Comprehensive: NIOSH Releases Findings on Worcester Warehouse Fire
SHAUN SUTNER
Courtesy Telegram & Gazette
WORCESTER -- When federal investigators issued their report on the deadly blaze at the Worcester Cold Storage warehouse, they also reminded the Fire Department that it remained out of compliance with national standards for safe operation and maintenance of air tanks and breathing systems.
Officials from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health examined the department's program for maintaining its breathing apparatus during a visit in April that was not directly related to the investigation of the warehouse fire.
The eight-page report of their findings, provided to the Fire Department in May, was included as an attachment to the NIOSH report on the Dec. 3 warehouse fire in which six city firefighters were killed. That report was released Wednesday.
While the fire report itself cited instances in which firefighters battling the fire did not wear their face masks, it did not cite problems with air tanks during the effort to combat the blaze.
The separate study noted that the department did not have an employee specifically designated to oversee air tanks or written procedures for managing air tank maintenance, repair and testing.
The department's record-keeping system was also deficient, the investigators said. And breathing systems are repaired and maintained on a case-by-case basis, rather than in a systematic fashion.
"The overall problem was not having their standard operating procedures up to date or in written form, and their records maintenance was not up to what it should have been," said Thomas W. McDowell, a physical scientist in NIOSH's respirator branch.
Like many of the issues raised by the broader NIOSH findings, the ones on the breathing apparatus are tied to money.
The firefighters' union has long voiced similar criticisms, although its calls for more and better air tanks and masks were not reflected in the NIOSH report.
"This is something we've advocated for," said Frank P. Raffa, president of Worcester Fire Fighters Local 1009. "Again, appropriations for equipment and resources to maintain what we have have fallen on deaf ears."
Fire Department officials say they have made progress in meeting some of NIOSH's recommendations by adopting new, written procedures and improving record-keeping. The current municipal budget allowed for the purchase of 87 new air tanks.
District Chief Walter C. Giard, head of the Fire Department's training division, said the department is moving to a new and more advanced computer system and plans to install on it the kind of maintenance record program NIOSH recommends for self-contained breathing apparatus.
"We've had numerous meetings on how to improve the SCBA, and we're trying to replace all the old units," he said. "We're not in real bad shape."
However, District Chief Giard said he does not foresee being able to devote an employee to full-time duty administering the air tank program. He noted that quite a few firefighters are trained to repair and maintain the breathing equipment.
"I wish we had someone to do this," he said. "I wish we had the money. It's important to us, and we manage to do what we can."
Mr. McDowell of NIOSH said the Worcester Fire Department is not atypical, in that many fire departments across the country give air tank record-keeping and maintenance programs relatively low priority.
But he said there is a reason behind the regulations.
"Generally we're talking about administrative things, so that when an incident does occur, they can show that they've done everything they can to protect their people," Mr. McDowell said.
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