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Homewood Illinois March 30, 2010

Homewood Illinois March 30, 2010. Photo by Warren Skalski. Ground Rules. Hindsight bias Retrospectively, the events look simple Why did what they were doing make sense at the time Make a list of things that don’t seem right Are there problems or anomalies. Homewood Fire Department.

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Homewood Illinois March 30, 2010

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  1. Homewood Illinois March 30, 2010 Photo by Warren Skalski

  2. Ground Rules • Hindsight bias • Retrospectively, the events look simple • Why did what they were doing make sense at the time • Make a list of things that don’t seem right • Are there problems or anomalies

  3. 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)

  4. 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

  5. A/B Corner 17622 Lincoln Ave Photo by David Pierini

  6. Side-B Family Room Addition NIOSH F2010-10

  7. NIOSH F2010-10

  8. 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

  9. 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

  10. 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

  11. 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

  12. Moderate smoke velocity & turbulence Bidirectional Air Track Black soot-stained Neutral plane Photo by Warren Skalski

  13. 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)

  14. Photo by Warren Skalski

  15. 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

  16. Family Room Addition Bath Room Bed Room 2 Kitchen Utility Room T-1220 T-1220 A-564 A-564 E-534 Living Room Bed Room 1 Side A

  17. Questions • What B-SAHF indicators were observed during the initial stages of this incident? • What stage(s) of fire development and burning regime(s) were present in the building when T-1220 and E-534 arrived on scene? Consider potential differences in various areas of the house. • What would you anticipate as the likely progression of fire development over the next several minutes? • How might tactical operations (positively or negatively) influence fire development? Source: Ed Hartin,www.cfbt-us.com

  18. 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

  19. Photo by Warren Skalski

  20. Exposure D2 1-3/4” Exposure D E-534 Garage Addition 17622 2-1/2” T-1220 Exposure B Exposure B2 5”supply

  21. High smoke velocity & turbulence High smoke velocity & turbulence Bidirectional Air Track Neutral plane Neutral plane Photo by Warren Skalski

  22. 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 Carey 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*

  23. High smoke velocity & turbulence High smoke velocity & turbulence Bidirectional Air Track Neutral plane Neutral plane Photo by Warren Skalski

  24. Photo by Warren Skalski

  25. 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

  26. Windows and doors possibly breached by fire effects window vented E-1340 Bath Room Bed Room 2 Kitchen Utility Room window vented E-1340 T-1220 T-1220 A-564 A-564 E-534 Living Room Bed Room 1 Side A

  27. 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

  28. Bath Room Bed Room 2 Kitchen Utility Room T-1220 T-1220 A-564 A-564 E-534 Living Room Bed Room 1 Side A

  29. Photo by Warren Skalski

  30. Photo by Warren Skalski

  31. Photo by Warren Skalski

  32. Photo by Warren Skalski

  33. 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

  34. 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

  35. Photo by Warren Skalski

  36. Photo by Warren Skalski

  37. Questions • What type of extreme fire behavior occurred at this incident? • How did the conditions for this extreme fire behavior event develop? • What changes in fire behavior indicators (B-SAHF) would have provided warning of impending rapid fire progression? Source: Ed Hartin,www.cfbt-us.com

  38. Questions • What was the initiating event that led to the extreme fire behavior that killed Firefighter Carey and injured Firefighter Kopas? • What action could have been taken to reduce the potential for extreme fire behavior and maintain tenable conditions during the primary search? Source: Ed Hartin,www.cfbt-us.com

  39. NIOSH Recommendations Recommendation #4: 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.

  40. NIOSH Recommendations Recommendation #5: 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.

  41. NIOSH Recommendations Recommendation #14: The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) should consider developing more comprehensive training requirements for fire behavior to be required in NFPA 1001 Standard for Fire Fighter Professional Qualifications and NFPA 1021 Standard for Fire Officer Professional Qualifications.

  42. Honor his memory by sharing the lessons learned with your crew

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