Firefighter LODDs: Explosion in West, Texas: Lessons Learned from Multiple Deaths

由布莱恩·a·克劳福德

On April 17, 2014, I sat quietly in a small church in West, Texas, reviewing my notes to a PowerPoint® presentation that was about to be delivered. There was really nothing to review. As one of the authors, I knew the contents of the pages before me all too well. I was just trying to work off some nervous energy. My real thoughts were focused on how many people would show up and, more importantly, how a sensitive portion of the program, "Findings and Recommendations," would be received. As the restricted and invitation-only crowd of surviving family members, local firefighters, and a few media reporters filed past security, one by one they made their way down the aisles and settled into scattered rows of padded back pews. As the clock struck 6:00 p.m., the members of the Texas State Fire Marshal's Office West Firefighter Fatality Task Force took a collective breath and presented its findings and the story of West.

One year earlier to the date of the presentation, a long-standing fertilizer mixing and distribution facility, located on the eastern edges of the town, exploded, leaving 15 dead and hundreds injured. Ten firefighters were among the dead. The actions of the local firefighters who responded to the call were not unlike those seen hundreds of times by residents in the past when dealing with ordinary structure fires. However, this day, the firefighters of West were not dealing with a simple structure fire. They were dealing with a very complex commercial chemical fire with a potential for deadly results that were unknown to or underestimated by the initial responding crews. One thing is certain, however: No one in the small, sleepy Texas community could have imagined that by nightfall the town would be the center of worldwide attention and the site of an event that caused one of the largest losses of firefighters' lives since 9/11.