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LIEUTENANT THOMAS WILLIAMS RESCUE CO.4

Safety and Inspection Service Command

Final Investigative Report

Firefighter Fatality, Queens Box 33-4220

February 25, 1992

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CASE NUMBER 4 /92 FATALITY 2 / 2 4 / 9 2 .LIEUTENANT THOMAS WILLIAMS RESCUE CO. 4.BOX 99 33 4220 QUEENS.

FINDINGS:

On t h e even ing o f February 2 4 th , 1992, L i e u t e n a n tThomas Wil l iams wa s a s s i g n e d a s t h e duty o f f i c e r o f RescueCompany 4 . While s e a r c h i n g t h e second f l o o r o f th e f i r e

b u i l d i n g l o c a t e d a t 66-45 Grand Ave. i n t h e b o ro u g h o fQueens , f o r p o s s i b l e v i c t i m s , and making an e x a m in a t i o nf o r f i r e e x t e n s i o n , he f e l l from a seco n d f l o o r window.L i e u t e n a n t Wil l i ams s u s t a i n e d a s e v e re head t rauma i n j u r ywhich r e s u l t e d i n h i s d e a t h .

L i e u t e n a n t Wil l i ams wa s s u p e r v i s i n g and p e r f o r m in gs e a r c h d u t i e s o f t h e second f l o o r f r o n t room, (a s t o r a g ea r e a ) and was accompanied by F i r e F i g h t e r Michael Mi l n e r,a l s o a s s i g n e d t o Rescue Co. 4 . A f t e r i n i t i a l v e n t i l a t i o no f a f r o n t window ( N o . 2 ) by F. F. Mi l n e r, b o t h memberss e a rc h e d t h e f r o n t room a r e a . Moving th rough an opens t u d d e d w a l l , toward exposu re f o u r s i d e o f t h e f r o n t room,t hey were h i n d e re d by th e s t o r a g e o f a r t i c l e s , and a v e ryh eav y smoke c o n d i t i o n . L i e u t . Wil l iams was s e a rc h i n gahead o f F. F. Mi l n e r, and i t can b e r e a so n a b l y assumedt h a t he v e n t i l a t e d a n o t h e r window ( N o . 3 ) i n t h e room.

J u s t a f t e r comple t ing t h e v e n t i l a t i o n o f t h e f r o n twindow, ( N o . 3 ) , a plume o f f i r e r o l l e d o u t o f t h e f i r s tf l o o r s t o r e windows. I t went up th e f r o n t o f th eb u i l d i n g , and a c r o s s t h e j u s t v e n t i l a t e d window panes o fthr. number t h r e e window. L i e u t . Wil l i ams then t o l d F. F.Mi l n e r t h a t "we have t o g e t o u t o f h e r e " .

They were unab le t o f i n d th e d o o r they had used t oe n t e r t h e f r o n t room. There wa s s t o c k , s h e l v i n g and t h eopened s t u d d e d wa l l p a r t i t i o n t h a t c o m p l i c a t e d t h e i rl o c a t i o n o r i e n t a t i o n . L i e u t e n a n t Wil l i ams a sked F i r eF i g h t e r Miln e r i f h e c o u l d l o c a t e t h e window he hadp r e v i o u s l y v e n t i l a t e d . When Miln e r had l o c a t e d th ewindow, he h e a r d L i e u t e n a n t Wil l i ams g i v e a "May Day" o v e rh i s h a n d i t a l k i r a d i o . He then a l s o gave a " May Day"u s i n g h i s h a n d i t a l k i r a d i o . F. F. Miln e r was by th ewindow ( N O . 2 ) , i n t h e r i g h t s i d e \:indow pane , he l e a n e do u t o f t h e window/ t r y i n g t o draw a t t e n t i o n t o t h e i rp l i g h t .

L i e u t e n a n t Wil l i ams came th rough th e open s t u d d e d w a l lt oward where F. F. Mi l n e r h ad l o c a t e d t h e window.L i e u t e n a n t Wil l i ams p a s se d th rough th e window, t o t h e l e f to f F. F. Mi l n e r.

