Near Miss: Roof Collapse Ignites Room
This is a little longer near miss report, but it is worth the reading:
I advised the crew that I was going to check the room for any occupants. I went down the hall alone still w/PPE and SCBA and entered the room. As I was on the far end, I heard a freight train sound and all of a sudden, I was standing in a fully involved room, roof collapse. I knew the door was to my left so I dove for the doorway but went headfirst into the wall. I knew there were two windows in the front of the room that faced Side A of the building. Even though I was on the #3 floor and would suffer injuries, I decided to dive for the windows because I was burning up. When I dove for the windows, I went head first into a dresser. After this, the pain was getting so bad, I was getting very confused, and I thought it was over.
This firefighter made it out OK, but it was a very close call.
Working alone, even for that short period of time, was probably a mistake, but how many times has this happened at one of your incidents? Do you always work with a partner?
Having his PPE on properly probably saved him a lot of pain and rehabilitation. Do you always don your gear properly before beginning operations?
This report would be a great 10 minute training session at your next coffee break.
Posted October 27, 2005 09:40 AM · Link
· Near Misses
