By Ken Robinson
FireRescue1 Staff
LOS ANGELES — Dispatchers failed to sufficiently identify and report hazards at the scene of explosions that killed a Los Angeles firefighter and seriously injured another, according to investigators.
Dispatch reported smoke from a storage room at a commercial building, but the LAFD firefighters were unaware of earlier 911 calls on a different tactical channel reporting an underground explosion that shook the entire block, with smoke coming from a manhole.
Firefighter Brent Lovrien was killed March 26, 2008 while using a rotary saw to cut an unmarked utility closet door when the closet exploded and the door struck him, a NIOSH fatality report released Wednesday said.
LAFD engineer Anthony Guzman suffered a fractured arm and broken ankle.
The victims’ apparatus had arrived on scene to respond to what they believed was a structure fire when they attempted to force the closet open.
As a result of the miscommunication, the report recommends that central dispatch has the technical capability to relay information among multiple incident responses and dispatchers are trained to recognize when incidents reported separately are related.
“Manhole fires are extremely dangerous situations that require different tactics than structure fires,” the report said. “Telecommunicators should be trained and have knowledge of street locations of high-hazard structures or areas within their jurisdiction, such as underground utility systems.”
Investigators also recommend fire departments ensure firefighters are trained to maintain situational awareness and use extreme caution when operating at sewer and underground vault incidents.
“The incident information provided from the dispatcher may not always be what is encountered on the fireground,” the report said. “Individual firefighters must remain aware of their immediate surroundings and be alert for unsafe conditions before a size-up is completed, and even if a safety officer has been designated to an incident.”
The report outlines several potential hazards of sewer and underground vault incidents, including carbon monoxide or gases, damaged gas lines, electrocution hazards and flash fires.
Investigators also found the room that firefighter Lovrien was attempting to gain entry into was unmarked and thought to be the storage room reported by dispatch.
The report recommends proper markings to similar rooms with hazards and suggests the firefighters may have realized the incidents reported by dispatch were related had they seen cautionary markings.