Air tank policy gets attention
Recommendations address size, storage and number of units
Recommendations address size, storage and number of units
Charleston firefighters wading through darkness and thick, black smoke at the Sofa Super Store fire on June 18 trusted their lives to the air flowing from tanks strapped to their backs.
Aside from an adequate supply of water, the Self Contained Breathing Apparatus, or SCBA, is among the most important tools in firefighting.
Yet, the city's fire department lacks adequate polices for maintaining, storing and testing this crucial piece of equipment, according to a report from a panel of consultants recommending ways to improve the department.
All nine of the firefighters killed at the sofa store died from smoke inhalation and severe burns. An air tank was found with each body inside the store and investigators are examining the condition of those tanks. No determination has been made.
Of the report's nearly 200 recommendations, several deal with these air tanks.
In our special section with photos, videos, interactives, donation information and every story written about the tragedy.
The department must "immediately" adopt a policy requiring firefighters to store air tanks at full capacity, the report says. The pressure at which tanks are stored is important because relatively small variances in air tank pressure can translate into valuable seconds of breathable air as firefighters navigate through a smoke-filled room. Each SCBA unit has a gauge attached that provides a pressure reading for determining how much air is in the tank.
Mayor Joe Riley said Wednesday that the fire department has issued a new policy on storing the tanks full.
The report also recommends that the department upgrade its hodgepodge of different brands of SCBA units to a single brand that meets all current national standards.
When looking to buy this new equipment, the city should consider purchasing larger-capacity air tanks that could provide up to 45 minutes of air, the panel recommends. Riley said Wednesday that the city intends to purchase the larger-capacity tanks.
The city now uses 30-minute air tanks, which may actually provide less air in real world conditions where firefighters are stressed and breathing heavily.
Firefighters also should be provided with individual face masks to deliver the air, the report says. Firefighters working different shifts now share these face masks, a practice that some health experts warn against because it can communicate diseases.
Other SCBA-related recommendations include purchasing a mobile air compressor to refill expired air tanks at fire scenes. At the sofa store blaze, some firefighters had to ask around for fresh tanks of air after they used up their first ones.
The state office of Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently cited the city for four violations stemming from the fire department's handling of the sofa store blaze. Among the violations, the state fined the city a total of $525 for four instances in which firefighters exposed to smoke and toxic substances did not wear air packs.
Burning sofas can emit dangerous fumes because they contain polyurethane foam, a highly combustible material that some fire protection experts liken to solid gasoline.
The city has appealed the state's findings and is awaiting a formal hearing.
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Comments
mac0cm4 (anonymous) says...
39 minute air packs are 'standard' sized. The 45 minute ones are not too often seen. City FF's often don't even bother to wear their air packs. Of course they don't have a mobile cascade system to feel the cylinders, they were probably told by their Chief that if they used them they were wusses - so what would you need one for? No need to fill up something that you're encouraged not to use in the first place.
October 18, 2007 at 7:31 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
pball4f (anonymous) says...
First off the correct term is cylinder, because the gas is held at pressure. 30 minute cylinders are the most popular but in actual real world situations last roughly 15 minutes. In our departments opinion 15 minutes in a hazardous environment is all that we want to expose our firefighters to, this is a safety call that we made. I find it very hard to believe that they do not already have a policy of storing the cylinders at full pressure. I believe that these seconds can count however the individual firefighter must be smart enough to watch their air supply and know when to get out. Also with the buddy breathing connections available today it would be a good thing for the CFD to start to upgrade.
October 18, 2007 at 9:01 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
cocksfan (anonymous) says...
mac0cm4
GET YOUR FACTS UP TO DATE, THE CITY DOES REQUIRE THE FIREFIGHTERS TO WEAR AIRPACKS AND THEY DO HAVE A MOBILE CASCADE TRUCK IT IS STATIONED WEST ASHLEY AND WILL RESPOND TO A CALL IF REQUESTED.
October 18, 2007 at 10:25 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Boosterhose (anonymous) says...
Since the report came out the city has changed the policy on airpacks to keep them topped off. Used to be the airpacks weren't even mounted on the seats. Sometime after Rusty's father retired he started mounting them in the seats. It used to be they would knock you for wearing them but after the Albright and Wilson explosion the culture changed somewhat.
