# Two Career Lieutenants Killed and Two Career Fire Fighters Injured Following a Flashover at an Assembly Hall Fire—Texas/Fire Department

​Fire Department
At the time of this incident, the fire department was operating out of five fire stations with 110 uniformed members, serving a population of approximately 78,000 within an area of about 43 square miles. On a daily basis, the fire department would staff five engine companies (minimum staffing of 3), a truck company (minimum staffing of 3), four advanced life support ambulances (cross-trained as fire fighters), a battalion chief, and an EMS supervisor. This fire department also staffed a technical rescue team trained in confined space, trench collapse, high angle rescue, water rescue, building collapse, and wilderness search and rescue.
Field personnel currently work 24-hour shifts with 48 hours off, averaging 8,000 – 9,000 calls per year with an average response time of 6½ minutes (2011). In 2011, the department responded to 9,125 calls consisting of:
* 7,150 EMS/rescue calls
* 563 Good intent calls
* 424 Service calls
* 368 Fire calls
* 293 False calls
* 290 Hazardous situations
* 25 Other calls
* 9 Explosions
* 3 Weather-related incidents
In 2012, the fire department responded to approximately 107 structure fires. The breakdown included:
* 56 Private Dwellings (1 or 2 family), including mobile homes
* 28 Apartments (3 or more families)
* 0 Hotels/Motels
* 2 Other residential (dormitories, boarding houses, tents)
* 5 Public Assembly (church, restaurant, clubs)
* 2 Schools and Colleges
* 1 Health Care and Penal Institutions
* 5 Stores and Offices
* 2 Industry, Utility, Defense, Laboratories, Manufacturing
* 4 Storage in Structures (barns, vehicle storage garages, general storage)
* 2 Other Structures (outbuildings, bridges) ​
At the time of this incident, the department’s annual operating budget was 9 million dollars. Also, this fire department was rated as a Class 2 fire department by the Insurance Services Organization (ISO). a In the ISO rating system, Class 1 represents exemplary fire protection, and Class 10 indicates that the area’s fire-suppression program does not meet ISO’s minimum criteria.
This department provided annual medical evaluations, a job performance standard test, and respiratory fit testing for its members. The victims’ and injured fire fighters’ training and medical records were reviewed for 2011 and 2012.
When vacancies occur, this fire department would hold an eligibility list for approximately 1 year for potential candidates wishing to become a fire fighter. Individuals are required to pass a written test, a fitness assessment and physical proficiency exam, a background investigation, an oral interview, a physical exam, a drug screen, and the Behavioral Personnel Assessment Device Test. The fitness assessment requires the individual to run/walk a single mile in 12 minutes or less. The department’s physical proficiency examination included the following tasks:
* Task 1: With a ladder fully extended at 70 degrees, climb to the top platform without stopping.
* Task 2: Pick up the nozzle end of a 1¾-inch hoseline and drag the hose 75 feet to a prepositioned drum. Make a 90-degree turn and continue an additional 25 feet. Place the nozzle in a box, kneel on one knee, and pull the remaining 75 feet of hoseline across the finish line.
* Task 3: Using hand-over-hand technique, raise the flies of a 35-foot extension ladder to maximum height.
* Task 4: Carry a 50-foot, rolled section of double-jacketed 3-inch hose from the base of the training tower up to the fourth floor and back down to the base.
* Task 5: Crawl through a 12-foot tubular obstacle.
* Task 6: Stand at the fourth story of the training tower, pull up a 35-pound equipment bag that is attached to a ½-inch rope to the top of the railing using a hand-under-hand method. The rope cannot touch the railing and you cannot stop upward movement of the equipment bag.
* Task 7: Walk 25 yards, pick up a 165-pound rescue mannequin, and drag it back to your starting point without stopping.
* ↑ 1. Fire department [2012]. Fire department annual report.
* ↑ The Insurances Services Organization (ISO) is an independent commercial enterprise that helps customers identify and mitigate risk. ISO can provide communities with information on fire protection, water systems, other critical infrastructure, building codes, and natural and man-made catastrophes. ISO's Public Protection Criteria program evaluates communities according to a uniform set of criteria known as the Fire Suppression Rating Schedule. More information about ISO and their Fire Suppression Rating Schedule can be found at http://www.isogov.com/about/.
* Task 8: Using an 8-pound sledgehammer, move the Keiser slide to the opposite end in 22 hits.
* Task 9: Pick up a positive pressure fan and walk 25 yards without setting it down.
Once an individual is hired they are included in the department’s annual physical fitness and health and wellness program. The physical condition of all incumbent fire fighters is tested every six months by a job performance standard test that evaluates the fire fighter’s ability to perform simulated tasks equivalent to job tasks on the fireground such as carrying and deploying a hoseline, raising a ladder, carrying fire fighter equipment, and crawling through an obstacle. The nine total tasks are graded as "Pass" or "Fail" with the ability to retest a failed task one additional time after completing all nine tasking consecutively without a break.
All fire fighters are required to participate in the department’s annual assessment of overall fitness and well-being sponsored through the local university’s exercise science lab. This evaluation includes such things as a physical exam with blood work, review of medical history, lung function test, cardiac stress, and medical fitness evaluation.
9-1-1 Dispatch Center
The county 9-1-1 dispatch center has a contract with the city to provide police and fire dispatch services. At the time of this investigation, the center employed 50 employees who worked 12-hour shifts, providing a 24-hour operation within the center. The computer-aided dispatch program used a 700-MHz radio system with the victims’ department using digital radios. The center has three telephone call positions and five radio positions (two police, victims’ department, volunteer fire companies, and county constables). Personnel rotate between positions every 1– 2 weeks. The center has the ability to utilize nine recorded fire channels with separate police and fire servers. Mobile data terminals are utilized within response units. At the time of this investigation, the center was not currently accredited, but all dispatchers were required by the state of Texas to obtain 40 hours of telecom training and 24 hours of crisis management training within a year of being hired as a dispatch operator. Additionally, the center required their operators to obtain cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), certification as an emergency medical dispatcher, and attend ethics training.