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NIOSH Report on FF Kyle Wilson
On April 16, 2007, FF Kyle Wilson lost his life while searching a residence in Woodbridge, VA. The report can be found here: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire/reports/face200712.html
As I have seen in so many cases, I don’t know that the NIOSH report goes far enough, but one of the more troubling revelations of the report is that they indicated that a thermal imaging camera was being used at the time of the fire and yet, FF Wilson separated from his LT and initiated a right hand blind search of the master bedroom.
Is it “normal” practice to separate and conduct a blind search when a thermal imaging camera is also in use? What is your department’s SOG for conducting a search with the use of a camera?
Communication or in this case, a lack of it, was cited as a contributing factor in that information regarding the occupants of the residence had safely evacuated the residence, but this was not communicated to the first arriving companies. Without this information, all of the key indicators were there to initiate a search of the residence. Six am in the morning, cars in the driveway, no lights on are all indicative of an occupied residence. However; a neighbor had alerted the residence of the fire and all had gone to a nearby neighbor.
Selection of the attack line was questioned. With initial manpower low, the question was asked if a smaller line would have been a better choice. Water pressure was mentioned, yet it could not be determined if it was because of the hydrant, engine pump or from kinks in the hose lines.
Wind velocity was a definite factor in the outcome of this fire. What I find interesting is that references to weather monitoring similar to wildland firefighting was suggested. When you think about it, we are all taught of the importance of wind direction and velocity in our HazMat training. Why would we not consider it for the hazards associated with rapid fire spread in lightweight construction? It makes good sense.
I am in no way criticizing any actions taken that day, because obviously, I wasn’t there. But, these are questions that are raised in my mind as a result of the NIOSH report.
And as is usually the case, the NIOSH reports leave more questions than they answer.
So, my last question is: if we don’t use the NIOSH reports to learn from, what would we use? Is there another body of authority that could deliver a more in depth final report of a firefighter’s death?
It’s hard to believe that it has been over a year ago that we lost FF Kyle Wilson. It only seems like yesterday that I listened to the recording of his chilling pleas for help on that fateful day. Another bright future is gone and many questions still remain.
Rest in peace, Kyle Wilson.
Art
As I have seen in so many cases, I don’t know that the NIOSH report goes far enough, but one of the more troubling revelations of the report is that they indicated that a thermal imaging camera was being used at the time of the fire and yet, FF Wilson separated from his LT and initiated a right hand blind search of the master bedroom.
Is it “normal” practice to separate and conduct a blind search when a thermal imaging camera is also in use? What is your department’s SOG for conducting a search with the use of a camera?
Communication or in this case, a lack of it, was cited as a contributing factor in that information regarding the occupants of the residence had safely evacuated the residence, but this was not communicated to the first arriving companies. Without this information, all of the key indicators were there to initiate a search of the residence. Six am in the morning, cars in the driveway, no lights on are all indicative of an occupied residence. However; a neighbor had alerted the residence of the fire and all had gone to a nearby neighbor.
Selection of the attack line was questioned. With initial manpower low, the question was asked if a smaller line would have been a better choice. Water pressure was mentioned, yet it could not be determined if it was because of the hydrant, engine pump or from kinks in the hose lines.
Wind velocity was a definite factor in the outcome of this fire. What I find interesting is that references to weather monitoring similar to wildland firefighting was suggested. When you think about it, we are all taught of the importance of wind direction and velocity in our HazMat training. Why would we not consider it for the hazards associated with rapid fire spread in lightweight construction? It makes good sense.
I am in no way criticizing any actions taken that day, because obviously, I wasn’t there. But, these are questions that are raised in my mind as a result of the NIOSH report.
And as is usually the case, the NIOSH reports leave more questions than they answer.
So, my last question is: if we don’t use the NIOSH reports to learn from, what would we use? Is there another body of authority that could deliver a more in depth final report of a firefighter’s death?
It’s hard to believe that it has been over a year ago that we lost FF Kyle Wilson. It only seems like yesterday that I listened to the recording of his chilling pleas for help on that fateful day. Another bright future is gone and many questions still remain.
Rest in peace, Kyle Wilson.
