Fire Fatalities Research Articles

Summary of recommendations from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program, 2006–2014

Introduction: The NIOSH Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP) conducts independent investigations of selected fire fighter line-of-duty deaths (LODD) and offers recommendations to prevent similar deaths. The purpose of the current study was to provide information on more recent FFFIPP recommendations and to determine if recommendations have changed over time. Methods: Fatality investigations completed from 2006 to 2014 were selected for this study with recommendations being assigned into twelve major categories when possible. The most frequently occurring recommendations were then rank ordered overall and then by medical and traumatic fire fighter LODD. Results: There were 1,067 total recommendations made in the published fire fighter investigative reports for both medical and trauma-related fire fighter fatalities for the period 2006–2014. Of these, 784 (73%) could be placed within one of the 12 categories noted previously. The top 10 recommendation categories overall were: 1. Medical screening, 2. Fitness and wellness program, 3. Training, 4. Medical clearance, 5. Standard Operating Procedures/Standard Operating Guidelines (SOPs/SOGs), 6. Incident command, 7. Strategy and tactics, 8. Communications, 9. Personal protective equipment and 10. Staffing. Conclusions: The leading recommendations from the NIOSH FFFIPP medical investigations between 2006 and 2014 did not change compared to those made between 1998 and 2005, with the exception of the addition of “medical clearance for duty”. There were changes for the traumatic injury leading recommendations for 2006–2014, with the major change being “training”, which was the leading FFFIPP recommendation for traumatic injuries for this time period. Practical applications: The intent of the FFFIPP is to influence fire departments and fire fighters to critically assess and evaluate situations/circumstances similar to those identified by NIOSH investigations and implement the recommendations offered to prevent additional fire fighter fatalities.

Charges dropped for UCLA researcher’s death

A Los Angeles County judge earlier this month dismissed criminal charges against UCLA chemistry professor Patrick G. Harran. The charges stem from the death nearly 10 years ago of staff researcher Sheharbano (Sheri) Sangji after she was burned in a fire in Harran’s lab. Harran faced four felony charges of violating the California labor code relating to the fatal fire. In 2014, before the case went to trial, Harran reached a settlement agreement with the district attorney’s office to drop the charges after five years if he completed community service and paid a $10,000 fine. On Sept. 6, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge George Lomeli, who approved the original deal, granted a request by Harran’s attorney to dismiss the case nine months before the agreement was set to end. Prosecutors objected. Nevertheless, “Lomeli determined that Harran had satisfied all of the terms and conditions of the five-year deferred prosecution agreement,”

The relationship between the intramuscular bleeding of the tongue and cause of death

Intramuscular bleeding of the tongue (ImBT) is occasionally found during post mortem examination. Despite its frequent reports, its cause has not yet been clarified. In this study, forensic autopsy data of 799 cadavers were examined and the relationship between ImBT and cause of death was investigated. A total of 74 cases showed ImBT (16 of 66 cases of fire fatality, 17 of 108 cases of drowning, 23 of 74 cases of asphyxiation, and 18 of 551 cases of other causes of death). The frequency of bleeding was significantly greater in cases with causes of death including fire fatality, drowning, and asphyxiation compared to those with other causes of death (p < 0.01). Among asphyxiation cases, ImBT was confirmed in two of five cases of typical hanging, three of 16 cases of atypical hanging, six of six cases of ligature strangulation, two of two cases of manual strangulation, eight of 38 cases of airway obstruction, and two of seven cases of oxygen deficiency. Among fire fatalities, the carboxyhemoglobin (CO-Hb) concentration of cases with ImBT was significantly lower than that in cases without ImBT (p < 0.01). In addition, the frequency of bleeding was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in cases where the blood cyanide concentration was 0.05 ppm or less. These observations suggested that ImBT during fire fatality occurs in a manner similar to that of ligature or manual strangulation, in which the flames cause the contraction and decrease in elasticity of the skin. Past reports indicated that bleeding frequency in cases of drowning did not significantly differ from that in cases with other causes of death. However, our cases showed a statistically higher incidence of bleeding compared to that in the other causes of death (p < 0.01).These results suggested that ImBT is a characteristic finding in cases of asphyxia and is an important evaluation for the diagnosis of death. When the relationship between ImBT and petechial hemorrhage was examined in three of the causes of death, no significant difference was observed between fire fatality and asphyxiation, but drowning was significantly different (p < 0.05). In cases without ImBT, the secretion of noradrenaline and adrenaline was significantly higher (p < 0.01). This finding suggests that it is unlikely that excessive secretion of catecholamine causes ImBT.

