Report Number: 07-0001072
Report Date: 10/02/2007
Event Description
My shift responded to a structure fire approximately fifteen minutes into our shift. While on scene my first assignment was to assist in laddering a second story window that neighbors claimed was the room/window where there was a possible trapped person. After our assignment was completed and it was found that the window we took out was not for a bedroom, my partner and I were sent inside the building to relieve the first due hose team.
After donning our SCBA, we entered the building and I immediately smelled smoke faintly through my mask. While I was still trying to figure out what the situation was with my mask, the search team found the victim, since my partner was a medic; we went out to try to help. After we finished, we were sent over to rehab to change out bottles if necessary. Even though we were in the building for only a few minutes, over half my bottle was empty. Thinking this was odd, I still went ahead and changed it out and reported to manpower for further assignment.
Once in manpower, I was sent to help another firefighter who was in standby to relieve one of the teams in the building. We donned our SCBA and re-entered the house. It was almost immediately upon entering that I once again noticed the smell of the smoke coming in through my mask, but this time I felt a slight breeze on my right cheek and heard a slight wheezing coming from the mask every time I inhaled. I went over to my partner and told him I believed something was wrong with my mask. He leaned in and initially thought that the noise coming from other firefighter’s SCBA running low on air was the cause of the noise. I again told him that there was something wrong with my mask and I then was told by the interior officer to go outside and check.
When I got outside and took my mask off, I did a thorough inspection of the mask and noticed that the two nuts and bolts that pulled a metal frame tight around the mask/face shield were both very loose. I went over to the engine, pulled out the tools and tightened the frame. Not knowing if this was the reason for the issue I was having with the mask, I went to manpower and was told to assist outside the building breaking down the unused equipment. It was during this time that I noticed that I was having difficulty drawing a deep breath. Another firefighter noticed how I looked and informed IC who had a medic check me out. At that time, it was decided that I needed a nebulizer treatment and I was transported to the hospital where I was diagnosed with an acute reaction to smoke inhalation.
It should be noted that at least two other firefighters had issues with their SCBA's positive pressure during this call. I was the only one that needed to be treated for smoke inhalation since the other firefighter’s issues were more apparent before they actually went into the structure.
Lesson Learned
Even though we do a check of SCBA in the morning when we do our truck checks, we were unable to do so that morning due to the time of the call. We might have found some of the issues with the positive pressure if we had been able to check the packs properly.
When we check the SCBA's we need to make sure that we also check for any positive pressure issues and check our masks integrity, especially in and around the metal frame and the bolts that hold it together.
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