October 19, 2007 at 6:01 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
florida_ff (anonymous) says...
pball, unfortunately it is my department's opinion that we only need a 30 minute bottle to limit the time that crews are in a hazardous environment. Like you said, real world use of the pack is only about 15 - 20 minutes. The problem is that as you enter the environment and start working, you don't monitor your air use unlit your low pressure alarm goes off. Then your air supply is at 1/4. That gives you 3-5 minutes to get out. That is fine in most cases, but if you are in a large structure, it may take you more time to get out. It is unfortunate that the low pressure alarm is not activated at 1/2 operating pressure, so you would have equal time to exit as it took you to get to where you are. Yes, the new packs have a "heads-up display" that lets you know about how much air you have, but real world, we just got in and started doing our job and we are already 50% of a 30 minute bottle. Yes, fitness plays a key roll, but you are only as strong as your waekest link, you must come out with your partner no matter how much air you have left.
If departments would go to the hour bottle and the person who is doing the accountability kept track of the time crews were operating, they could be ordered out at the 15 minute mark and leave the environment with reserve air incase the worse happened. This would give the firefighter air till help could get to them which takes time, time you don't have with a 15 minute use bottle.
Be proactive. Plan for the worse, pray for the best.
Be safe, and everyone goes home.
October 19, 2007 at 8:19 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
bootlicked (anonymous) says...
Remember the article in the P&c many years ago when Rusty wanted to toot his dad's horn. His dad talked about how he used to carry a sponge in his pocket. That was just about too complicated for him or his sorry @$$ son. Same article talked about how senior designed Eng. #3. What a bunch of lies. They are good at lying. Many an idiot believes that they were the best thing since sliced bread. I think #3 was the Melissa incedent. Ha Ha Ha Ha !!!!!!!!!1
October 19, 2007 at 4:18 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
WardLaFrance (anonymous) says...
Cocksfan said: ... THE CITY DOES REQUIRE THE FIREFIGHTERS TO WEAR AIRPACKS AND THEY DO HAVE A MOBILE CASCADE TRUCK ... AND WILL RESPOND TO A CALL IF REQUESTED.
So, why wasn't it requested? Furthermore, if the command had set up a rehab station and if a staging area had been set up according to ICS they would have known more airpacks/cylinders were needed. Of course then you'd have to have a staging officer and an incident commander to report to. Oh well. Next time.
October 19, 2007 at 11:02 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
aconcernedcitizen (anonymous) says...
Question for anyone in the know:
What's the reason for not refilling the SCBA's? can't think of any logical reasoning, and all the firefighters I know said they've always refilled them after every use, or if not at a station with a compressor, or cascade system, sent them in to be refilled and replaced them with fresh spares. I can't find a logical or even illogical reason to not refill SCBA cylinders.
October 20, 2007 at 8:48 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
fchief228 (anonymous) says...
I've read the report and a lot of red flags fly! But the recommendation to enact a policy that requires SCBA cylinders to be stored FULL...well that was a shocker. Or should I say that the need to even make such a recommendation to a fire department in 2007 was a shocker. Turning the clock back 35 years in my FD, we had a requirement that all air cylinders were kept FULL! Surely to God the Charleston FD required this too! Come on! This is a basic survival tool for a firefighter.
Now, I'll admit that 35 years ago, although we had to keep them full, there wasn't a written policy requiring you to wear an SCBA and we did that leather lung crap for my first 5 or 6 years on the dept. But even back in those days, we had a cascade system and started issuing personal face pieces in the early 80's.
With regard to the debate over 30 minute cylinders vs 45 or 60 minutes ones: Yes, a firefighter should be rotated out of a significant working fire within the first 15 to 20 minutes whenever possible. Incident Commanders should ensure that there is sufficient manpower on the scene to facilitate this, even if you have to call mutual aid to do so.
However, having a greater air supply could make the difference in survival for a firefighter who becomes disoriented or trapped. The extra air might just be what it takes to keep that FF alive long enough for a Rapid Intervention team to reach him and start a rescue. We currently use 45 minute cylinders but will upgrade to 60 minutes on our next replacement cycle. FD's are training their firefighters on breathing air management and teaching them to head towards an exit while they still have 15 minutes of air left.
I hope whoever is elected Charleston Mayor will give the firefighters everything they need and more, and don't waste time or make excuses to delay spending the money. All of the things your study recommended - procedures, training, staffing changes, eqiupment, apparatus...are already in use out there. You have no need to reinvent the wheel. Just look at other departments and see what they do. More importantly, there needs to be a culture change within the CFD and a huge emphasis on weighing the risk to FF's vs the benefit. EVERYBODY GOES HOME ALIVE, EVERY DAY!
Finally, building codes and standards must be raised. Let developers and contractors whine all the want, but sprinkler systems should be required in every building possible INCLUDING RESIDENCES!!! Buildings like the Sofa Super Store, full of "solid gasoline" are not worth the risk of losing one life! I believe that if the owner did not want his business to burn, he would have had a sprinkler system!
October 23, 2007 at 3:19 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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