Provincial Fire Characteristics in China 2002 to 2010

Abstract To obtain the provincial fire characteristics in China from 2002 to 2010, a principal component analysis (PCA) was used to compress and interpret the variables. Eight fire-related variables were divided into two data sets. The general fire situation set consisted of the number of fires, fire deaths, direct loss and number of high-casualty fires (HCFs), and the fatal fire data set included the number of fires with fatalities of 1-2, 3-5, 6-9 and ≥10. The provincial fire characteristics were measured by the principal components that could reflect the fire situation, the ratio of general fires to HCFs, the fatal fire situation and the ratio of high fatality fires to low fatality fires. The provinces with similar PCA results were clustered together by clustering analysis. Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Henan are likely to experience serious fire situations and disastrous fires. The associations between the PCA results and the five influencing factors, such as GDP, per capita GDP, population, fire stations per million people and time, were analyzed by means of the relative risk (RR).

Statistical Analysis of Fire Outbreaks in Homes and Public Buildings in Nigeria: A Case Study of Lagos State

The fire has often been described as the greatest servant but the worst master difficult to control when it turns into a conflagration, burning and destroying everything in its path. In the rage of its fury, it has no respect for anyone, not even the monarchy. Buildings as infrastructure along with people’s lives need protection against fire outbreaks. Data on fatal fire outbreaks in Lagos metropolis from2009 to 2014 were obtained from various rescue agencies in the state. Interviews were conducted alongside the structured questionnaires administered to a good number of citizens of the state. A statistical tool adopted in this research is the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS). The analysis made using the information from the agencies consulted shows that most fatal fires in homes often start in a bed, sofa, other loose fittings or clothing. The homes where fatal fires occur are rarely protected by smoke detectors. Fire death rates are higher for males than females and are also higher for the elderly than for younger people. Most home fires attended by the firefighters are quite small. In blocks of flats, the most common cause is a cooking appliance being left on. Arson is also a common cause in blocks of flats, though arson is most often observed in stairwells and cellars and is rarely directed at living accommodation. Arson is the most common cause of fires in public buildings. Several remedies were specified to alleviate fire outbreaks in homes and public buildings.

Exploration of NFIRS protected populations using geocoded fire incidents

The NFIRS database is one of the primary resources for data relevant to fire statistics in the United States. This database is populated by self reported fire incidents by U.S. fire departments. A major criticism of this database for statistical analysis is the problem of reporting bias. One cannot use basic summary statistics and other useful, simple metrics to characterize the U.S. fire problem because the NFIRS database does not mandate reporting from the entire nation. Thus, it only contains data from a subset of fire departments across the nation. Additionally, no major attempts have been made to remedy this problem because U.S. fire data consumers rely on the only other data source (NFPA estimates) at the national level. This paper explores approaches to better characterize the NFIRS reporting population. Public data release records from the NFIRS database were geocoded, and then spatial data processes were applied to obtain a reasonable estimate of the protected populations of NFIRS reporting fire departments. The analysis indicates that between 71 and 83% of the American population is covered by NFIRS reporting fire departments. Additionally, estimates of fire incident, fatality, and injury rates from NFIRS reporting populations appear to be roughly 20%–50% lower than the national rates as reported by the NFPA. These rates are confirmed to be feasible by additional analyses that also supply estimates of the non-NFIRS-reporting population's relevant incident and fatality rates. Regional estimates of the NFIRS-reporting population's fire problem are also generated. Until now, there had been no means of generating an independent assessment of the US fire problem. This new modeling approach provides researchers with a publicly available toolset to conduct rigorous sensitivity analysis on the impact of fire prevention and mitigation approaches at the national level.

