A Delaware firefighter who was seriously burned when he fell through the floor battling a house fire in March was among several firefighters wearing improper gear during the incident, a state agency's investigation determined.
The Delaware State Fire School's 87-page report also found that other firefighters disobeyed orders to leave the burning Mill Creek house and weren't familiar with equipment used at the scene, according to The News Journal in Wilmington.
The Mill Creek Fire Company asked the fire school to conduct the investigation as a way to shed light on the challenges crews encountered during the fire. A department spokesman told The News Journal that the report wasn't meant to assign blame in the incident.
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On March 14, Minquas Capt. David Smiley Jr., 23, fell through the second floor while battling a three-story house fire and suffered second- and third-degree burns over 10 percent of his body. He said in a Facebook post this week that he would be returning to Pennsylvania's Lebanon Fire Company in October. Smiley—who declined to comment to The News Journal about the report—works as a career firefighter in the Lebanon department and volunteers for the Minquas fire company.
Some of the following issues highlighted by the fire school's investigation included:
- Improper gear: Firefighters who responded to the blaze weren't wearing helmets that met National Fire Protection Association standards. Smiley's helmet was more than 30 years old and was missing a chin strap and impact shell. He also wasn't wearing proper gloves.
- Self-contained breathing apparatus not secured: A video from the scene showed that Smiley wasn't wearing the waist straps on his SCBA. "This appears to have directly led to the difficulty firefighters had in rescuing the injured firefighter. When they attempted to lift him from the hole, they were simply pulling the SCBA from his back," the report stated.
- Not following orders to exit the burning house: Firefighters were told to over the radio to leave the house, but many stayed inside, and some disobeyed face-to-face orders, according to the report.
- Unfamiliar with equipment: At least one Mill Creek firefighter told investigators that he wasn't familiar with apparatus he was asked to use.
- Access to water: The nearest fire hydrant was around 800 feet from the scene and not marked on maps, the report said. An earlier News Journal report also found that improper connections caused delays with water flowing from hoses and the lead apparatus.
A Mills Creek fire official told The News Journal the department was making changes following the report but didn't say what the would entail.
"(The report) requires us to do a better review of how we handle in-service training to make sure that everybody is geared properly and to reinforce that,'' Robert Newnam, Delaware State Fire School's director, told the news outlet.
