By Dave Statter
STATter911

Photo Prince William County Fire & Rescue Firefighter Kyle Wilson.

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. —  "I need water (inaudible) 512 bucket. I need water, I'm burning up in here, I need water fast!"

What are apparently the last words of Kyle Wilson. A radio transmission from the Prince William County, VA firefighter at approximately 6:19 AM on April 16, 2007. About four minutes earlier Technician Wilson had alerted his fellow firefighters that he was trapped, with these words: “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, Tower 512 bucket, I’m trapped inside, I don’t know where I am, I’m somewhere in the stairwell, I need someone to come get me out.” By the time firefighters were able to get to Kyle Wilson it was too late.

A report released on Saturday by Prince William County Department of Fire and Rescue Chief Kevin McGee lists the major factors leading to Wilson's death. They include two things that are beyond the department's control: the morning's high winds, with a peak gust of 48 mph reported at the time of Wilson's second radio transmission, and the lightweight construction of the single-family home.

But the report also cites factors that require improved training and a commitment of resources. They include: the size of the initial suppression force, size up, rapid intervention, incident control and management.

Review team
Chief McGee calls this "the most comprehensive after action analysis" in the department's history. This was also the first line-of-duty death in the department's 41-year history.

The team responsible for the report included five people from Prince William County: Battalion Chief Jennie Collins, Battalion Chief Jerry Shepherd, Captain Rob Clemons, Captain Brian Cooke and Lieutenant Ramon Perez. They were joined by Division Chief Richie Bowers of the Montgomery County, MD Fire and Rescue Service and Battalion Chief Danny Gray from the Fairfax County, VA Department of Fire and Rescue.

In his cover letter Chief McGee cited the efforts of those who tried to save Kyle Wilson:

I recognize the many heroic efforts of the firefighters that placed themselves directly in harms way under intense and extremely dangerous conditions in their repeated attempts to rescue Technician I Wilson. These firefighters were willing to sacrifice their own lives to save Technician I Wilson, and I will always be grateful to them. We were fortunate that additional firefighters did not suffer injuries during the extreme fire conditions experienced in this incident. As Chief, I could not have asked for, nor expected, our personnel to have tried any harder or done more in their personal and physical expenditure of effort, energy, and attempts to rescue Technician I Wilson.

McGee was an assistant chief at the time of what is known as the "Marsh Overlook incident". He was appointed chief in September, 2007 after the retirement of Mary Beth Michos. Chief Michos retired last summer and now works for the IAFC.

Fireground issues
As with most after-action reports problems were identified in numerous areas, including the initial size-up due to no one performing a 360 of the structure, hose selection, RIT coordination and activities, and mayday procedures. It also makes very clear, at numerous points, the department has a significant staffing issue:

Current unit minimum qualified staffing levels provide an insufficient amount of personnel to perform all the necessary, concurrent critical tasks associated with firefighting activities.

In his cover Chief McGee said the department has already been addressing many of the issues.

The report is inconclusive about exactly why Kyle Wilson was unable to self-rescue. It is something that will likely never be known. But in its discussion of mayday procedures the report points out, despite the conditions he faced, Kyle Wilson followed procedures:

Technician Wilson activated the EA button on his portable and broadcasted a clear, concise UCAN (Unit-Conditions-Actions-Needs) report. He identified his unit and riding position, advised he was trapped somewhere in the stairwell, and that he needed assistance. His actions initiating a mayday were consistent with procedures and firefighter survival training.

While rescue attempts were immediately initiated, radio transmissions indicate no one responded to or stayed in contact by radio with Technician Wilson: There was no attempt by Command, OPSC, or any other fire ground personnel to establish direct radio communication with Technician Wilson to acknowledge his mayday transmission.

Here are the links to the six parts of the report. The LODD Death Report Video is a multi-media presentation that includes the radio transmissions mixed with still pictures, video and graphics of the fire modeling. It provides an audio-visual timeline of the conditions and some of the events during the initial stages of the fire. And a warning, it also includes Kyle Wilson's last words.

LODD Report Fact Sheet
LODD Investigative Report
LODD Report Presentation
LODD Report Basic House Model
LODD Report Death Video
LODD Death Report Fire Model

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