Coos Bay Oregon-LODD--NIOSH Report Released

[RalphSafety]

NIOSH has released its report into the LODD deaths of 3 firefighters in Coos Bay Oregon, in November 2002. The report can be accessed at the following link.

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/face200250.html

[Batt18]

There were 'real' issues that were hardly given a mention in this report -

1. PPV into a voided fire?

2. As originally reported - 'Three firefighters were killed when an Oregon auto and truck-supply shop roof collapsed in 2002 but witnesses reported hearing an explosion just seconds before the roof collapse'.

Was it a backdraft or smoke explosion that caused the collapse? The Fire Chief on scene reported that when firefighters tried to carve an opening in the building's ceiling, trapped gases that had heated found the oxygen they needed to flash into a blaze. The ceiling, floors and walls combusted immediately, causing roof supports to collapse. The statistics will record death by ‘structural collapse’ although it was ‘rapid fire progress’ that caused the collapse in the first place.