Two Career Lieutenants Killed and Two Career Fire Fighters Injured Following a Flashover at an Assembly Hall Fire—Texas
Introduction
On February 15, 2013, two career lieutenants were killed and two career fire fighters were injured at an assembly hall fire following a flashover. On February 19, 2013, the U.S. Fire Administration notified the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) of this incident. On February 24 through March 1, 2013, a safety and occupational health specialist and a safety engineer from the NIOSH Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program traveled to Texas to investigate this incident. The NIOSH investigators met with the fire chief, assistant chiefs, department fire marshal, a state fire marshal’s office representative, and the local union representative.
Interviews were conducted with the incident commander (IC), fire department members directly involved with the incident, and the fire department’s fire marshal. The NIOSH investigators visited, documented, and photographed the fire scene and structure. The NIOSH investigators reviewed photographs and video taken by law enforcement, bystanders, and the state fire marshal’s office. The NIOSH investigators also reviewed available training records for the victims, injured fire fighters and the IC; dispatch radio transcripts; autopsy reports; and departmental standard operating procedures (SOPs). The NIOSH investigators traveled with representatives of the fire department and met the representative of the state fire marshal’s office at the regional burn center to interview the injured fire fighters.
The NIOSH investigators documented the condition and took photographs of the victims’ and injured fire fighters’ personal protective equipment (PPE) and self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). The victims’ and injured fire fighters’ SCBAs were sent to NIOSH’s National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL) for further evaluation. The NIOSH investigators also reviewed available SCBA maintenance records.
Fire Department
At the time of this incident, the fire department was operating out of five fire stations with 110 uniformed members, serving a population of approximately 78,000 within an area of about 43 square miles. On a daily basis, the fire department would staff five engine companies (minimum staffing of 3), a truck company (minimum staffing of 3), four advanced life support ambulances (cross-trained as fire fighters), a battalion chief, and an EMS supervisor. This fire department also staffed a technical rescue team trained in confined space, trench collapse, high angle rescue, water rescue, building collapse, and wilderness search and rescue.
Field personnel currently work 24-hour shifts with 48 hours off, averaging 8,000 – 9,000 calls per year with an average response time of 6½ minutes (2011). In 2011, the department responded to 9,125 calls consisting of:[1]
- 7,150 EMS/rescue calls
- 563 Good intent calls
- 424 Service calls
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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