Wildland Firefighter Safety – Hydrogen Cyanide Exposure – Update On Firefighter Injury

The message below was forwarded to me and a few select others a couple of weeks ago. I was out of town and completely forgot about it until I saw it posted tonight on FirefighterCloseCalls.com. Thanks for the reminder Chief Goldfeder.

For folks who know me, I am a firefighter safety nut just like many of you are. I have been a long time supporter and volunteer helping the Wildland Firefighter Foundation (WFF) in any way I can. Some of the things I have been fortunate enough to do has been:  Peer and family support; Fundraising; Injured firefighter and family advocacy; Writing of draft agency safety standards and improvements; Serving as a family liaison to a Fallen Firefighter’s family; and what I call “drilling holes through bureaucracies“. I am just one of many folks supporting the WFF and performing these duties whenever called upon to help.

In this case, I did a little work behind the scenes putting Vicki Minor (Director, Wildland Firefighter Foundation) in touch with Shawn Longerich (Director, Cyanide Poisoning Treatment Coalition). To make a very long story short, there were some firefighter Hydrogen Cyanide (HCN) exposures on the Station Fire, and several folks were exposed to HCN at varying degrees of severity. The most severe exposure resulted in respiratory arrest and an over two week ICU stay in the hospital. The most severely injured firefighter is still suffering ill effects. The long term effects on the other exposed firefighters is unknown.

This is the continuing story of one firefighter as told by her M.D.:

A female wild land firefighter was involved in fighting the STATION wild fire in California on September 1, 2009. During the cleanup phase of the fire she was over an area of a hidden defunct mining operation. While extinguishing the residual flames of a tree trunk, the roots collapsed into a hole and a strange blue flame emanated. She backed away and retreated from the site. Minutes later she suffered symptoms of tremors, nausea, and dyspnea. She had what was described as a respiratory arrest and was resuscitated. She was taken to a local emergency department where she was hospitalized for two weeks. A Sherriff’s hazardous materials team investigated the incident three days after exposure that documented an airborne cyanide concentration of 45 ppm near the area in which she was working. An airborne level of 50 ppm of cyanide is immediately dangerous to life and health. I evaluated her on October 19, 2009 in my Toxic Exposures Clinic. I performed an MRI and MRS of her brain as well as a neurological workup. At that time she was confined to a wheelchair because of difficulty walking and neurocognitive deficits (abnormal thinking). I reviewed her brain MRI/MRS with a neuroradiologist. She had non-specific encephalomalacia (brain swelling) within the parietal and occipital lobes, she also had an abnormal choline peak on MRS. The medical literature reports cases of elevated choline with encephalomalacia (brain swelling) involving carbon monoxide and cyanide exposure. She has been in physical therapy with some improvement, however cognitive (the process of thought) skills are worsening. My diagnosis is exposure to cyanide which caused brain injury.

There are no known pre-existing conditions that are related to this injury. The conditions I have described were reached after careful examination and standard testing, and are not mentally imagined or induced by the patient. Wild land firefighters face a number of hazards in the course of their duties. The affects of cyanide inhalation are just beginning to be understood at the wild land level. Suspected cyanide exposure can more effectively be dealt with if proper diagnosis and treatment is given in a timely manner. Proper treatment is available, especially at Level 1 trauma centers. Regional poison control centers can provide medical toxicology consultation and antidote recommendations for the patient. Proper treatment for suspected cyanide inhalation needs to become standard protocol for wild land firefighters.
 
By John B. Sullivan, Jr., M.D. February 16, 2010
..

Wildland Firefighter Safety Posters – The Original 13 Situations That Shout "WATCH OUT"

Wildland Firefighter Safety Posters – General Safety

Wildland Firefighter Safety Posters – Situational Awareness

Dangerous Weather – Flash Flood Watches Posted for Most of Southern California

From the National Weather Service – San Diego

From the National Weather Service – Oxnard/Los Angeles

..