The impact of state fire safe cigarette policies on fire fatalities, injuries, and incidents.

Cigarettes are a leading cause of civilian deaths in home fires. Over the last decade, state fire service leaders and allied interest groups succeeded in persuading state lawmakers to require manufacturers to sell only low-ignition strength or "fire safe" cigarettes as a strategy to reduce these fatalities and the injuries and losses that stem from them. This article examines whether the states' fire safe cigarette laws actually helped to save lives, prevent injuries, and reduce the incidence of home fires ignited by cigarettes left unattended by smokers. Controlling for the effects of key demographic, social, economic, and housing variables, this study finds that the states' fire-safe cigarette policies had significant impacts on reducing the rate of smoking-related civilian fire deaths and the incidence of fires started by tobacco products. The findings also suggest that the states' fire safe cigarette policies may have helped to reduce the rate of smoking-related fire injuries. The study shows that collective actions by leaders in the fire service across the states can result in meaningful policy change that protects lives and advances public safety even when a political consensus for action is absent at the national level.

The state of the residential fire fatality problem in Sweden: Epidemiology, risk factors, and event typologies

IntroductionResidential fires represent the largest category of fatal fires in Sweden. The purpose of this study was to describe the epidemiology of fatal residential fires in Sweden and to identify clusters of events. MethodData was collected from a database that combines information on fatal fires with data from forensic examinations and the Swedish Cause of Death-register. Mortality rates were calculated for different strata using population statistics and rescue service turnout reports. Cluster analysis was performed using multiple correspondence analysis with agglomerative hierarchical clustering. ResultsMale sex, old age, smoking, and alcohol were identified as risk factors, and the most common primary injury diagnosis was exposure to toxic gases. Compared to non-fatal fires, fatal residential fires more often originated in the bedroom, were more often caused by smoking, and were more likely to occur at night. Six clusters were identified. The first two clusters were both smoking-related, but were separated into (1) fatalities that often involved elderly people, usually female, whose clothes were ignited (17% of the sample), (2) middle-aged (45–64years old), (often) intoxicated men, where the fire usually originated in furniture (30%). Other clusters that were identified in the analysis were related to (3) fires caused by technical fault, started in electrical installations in single houses (13%), (4) cooking appliances left on (8%), (5) events with unknown cause, room and object of origin (25%), and (6) deliberately set fires (7%). ConclusionsFatal residential fires were unevenly distributed in the Swedish population. To further reduce the incidence of fire mortality, specialized prevention efforts that focus on the different needs of each cluster are required. Practical applicationsCooperation between various societal functions, e.g. rescue services, elderly care, psychiatric clinics and other social services, with an application of both human and technological interventions, should reduce residential fire mortality in Sweden.

FATALITIES IN WILDLAND FIRES FROM 1945 TO 2015 IN SARDINIA (ITALY)

ABSTRACT The worst outcome of wildland fires is the loss of human lives, a recurrent phenomenon over the last few decades in Sardinia, Europe and worldwide. This work analyzes all recorded fatalities in wildland fires in Sardinia from 1945 to 2015 and trends in terms of annual number of fatalities. This time period was split due to legal and socioeconomic changes periods (1945-1975; 1976-2000; 2001-2015). We classified accident types during wildland fires to study the most frequent causes of fatalities and how they were related 1) to involved human groups (professional firefighters, auxiliary firefighters, and civilians, 2) to fire size and 3) to extreme weather conditions. We observed that the annual number of victims was higher in the 1981-1999 period than in other periods with 2.6 fatalities per year. Entrapment is the most frequent cause of death within the fire professional firefighters (75.6 %). The rate of fatalities seemed to be higher in the 1981-1999 period for “civilians” and lower for “professional firefighters”. We detected that the annual number of “civilian” fatalities is higher in the 1981-1999 period with 1.6 fatalities per year. The calculated rate for “army forces &amp; volunteer firefighters” group was in the middle ground. Entrapment is the most frequent cause of death with a percentage of 75.6 %. Fire size is a key factor in the fatality occurrence because over 80 % of deaths in wildland fires (without considering aerial accidents) happened in fires larger than 100 ha. Days with extreme weather conditions (high temperature or strong winds) were also instrumental because at least 47% of entrapments occurred in this kind of days.

