for allowing the other three firefighters and himself to leave with me. The Assistant Chief, who is a military fire protection specialist, at the same rank told him that if he could see me leaving the fire building under my own power then the was no need for everyone to leave. This Chief went on to say "my babies are up there burning up". The was the second time that we as a team had "played together" and while in the real world each firefighter would have his or her own radio. We did not. The first time was a first floor evolution and seem to go fairly well.

Lessons Learned: I have asked MSA to check on my SCBA is see if it has the heat sensor built into the PASS/Gauge, if so that was what the alarm was. I will then have to take some of the blame as that I didn't know everything about my equipment and that's a dangerous way to start to start training. Second, it very dangerous to do live fire training with firefighters that you have never partnered with. The two in - two out rule must be strictly enforced, even in a training environment. We must train as we fight and we will only be successful in our fight with the Red Devil if we train safely. Every firefighter must have a fire radio, even it's in a training environment.

Two firefighters were injured during training when a hose line became out of control, striking one firefighter in the head. While operating at a hose line operation drill, one hose team lost control of their 1 3/4" hose line, sending it out of control. A near-by hose team consisting of two firefighters was injured when the nozzle struck one firefighter's head. His partner was hit with the straight stream at point blank, causing temporary blurred vision. The firefighter with the head injury was transported to the hospital via BLS with a deep gash requiring stitches. The second firefighter was evaluated and released at the scene.

Lessons Learned: Know your equipment! The nozzle being used had several "stages" to being opened. The firefighter operating the nozzle was inexperienced with this piece of equipment. Also, Be aware of your surroundings at all times, in order to prevent any future mishaps.

A 52 year old F-282 (Puget Sound Federal Fire Fighters) firefighter from Station 61 (U.S.N. Sub-Base Bangor) suffered a cardiac arrest while conducting training with Station 77 (Poulsbo, WA) personnel on Friday afternoon (3/6). The firefighter dropped right in front of a Paramedic/Firefighter who had also been participating in the drill. Immediate life saving A.L.S. actions were taken including defibrillation. The firefighter was transported to Harrison Medical Center. He is reported to be recovering in the I.C.U. at Harrison Medical Center in Bremerton. I understand that there were several occluded arteries and that the firefighter has had some type of invasive intervention stints and may possibly be a candidate for coronary artery bypass surgery.

While performing a vehicle door removal during extrication training last week, I caught the spreaders with the inside of my right thigh.  When the door latch separated from the nader bolt, it popped open, in turn pushing the spreaders back into my leg (yes, the picture is a human leg, not a chicken leg).  The spreader is the Hurst ML-32 which weighs approx. 53 lbs.
Normally, I lean into the tool enough to prevent being struck.  As you can see, it left a nice perfectly round bruise which took five days to surface.  I was wearing full turnout gear with eye protection.  I am thoroughly convinced that this prevented more serious injury, due to some padding provided by the turnout liner.

Training on forward lays with five inch hose: hose clamp was placed on the five inch line, the hydrant was charged, the line broken and connected to the inlet on the pumper. As the Hebert Hose Clamp was opened, the clamp was rapidly pushed along the five inch hose until it hit the next coupling. The firefighter opening the clamp found it to be difficult to unscrew because of the hose pressure on the clamp and was surprised at how quick the clamp moved when the water flowed through the hose.

LESSONS LEARNED:
1.The new rubber supply hose may have been a contributing factor to the sliding of the hose clamp. 

2.There is a potential for an injury caused by the moving clamp if people are not paying attention. The clamp was placed about eight feet from the coupling before the line was charged. Has anyone else had this problem? We were fortunate that there was another section of hose leading to the inlet, otherwise, the clamp would have ended up against the pump connection. 

3.The time it takes to unscrew the clamp actually increased the time it took for the forward lay to be completed. This evolution was with four firefighters(the engineer, the hydrant man and two were manning an attack line). 

4.The hose clamp will not be used for a forward lay with the five inch supply line.