MTDC Wildland Firefighter Safety Posters

To download these images in full color/high quality and print on a plotter, please go to the Forest Service’s Missoula Technology & Development Center (MTDC): CLICK HERE

To purchase these posters pre-made, contact the Great Basin Fire Cache for ordering procedures.

It doesn’t make sense having great safety posters like these hidden on some obscure federal website link that folks rarely, if ever visit. Click the posters shown in this post (above)…. and also be sure to click on the NWCG Wildland Firefighter Safety Posters from yesterday.

I expect to see some of these posters start showing up on some of our Fire Camp and Fire Station bulletin boards…. and maybe even in a few restroom stalls… Posters and images such as these (13 Watch Out Situations) made huge impacts on safety earlier in my career (Link from WildfireToday.com). Thanks to Bill Gabbert at WildfireToday.com for saving them and making them available online.
..

NWCG Wildland Firefighter Safety Posters – Get Yours For The Upcoming Fire Season

NWCG Safety Posters

These NWCG posters are available on a CD, which can be purchased through the Great Basin Fire Cache, NFES 1133, PMS 473.

..

Editorial – Station Fire Congressional Inquiry Request

..
We agree with the editorial piece below. Something is critically broken within the federal wildfire program… and it needs to be fixed soon. Congressional hearings and increased oversight of the Forest Service is a positive move forward in the right direction. 

Most wildland firefighters and fire managers agree that the whitewash document (see posts below) that the Forest Service “land managers” produced didn’t fully address community concerns, nor did it address issues brought forward by cooperating fire agencies.

Folks, we can do better. We owe it to our firefighters and our community.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our View: The fire next time
Pasadena Star News
Link: Opinions


IT’S not that we necessarily think a congressional investigation will fully uncover what went wrong in the early fight against the Station Fire in the San Gabriel Mountains.


It’s that some authorities clearly need the kick in the pants that the threat of such an investigation by Congress will bring.


So Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, was absolutely right to say this week that he wants a hard House look at just why the United States Forest Service declined to use the aerial resources that were available to knock down the fire before it spread.


For the rest of the editorial piece, please CLICK HERE ...

When Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, D-La Canada Flintridge, who represents the area at the front line of the blaze, asked authorities to coordinate on an analysis of what went right and wrong, “Cal Fire responded appropriately,” Portantino said. “The Forest Service was still mulling the request over and never got back to us to say if they would participate.”

Act Now: $25 VISA Gift Card Offer

Update: As of 11:00 AM today, all six VISA Gift Cards have been awarded to new FIRE CAMP CHAT members and to our three new volunteers interested in serving as chatroom moderators and contributors. I thought it would take days… not hours to accomplish. Thanks to everyone for your continued support. leadership. and participation.

As an effort to get the over 400 unique visitors to this site so far… and the nearly 220 return visitors to participate in FIRE CAMP CHAT… I am offering the next three folks who register on FIRE CAMP CHAT the following incentive:

A $25 VISA Gift Card

In addition, I am offering a $25 Visa Gift Card to members already registered who are interested in becoming a moderator for FIRE CAMP CHAT. Currently, we have five moderator positions available with three vacancies that must be filled.

These six gift cards were generously donated by a strong supporter of wildland firefighter issues and of this blog.

Additional offers will be randomly given away in the future as things are donated in support of this website and our goals. Check back often… you’ll be amazed at what’s go’in on.

Admin Note: This website and blog is entirely not for profit. All owners, members, moderators, and contributors are volunteers and not compensated in any way. All proceeds generated from this website are donated directly to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation, a 501(c)3 charitable foundation supporting the families of fallen and injured wildland firefighters. None of the views presented here are intended in any way to represent the views of the Wildland Firefighter Foundation or any other group.

Note: No personal information or contact info is obtained during the FIRE CAMP CHAT registration process. It is completely confidential and provided as a free service to the firefighting community at our expense.
..

Blasts from the Past: Emerald Fire, San Bernardino County (2006) and Old Fire, San Bernardino County (2003)

Sometimes when folks communicate about working in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) as firefighters, often times the “Land Managers” or “Line Officers” never really understand or appreciate the complexities involved or experienced by the firefighters and fire managers…. Why should they care?… They are never held accountable.


