By Gemma Fraser
The Evening News
FAULDHOUSE, Scotland — A firefighter was saved from drowning by one of his colleagues after he fell into a concealed deep water pool during a blaze at a landfill site.
The 41-year-old fell into the water — which appeared to be solid ground — just before 10pm on Tuesday night at the Levenseat Waste management site south of Fauldhouse, West Lothian.
Situational awareness and flexibility By Chief Adam K. Thiel, This event highlights the importance of maintaining situational awareness and flexibility during firefighting operations. You might not expect to fall into water at a landfill site, but groundwater retention ponds, wells, ditches, and swimming pools represent severe hazards and can be found almost anywhere. Beyond the obvious danger of falling into water while wearing heavy protective clothing, it’s also important to recognize the contamination hazards that might be present, as reflected in this article. During my recruit academy training in Fairfax County, Virginia, we spent a day at a local recreation center practicing in-water survival techniques while wearing structural firefighting PPE and SCBA. At the time it seemed like a great break from the daily grind on the drill field, but in retrospect we were learning essential survival skills that might be called into play when we least expected it. If you’re planning similar training it is critically important to maintain students’ safety by using the incident command system, appointing a safety officer, and having a sufficient number of properly trained/equipped lifeguards ready to assist. |
He was pulled out by a colleague and given first aid before being taken to St John’s Hospital in Livingston suffering from slight hypothermia. Fire chiefs say an accident investigation will now be carried out to determine exactly what happened. It comes a month after another investigation was launched when a Lothian firefighter almost drowned during a training incident on the River Tweed.
A spokeswoman for Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service said: “Crews were engaged in fighting the fire at Fauldhouse throughout the night in challenging conditions.”
We are reassured that our colleague is recovering well at home.”
Fire crews had got the call to attend the blaze at the landfill site on the A706 at 9:30pm after a report that a large pile of wood and compost materials were on fire.
The firefighter got into trouble after stepping into water which, in the dark, he believed to be solid ground. He fell into what turned out to be water around two metres deep.
It is understood that after being rescued the firefighter had to be stripped of his protective clothing by his crew amid concerns about what was in the water.
He was also given medication at the hospital after it emerged he had swallowed some of the water.
He was released a few hours later, at around 2:30am.
More than ten firefighters, including a crew from Strathclyde, attended to fight the fire, which could be seen for miles around. They were continuing to bring it under control yesterday.
In the incident last month, a 43-year-old firefighter from Edinburgh was rushed to hospital when the training exercise on the River Tweed went wrong and he disappeared under the water.
Colleagues rushed to find and then resuscitate him on the river bank.
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