The Houston structural collapse attorneys at Denena Points, PC note that 2011 was the third consecutive year in which the number of firefighter fatalities dropped significantly. With 61 firefighters who perished on the job in 2011, that number and the total for 2010 actually represented the two lowest numbers of firefighter deaths since the NFPA started making annual surveys in 1977. (Source: Rita F. Fahy, Paul R. LeBlanc, and Joseph L. Molis, NFPA Journal, July/August 2012)
The average number of firefighter deaths in a single year is 91. Becoming entrapped by structural collapses from burning buildings represents the single greatest risk to firefighters on the job. Another significant proportion of firefighter fatalities results from cardiac arrests suffered during or after an incident or in training.
For firefighters, the greatest dangers of structural collapse are related to residential fires. The number of fatalities from residential structural collapses has risen precipitously in the last three decades, faster than any other cause of firefighter deaths. When firefighters are trapped by collapsing walls, roofs, or debris, they might suffer head injuries, internal traumas, burns, or run out of air and succumb to asphyxiation.
Most Fatal Day for the Houston Fire Department
Yesterday, the Houston Fire Department suffered its single most fatal day in its 118-year history. 4 firefighters died when a roof collapsed on the burning Southwest Inn and 13 other firefighters were injured in the 5-alarm fire. One of the fallen firefighters had only been out of the training academy and on the job a month when she lost her life to the deadly structural collapse. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Witnesses reported hearing several explosions after the fire started. The hearts and prayers of our Houston structural collapse attorneys remain with the families of the fallen firefighters as well as with the injured firefighters as they recover.
Click the link to read more about the deadly structural collapse during the fire at the Southwest Inn in Houston.