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

• 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)

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

A/B Corner 17622 Lincoln Ave Photo by David Pierini

Side-B Family Room Addition NIOSH F2010-10

NIOSH F2010-10

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

1st Alarm Assignment:

Homewood E-534 Lieutenant, Engineer and FirefighterHomewood A-564 2-Firefghter/EMT-P’s (Brian Carey and

Karra Kopas)1st arriving auto aid T-1220 Lieutenant, Engineer, 2-FF’s2nd arriving auto aid E-1340 Lieutenant, Engineer, 3-FF’s3rd arriving auto aid T-1145 Lieutenant, Engineer, 2-FF’s4th arriving auto aid S-440Lieutenant and 3-FF’sHomewood Fire Chief Robert Grabowski

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

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

Neutral plane

Moderate smoke velocity & turbulence

Black soot-stainedBidirectional Air Track

Photo by Warren Skalski

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)

Photo by Warren Skalski

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

Living Room

Kitchen Utility Room

Bed Room 1

Bed Room 2Bath Room

T-1220

T-1220

A-564

A-564

E-534

Side A

Family Room Addition

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

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

Photo by Warren Skalski

E-534

T-1220

Exposure D2

Exposure D

Exposure B

Exposure B2

17622

Garage

Addition

1-3/4”

2-1/2”

5”supply

High smoke velocity & turbulence

High smoke velocity & turbulence

Neutral planeNeutral plane

Bidirectional Air Track

Photo by Warren Skalski

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*

Neutral plane

Neutral plane

High smoke velocity & turbulence

High smoke velocity & turbulence

Bidirectional Air Track

Photo by Warren Skalski

Photo by Warren Skalski

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

Living Room

Kitchen Utility Room

Bed Room 1

Bed Room 2Bath Room

T-1220T-1220

A-564

A-564

E-534 Side A

Windows and doors possibly breached by fire effects

window vented E-1340

window vented E-1340

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

Living Room

Kitchen Utility Room

Bed Room 1

Bed Room 2Bath Room

T-1220 T-1220

A-564

A-564

E-534 Side A

Photo by Warren Skalski

Photo by Warren Skalski

Photo by Warren Skalski

Photo by Warren Skalski

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

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

Photo by Warren Skalski

Photo by Warren Skalski

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

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

NIOSH RecommendationsRecommendation #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.

NIOSH RecommendationsRecommendation #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.

NIOSH RecommendationsRecommendation #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.

Honor his memory by sharing the lessons learned with your crew