Art
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Moose on
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How does one respond to this...The only thing I can say is that you are correct about the NIOSH reports...I had twice as many questions as I had when I started reading the report. The only thing I can surmise is that they do that to get us to think even more about fire ground activities, safety issues, and SOP's.
It does go to show you that even in departments with SOP's in place and a good IC system set up....Shit can still happen...ie the water pressure problems and staffing issues. But the search still needs to be done...
Rest In Peace Kyle, you are still in our hearts and prayers, as well as your LT and brothers, we are thinking of them too.
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Permalink Reply by Paul Montpetit on
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We all suffered a loss...May God give him a special seat as he had his time in hell....I agree the report is not out to put blame on someone, but rather to let us see what we may do differently in the future...Cameras are great...BUT..they do not see behind doors or under beds....we risk a lot to save a lot...and if they thought people were in there they did what had to be done.... I cannot criticize nor will I...simply put I wasn't there and it wasn't my call to make. Ours is not a safe business...people can and unfortunately do get killed...this would be a great tool for those at this site that seem to think it is some kind of game....reality can do wonders sometime.....My simpathy goes out to Kyle's family, friends and all the members of his department...it is a terrible thing to live with the death of a Brother......Keep the Faith.................Paul
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Permalink Reply by George on
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I have read the report and passed it along to my chief and assistant chief. I feel for the family and department it is always painful when you lose a brother. When I see something like this I start double checking and try to make sure we are thinking when we make a call or when I dispatch.
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Permalink Reply by Jenny Holderby on
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NIOSH does these reports for exactly that reason, to try to determine what happened so that WE can hopefuly keep it from happening again on our watch. When we sit in our office or where ever we happen to be reading these reports, things go through our heads that give us more questions. This particular incident is similar in that aspect to Charleston, SC - Wooster, MA or GLOUCESTER CITY, N.J. where fire fighters were killed IN THE LINE OF DUTY. Studying these reports makes us THINK. Because we weren't there, we READ the reports trying to piece the puzzle together in our minds to form an idea of what was happening at the scene of that incident. Many of us will sit here and say "Why did they. . . ?" We might read several points that raise red flags for us, now as we go through the report. We try to work out in our own minds what we might have done in that instance or what could have been done differently in the same situation.
We don't know why @ that time, the crews on that particular scene chose the tactics they used but we do know the end result. We are aware of what event or chain of events probably, could have or might have contributed to the outcome, a fire fighters death. Unfortunately, often those we learn from may never give us another lesson because they have paid the ultimate sacrifice. No body is point fingers or laying blame. That is not the reason we read the account of a fatal fire. History repeats itself. We have to be educated enough not to let that happen in our realm.
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Permalink Reply by Bob on
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Sometimes we'll just never know what actually went on inside. NIOSH can nit pic anything they want, but until they can accurately recreate the happenings inside the scene, they their reports will have limited use.
Who can do better? That's beyond my paygrade, but I think that the ones that investigate fires, specificaly the BATFE might be a better choice. They have the lab backup and are routinely called in to investigate suspicious fires, so we can't say that they aren't experienced.
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Permalink Reply by Oldman on
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I've read this report, thought about it for a few days, and here are my conclusions. In light of the Routley Report, people are wondering why NIOSH doesn't do a more thorough investigation and provide a more detailed report. NIOSH, a governmental agency, from conception does not investigate only fatal fires, but rather a broad scope of incidents not only in the fire industry, but everything from agriculture to young workers. Now far be it from me to say bad things about our government, but lets face it, governmental agencies do not have the best track record for being extremely thorough and efficient. With the number of incidents which occur on a daily basis, it's a wonder these reports come out at all.
But as has been pointed out, there are some interesting issues that were brought to light, thermal cameras, search patterns, and staffing, to name a few, which we (the readers) have to form our own opinion of whether; under the same circumstances would we have done anything different?
Maybe these reports do exactly what they are intended to do. Get US to think a little more about our actions and decisions on an emergency scene. If we do things as NIOSH says happened in VA, within our own department, knowing the eventual outcome, will it cause a change of our mindset? If so then then maybe NIOSH is doing their job.
It would be great to not ever have to read another NIOSH report on one of our own.
Rest easy brother Kyle,
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