Cincinatti LODD Report

[WTFD10]

HM604OH posted this in the Firefighters Forum but I wanted to put it here too in case anybody missed it.

The report on the LODD of Firefighter Oscar Armstrong III

A truly excellent report on a terrible tragedy with many lessons learned that we can all use.

There were many seemingly minor everyday problems that we have all encountered at this fire. Unfortunately they all came together during a flashover that resulted in the death of a firefighter.

Please take the time to look through this report. It could save you or your crew's life someday.

Rest in peace Oscar.

[NJFFSA16]

CINCINNATI (AP) - An internal investigation into the death of a
firefighter last year says the fire department needs $4.4 million
in equipment upgrades and $2.3 million a year for increased
staffing.
While the report did not fix blame for firefighter Oscar
Armstrong III's death, it pointed out inadequacies that contributed
and should be corrected to prevent other firefighters from being
injured or killed.
The report, commissioned by Fire Chief Robert Wright,
recommended hiring 12 more captains, four safety officers at the
rank of captain and eight new trainers. Recommended equipment
included kink-resistant hose, water flow gauges and
glow-in-the-dark exit markers for hose.
Wright said he needed to meet with the city manager and City
Council members before discussing the report.
"Clearly, they're not all going to be implemented at once,"
said Meg Olberding, an assistant to the city manager. "With that
kind of budgetary impact, there's just no way. They've got to be
prioritized."
Armstrong died last March while fighting a house fire. It was
the department's first on-duty death in 22 years.

(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[WTFDChief730]

Moe...this was very good intersting reading, these fireground situations that occured at this fire can happen to any of us and already have, fortunatly none of us got hurt. We hit this report pretty hard today as far as the lessons learned portion at a table top drill with my crew. There is so much I'd like to say here in regards to this report, but I dont have the time or patience to type so much. Dont under estimate the importance of a good understanding of fire behavior and maintaining strong accountability of all crew members on the fireground, now you know why keeping our crews together at all times is a big peave of mine. Good strong directions from the initial IC is critical, what you do in the first couple of minutes when you arrive at a fire will greatly affect what happens for the entire incident both good and bad. I HIGHLY suggest all firefighters read this report and train your crews on the lessons learned, this makes for good drill.
Thanks big time for printing this report out for me, hopefully we can learn something from this unfortunate situation and prevent this from happening again. I know we are not perfect in any way, but it was somewhat encouraging to see that most of what was recommended in this report are things we have already been doing.

[Weruj1]

I just got done reading this ...........and I will just say this ........I was apalled at what I read. I know that no department is perfect, but that was just bad. When I look at how our department functions and the TFRD .........look at how much we are ahead of this game and why some of the things we CHRONICALLY bitch about to our members reenforces why we do what we do. The CFD should get ALOT of credit for the look inward to better themselves, and for those of already doing these things to keep up with them and find the little nothces that can enhance these procedures even more.

[WTFD10]

It's kind of dismaying to see that the Cincinnati city government and the media (even this website) are focusing so much on the costs in this report.

As firefighters, we can see how many of the mistakes that were made can be corrected just by focusing on them in drills.

And like Weruj said, bravo to CFD for sharing this with all of us.

[firenresq77]

Haven't read the report yet, but I plan on it. I went in to look at the pictures. Unbelieveable........


Moe...... I looked for you Thursday morning...........

[WTFD10]

My son was home sick from school.

I'll be there both days next week and for sure next Saturday!

[firenresq77]

We were wondering. I wasn't sure if you had just planned on going at night or what.........