Tag: fatality

The firefighter from the Eastland Fire Department in Texas that was killed on Friday may have been struck by a vehicle, rather than being “overcome by smoke” as was reported by the local justice of the peace. Here is an excerpt from the Reporter news in Abilene, TX:

…According to Trooper Sparky Dean, spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, the preliminary autopsy results from the Tarrant County medical examiner reveal that Gregory Mack Simmons, 50, died after he “suffered blunt force trauma consistent with being struck by a vehicle.”

Dean said the vehicle Simmons was traveling in was attempting to exit a pasture where Simmons and others were fighting a wildfire, but the gate to the field was blocked by other fire apparatus. Simmons reportedly exited his vehicle and went toward County Road 323. Dean said it was possible that Simmons ran onto or near the roadway, which was obscured by heavy smoke, and was struck by an unknown vehicle.

The death is being investigated as a pedestrian crash by the Texas Highway Patrol.

A funeral service for Simmons will be held Wednesday at 1 p.m. at the Leon River Cowboy Church in Eastland. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Eastland ISD Scholarship Fund (P.O. Box 31, Eastland, TX 76448) or the Eastland Volunteer Fire Department (414 S. Seaman, Eastland, TX 76448)

From KTXS:

EASTLAND, Texas — A 21-year veteran volunteer firefighter gave his life Friday trying to halt flames that were racing toward the community of Gorman.

Gregory M. Simmons, 51, was a volunteer with the Eastland Fire Department for the past 11 years after serving for 10 years in the Sachse Fire Department before moving to Eastland. He and his wife, Carrie, managed an Eastland business and have two daughters, Kateland and Karley.

“To say we are shocked and saddened by this tragedy is a huge understatement,” said Eastland Mayor Mark Pipkin. “This loss makes us even more appreciative of the dedication of our many firemen and other emergency personnel. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Carrie and the rest of Greg’s family.”

Simmons gave his life battling one of five fires that flared in Eastland County on Friday. The fire he fought started shortly before noon near the small community of Kokomo. The fire grew rapidly and was pushed southeast by strong northwest winds toward the city of Gorman.

Gorman was ordered evacuated at 1 p.m., and by 5:30 p.m., the order was rescinded when it was clear the town was saved.

Simmons was pronounced dead at 2:30 p.m. by Justice of the Peace James King.

Eastland Fire Chief Phillip Arther said, “Greg was a seasoned veteran and invaluable member of the department and community, and we are all at a loss for words at this time.”

Firefighterclosecalls.com is reporting that as many as eight firefighters were trapped on the incident that resulted in the death of Mr. Simmons, but we have not seen any other similar reports of a multiple firefighter entrapment.

Our thoughts are with Mr. Simmons’ family and co-workers.

UPDATE at 2:00 p.m. MT, April 16, 2010

MyFOXDFW reported Friday night:

Eastland Fire spokesman Ron Holiday confirmed one volunteer firefighter, 51-year-old Greg Simmons, was killed while fighting a fire in the south part of Eastland County. Five other volunteer firefighters were hospitalized with non life-threatening injuries.

TFS spokeswoman Holly Huffman said (another) state forest service firefighter suffered minor injuries while battling a blaze (in Stephens County). He was trying to clear away dried vegetation with a bulldozer when he clipped a gas line. He suffered light burns and bruising as he jumped from the exploding bulldozer.

The U. S. Fire Administration released their provisional on-duty firefighter fatality statistics for 2010, concluding that there were 85 deaths, a six percent decrease from 2010. The report includes nine fatalities associated with wildland fires.

Heart attacks accounted for 56 percent, with vehicle collisions causing another 13 percent.

