Aliquippa, PA Ladder Collapse

[Union241 3]

1 Firefighter sent to the hospital when his aerial collapses. It was an older ALF aerial, so I can't help but wonder if age played a factor with the collapse. Either way, praying for a speedy recovery of the firefighter.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45921110/ns/local_news-pittsburgh_pa/

[BFD1054 1,552]

If i remember correctly, a similar incident occured within the last few years that was posted on here. Was an older model ladder truck (cant remember the make) and the aerial failed at a job. Not sure of injuries, etc. Almost want to say that incident occured in PA as well.

Speedy recovery for the injured FF.

[PFDRes47cue 653]

There have been several incidents. Some of which you can read about here. (FEMA) A collapse in Yonkers, NY in 1994 is mentioned in the article, I pasted the snippet below.

Yonkers, NY - October 27, 1994 A 1987 Seagrave 100 foot steel rear-mount aerial ladder, similar to the one that was involved in the New York City incident, collapsed during a structure fire. The ladder was being used in a ladder-pipe operation and collapsed onto the roof of an adjacent house. A firefighter who was operating the ladder pipe was injured when a twisting failure occurred in the first fly section, near where it joins with the bed section. The ladder rotated to the right and fell onto the roof of the house. At the time of collapse, the truck was parked facing uphill on a slight incline. The ladder was nearly fully extended approximately 40 degrees and nearly perpendicular to the centerline of the truck. (The exact angle of elevation at the time of collapse is not known because the ladder operator tried to lower the ladder after noticing it was collapsing. The angle of elevation after collapse was approximately 40 degrees, but the angle was probably not much more than this at the time of collapse.) The metallurgist who inspected the ladder could find no visible defects or fatigue related problems that would have caused a failure. The operating conditions were beyond the limits indicated on the inclinometer for ladder-pipe operations.

The recent one from PA that BFD mentioned can be read about here.

[LFD34 12]

Is there any information on the last ladder test or the loadings during operations. I think this is one of those incidents that we should wait for the official investigation into cause of failure. All these and many other detailed mechanical questions can than be answered by reading through the report, and I'm sure than we can all learn how to be safer in our communities.

[mfc2257 464]

There are several pics out there of this incident including a scrolling slide show on youtube. It wasn't Aliquippa's truck it was New Eagle's. I'm going to speculate that the cause of the failure was due to the use of 4 inch supply hose as the line used to feed the monitor. Certainly not within the scope of capabilities of this apparatus.

EDIT: After further examination (I was originally on my cell phone) my post is incorrect. The failure that I came across happened in 2009 and is unrelated to the Aliquippa failure. The video that Grumpy references below is what I thought had happened in Aliquippa.

Edited January 9, 2012 by mfc2257

[grumpyff 1,159]

this Video MFC? it is listed as being from 2009

http://youtu.be/1D1OejyEI9k

if so is that 2 ladder collapses in 3 years?

Edited January 9, 2012 by grumpyff

[IzzyEng4 427]

I'll have to find the article but this ALF was tested in 2011 and passed. I think it was on The Secret List. Hate to judge by the picture but I hope that the aerial was not over extended at such a low angle and the set up in the picture was the after affect of the failure. We'll have to wait until the report comes out.

Glad to hear the firefighter will be okay.

[mfc2257 464]

this Video MFC? it is listed as being from 2009

http://youtu.be/1D1OejyEI9k

if so is that 2 ladder collapses in 3 years?

I edited my post.... You are correct... This isn't the Aliquippa failure and indeed it happened in 2009. Nonetheless it is an example of improper supply of master stream operations that can result in a catastrophic failure.

[BBBMF 158]

Just a quick side bar...

1. Whenever using an aerial ladder for an exterior operation or any operation where a handline will be placed on the ladder, make sure you throw a few hose straps on to secure the line in the middle of the aerial. Putting that amount of weight and pressure all to one side can cause a failure.

2. Make sure the aerial is supplied by two completely different water supplies because a sudden complete loss of water can shock load an aerial also causing a catastrophic failure!

3. Never lay an aerial into a window or on any object when you can only get one rail to align and touch. A sudden chock load i.e. victim jumping onto the ladder) will cause failure and make cause the rig to overturn. (happened to ladder 108 in Brooklyn)

4. If you need to short-jack always position your rig on an angle to increase space for the outrigger being set on the working side and always short-jack on the non-operational side

Edited January 10, 2012 by BBBMF

[SECTMB 612]

Not a mechanical or structural failure, but a Pompano, FL. died last week after falling from a 100' ladder during a training exercise.

[antiquefirelt 994]

I'll have to find the article but this ALF was tested in 2011 and passed. I think it was on The Secret List. Hate to judge by the picture but I hope that the aerial was not over extended at such a low angle and the set up in the picture was the after affect of the failure. We'll have to wait until the report comes out.

Glad to hear the firefighter will be okay.