Fire safety for vulnerable groups: The challenges of cross-sector collaboration in Norwegian municipalities

Vulnerable groups are found to be over-represented in fire fatalities statistics. In official Norwegian documents vulnerability is described as related to factors such as old age, reduced mobility or cognitive abilities, mental health problems, and substance abuse. As vulnerability to fatal fire is frequently related to residents’ health and life situations, prevention work often exceeds the competencies and responsibilities of the fire department. Cross-sector collaboration is therefore required in order to reach the groups that are at risk. This paper reports from a qualitative interview study with representatives from municipal fire services, property management, housing administration, health and social care. The study explores the challenges experienced by service providers in achieving cross-sector collaboration on fire prevention for vulnerable groups. The findings describe challenges at three levels: 1) the national regulatory level represents an obstacle to local cross-sector collaboration, 2) the municipal level lacks strategies and arenas for cross-sector collaboration for fire safety, and 3) the professional level experiences conflicting values and norms, including uncertainties about professional boundaries. Organizational measures that support the fire services in their efforts to reach vulnerable groups must be targeted to all three levels and go beyond the boundaries of the fire services. The study contributes with a social scientific approach to fire prevention and contributes with new perspectives on fire safety for vulnerable residents.

The effectiveness of specific fire prevention measures for different population groups

There are several different preventive measures that can be used to reduce the number of fire fatalities in residential buildings, but information on how effective different measures are for different groups are, however, lacking. As a result, general measures are often implemented on large portions of the total population, which is not as cost-effective as targeting certain measures for certain groups in the population. Therefore, an analysis of fire statistics and data based on fire investigations reports is performed in this paper in order to provide recommendations for how different preventive measures can be targeted effectively.The studied population is divided into various groups based on the type of measures that are effective for each group, and it is seen that the effectiveness of different preventive measures are depending on age, gender, occupancy type, whether an individual is living alone and whether the individual is a smoker. The effectiveness of the different studied measured are presented in terms of fraction of fatalities averted and the benefit per implemented measure. The results presented in this paper is novel and can be used to motivate targeted interventions and for cost-benefit analyses.

Identifying Household Level Risk Factors for Unintentional House Fire Incidents, Injuries and Fatalities

ABSTRACTObjectivesUnintentional house fire incidents, injuries and deaths are a serious public health concern in the UK, which disproportionally affect certain groups in the population. Whilst house fires have decreased in recent years; growing financial pressures in the Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs) have resulted in funds dedicated to fire preventative activities becoming increasingly limited. To ensure ever limiting resources are targeted towards those households at greatest risk, it is essential the FRSs’ are accurately informed about the types of household at increased risk. The aim of this project is to undertake a large-scale case-control study, to identify the distinguishing household level risk factors associated with unintentional house fire incidents, injuries and deaths.&#x0D; ApproachUnintentional house fire incidents reported to the Welsh FRS between the years 2003-2008, were anonymised and incorporated into the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Databank at the Farr Institute, Swansea University. 6943 case households (households which reported a fire to the FRS) were time-matched to 347,150 control households (case:control ratio 1:50). Individuals registered as living at these properties on the date of the fire were established using the Welsh Demographic Service (WDS) dataset. Household level variables will be created by linking case and control households to other demographic, health, educational and environmental datasets in SAIL. Conditional Logistic Regression will be used to estimate matched odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals.&#x0D; ResultsPotential risk factor variables were selected on the basis of a systematic review and theoretically plausible variables. Covariates include: household composition (e.g. age and gender of residents), socioeconomic status, educational attainment, smoking, alcohol consumption, mental health conditions, other health related conditions, mobility and sensory impairments and property related characteristics. Fire related circumstances (e.g. fire ignition source, presence of a smoke alarm) will also be investigated in logistic regression models exploring risk factors for injury and death. Results will be presented at the conference.&#x0D; ConclusionThis is the first large-scale analysis of risk factors for unintentional house fire incidents, injuries and deaths. The findings from this project will be translated into comprehensible infographics, designed to support the FRSs, other partner organisations and the general public, recognise high risk households in need of preventative interventions.

