FF Close Calls

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Submit Your Close Call / Near Miss Navigation Home Secret List Gallery EMS CloseCalls Drills Firefighter Staffing Personal Survival Safety and survival SOGs Links Modern Fire Behavior About Us Never Forget Fire Communications Pass it On LODD STATS Yearly Totals Year Totals 2014 85 2013 101 2012 83 2011 81 2010 87 2009 93 2008 118 2007 118 2006 107 2005 115 "In Memory Of" Click this patch   Custom Search  Contact Info  Email BillyG info@ firefighterclosecalls.com  Email Weekly Drill Suggestions to Drills@firefighter closecalls.com Click Here for The 9/11 Widows' and Victims' Families Association Click Here: Skyscraper Safety Campaign       Also check the most current issue of THE SECRET LIST for related News and Updates-(Click Here)  SIT THE F*CK DOWN  SIT DOWN  Wednesday, December 10, 2014    Well I guess that headline got your attention-good. It's supposed to. Offended? Not my intention but please get the f*ck over it and keep reading--what should be offensive is the following. Each year some Firefighters die in the Line of Duty because they had to, the conditions indicated the risk in saving a life was worth taking-and tragically they died. They are the great minority, the ones who die because there was a clear risk worth taking in attempting to save a life. Nothing new-the majority of Line of Duty deaths prove (after the investigations) that they often could have been avoided...and we try to learn from all of them. When I was a young Firefighter in the early 70's, one of the things I enjoyed most was standing up and looking forward (over the cab) when our apparatus responded. To me, it was the ultimate opportunity to see "what we had" (size up?) as we turned out. Back then we also used porto-powe... [ more ]         SIT THE F*CK DOWN  Or Click Here  Wednesday, December 10, 2014    Well I guess that headline got your attention-good. It's supposed to. Offended? Not my intention but please get the f*ck over it and keep reading--what should be offensive is the following. Each year some Firefighters die in the Line of Duty because they had to, the conditions indicated the risk in saving a life was worth taking-and tragically they died. They are the great minority, the ones who die because there was a clear risk worth taking in attempting to save a life. Nothing new-the majority of Line of Duty deaths prove (after the investigations) that they often could have been avoided...and we try to learn from all of them. When I was a young Firefighter in the early 70's, one of the things I enjoyed most was standing up and looking forward (over the cab) when our apparatus responded. To me, it was the ultimate opportunity to see "what we had" (size up?) as we turned out. Back then we also used porto-powe... [ more ]         "ALL OF THE RADIOS FAILED"  (SFFD Radios)  Wednesday, December 10, 2014   As you probably know, there were some close calls and Line of Duty deaths in recent years where radios -being used in fire environments (our environment) were part of the concern. In once again their attempt to separate fact from fiction and rumor, NIST did some scientific testing-with the cooperation and participation of fire service. These new test results* from the NIST confirm that portable radios used by firefighters absolutely can fail to operate properly within 15 minutes when exposed to temperatures that may be encountered during firefighting activities...and not just obvious failure. We rely on the radios to report our location, our progress and our needs...often urgently. Performance problems with portable radios have definitely been identified by the NIOSH as contributing factors in some firefighter fatalities. ALL PORTABLE FIRE RADIOS FAILED: All seven of the firefighter portable radios tested by NIST failed to perform properly within 15 m... [ more ]         Maine Firefighter Suffers Spinal Injury During Training Drill  Wednesday, December 10, 2014    A Maine firefighter suffered a spinal injury during a training drill last week.Rockport Firefighter William "Billy" Smith suffered two lumbar fractures when he fell during a scenario,The Pen Bay Pilot reported. Smith, also a local police officer, is being treated at Pen Bay Medical Center. Smith's foot became caught up as he was making a controlled descent through a hole in the ceiling to the room below. Rockport Fire Chief Jason Peasley told the reporter that loaded down with 40-50 pounds of firefighting gear, and holding on to a charged line that acted like a rope to help him make the descent, Smith was unable to hold on while he worked to free his foot and lost his grip. Smith fell about 4-feet, and landed ... [ more ]         CHICAGO LODD Update: Video Detail Dynamics of The Fire  NIST Herbie Johnson Video  Wednesday, December 10, 2014    Here is another opportunity for us to learn. A new NIST computer-modeling study of a 2012 Chicago house fire reveals the conditions that unleashed a surge of searing gases, leading to the death of a veteran Fire Captain. NIST examined the fire dynamics of the incident at the request of the NIOSH and the Chicago Fire Department. Simulations conducted with NIST’s Fire Dynamics Simulator examined the fire’s temperature and pressure at various locations and the resulting flow path. With the agency’s Smokeview visualization software, NIST researchers also developed a graphical representation of the fire’s behavior and the conditions that firefighters likely experienced during the course of their interior operations. The video simulation shows that fire in a covered back porch caused a closed steel-faced, wood-framed door to crumble, releasing pressure and causing hot gases to pour into the adjoining hallway where the victim and another fi... [ more ]         FIREFIGHTER STRUCK & KILLED BY RESPONDING FIRE APPARATUS-AUSTRALIA  Wednesday, December 10, 2014   South Australia Country Fire Service volunteer Deputy Fire Officer Brian Johnston would have marked 50 years of fighting fires in 2015 — a great milestone cut short by a tragic accident yesterday afternoon.The 65-year-old, who was a member of the Millicent Brigade and Deputy Group Officer of Wattle Range, was killed in the Line of Duty when he was hit by another fire truck while preparing to fight a grass fire late yesterday afternoon. DFO Johnston was standing behind the fire service utility truck he had responded in and was preparing to hit the fire when another truck responding to the fire crashed into him. Mr Johnston is the second CFS volunteer Firefighter to be killed this year, after father-of-two Andrew Harrison was killed while fighting a fire at Nantawarra in October. The incident happened in low visibility, due to smoke from the nearby fire Johnston was fighting. He was struck by the other firefighting vehicle and he was standing next to his fire fighting ve... [ more ]