In the following audio links you won’t hear a District Ranger… a Forest Supervisor… a Regional Fire Director… a Regional Forester… a Washington Office Fire Director… or the Chief of the Forest Service making decisions or providing Leadership. None of them are on the “pointy ends of the stick” if things go gunnysack.


Folks who have never been “in the hot seat” (ie – the folks above) in a rapidly evolving WUI wildfire will never match the knowledge, skills, and abilities of folks who have “seen the elephant” and have served their entire careers as either firefighters and fire managers protecting the public, our communities, and our firefighters (ie – Incident Commanders, Operations Section Chiefs, Air Tactical Group Supervisors, FMOs, etc…). Folks who have “seen the elephant” are folks who have been “in command” when things went bad beyond their control.


There has been a large effort lately within the federal land management agencies to effectively put “firefighting” back into the box under folks entirely educated in lands and resource management… folks with little to no firefighting experience or education.  Is this a proper direction? or Should the management of fires on federally protected lands be more managed like a fire department… or a full service (all risk) firefighting agency? 


Does sending a Biologist, Archaeologist, Hydrologist, Forester, or Landscape Architect to two “one week sessions”… and then a fire or two for evaluation and certification… actually qualify them to provide oversight, management, and leadership of a fire program?


I have my opinions, but I’d like to hear your thoughts. Please comment in the comments section of this post, or at: Admin (at) RamblingChief (dot) com.

Blast from the past:

Emerald Fire – San Bernardino County, CA.

The “Emerald Fire” started on 08/29/2006 within the City of Highland… progressed into the state responsibility area (SRA) of CAL FIRE San Bernardino Unit… and then progressed into the San Bernardino National Forest.

The fire eventually burned 2,129 acres and destroyed 2 homes. It also resulted in injuries to 15 firefighters.

Here is an audio link to the initial attack: Click Here

Old Fire – San Bernardino County, CA.

The “Old Fire” started in the morning of 10/25/2003 within the City of San Bernardino… Before the fire was suppressed it grew to over 91,281 acres….. making it the largest wildfire in San Bernardino County history. It was also the largest ever interagency response in San Bernardino County history.

Before the fire was controlled, it destroyed 993 private residences and 22 commercial buildings. The fire also contributed to the deaths of six civilians. It could have been far worse if the preplanning effort of the Mountain Area Safety Taskforce hadn’t been undertaken in the years prior.

Here is an audio link to the initial attack and extended attack: Click Here

Want more examples: Click Here
~~~

Admin note: The combined acreage of the Old Fire (91,281 acres)  and the Grand Prix/Padua Fires (59,448 acres) was the largest yearly acreage lost in the recorded history of San Bernardino County. The acreage from these two fires, as well as three other significant fires that year… pushed upwards of 175,000 acres burned due to wildfire within a 9 month period. These losses even eclipsed the 160.577 acres destroyed in the Station Fire in Los Angeles county during the summer of 2009 in regards to the numbers of lives lost… structures destroyed or damaged… and infrastructure negatively impacted.


No single county in the US (other than San Diego County) has experienced such similar catastrophic losses in the Wildland Urban Interface as San Bernardino County (Panorama Fire, Old Fire, Grand Prix Fire, Grass Valley Fire, and the Slide Fire)…. Unfortunately…. I was a firefighter or supporter on all of them in my career.


During the 2007 SoCal Fire Siege… Once again… San Diego County, San Bernardino County, Los Angeles County, Ventura County, Riverside County, and Santa Barbara County….. all had fires at the same time of various significance and importance…. Each time since the early Lessons Learned from FIRESCOPE in the late ’60s and early ’70s…. We all ask why? Have WE really learned to communicate as Fire Chiefs and Fire Managers, and properly learned enough from our history and losses? You’ll hear the stories of the 2007 Fire Siege at some later date…. if you return. 

Take care… Keep safe…. and those around you safer...