A forensic analysis of a fatal fire in an indoor shooting range using coupled fire and evacuation modelling tools

Coupled fire and evacuation computer simulations are used to numerically reconstruct a fatal fire that occurred in an indoor shooting range in Korea in 2009. Of the 16 occupants, 15 were killed and one survived. The analysis demonstrates that this approach can accurately reproduce the outcome of this fire. The approach is then used to forensically analyse the incident to identify factors significantly contributing to the high loss of life. In particular, occupant response times and flame spread rate over the polyurethane foam (PUF) cladded walls are investigated. The results suggest that it is unlikely that anyone could have survived if response times were greater than 5s. Furthermore, it is suggested that fatalities couldn't have been avoided even if response times were zero. It is also demonstrated that gunpowder residue on the PUF walls is the critical factor in producing the high loss of life. The average number of fatalities could be reduced from 14.9 in the reconstruction case to 0.1 if the walls are completely free of gunpowder residue. However, to completely eliminate fire related casualties, it is necessary to use a PUF wall cladding material with low flame spread rates together with an effective gunpowder cleaning system.

Manner of Death Determination in Fire Fatalities: 5-Year Autopsy Data of Istanbul City.

Death resulting from burns is an important social problem and a frequent accident. However, because approximately 10% of cases are estimated to result from a fire that was deliberately started, all fire-related deaths should be treated as suspicious, and the cause of a fire should be investigated. For the bodies recovered from the scene of a fire, the manner of death could also be suicide or homicide. The objective of this study was to contribute to the clarification of controversial data present in the literature on the manner of death determination of fire-related deaths, through evaluation of autopsy findings of bodies recovered from fires. We reviewed 20,135 autopsies performed in a 5-year period, in Istanbul, as the whole autopsy data of the city and found 133 fire-related deaths. The death scene investigation reports and other judicial documents, autopsy findings, and toxicological analysis results were evaluated to determine the parameters of age, sex, level of the burn, vital signs [red flare; soot in the lower respiratory tract, esophagus, and/or stomach; and screening of carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) levels in the blood], toxicological substances, presence of accelerants, cause of death, and manner of death. The manner of death was determined to be an accident in 98 (73.7%) and homicide in 12 (9%) cases, whereas there was no suicide. In addition, it could not be determined in 23 (17.2%) cases. In accidental deaths, the most frequent cause of death was COHb poisoning with statistically significant blood COHb levels greater than 10%. Further, the presence of soot in the lower respiratory tract, esophagus, and/or stomach and the existence of at least 1 or 2 vital signs together were found to be valid deterministic criteria with statistical significance in terms of identifying the manner of death.

Erratum: Dangerously close: The CSB's investigation into the fatal fire and explosion in west, Texas

Erratum: Dangerously close: The CSB's investigation into the fatal fire and explosion in west, Texas

Risk factors associated with unintentional house fire incidents, injuries and deaths in high-income countries: a systematic review

ObjectiveTo identify the distinguishing risk factors associated with unintentional house fire incidents, injuries and deaths.Study designSystematic review.MethodsA range of bibliographical databases and grey literature were searched from their earliest records...

