Report: Four Firefighters Burned in Residential Structure Fire – LaGrange, Georgia

FSRI Releases New Report Investigating Near Miss Structure Fire Incident from LaGrange, Georgia

Funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program, the Four Firefighters Burned in Residential House Fire – Georgia research report has been released as part of the Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI)’s Study of Firefighter Line of Duty Injuries and Near Misses.  

This report details an incident where four career firefighters including two lieutenants from LaGrange, Georgia suffered burn injuries while fighting a residential structure fire. It provides a detailed account of the incident, what occurred, why it occurred, and what can be done differently in the future to result in a more favorable outcome. FSRI’s analysis applies research results and utilizes fire research tools, such as computer fire models and test data, to examine key fire phenomena and tactical outcomes.

Similar to other near miss scenarios, the root cause of the incident cannot be attributed to a single factor. Through FSRI’s investigative study of this fire conducted with the involved department, six factors were identified that contributed to the ultimate outcome of this incident. These factors were identified as avoidable and led to four key recommendations including topics around size-up, back-up hose lines, and using known vs. unknown information to guide fireground decisions.

“We are grateful to the LaGrange Fire Department for giving us the opportunity to conduct this study and their willingness to share information from this incident with the fire service. We hope that these recommendations will continue to improve the safety and effectiveness of firefighters.” 

— Daniel Madrzykowski, director of research, FSRI.  

Click here to download the report. 

Sign up for the FSRI Newsletter here for future updates on the upcoming online training course based on the report.  

Abstract:

On September 3, 2018, two career fire lieutenants and two career firefighters suffered burn injuries as a result of a residential structure fire. The fire occurred in an approximately 752 ft2 single-story wood frame (Type V) structure built in 1900. The LaGrange Fire Department invited FSRI to study this incident as part of FSRI’s Near Miss Project which is supported by a DHS/FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant. The goal of this project is to enhance the safety and situational awareness of the fire service by applying fire dynamics research results to near miss or line of duty injury fire incidents. By identifying factors that contributed to the incident, perhaps future incidents may be prevented. FSRI’s analysis of this incident has applied research results and the Fire Dynamic Simulator computational fire model simulations to examine key fire phenomena and tactical outcomes. This report describes the incident, what occurred, why it occurred, and what can be done differently in the future to result in a more favorable outcome.

Research Project: Study of Firefighter Line of Duty Injuries and Near Misses
Report Title: Four Firefighters Burned in Residential Structure Fire – LaGrange, Georgia
Report Authors: Mark McKinnon, Daniel Madrzykowski
Download the Report: https://dx.doi.org/10.54206/102376/GEKK4148
Release Date: July 6, 2022

Updated: April 24, 2023