On March 24, 2007, a 45-year-old male volunteer fire fighter (victim 1) and a 19-year old male volunteer fire fighter (victim 2) died while they were responding in a tanker to a structure fire. The tanker crossed the double-yellow center-line of a two-lane state roadway, and as victim 1 steered to the right, the tanker began skidding sideways. The tanker ran off the road, then skidded back onto the roadway and overturned several times before coming to rest sitting upside-down on the roadway and the shoulder of the road. Victim 1 was ejected and victim 2 was partially ejected from the cab of the tanker. Both of the victims were found unresponsive, and were pronounced dead at the scene by Emergency Medical Services (EMS). Key contributing factors identified in this investigation include: Unsafe speed of the tanker for the roadway, the drivers inability to control the vehicle once it started to skid, and seat belts not being worn by the fire fighters. NIOSH investigators concluded that, to minimize the risk of similar incidents, fire departments should: (1) develop and enforce standard operating procedures (SOPs) that require mandatory use of seat belts in all moving vehicles; (2) ensure that all drivers of fire department vehicles receive guidance on the safe and prudent operation of the vehicles under all conditions; (3) consider requiring that emergency vehicle operators/drivers receive driver training from a State or other nationally recognized training program, in addition to specific departmental driver training; 4. consider encouraging all members to sign the 'National Fire Service Seat Belt Pledge' to reinforce the importance of wearing seat belts.
Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Report: Two Volunteer Fire Fighters Die in a Tanker Rollover in North Carolina
2009
12 pages
Report
No indication
English
Public Health & Industrial Medicine , Job Environment , Fire Services, Law Enforcement, & Criminal Justice , Police, Fire, & Emergency Services , Fire fighters , Tanker rollover , Unsafe speed , Vehicle skid , Lack of control , No seat belts , Volunteer fire fighters , Structure fire , Recommendations , Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) report