Human response to non‐injury accidental house fires

SummaryResearch on fatal fires and evacuation exercises yield little or no information about how fire victims respond to a real house fire incident where occupants' mental stress levels differ greatly. Drawing upon daily records of fire incidents from the Victorian Metropolitan Fire Brigade and Country Fire Authority, Australia, 182 individuals who had survived accidental residential fires without serious injuries were interviewed. Similar to most literature, this paper found that electrical failure and cooking‐related activities were the main causes of non‐injury house fires. The smell of smoke was the top listed cue that first alerted an individual (‘host’ or person in the vicinity). The majority of hosts took proactive actions when facing the threat of a fire, while in only one third of survived fires no attempt to extinguish the fire was made at the time of ignition. This study did not reveal any significant relationships between main activities during a fire and occupant characteristics; however, people with no or only basic fire safety knowledge were more likely to engage in activities such as attempting to extinguish a fire/collect personal belongings/rescue pets/disconnect power source than those who had some level of fire training. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Dangerously close: The CSB's investigation into the fatal fire and explosion in west, Texas

This article will focus on the fatal explosion and fire which occurred on April 17, 2013, at West Fertilizer in West, Texas, resulting in 15 fatalities, more than 260 injuries, and widespread community damage. The deadly fire and explosion occurred when about 30 tons of fertilizer grade ammonium nitrate exploded after being heated by a fire at the storage and distribution facility. The US Chemical Safety Board deployed an investigative team to examine the incident and conducted a thorough root cause investigation of the massive fire and explosion. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Process Saf Prog 35: 312–316, 2016

Trends of fire deaths and effects of fire safety measures in Taiwan during 1971-2015

Purpose: Although fire causes 2 % of deaths of the global accidents in Taiwan, injury or death caused by fire is frequent and largely preventable.Approach: Using the Health and Vital Statistics, Fire Losses and Casualties Table, Abridged Life Tables, and Services for Fire Fighting by official publications during 1971-2015, we approached the trends of population, ages, gender, and social costs associated with fatal fire and evaluated the effects of fire safety measures.Results: The higher mortality rate of fire death was in the elders. Fire death rates were 1.92 folds higher risk in males than in females (p &lt; 0.05). The potential years of life lost (PYLL) implied the most efficient evaluation for the fire safety measures. Fire mortality and casualty could be prevented by fire prevention, fire rescue and emergency medical measures effectively. The most significant effect of fire safety measures was evasion training that adopted the indicator of mortality per 102 burned houses (MBH).Conclusions: Therefore, fire prevention efforts should concentrate on males, and elders. The decreasing of fire numbers should be developed and encouraged.

Effects of pre‐fire age and health status on vulnerability to incapacitation and death from exposure to carbon monoxide and smoke irritants in Rosepark fire incident victims

SummaryAge‐related decline and illness increase susceptibility to smoke and toxic fire gases, with incapacitation and death likely for lower exposures. Carbon monoxide (CO) in non‐burned fire fatalities as %COHb indicates the fatal ‘dose’ of toxic effluents (including CO and other toxic species). The elderly and infirm should be overcome earlier during a fire, with lower post‐mortem blood %COHb levels than younger fatalities. The Rosepark care home incident involved 18 elderly casualties (average age 85 years, range 61–99) with a variety of illnesses. Post‐mortem reports and health records provided %COHb concentrations at death or time of rescue, age and pre‐fire health status. To examine effects of health status on susceptibility, heart, circulation, lungs and general health conditions were classified on a 0–5 severity scale for each condition. Scores for each subject were plotted against age or %COHb and examined for trends. No increase in susceptibility to incapacitation was found for survivors. %COHb in fatalities (range 48–82% average 63% COHb) was similar to published levels for young adults (average 61% COHb). There was no increasing susceptibility with age or severity of lung or ‘other health’ conditions, but some trend with severity of cardiovascular disease, especially heart disease (statistically significant 5% level). Copyright © 2016 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.