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Houston Firefighters Injured During Training
MOISES MENDOZA
Houston Chronicle
Reprinted with Permission
Three firefighters were taken to the hospital with minor injuries this morning after a fire engine ladder touched a power line, causing the truck to become electrified and a tire to explode.
The firefighters were testing equipment around 10:30 a.m. at Station 51, located at 6902 Bellaire Blvd. in southwest Houston.
When the ladder briefly touched the power line, some sparks flew up and other firefighters came over to see what was going on, a Houston Fire Department spokeswoman said.
That's when the tire exploded, causing the firefighters to suffer ringing ears and headaches.
Officials said the firefighters were taken to an area hospital. They should be allowed to go home by early afternoon, the spokeswoman said.
Houston Chronicle
Reprinted with Permission
Three firefighters were taken to the hospital with minor injuries this morning after a fire engine ladder touched a power line, causing the truck to become electrified and a tire to explode.
The firefighters were testing equipment around 10:30 a.m. at Station 51, located at 6902 Bellaire Blvd. in southwest Houston.
When the ladder briefly touched the power line, some sparks flew up and other firefighters came over to see what was going on, a Houston Fire Department spokeswoman said.
That's when the tire exploded, causing the firefighters to suffer ringing ears and headaches.
Officials said the firefighters were taken to an area hospital. They should be allowed to go home by early afternoon, the spokeswoman said.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Brian Mackie on
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Houston! WE GOT A PROBLEM! wholleeee yikes! So glad the people will be ok. Very lucky!
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Permalink Reply by Art "ChiefReason" Goodrich on
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Naw; I'm not going to add to an already FUBARed city.
But, knowing how the new mayor reacts to incidents involving the fire department, she will probably want an internal investigation done so she can fire someone.
Overhead electrical wires and ladders can be a deadly combo.
Fortunately, no one was killed.
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Permalink Reply by Roy Walker on
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We gotta be careful, easy to be a Monday morning QB but accidents happen. Glad we didn't loose anybody.
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Permalink Reply by Oldman on
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There is not a lot of room on the apron as it is. But I wonder if the power pole has always leaned toward the station, or if it was usually more vertical.
Google street view
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Permalink Reply by Mike Schlags (Captain Busy) Retd on
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Gee... sure makes me glad to hear that there were not any FFJR's involved in this incident. It seems like no one believes that this job is actually dangerous sometimes. People do get hurt or killed. This is not an environment for children... This incident absolutely drives this point home. And to consider this occurred not at the scene of an incident but at the fire station, where routine "training" takes place... a place that is typically thought to be "safe".
CBz
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Please don't take this as a critical post. Accidents do happen and eventually, we will find out the results of the investigation as to why a ladder was extended to the point where it was in close proximity to energized power lines. With that said, and with folks taking time to review this post, it should be mentioned here, and this is my personal opinion only, that every fire engine needs to have a portable handheld device for detecting the presence of electricity. If you are raising ladders in the dark, and you have never been at that location before, you have the potential for coming into contact with power lines.
Years ago now, one of our firefighters moved a log on a wildland fire. What he did not know was that there was an energized power line under the log that caused the fire in the first place... He was lucky not to be killed only because another firefighter used a handtool to move the energized wire, which saved his life.
This led my department to take a very close look at preventing this from happening again. I spearheaded the research and had just returned from teaching a class in Texas. I had met with the Fort Worth Fire Department and they were the first to show me the following product, which again in my opinion is something that you need to take a look at and incorporate into your day to day operations, especially at night... I am not aware if they have any competitors. If anyone is using this product or others, please share what other options there are...
CBz
High sensitivity voltage detector for emergency responders.
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The tool has found many applications, especially with first responders, fire, police, and EMT's responding to vehicular accidents; with search and rescue operations in urban and rural settings; and with clean up crews working on downed trees after wind and ice storms. However, industrial users, and anybody else who may unknowingly be exposed to the dangers of electrical shock and electrocution, will find the AC HotStick a necessity. It is simple to use and is well constructed. It comes with a built in self test so there is never any doubt about it functioning properly. It has also gained numerous functionality improvements through years of customer feedback. All of these things have made the AC HotStick an invaluable safety tool with a devoted following.
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ENSURE a safe environment for your vehicular rescue.
PROTECT the life of your first responders. Give him this safe and simple to use tool.
CHECK IT trust is good – checking is better.
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Anything, be it tools or processes, that can make the job any less dangerous, is a good thing. It still requires us to use those tools and processes. Proof that we need to stay alert every second, and for every task - training or otherwise, follow the safety standards. These safety rules and regs. were created, probably in most cases from the result of a preventable event which caused an injury or worse. As lame as some of the safety rules and regs may seem, they are there for a purpose. Keep on being safe folks!
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Permalink Reply by John Rulli Jr. on
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Sounds like everyone is going to be ok. We have a verry dangerous job even when we aredoing the simple task of a truck check. We need to be alert of our surroundings at all times
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Unless the overhead electrical wire for some inexplicable reason broke loose and fell on the ladder truck, then this wasn't an accident. Something caused the ladder to come into contact with the electrical wires.
There is a root cause as to why this incident occurred.
I won't "Monday morning quarterback" other than to say, that, unless there was Divine Providence, human or mechanical error caused the contact with the hot wire.
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Permalink Reply by Chris Dodson on
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i just got done with ground ladder training and the very first thing that you need to do is "CHECK FOR OVERHEAD OBSTRUCTIONS" someone failed... and also you need to stay at least 10ft from all power lines again another failure, this is a dangerous job we are in. We need not make it any more dangerous, unnecessarily. Though i am glad to see that it was all minor injuries.
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Permalink Reply by FETC on
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I am just curious for the real story... were the wires actually touched via the aerial or was this gradient transfer of power before they were touched? This incident occurred on the ramp of the fire station. A place where they probably check the truck often, so unless the operator was brand new or on a transfer / swap.... The overhead hazard should have been previously known and obvious.
Many I know will push the envelope of gradient exposure in the vacinity of OH wires. Very dangerous!
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