NFPA Journal - November/December 2019 - 79

Methods and results
NFPA annually surveys a
sample of fire departments
in the US to make national
projections of the fire problem. The sample is stratified
by the size of the community
protected by the fire department and includes all US
fire departments that protect
communities with a population larger than 5,000. The
8,854 fire departments in the
eight highest strata protect
a population of 279 million,
or 85 percent of the US population, as of July 2018. The
rest of the sample includes
14,338 randomly selected
departments that protect
populations under 5,000, for
a total sample size of 23,192,
or 78 percent of all US departments known to NFPA.
The estimation method
used for the survey was ratio
estimation with stratification
by community size. For each
firefighter injury statistic, a
sample injury rate was computed for each stratum. This
rate consisted of the total
for that particular statistic
from all departments reporting it, divided by the total
population protected by the departments reporting
the statistic. Note that this means the departments
used in calculating each statistic could be different,
reflecting differences in unreported statistics. The
national projections are made by weighting the
sample results according to the proportion of the
total US population accounted for by communities
of each size. Around any estimate based on a sample
survey, there is a confidence interval that measures
the statistical certainty or uncertainty of the estimate. We are confident that the actual number of
total firefighter injuries falls within 5 percent of the
estimate.
A total of 2,631 departments responded to
the 2018 fire experience survey. The results are
based on injuries that occurred during incidents
attended by public fire departments. No state or
federal firefighting entities were included in this
sample and no adjustments were made for injuries that occurred during fires attended solely by
private fire brigades, such as those at industrial or
military installations.
Firefighters were more likely to be injured
at fireground operations than at other types of

Selected 2018 U.S.
Firefighter Injury Incidents
TRAPPED BENEATH DEBRIS
IN PARTIAL STRUCTURAL
COLLAPSE
A firefighter was injured in a
partial structural collapse while
fighting a residential fire.
On a frigid night, with the
ground covered in deep snow,
the local fire department
received 911 calls at approximately 3 a.m. reporting a fire
in an occupied home. Arriving
crews encountered a well-advanced, wind-driven fire that
was already spreading to
adjacent structures. The fire
was consuming three closely
spaced multiple-family dwellings, each built of wooden
balloon-frame construction
and as close as 10 feet (3
meters) apart. Firefighters
were challenged by the bitter
cold, deep snow banks, and
an advanced fire with an occupant reported missing and still
inside the burning building.
The first-in company officer immediately requested
additional resources to control the escalating fire. Seven
firefighters-an engine company with three firefighters
and a heavy rescue with four
firefighters-were assigned
to enter an exposure building
adjacent to the building where
the fire originated, and to extinguish fire in the attic. On their
way to the attic, firefighters
performed extinguishment
and overhaul on the second
floor. Two firefighters from the
heavy rescue crew were inside
the second-floor kitchen as a
member of the engine company
operated a handline with his
lieutenant several feet away on
a landing. The other firefighters
from both companies were in
the stairway making their way
up to the second floor, advancing the hose line up the stairs.
Fire conditions in the attic
were getting worse and the
incident commander ordered
an immediate building evacuation. Twenty seconds after the
evacuation order, the chimney
and roof structure collapsed
and crashed down into the
second floor, trapping one of
the heavy rescue firefighters
who had been in the kitchen.
The trapped firefighter, a
51-year-old who was a 30-year
fire service veteran, was pinned
beneath a roof joist and other
roofing materials. He immediately tried to call a mayday, but
the transmit button on his portable radio had been smashed
and would not operate. He
called for his heavy rescue partner, who had stepped out of

the room moments before the
collapse. The partner heard the
pleas for help and immediately
called a mayday.
The trapped firefighter and
his partner began assessing
the situation. The victim was
not only trapped, with the end
of the smoldering roof joist
pinning the back of his left
knee and calf, but there was fire
above and below where he was
pinned. The members of the
engine company immediately
directed their hose line onto the
victim and began extinguishing
the fire surrounding him.
The incident commander
immediately acknowledged
the mayday and activated the
rapid intervention team (RIT),
which consisted of an engine
company staffed with an officer and three firefighters and
a ladder company staffed with
an officer and two firefighters.
The on-scene safety chief
immediately went to the rear
stair and directed rescue operations from the second-floor
landing. All fireground
radio communications were
assigned to a separate radio
frequency and rescue operations remained on the original
fireground radio channel.
The firefighters who were in
the collapse area gained immediate access to the victim and
assessed the situation. They
began developing a rescue
plan to remove him from the
rubble. He was pinned but in
a sitting position, conscious
and alert, and assisted in his
own rescue as much as possible. With the fire extinguished
around him, firefighters
worked to free him using tools
they had readily available or
their hands. In a coordinated
effort, crews outside the building shuttled equipment to the
work area. After several minutes, the RIT team had joined
the other members in the
rescue attempt. Approximately
16 minutes after the mayday
was declared, the RIT team
performed a full facepiece
swap with the victim. Crews
used battery-operated spreaders to create a gap large
enough to pull his leg out from
under the roof debris. The
victim walked out of the building under his own power to a
waiting advanced life support
ambulance. The mayday was
cleared and all firefighters
were accounted for 33 minutes
after the mayday was called.
The victim was wearing a
complete protective ensemble.
He was treated and released

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NFPA Journal - November/December 2019

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