St. Petersburg, FL, Firefighters Urged to Use Caution Hooking up to Hydrants
As a St. Petersburg firefighter recovers from injuries sustained when he was hit by a hydrant, a memo warns crews to use caution while hooking up.
Firefighter Tyler Vilimek suffered a traumatic brain injury when was struck in the head.
“He has needed assistance at home. He needs help doing his medications. He needs help doing tasks around the house,” Courtney Vilimek, his wife, told WFLA.
Hours after the incident, the department's safety officer sent an e-mail department-wide saying it was “a complete failure of a city hydrant.”
Firefighters were warned not to put their bodies over hydrants while hooking up.
“I’ve been a firefighter for 40 years, and I have never heard of or seen a fire hydrant break off the ground like this and strike a firefighter,” Vilimek's father said.
The hydrant involved had been inspected about eight months earlier and documented as working, the station reported.
City workers replaced it after the incident.
The exact number of hydrants that are in need of repair has not been released.
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Susan Nicol
News Editor
Susan Nicol is the news editor for Firehouse.com. She is a life member and active with the Brunswick Volunteer Ambulance & Rescue Company, Oxford Fire Company and Brunswick Vol. Fire Co. Susie has been an EMT in Maryland since 1976. Susie is vice-president of the Frederick County Fire/Rescue Museum. She is on the executive committee of Frederick County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association. She also is part of the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS) Region II EMS Council. Susie is a board member of the American Trauma Society, Maryland Division. Prior to joining the Firehouse team, she was a staff writer for The Frederick News-Post, covering fire, law enforcement, court and legislative issues.