Suppressing volunteer firefighting

Regulation, Winter, 2004 by Marshall T. Stocker

IN 1980, THE OCCU PATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH Administration first issued safety regulations for fire brigades, mandating the use of such equipment as self-contained breathing devices and fire-retardant clothing. From 1979 to 2002, there was a 52 percent decrease in annual firefighter fatalities recorded at structure fires. One might infer that the decline was a result of efficacious OSHA regulations that protected firefighters from occupational dangers.

But between 1979 and 2002, the number of structure fires also decreased by 50 percent. Today, firefighters are just as likely to die at a structure fire as before OSHA issued its safety regulations for fire brigades. What is worse, OSHA regulations may be leading to the decline of volunteer fire departments and may be a contributing factor in firefighter fatalities.

INVINCIBILITY OSHA's Standard 29 CFR 1910.134 mandates that firefighters entering a burning building utilize a self-contained breathing apparatus. To achieve OSHA compliance, firefighters must carry the device's 30 lbs. (or more) of weight for the duration of interior firefighting activities. Another standard, 29 CFR 1910.156, mandates that "employers" assure fire fighters wear heavy protective clothing that meets OSHA requirements. That adds another 30 lbs. of weight. The 60 lbs. of mandated protective equipment contribute to the excessive physical stress and exhaustion that often precedes cardiac arrest--the leading on-duty killer of firefighters.

Wearing their fire retardant gear and protected by breathing devices, firefighters are now more aggressive with interior fire operations. And, worrisomely, they may be less informed about the conditions in which they are working. Longtime veterans of firefighting will tell you that, in the old days, firefighters used their ears as thermometers. If a firefighter's ears became painfully hot, it was time to leave the building and fight the fire from the outside. Now a mandated flame retardant hood covers the ears. When firefighters recognize painfully high temperatures, absolute fire temperature is much closer to a fatal fire dynamic called "flashover." Flashover occurs when the room's temperature becomes so high that everything, including the firefighter, ignites simultaneously.

Before the widespread adoption of self-contained breathing devices, inhalation of a fire's toxic smoke led to coughing fits, lightheadedness, and headaches. Those certainly are undesirable but, much like painfully hot ears, veteran firefighters considered the coughing and dizziness a useful signal that it was time to get out of the burning structure, before smoke accumulated to form a zero-visibility atmosphere devoid of a life-supporting quantity of oxygen. Today, firefighters regularly train to work under zero-visibility conditions by utilizing their breathing devices to provide the respiratory protection in an oxygen deficient environment. Fighting fire under those conditions exposes firefighters to life-threatening disorientation created by the denser concentrations of smoke. The heavier concentrations of smoke also threaten firefighter lives as they contribute to "rollover," the sporadic ignition of densely accumulated smoke.

TWO IN / TWO OUT OSHA'S respiratory protection Standard 1910.134 mandates that interior structure fire operations not commence until two backup firefighters are assembled as a rescue team. Known as the "Two In / Two Out" rule, this regulation attempts to harness the benefits of rescue teams designated to assist interior firefighters in trouble. However, under OSHA's directive, fire departments must now assemble the standby team prior to commencing interior fire attack.

At some fires, the best strategy to protect firefighter health is to extinguish a fire immediately before it grows into a less manageable and more dangerous size. Yet, because Of OSHA'S mandated "Two In / Two Out" rule, fire department officers cannot exercise discretion over when an immediate attack is warranted prior to the establishment of a rescue team. Thus, precious time is lost in requesting and assembling the standby rescue teams, while the fire grows unimpeded, multiplying the already dangerous conditions faced by firefighters.

FEWER VOLUNTEERS Three years after OSHA's mandated safety and training standards were issued, the number of volunteer firefighters in America reached a record high. But from that point in 1983 to now, the number of volunteer firefighters has steadily decreased. From 1983 through 2001, the last year of data, the number of volunteer firefighters in America has fallen by 11 percent to a total of 784,700. Volunteer firefighters represent 73 percent of all firefighters.

A press release published by the National Volunteer Fire Council succinctly summed up the causes for the decline:

   The biggest factor contributing to the decline is
   increased time demands on the volunteer. This results
   from increased training hours to comply with more
   rigorous training requirements, [and] increased fund
   raising demands [to purchase mandated equipment]....
   In addition, expectations of the fire service
   have changed over the  years due to perception and
   OSHA] standards development. In many cases, this is
   a positive change; however, it has caused many to
   leave the volunteer service. These factors equate to a
   tremendous loss of talent each year.