HOLLANDALE FIRE DEPARTMENT

FIREFIGHTER DIED FROM SEVERE LUNG BURNS

AT APPROXIMATELY 7:45 PM ON OCTOBER 20, 1987, EMPLOYEE #1, A FIRE FIGHTER, WAS T RYING TO START A FIRE TO DESTROY AN ABANDONED BUILDING WHICH HAD BEEN USED AS A FIRE FIGHTING PRACTICE FACILITY. A FIRE WOULD NOT START IN THE FIRST AREA TRIED DUE TO WET CONDITIONS. A SECOND ATTEMPT, IN A AREA COVERED BY FOAM CARPET BACKIN G, STARTED INSTANTANEOUSLY. TWO FIREMAN WERE ABLE TO WALK OUT OF THE AREA, A THI RD HAD TO CRAWL. EMPLOYEE #1 BECAME DISORIENTED AND, AFTER LEAVING THE FIRE AREA , REMOVED HIS FACE MASK. HE THEN RETURNED TO THE FIRE AREA WHERE HE ENCOUNTERED SUPERHEATED AIR WHICH SEVERELY BURNED HIS LUNGS. HE WAS KILLED.