As h e f e l l o u t o f t h e window, and th rough th e heavy smoke, h i s h e lm e t became d i s l o d g e d from h i s head . He f e l l t o th e ground , t o an a r e a which was a p p r o x im a te ly e i g h t f e e t h o r i z o n t a l l y from t h e f r o n t o f th e b u i l d i n g , t o a s p o t which wa s some twe lve f e e t below t h e second f l o o r l e v e l .

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CASE NUMBER 4 /92 FATALITY 2 / 2 4 / 9 2LIEUTENANT THOMAS WILLIAMS - RESCUE CO. 4.BOX 99 33-4220- QUEENS.

Summary:

On F e b r u a r y 24/ 1992 a t 2304 h o u r s i n t h e b o ro u g h o fQueens , a t e l e p h o n e a la rm fo r f i r e wa s r e p o r t e d t o t h eQueens C e n t r a l D i s p a t c h i n g O f f i c e .

U n i t s o f t h e F.D.N.Y. were d i s p a t c h e d t o a b u i l d i n gf i r e , r e p o r t e d t o b e o p p o s i t e 66-44 Grand Ave, i n t h eMaspeth s e c t i o n o f Queens . The b u i l d i n g i s l o c a t e d onGrand Ave. b e tween Queens Midtown Expressway s e r v i c er o a d , ( Borden Ave. ) and Hami l ton P l . I t i s a t h r e e s t o r yf rame b u i l d i n g a p p r o x im a te ly 40 x 64 f e e t i n a r e a , w i thco mmerc i a l o c c u p a n c i e s on t h e f i r s t f l o o r and a p a r t m e n t son t h e u p p e r f l o o r s .

The f i r s t f l o o r was occup ied by a c l o t h i n g s t o r e ont h e e x p o s u r e f o u r s i d e o f th e b u i l d i n g , (o ccu p an cy wheref i r e s t a r t e d . ) and a v a c a n t s t o r e on t h e exposu re two s i d eo f t h e b u i l d i n g .

The second f l o o r c o n t a i n e d two a p a r tm e n t s and anu n s p e c i f i e d s t o r a g e a r e a i n th e f r o n t o f t h e b u i l d i n g .

The t h i r d f l o o r a l s o c o n t a in e d tw o a p a r tm e n t s and anu n s p e c i f i e d s t o r a g e a r e a i n t h e f r o n t o f t h e b u i l d i n g .

The f i r e o r i g i n a t e d i n t h e r e a r o f t h e f i r s t f l o o r i n t h eo c c u p i e d c l o t h i n g ~ t o r e .Th e f i r e ( o f s u s p i c i o u s o r i g i n )was n o t r e a d i l y d e t e c t a b l e from t h e f r o n t o f t h e b u i l d i n gby t h e a r r i v i n g u n i t s .

Du r in g t h e e x t i n g u i s h m e n t o p e r a t i o n s o f t h e f i r e

L i e u t e n a n t Thomas Wil l i ams o f Rescue 4 w h i l e p e r f o r m in gs e a r c h and e x a m in a t i o n d u t i e s , f e l l from a seco n d f l o o rwindow s u s t a i n i n g s e v e r e head t rauma i n j u r y t o h i s h e a d .

He was removed from t h e s c e n e by Emergency Med ica lS e r v i c e , and t r a n s p o r t e d t o E l m h u r s t G e n e r a l H o s p i t a l ,where he was p ro n o u n ced d e a d .

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CASE NUMBER 4 /9 2 FATALITY 2 / 2 4 / 9 2 .LIEUTENANT THOMAS WILLIAMS RESCUE CO. 4.BOX 9 9 -3 3 4220 QUEENS.

He l anded on th e f r o n t p a r t o f th e to p o f h i s head .The impac t o f th e f a l l was so g r e a t t h a t i t causedm u l t i p l e f r a c t u r e s o f th e s k u l l , and l a c e r a t i o n s o f b r a i n .( C o n s id e r e d i n s t a n t a n e o u s d e a t h ) . His arms were a t h i ss i d e a s he impac ted th e c o n c r e t e s i d e wa l k .

Based on t h e p h y s i c a l e v id e n c e and t h e numerousi n t e r v i e w s c o n d u c t e d , i t wa s d e t e r m in e d by t h ei n v e s t i g a t i n g team t h a t L i e u t e n a n t Wil l i ams :

( 1 ) Was n o t blown o u t o f t h e second f l o o r window, a s f i r s tr e p o r t e d by th e news med ia .

