Report 09-673Air Line

Connection Failure

Report Number: 09-673Report Date: 07/13/2009 0927SynopsisEquipment misuse leads to injuries.

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Event Description

I hope this info helps prevent a similar type incident from occurring in yourdepartment. It seems sometimes no matter how much you brief or haveprocedures set in place, things still happen that leave you shaking your head.This is one of those times.

We have a modified hose cap set up to fill fire hose with compressed air so it canbe used as a flotation device during water rescue or for a boom during a Haz-Matresponse. During the daily vehicle/equipment checkout, 2 firefighters decidedthat they were going to test it to determine if the threads on the airline couplingwere long enough to work with (name deleted) SCBA air cylinders. Instead ofconnecting a regulator and using a fire hose, they just capped off the hoseconnection. When they opened the 4500 PSI air cylinder charging the highpressure line (the cylinder knob never made it more than a half turn) the cap setexploded like a mini pipe bomb into three pieces. One piece stayed in place,attached to the bottle. The larger of the two struck FF [A] in the right shin, andthen hit FF [B] in the left shin. The smaller piece also hit FF [A] just below thefirst point of impact. Both individuals were taken to the hospital with injuries. FF[B] was cleared and returned to duty soon after.

However serious these injuries may be, we had Saint Florian watching over usand are extremely lucky that they weren’t gravely injured. The sheer force of thelarger piece of the equipment flying through the air could have killed someone.

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Lessons Learned

The lesson learned today, besides the obvious of using a regulator when workingwith high pressure air, is really no matter how much training you’ve had, ifyou’re unsure about something you should ask before you play.The chief’s decision regarding the incident is simple; this fire department wenton an immediate safety stand down and we went through every truck, supplyroom, nook and cranny to ensure all equipment of similar build was removed.We will not use that type of equipment any more until we can procure anappropriate cap set specifically designed for that type operation with all thesafety features built in. Therefore, we hope that further incidents of a similarnature will not occur. I hope this info helps prevent a similar type incident fromoccurring in your department.

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Discussion Questions 1.Is your apparatus equipped with a fabricated air line hose cap?

2. Does your department have a comprehensive, standardized training program that documents training for every piece of equipment in the inventory?3. Does your department allow “in-house” creation of tools and equipment?

4. Is there a supervisory responsibility/accountability for the firefighters’ actions in this near miss?

5. Place this incident in your fire department. Would your department follow the same procedures as this department?

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