While drilling on master stream operations at my career station, we had a very close call recently. I was on the pump panel while my lieutenant and two other firefighters were setting up and operating a portable monitor. While drilling to achieve various GPM flows by removing the nozzle tips, a few of the volunteers showed up to drill as well. After a few evolutions of deploying the monitor and charging the two 2.5 lines feeding it, we had an incident. One of the career firefighters was messing around with one of the volunteers. (Note, i only saw the end result of the accident, these statements are from others present.) The two were wrestling with each other as the career FF tried to jokingly push the volunteer FF into the stream. The volunteer decided that if he was going in, they both were. He let go of his footing and tried to pull the career guy into the stream with him. The volunteer fell into the stream of the monitor flowing approx 800 gpm through an 1 3/4" tip. He was hit in the ribs and launched into the air, landing in the street about 5 feet from the nozzle. The FF then slid across the roadway, knocking his helmet off. The helmet was found about 30 feet from the monitor. Luckily the firefighter was not injured too badly. He only suffered from some bruising and road rash on the side he slid on (under his PPE). His gear was not damage, but he sustained cuts to his buttock and hips. At the time of the incident, everyone froze after seeing him hit. It feels like 10 minutes in my mind, but after a second or two, i shut down the lines. Of course, one of our commissioners was there to watch the whole thing unfold. Instead of disciplining the career firefighter, he made an inappropriate joke about how fire streams used to be used for riot control. Lessons Learned: We play with some big toys. These toys, while meant to be operated in the safest manner possible can still cause accidents. Horseplay has no place on the fire ground or the training ground. We were very lucky with this that no one got seriously injured. Everyone needs to understand that they are accountable for their own personal safety AND the safety of those around them.

A recent event has made a few of us aware that refreshing our knowledge about electricity is a good thing. While working on a live-fire house burn preparation, I was confronted with the main panel in the basement that was in the way, making it difficult to put up a ceiling covering near the burn pit. Before starting our preparations, we were told by the contractor of the company that donated the house that the power to the house had been cut. I proceeded to pull lots of wires from the panel, cutting as I went. The last to be cut was the main feed from the powerline that fed into the panel (240 volts). We all know what happened when my sawzall blade went through the galvanized conduit and cut into one leg of the power... a loud, scary "pop" and a shower of sparks! Fortunately I was protected by a well grounded electrical tool but my blade had two big chunks blown out of it. We immediately called the contractor and then the local power company (Puget Sound Energy). PSE had no record of a request to cut power to this house and showed that the house did indeed have power to it (no kidding!). A lineman from PSE immediately came out and cut the power to the house so we could continue or preparations for the upcoming training. LESSONS LEARNED: While the PSE lineman was there we asked a lot of questions. Here are a few things I felt that were important to remember. 1. DON'T TAKE THE CONTRACTORS WORD ABOUT ELECTRICAL ISSUES. They may think that no power to the house means shutting down the main breaker. Obviously this isn't the case. The house is not energized only when the power company tells us it is not energized. They are the only ones who can completely cut the power to a house or business. 2. If there is an overhead powerline running to the house and there is a meter on the house (even though the indicator wheel is not moving) the house has power running to the meter base. To confirm, there is a number on the meter. Call PSE and give them this number. They can tell you over the phone if the house is energized or not. Note: If there is a meter base but no overhead power lines, extra caution should be exercised as the house could be supplied by underground power. 3. Meter bases can become energized! If you are called to lights flickering inside the home or smoke smells in or around a meter base, DO NOT TOUCH THE METER OR THE SURROUNDING METAL CASE!! The lineman stated that the cause is arching or shorting inside the meter base/housing due to faulty or failing connectors. Touching the metal housing can cause an individual to become energized. He also stated that looking at the glass of the meter may show smoke on the inside. This is a good indicator that something bad is going on inside the meter housing. Call PSE. 4. If the meter has been removed, there is no power to the structure. NOT TRUE! Businesses and some residential homes with shops that have 3 phase/240 volt service can continue to be energized with the meter having been removed. Be aware of what you are looking at. If you aren't sure...........Call PSE. Thanks for listening. Let's stay safe.

I run with a volunteer fire company, on our training night we went to the training tower for our community. During our final evolution I was the pump operator and the guy who had been pumping moved to an interior position. While I was pumping over the radio came "We have a Man Down." The simulation had a rescue scenario included as we have on many occasions, many including Mayday scenarios. So I started from the pump panel to bang a ladder to the second division. On this particular occasion the previous engine operator was having what we can only classify as a panic attack while he was on the second division of the training tower. Apparently he started to have breathing difficulties on the first division but did not inform his partner, a lieutenant, of the problems. Here when the man down was transmitted myself(the Sr. EMT on the rig), the command officer, and the other lieutenant all took the radio call as simulation and not as an actually emergency. LESSONS LEARNED: Always Specify a real emergency when a part of a training situation. Had it been initially transmitted as we have an "actual emergency" or "we have a man down this is not a drill" my response would have been different and my mindset would not have had such the hard shift from training bang the ladder to medic radio from the rig. We were able to calm him down and there was no need for EMS but because he had continued to go further into the incident and was 5 foot from the "fire" when he finally declared the emergency. Had this happened at a fire this individual would have had to be physically removed by his partner. What would have happened if he had done this in a fire with a partner not physically able to remove him? When you are having a problem declare it. Don't push yourself to be an interior firefighter when you are unable to do so, this individual had previously bailed on someone at a training class. He gave n excuse that time and this time he had a panic attack, he should know his limitations as we all should and live within them.