(2) Did n o t s t e p t h r o u g h th e window.

(3) He d i d n o t t r i p o r f a l l any s i g n i f i c a n t h o r i z o n t a l d i s t a n c e away from t h e bot tom s i l l , b e f o r e he f e l l t h r o u g h t h e window.

The e x a c t reason f o r L i e u t e n a n t Wi l l i a m s ' s f a l l i s n o tknown. There a re s e v e r a l o t h e r p o s s i b l e r e a so n s f o r h i sf a l l , b u t none a re s u p p o r t e d by p h y s i c a l e v i d e n c e , o rw i t n e s s s t a t e m e n t s .

CAUSES OF THE MISHAP

DIRECT CAUSE: Th e D i r e c t Cause o f L i e u t e n a n t Wi l l i a m s ' sd e a t h wa s t h e f a l l from t h e second f l o o r window.

INDIRECT CAUSES:

( 1 ) Su sp e c t e d a r so n f i r e .

(2 ) Heavy smoke on t h e second f l o o r , o b s c u r i n g v i s i b i l i t y .

(3) I n a b i l i t y t o l o c a t e i n t e r i o r e x i t d o o r, f o r th e roomb e i n g s e a rc h e d .

(4) F a i l u r e b f member ' s he lmet t o remain on h i s head p r i o r t o impac t .

(5) Wind d i r e c t i o n p u sh ed smoke up t h e f r o n t o f th e f i r eb u i l d i n g , a c r o s s t h e number one , two and t h r e ewindows o f t h e second f l o o r . The wind a l s o pushed t h eplume o f f lame t h a t e x i t e d t h e f i r s t f l o o r s t o r ewindow, a c r o s s t h e number t h r e e window o f th e secondf l o o r .

(6) The c o n s t r u c t i o n o f t h e window on t h e second f l o o r i . e . : Larg e g l a s s p a n e l a r e a , and lo w window s i l l .

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CASE NUMBER 4/92 FATALITY 2 /24 /92 .LIEUTENANT THOMAS WILLIAMS RESCUE CO. 4 .BOX 99-33-4220 QUEENS.

(7 ) Braced f rame c o n s t r u c t i o n t h a t p e r m i t t e d heavy smoke,h e a t an d f i r e t o t r a v e l v e r t i c a l l y t h r o u g h t h eb u i l d i n g .

{8} A l t e r a t i o n s o f many v e r t i c a l o p en in g s w i t h i n t h eb u i l d i n g which a l l o w e d f o r r a p i d smoke an d h e a te x t e n s i o n t o t h e u p p e r f l o o r s .

(9) The u s e o f b l a c k i r o n h an g in g c e i l i n g s u s p e n s io nsy s t em which a l lowed f i r e , h e a t and smoke t op e n e t r a t e i n t o th e f i r s t f l o o r c e i l i n g b a y s .

( 10 ) Larg e u n d iv id e d f i r e a r e a on th e f i r s t f l o o r , and a nadvanced f i r e r e s u l t i n g i n sudden r o l l - o v e r . T h i sc a u s e d a r a p i d d e t e r i o r a t i o n o f c o n d i t i o n s i n t h es e c o n d f l o o r a r e a where L i e u t . Wil l i ams and F. F.Miln e r were s e a r c h i n g .

(11) An o p en wood p a r t i t i o n w a l l i n t h e second f l o o r f r o n troom.

EARLY CAUSES:

(1 ) A l t e r a t i o n s t o t h e seco n d f l o o r f r o n t .

(2) The u se o f t h e f r o n t s t o r a g e a r e a s on t h e seco n d andt h i r d f l o o r s was c o n t r a r y t o th e b u i l d i n g ' sc e r t i f i c a t e o f o ccu p an cy. The a v a i l a b l e b u i l d i n gp l a n s d o n o t show t h e f r o n t p o r t i o n o f t h e b u i l d i n gw h ere t h e s t o r a g e a r e a s a r e l o c a t e d .

(3 ) I n s t a l l a t i o n o f l a r g e , show t y p e windows on t h e seco n d f l o o r o f a r e s i d e n c e b u i l d i n g .