Fifteen firefighters are recovering after being injured while battling two house fires in Milwaukee.
Police say the fire was first reported at 7:41 p.m. Friday in an attic of a vacant house but spread to another house and quickly escalated.
The vacant house was destroyed, and 12 people living in three units in the second house were displaced.
Battalion Fire Chief Salvatore Santoro Jr. told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that some firefighters suffered minor injuries from falling off water-laden equipment. He said firefighters were taken to local hospitals; most received only bumps, bruises, scrapes and strains.
Another Article: http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/96190874.html
Sweltering night adds to aggravation; most wounds bumps and bruises
About a dozen firefighters were injured while battling a four-alarm fire on Milwaukee's south side Friday night.
The fire was first reported at 7:41 p.m. in the attic of a vacant house in the 2400 block of S. 8th St., but spread to a house to the north and quickly escalated. The vacant house was destroyed, and 12 people living in three units in the second house were displaced.
About 100 firefighters responded to the fire, along with at least 16 ladder trucks and engines and five paramedic units, according to Salvatore Santoro Jr., 4th battalion fire chief.
It was hot and sticky Friday night, with temperatures in the 80s.
Firefighters worked in rotations, fighting the blaze for 15 minutes and then taking half-hour breaks to rest and rehydrate, Santoro said.
Some of the minor injuries suffered were related to firefighters falling off water-laden equipment, he said. While the dozen firefighters were taken to local hospitals, none of the injuries appeared to be life threatening, he said.
"It was mostly bumps, bruises, scrapes and strains, but the heat certainly didn't help," Santoro said.
Besides the sweltering weather, Santoro estimated the temperature inside the burning structures was about 800 degrees.
The fire was under control by late Friday night. Water used to extinguish the flames came from as far as two blocks away, Santoro said. Smoke hung over the entire neighborhood.
Francisco Donan, 37, said his mother and 11 relatives lived in three units in the house where the fire had spread.
"They lost everything," Donan said.
Linda Lyndanicely, spokeswoman for American Red Cross, said the 12 displaced people were being helped by the Red Cross.
Related Article:
http://statter911.com/2010/06/12/at-least-a-dozen-firefighters-hurt-in-milwaukee-injuries-reported-minor-in-4-alarm-house-fire/
My Opinion
So after reading these three articles and a number of comments, there was one comment in particular that troubled me in particular.
"12 injured firefighters? I think it is time for them to go to the gym and start getting in shape. There is no excuse for that many injuries for that small of fire. It's too bad that the one house lost everything and 12 (?) in one house are out of a home. Maybe if there more athletic firefirefighters, maybe that would not have happened. 12 injured firefighters equals 3 trucks out of service is pathetic."
Now I agree with the next person that 12-15 firefighters injured is astronomical and shouldn't happen. But to cut into them for being physically fit? How do you know? Were you there? Are they all pudgy and fat and slow? Or were they professional, quick to respond, and just hurried a little too much on scene? With that said, most of those injuries came from slips on water-laden equipment, which is always a hazard. Watch your footing, and we all know those boots aren't the greatest for gripping on water, so you really have to be careful, especially when you know you're on wet equipment and off the ground. There was another commenter that said "unless you can explain how the supposed lack of conditioning contributed to the 3 burn injuries, a broken wrist, broken finger or the tooth that was knocked out. Exactly what type of physical conditioning prevents human skin from burning?" so know we know the other injuries. Now, assuming the broken wrist, finger and the tooth were from the slips which we all know can happen, usually from rushing on-scene which we shouldn't be doing or not watching our footing, where did the 3 burn injuries come from? How did those happen? That sounds like a lack of proper PPE to me. In which case, yes, they deserve a little bit of harassment from the general public because they weren't doing as they should have been, but this is all just an assumption remember. After all this is said, just remember, just because you're on-scene and on a large scale incident, doesn't mean that you should be rushing everywhere. Let's try to eliminate these incidents - the burns included - by slowing yourself down, not rushing, remembering to put on ALL of your PPE and do things properly. Most times we'll get things done fast and more efficient using our heads, not just our physical agility and strength, though those do play a large role in our jobs.
I agree a little bit with this commenter that 3 trucks now out of service, even for a short time, from injuries, is a little excessive. We all understand there are budget constraints and budget cuts coming everywhere and it's really hurting our departments, we're still here to do a job and you can't do it from a hospital bed. Now you take out those 3 trucks and now you're putting even more of a strain on the department as those trucks are now out of service and, who knows, maybe one of our brothers or sisters gets hurt because it took that much longer for a truck to get there because one of those 3 trucks were out of service because 15 firefighters went down from rushing on scene? See where I'm going with this? Welcome to the snowball effect.
Brad MacMillan
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