NIOSH LODD Report Released in Ga. Apparatus Crash
Last New Year's Eve, a Georgia firefighter on his first shift at a new station was killed when the fire truck he was operating crashed while en route to a chimney fire.
Jarrett Lee Little, 24, of Walker County Fire and Rescue, was wearing a seat belt when his rig veered off the road, struck a utility pole and overturned in a ditch, according to the NIOSH investigative report released Monday night.
NIOSH investigators noted the fatal crash happened on Little's first day at a new station. He had driven the apparatus through the same intersection twice earlier in the shift. The officer on the rig, who was injured, said he had discussed the difficulties of the intersection with the victim.
Little had driven similar fire trucks at his previous station, the investigators noted.
Just prior to the crash, the officer had unbuckled his seat belt to get his SCBA untangled.
When the driver said he wasn't going to stop, the officer told investigators said he said: "No."
An off-duty firefighter who witnessed the crash said the rig was traveling about 20-30 mph when it entered the intersection.
NIOSH investigators listed the following factors in the wreck:
- Driving too fast for conditions
- Removing seat belts while the vehicle is in motion
- Insufficient training on intersections and difficult road conditions
- Insufficient rollover protection for the occupants of the fire apparatus
- Driver inexperience with this specific fire apparatus