Aerial "Malfunction" Causes LODD

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Reposted with permission from "The Secret List"

http://www.firefighterclosecalls.com

For those who have written asking, naturally, we do not know the specific and actual cause of the aerial device failure that caused yesterdays tragic Line of Duty Death of Lawrence Park Township (PA) Deputy Chief Michael D. Crotty. When investigators provide facts, we will post them. We have posted a picture of the apparatus prior to the incident on our home page in the news/updates area. Initial reports are that a section of the waterway along with the master stream nozzle and its mechanical controlling device separated from the aerial ladder while flowing. There were no Firefighters on the actual aerial ladder at the time of the failure, when it was being operated as a master stream.

Deputy Fire Chief Crotty who was also a recently hired City of Erie Fire Bureau Firefighter, was commanding the working fire at Port Erie Plastics in Harborcreek Township. Firefighters from 9 FD's including Lawrence Park, were dispatched around 1600 hours. The fire burned several stacks of wood and plastic skids stored outside and damaged exposures. According to Lawrence Park fire officials, Chief Crotty was on the ground directing operations in a command role at the plant site when the department's aerial truck's ladder "malfunctioned," causing his fatal injuries.

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If you have a pinnable waterway and it is not pinned, the waterway can seperate from the aerial. It is way too early to guess about the cause of this tragic accident, but in the interest of increasing awareness to possibly avert another similar tragedy without over reacting, The best way to prevent ending up using equipment that is either damaged or not secured properly, is to do your regular maintenance checklist for the vehicle- check to make sure the waterway is pinned in the mode your department sop dictates-(we would pin it back to allow the aerial to be used for rescue without messing with pins.) Also, check to see if the waterway is dented or showing signs of metal galling on the slider tubes. Look at your stuff, and if you aren't sure how something should be , ask someone in your department who knows. And I will make a prediction- You will see a "waterway not pinned interlock" or warning light indicating the same condition in the not too distant future. I don't know much, but I do know that I am a guy with a shiny red truck who likes to listen to himself type.