Aircraft Rescue FireFighting training class the College of Technology reflash simulation did not work properly after new improvements. It was after million dollar upgrade. What happened was we were doing intital attack on aircraft when we got fire knocked down we were working our way back out when simulator spilled raw propane fuel onto spill trainer reiginting training grounds. Therefore causing our attack lines to be impinged causing crews to lose all water source. Making us have to retreat out of the training grounds. Causing severe damage to equipment and PPE. LESSONS LEARNED: Safety first! Most of all Buddy checks paid off because there was hardly any damage to human flesh.

A volunteer firefighter was injured Wednesday evening during training at the William Waugh Fire Academy. Jamie Empfield, of White Township, a member of the Indiana Fire Association, was sent first to Indiana Regional Medical Center, then was transferred to UPMC-Presbyterian in Pittsburgh. A hospital spokeswoman said this morning that Empfield was in fair condition. Empfield is a staff photographer at The Indiana Gazette. The accident occurred during an unconscious-victim rescue simulation, said Fire School Director Tom Stutzman. Empfield and three other firefighters were lowering a 180-pound dummy by ladder from the third floor of a tower, Stutzman said. He said a firefighter on the ladder above Empfield lost his grip or became fatigued and fell with the dummy, knocking Empfield to the ground. Empfield fell about 8 feet to a gravel-covered surface. Stutzman said 10 firefighters were taking the Firefighter I Certification Preparation Program, which is required for a national firefighter certification. The certification is not for beginners, according to Stutzman. Firefighters must complete an essentials program, structure-fire training, first aid, CPR and hazardous-materials training, submit a lengthy written application and be interviewed by fire company officers before being accepted for the training. Firefighters from Lower Burrell and Kittanning also were enrolled in the training program Wednesday.

My Fire Department was having a pump drill on our drill the other evening and we had a junior on a 1 1/4 inch supply line (Note the junior was not a very large boy) and the operator kicked the pessure up to 100 psi and the junior was knocked back and lost the line and cut up his knuckles pretty good because he was not wearing his gloves. LESSONS LEARNED: When doing any kind of line ops you should have two or more people on the supply line, and he should have had his gloves on while operating the supply line.

On October 23, 2007, while training at the smoke house facility, a Deputy Chief detonated a smoke grenade (approved for use by the Fire Chief and another Deputy Chief). The smoke grenade turned out to be tear gas (CS M7A3). 19 firefighters were injured. 2 required hospitalization. The Board of fire Engineers admitted they didn't know what they were using and thought it was a smoke grenade, even thought the container was clearly marked "GRENADE, HAND, RIOT, CS, M7A3" in red with a red stripe. One Deputy Chief said all the canisters looked the same. Just like buying milk at the market. Just different colors. The board of engineers later responded that they didn't need to apologize to anyone because they didn't make any mistakes. LESSONS LEARNED: Always where your SCBA for any smoke house training, even if you are outside the building. Also, ask what is going to be used by training officers so you can get a look at it. Pressure your town to hire a fire chief and/or deputies that are trained in firefighting. Not just a town citizen that wants to be chief.

Instructors: We can preach all we want-but if we don't set the example by actions-our words are nothing but BS. Firefighters burn to death annually at TRAINING BURNS. This can very easily be fixed....if we wanna. Full "modern-head to toe with no exposed skin" PPE-all the time... ...and a full and serious understanding that the goal is to not kill or seriously burn a participant...OR a Fire Instructor. Never been burned wearing your "old gear" ? You got lucky. Wanna play? Get a game. Wanna do this job for a long time? Get smart. These photos are from a live fire training burn in late 2007..... (This submission to FirefighterCloseCalls.com was in memory and honor of FDNY Captain John Drennan, R.I.P.)

On a live fire training exercise, I was assisting a lead instructor in setting up a warehouse burn. Concrete building, piles of pallets, the usual drill...and of course all the pallets were outside. I used that as an excuse to leave off my SCBA while running burn material up and down stairs and into the warehouse area. The captain started burning the piles of pallets inside while I was chugging more to the burn rooms, so I got a good dose of smoke before the exercise even started. I donned my SCBA for the drill, but in the middle of the evolution, while leading young firefighters through a search drill, I almost became a live "hose dummy" and had to evac. LESSONS LEARNED: Controlled environment or not, a live burn means live smoke and heat. I should have been wearing my SCBA before the kindling got lit...I know better. The accumulation of smoke didn't strike me until several minutes later, and I nearly passed out, in the middle of a drill. What if I had been on a roof, or needed to assist one of my young firefighters with an emergency of their own? I got lucky.