YEAR-TO-DATE SUMMARY STATISTICS (PROVISIONAL)
ON-DUTY FIREFIGHTER FATALITIES IN THE UNITED STATES
Date Range 1/1/2010 to 12/31/2010

Number of On-Duty Firefighter Fatalities: 85
Count of Hometown Heroes: 15 

Classification: 

55 Volunteer 64.7%
28 Career 32.9%
1 Wildland Full-Time 1.17%
1 Paid-on-Call 1.17% 

Number of Multiple Firefighter Fatality Incidents: 4
Number of Firefighter Fatalities Associated with Wildland Incidents: 9 

Type of Duty: 

20 On-Scene Fire 23.5%
19 Other On-Duty 22.3%
16 Responding 18.8%
16 After 18.8%
7 Training 8.23%
4 On-Scene Non-Fire 4.70%
1 Returning 1.17%
1 Other 1.17%
1 Unknown 1.17% 

Percent of Fatalities Related to Emergency Duty: 48.2
Firefighter fatalities associated with Suspicious/Incendiary incidents: 0

Type of Incident: 

41 Not Incident Related 48.2%
20 Structure Fire 23.5%
8 Wildland 9.41%
5 Other 5.88%
3 MVA 3.52%
3 Rescue/Extrication 3.52%
3 Unknown 3.52%
1 EMS 1.17%
1 Tech Rescue 1.17%

 Continue reading "USFS releases provisional firefighter fatality statistics for 2010"

Numerous media outlets are reporting that six firefighters died in a helicopter crash as they were responding to a wildfire.

BNO News:

Six firefighters died on Saturday when their helicopter crashed in eastern Spain as they were traveling to extinguish a wildfire, the Spanish news agency EFE reported.

The regional government said one person survived the crash and was taken to the hospital after suffering a head injury and broken limbs. The extent of the injuries is still to be determined by doctors.

According to informed sources in the regional government, the accident occurred around 13.30 hours in an area difficult to access near the city of Teruel in the Aragon region. They said that at the moment is unclear what caused the crash.

The Spanish President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero expressed his condolences to the families and friends of the firefighters during a press conference in Paris after participating in an international summit on Libya.

According to EFE, this is the biggest accident of this kind in the past 20 years, bringing to 17 the total number of victims in two decades.

Our sincere condolences to their families and co-workers.

The Winnipeg Free Press also covered the story.

There has been a line of duty death at a wildfire in Nigeria (map). From the Daily Trust:

A fire that started at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) yesterday afternoon killed a fire service personnel attached to the airport and injured four others. The inferno, which was said to have started around 12pm and lasted for two hours before it was brought under control by airport and Kano State firefighters, consumed a large part of the bush near the tarmac. Victims of the fire were part of the team of firefighters drafted to the scene and were burnt when their firefighting vehicle caught fire, sources told Daily Trust. The remains of the deceased, Zubairu Sada, have been deposited at the Gamji Military Hospital, while three other firemen and an air force personnel have been admitted at the hospital.

Although the cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained at the time of filing this report, witnesses said it started from the eastern section of the facility neighbouring Fanisau village and continued eastward to a point near Kurna before it was extinguished. Strong wind was said to have helped fan the flames, making it difficult to be put out.

Attempts to speak to the airport officials on the incident were unsuccessful as the public relations officer of MAKIA, Alhaji Musa Shawai, refused to pick our calls. However, the spokesperson for the 303 Air Training School in Kano, WO Oladosa Femile, confirmed that their Aircraftman, Iremiya, was injured in the incident and was receiving treatment at the Gamji Military Hospital.

Another report about the fatal fire.
Thanks Dick

The UPI is reporting that nine firefighters were entrapped and were killed on a wildfire in China:

A wildfire in southwestern China was completely subdued by Saturday morning but not before nine firefighters perished, a local fire official said.

It took 1,140 firefighters to put out the deadly blaze on Jianchuan Mountain in Yunnan province, the state-run news agency Xinhua reported.

Wan Yong, deputy commander of the provincial forest fire prevention authority, said some firefighters were still monitoring the situation to guard against flare-ups.

Local authorities said the doomed firefighters became trapped Thursday when winds reignited an area that had been smoldering. Several others were injured, Xinhua said.

The fire started accidentally started Wednesday by a woman from Jinchang village, who was burning corn stalks on some uncultivated land surrounded by weeds when gusting winds pushed the flames out of control.

Last month there was a report that six people were killed while fighting another wildfire in China.

Thanks Dick