Fire Critic An Unadulterated View of the Fire Service
First of all, I really appreciate the comments on this topic. I also appreciate it not being turned into a vollie vs. career argument.
You can read the initial post and catch up on what we are talking about here.
And again, I will reiterate that we are not talking about anti-volunteerism, doing away with volunteers, or any of that. We are discussing Volunteering and how much training, knowledge, and experience volunteers need to keep up with Firefighting this day in age.
Today on the Secret List, Billy Goldfeder posted the following:
INDIANA FIREFIGHTERS VIOLATED LABOR LAWS IN ATTEMPTED CONFINED SPACE RESCUE
State officials say Liberty Township Firefighters violated occupational safety and health regulations and as a result, the LTFD is taking corrective action to avoid having to pay a $1,500 fine imposed by the Indiana Department of Labor.
An investigation by DOL found that a team of firefighters who were not trained in confined-space rescue entered a 5-foot-diameter by 12-foot-deep well pit to rescue four people, including two firefighters, who had been overcome by muriatic acid vapor and/or hydrogen sulfide. 2 civilians died that day.
2 Firefighters were overcome by fumes as they tried to rescue the two men, who had entered the pit to make repairs. It is not out of the ordinary to use muriatic acid to clean well pumps, pipes and other components with sulfur buildup and corrosion. Both Firefighters survived.The Liberty Firefighters are taking a proactive and cooperative approach to insure this doesn’t occur again.
The firefighters are volunteer.
You can read more on this story here
Could this be a reflection of the topic we are discussing? Could this have happened anywhere?
Confined Space Rescue and Training are a discipline of firefighting and rescue operations because of lessons learned in the past. Those lessons were learned the hard way = LODD’s. There is no reason at all why firefighters are entering a confined space without proper training.
Feel free to comment as we watch the events unfold in Illinois.
Updated with links to prior confined space deaths and a Safety Stand down due to them:
