D.C. Chief Addresses Sprinkler Demo Mishap

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Fire Chief Dennis Rubin took full responsibility today for a scene that played out at a sprinkler demonstration last week that he said looked like a "comedy act."

Rubin appeared on Firehouse.com Contributor Ed Comeau's Fire Marshal's Corner podcast on [email protected] that was recorded earlier today to address what happened during the Oct. 7 demonstration that led to the turnout gear of three firefighters catching fire and one of the firefighters being transported to the hospital.

The burned firefighter suffered a small facial burn and a small burn on his hand, according to Rubin, and is expected to return to work.

As part of National Fire Prevention Week, the department staged two side by side mock dorm rooms at Gallaudet University with one outfitted with sprinklers and the other not.

What happened when firefighters went to put of the growing blaze in the unsprinklered structure -- all while being filmed by local TV crews -- resulted in nationwide attention on cable news channels including CNN and numerous blogs such as STATter911, which first broke the story.

Comeau, a campus fire safety expert, said that the practice of sprinkler demonstrations has become commonplace across the county and that this type of mishap is quite rare.

"It's a very graphic, visual, impactful demonstration that has had a lot of success across the nation," he said. "I think that this was a bit of a wake up call and (fortunately) the firefighter was not severely injured."

He pointed out that a Plexiglas draft curtain meant to keep the heat and smoke within the trailer actually made matters worse as it began to melt on top of the firefighters while they attacked the blaze.

"Some of the failures on our part -- and I'll take full responsibility -- had to do with the idea that we wanted to have a demonstration was impactful so that the equipment would work in a reasonable timeframe," Rubin said. "Next time we will need a draft curtain that will probably be something that is not as combustible."

Rubin said despite technical failures, not following NFPA 1403, the Standard on Live Fire Training Evolutions, is really where the demonstration went wrong.

"I don't believe we briefed the crew before they went into the structure and I think (that was) a recipe for near-disaster," he said.

"I stayed pretty busy doing some of the administrative tasks and 20/20 hindsight, I wish I would have had the chance to take a closer look, but we didn't have a checklist."

Rubin said another issue was that two hoselines were laid out, but only one was active.

"I thought one was a backup and one was an attack line, but that turned out to be incorrect. The backup line I thought I was looking at turned out to be the feeder line going into the sprinkler system. When it came time for a second crew -- which was not on location -- to wet down and protect the first crew; that simply wasn't there."

Comeau also pointed out that the firefighters went right into the flames, instead of attacking it from a distance.

"I think they wanted to demonstrate their bravery and skill and that was just the wrong place to do it," Rubin said. "The other horrifying part of the incident was that they were unaware of the fact that they were burning."

Rubin said that over the years he's been present for more than a hundred demonstration burns and that his department simply forgot the basics.

"We worked very hard for weeks to prepare for this event . . . It was the perfect setting on the perfect day," he said. "You can never let your guard down. I just feel horrible about it. Thank goodness it was very minor injuries, but it looked like a comedy act."

Related Stories

• Video: D.C. FFs Catch Fire at Sprinkler Demo