Authorities are investigating the suffocation of two North Carolina workers in a water system manhole—one of whom apparently died trying to rescue the other. The victims were employees of Triangle Grading and Paving Inc., a Burlington NC-based utility contractor that has been cited dozens of times for federal health and safety violations. In 1997, a...
What does getting struck by a pickup traveling 45 mph and being in the path of a trench wall collapse have in common? The outcome is typically not going to be positive… A six cubic yard section of trench wall that collapses into an 8 foot deep trench has the weight and speed of a...
As a first responder, it’s your worst nightmare… pulling up to a scene of a building collapse with a woman trapped under a beam screaming out for her child who’s buried in the rubble. That’s what happened yesterday in a small town in Arkansas that’s located about 55 miles west of Little Rock. With an...
Our thoughts and prayers go to the people of Japan as well as the many incredible personnel involved in the rescue and recovery efforts. Sharon Bulova, Chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, provided this update on VA Task Force 1, who was deployed to Japan a few days ago. March 16, 2011 –...
“Two teenagers (ages 14 and 19) were killed in a tragic incident involving a grain elevator in Illinois. Both young workers suffocated after being engulfed in a grain bin they had entered to help clear. A third young worker was pulled out of the storage bin alive, and was hospitalized after being trapped for 12...
A man died Friday (January 21) after being overcome by fumes while trying to help two co-workers who lost consciousness inside a tank they were cleaning at a pharmaceutical plant north of Atwater Village, authorities said. When Los Angeles firefighters arrived at the Baxter Healthcare Corp. about 4 a.m., one of the men had no...
Tom Vines, rescue author, shares this incredible report posted on FireFighter Nation. Firefighters often arrive at the scene of a rescue only to find that the situation is completely different from what the 911 call reported. This was the case on June 2, when the Fort Worth (Texas) Fire Department responded to a 911 call...
TARRYTOWN, NY (WABC) — A fire department official says oxygen levels were dangerously low in a manhole where a sewer worker and a firefighter died. No cause of death has been established in Monday’s deaths of sewer worker Anthony Ruggiero and Tarrytown firefighter John Kelly. At firehouses throughout Tarrytown, there are the ceremonial displays that...
Here’s another deadly reminder of the importance of a capable and timely response to confined space emergencies. Five people were killed in this fatal tunnel fire. According to OSHA, the case involving Xcel Energy and RPI Coating is not being tried until next year. After reading the official Chemical Safety Board report, here are some...
Driving around your town, how many times have you seen workers in a trench working totally unprotected? As an emergency responder, are you aware of the imminent dangers around these trenches and do you know how to protect yourself should you respond to one of these incidents? Trenches can collapse without warning entrapping and surrounding...
