WEAR ALL YOUR GEAR.
NO EXPOSED SKIN.
NO EXCUSES.
Date of Alarm: 4-19-2007
Hazelton, PA.
Firefighter Escapes Flashover
during search for victims
…two children killed
Original Power Point slides by Dennis Kroh, photos by Tim Mumie
and program shared by and posted on:
The following information has been provided
to FireFighterCloseCalls.com by
FF Joel Mumie
Hazelton, PA. Ladder 1
FF Mumie was caught in the flashover
while searching for the trapped
victims.
FROM FF JOEL MUMIE: The fire was a 1/2 block from my house. I went
out my front door and heard terrible screaming…I knew we had a bad one.
I drove down the block and radioed county fire dispatch of a working fire
with entrapment, fire showing side "D" geared up and awaited for E-2 to
arrive…. when it did I grabbed the 16ft roof ladder threw it to side "A" and
found a mother in the window, grabbed her and pulled her out and she
said her kids were in their room and begged me to get them. As my
partner moved her down the side of the roof to a safe area, and I entered
the room, I searched in about 5-6 feet, found the crib but no child,
attempted to continue searching when in seconds the conditions became
unbearable. I made my way back to the window and as I exited, the 2nd
floor flashed. I thought for sure I was burned but lucked out, I had all my
PPE in place, it did it's job and I am still here to talk about it. I can't stress
enough the importance of wearing ALL of your gear with NO EXPOSED
SKIN… and wearing it properly. Please use this for training and stress the
importance to other members of you departments or future fire students.
Sad to say that we could not reach the 2 boys in time, but I was able to get
the mother out who is 6 months pregnant with another child and is
expected to make it.
entering to search for the children after removing the mother
2nd floor as it flashed and if you look close under the
window venting fire on the left you can see the outline
of FF Mumie as he exited……
His PPE
(Personal Protective Equipment)
Additional Incident
Information
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It has been reported that the fire
started with an unattended pot of oil
on the stove.
There was 1 working smoke detector.
Bunker Gear was Morning Pride Mfg.
SCBA was Scott 4.5 AP 50
Helmet was a Cairns Leather.
Learn more about FLASHOVER
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It is the most dangerous time of a fire!! When the room bursts into
flame, flashover has occurred. The scientific definition of flashover states it
is caused by the radiation feedback of heat. Heat from the growing fire is
absorbed into the upper walls and contents of the room, heating up the
combustible gases and furnishings to their auto-ignition temperature. This
build up of heat in the room triggers flashover. Flashover signals several
major changes in a fire and is the end of an effective search and rescue in a
room; It means the death of any person trapped in the burning room either civilians or firefighters. It signals the end of using or considering a
portable extinguisher to extinguish the fire; an attack hose-line is required
after flashover occurs. It signals the end of the growth stage and that the
fire is in the second stage of combustion - the fully developed stage. Finally,
flashover signals the change from a contents to a structure fire. This is the
beginning of the collapse danger.
For more information on FLASHOVER, go to:
www.VincentDunn.com
www.FireTactics.com/FLASHOVER.htm
A Special Thank You to
Firefighter Mumie and all the FF’s
involved at this fire from FireFighterCloseCalls.com for
sharing his story* and pictures so we can reinforce the
importance of PPE.
WEAR ALLYOUR PPE…
NO EXCUSES!
*entire story will be featured in an upcoming issue of Firehouse Magazine, Close Calls column.