From the information the Chief gave in a press release the ladder was about 45 ft. above the ground, flowing water, with the Capt on the stick when the accident occurred. My guess is that that likely does exceed the ratings given it looks to be a near full extension. Thankfully it appears the Captain will recover from his injuries and the FD will be getting a new, already on order, aerial right off.

[redman 2]

That aerial is not a Alf

[Newburgher 241]

That aerial is not a Alf

What makes you say that?

[Newburgher 241]

http://abf-91.nstemp.com/ladder910.html

American LaFrance has been building fire apparatus and aerials long before LTI started building aerials

[IzzyEng4 427]

That aerial is not a Alf

The aerial is an ALF, you can tell by the design. There were tons of sisters to this truck in my neck of the woods. I can get the S/N numbers if you want.

As for the new ladder truck, I do not know what it is.

[antiquefirelt 994]

That aerial is not a Alf

There's two videos floating around here, the OP incident looks clearly like an ALF aerial, unless the ladder itself was a remount. The other video is not an ALF, but is the 2009 incident.

[NJMedic 96]

Photos courtesy of WPXI and the Beaver County Times

[Guest alsfirefighter]

Time will tell of the circumstances of the failure. With older ladders there are many factors that can contribute to such things happening. Passing testing is a good start that it might not have been a structural failure that started the events.

Just a few more points to add:

1. The majority of aerial apparatus today are not designed to be used in a supported fashion. Only cantilevered. As one of the brothers stated if you have an older aerial you need to ensure that both rails are supported if the ladder needs to still be used today. Barry might be able to conform but I think this is for most aerials pre-1993 ish when the standards were changed.

2. I'm not a proponent of short jacking unless its for a life safety issue..but most manufacturers say in their literature that it reduces the tip capacity by 50%. I don't think I've ever seen it where they list it as working vs. non working side, which to me makes sense as it just keeps it simpler to remember. Don't forget if dealing with a platform when rotating the weight load can shift and losing track that a side was short jacked and coming around for any reason can cause an issue.

[FireMedic049 597]

Thankfully it appears the Captain will recover from his injuries.

His injuries are non-life threatening however, unfortunately they may be career ending. It's still a bit early to know for sure, but his doctor didn't seem very optimistic that he'll be able to return to work (from what I've been told by one of my co-workers who was at the hospital that day).

Hopefully that won't be the case. I've known JT for about 7-8 years now, real nice guy.

[FireMedic049 597]

As for the new ladder truck, I do not know what it is.

From one of the local news reports it will be a 100 foot rear-mount. They showed a quick shot of the CAD drawing during the story, looked like it's a Smeal.

[FIRECHIEF63 55]

That aerial is not a Alf

Definately an American LaFrance 100' rear mount aerial truck.

[16fire5 693]

From the information the Chief gave in a press release the ladder was about 45 ft. above the ground, flowing water, with the Capt on the stick when the accident occurred. My guess is that that likely does exceed the ratings given it looks to be a near full extension.

We don't use our aerials much for master streams but we do practice a lot at multi unit drill. We also live by some rules. The 70-80-90 rule is what many of us studied. 70 degree aerial angle, 80 feet maximum, and 90 psi maximum. These are our rules and you need to know your rig and live within those limits.

Someone else already touched on it but it's true short jacking should be done for a reason involved in life safety. Definatly not for normal master stream operation. Close to half our fleet of trucks are tower ladders so we almost always use them for master streams. These days lots of departments have gone to them. Consider special calling one even if your contemplating going defensive and remember to leave room for them.

[Guest alsfirefighter]

We don't use our aerials much for master streams but we do practice a lot at multi unit drill. We also live by some rules. The 70-80-90 rule is what many of us studied. 70 degree aerial angle, 80 feet maximum, and 90 psi maximum. These are our rules and you need to know your rig and live within those limits.

Someone else already touched on it but it's true short jacking should be done for a reason involved in life safety. Definatly not for normal master stream operation. Close to half our fleet of trucks are tower ladders so we almost always use them for master streams. These days lots of departments have gone to them. Consider special calling one even if your contemplating going defensive and remember to leave room for them.

Great post and very interesting, +1 from me. Just a couple of questions it invoked in my head. Are you using only smooth bore master streams with your aerial? Also what year was it manufactured? Just thinking along the lines of the rules. Modern apparatus have to maintain their load capacities at any angle with any operation ongoing. You will lose a person on the tip or bucket usually to compensate for the weight and dynamics of water movement but just interested from a learning perspective.

[Bnechis 3,961]

We had a total failure of a 1989 ladder (around 1998) and a near miss on a 1984(ish) ladder in the early 1990's.

The total falure was determined to be a failure to recall our unit after its sister failed. This was a breakdown at the manufacturer/dealer. And had nothing to do with our operations or maintenance.

The near miss was following the 70-80-90 rule. with a man at the tip, water flowing. the ladder rolled 30 - 45 degrees but did not drop. Our member was unable to move (each attempt caused the ladder to roll more). He was able to DC his ladder belt and fall into the tower ladder bucket, that was able to get under him.

Since then we NEVER allow a member on the tip when flowwing water.