Goshen, CT Live Burn

[Guest]

From The Waterbury Republican-American

Goshen firefighters criticized for photographs of training

BY BRYAN SUNDIE REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

GOSHEN -- Occupational Safety and Health Administration officials are investigating whether the Goshen Volunteer Fire Department shirked safety at recent training exercise that was photographed and posted on the Internet.

The owners of the old Goshen Motel building along Sharon Turnpike donated it to the department, and last month the volunteers set fire to it to provide experience to younger firefighters who had yet to see a blaze of significant magnitude.

Since then there's been questions about whether those rookies saw firefighting at its best that day, with Web surfers who viewed the photographic slide show claiming safety measures fell short.

Such violations, if proven true, could result in fines from OSHA, which last week said it's reviewing the case. Investigators could levy a fine of up to $1,000 for each violation they discover.

Paul Mangiafico, a director at federal OSHA in Hartford, said the show was forwarded to the office but wouldn't say by who.

The minute-long slide show was created by the Republican-American, with Fire Chief Barry Hall providing narration. Newspaper staff posted the photographs on YouTube, as it does with many slide shows produced by its photographers.

At the time, no one figured the 17 photos would be a flash point. But the popular Web site has recorded more than 5,500 views since the slide show was added Nov. 20. There are 15 comments from people whose identities are shielded by generic user names.

All of the comments are harsh, with each chiding department leadership for seemingly ignoring widely accepted standards set by the National Fire Protection Association. The exercise's leaders were called "cowboys" and "amateurs."

Some pictures show firefighters without breathing devices. It will be up to investigators to decide whether that was all right. Hall, himself, is pictured in a burning, smoke-filled room without one. What's more, he wasn't wearing full turnout gear.

Here is the link for the slide show mentioned in the article

Here is a link for a video showing that controlled burn

Just goes to show you all it takes is a video on youtube for OSHA to get involved. Maybe if all training exercises were posted on youtube, they would be safer...

[Guest]

NFPA 1403 is not a town in Wisconsin. Oops, I forgot, it's OSHA that isn't the town in Wisconsin!

[ltjay157 10]

I think this is a valuable learing tool. Everyone wants to show their dept on the internet. It should be a wake up call to the rest of us. If you post a video of your dept on the internet, you better be sure you cross your T's and dot your I's. I'll be the first to admit I've done stupid crap, but I always learned from my mistakes. Hopefully Goshen FD learned an imortant lesson on safety.

[IzzyEng4 427]

This was a hot topic on another site I belong to over here in CT. It is unbelievable that in this day and age when there is so much liability that "instructors" were not using their heads. I wounder even if anyone who was running the burn drill were even certified fire instructors in the State of CT. If they are, they are in a whole lot o' trouble.

For those who are not familiar, Goshen is located in central Litchfield County near the towns of Torrington and Cornwall. For apparatus buffs they have the big blue Pierce Quantum.

[ny10570 745]

I think this goes a bit further than not crossing your t's and dotting your i's. The biggest no-no in live fire training was violated with the use of accelerants.

[Guest alsfirefighter]

If you post a video of your dept on the internet, you better be sure you cross your T's and dot your I's.

I'm sure you probably mean what I'm going to say...but video or no video do it right the first time.

There are mutliple NFPA 1403 infractions in that video. Accelerants. No charged hoseline during ignition. Safety Officer not with the ignition officer and so on.

As far as OSHA the obvious is the disregard for the Respiratory Protection Regulation.