Skip to content

Aerial Topples at Fire Scene

8 comments

AN AERIAL LADDER IN SERVICE TOPPLED OVER while working a fire in Monongahela, Pennsylvania, Sunday morning.  The early reports indicate that it was the ladder that collapsed, not the truck itself tipping over.  There were two firefighters on the ladder that were apparently buckled in and they rode it down.  Both were hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries.  Reports are conflicting on whether one of the injured was the operator on the pedestal.

The fire was reported around 5:30 am and was centered in a pizza parlor.  It soon spread to two neighboring businesses, a cafe and a computer store.  Two of the three shops had apartments overhead that were occupied and everybody managed to escape the flames safely.

The fire was marked under control at 9 am.

Update, 3:50 pm:
STATter911 has some early photos of the failed ladder along with the Google Street View of the fire buildings taken before the blaze HERE.

Update #2, Sunday 7 am:
STATter911 has added many more photos and a couple of videos from this fire scene and accident.  It’s on the same page, so use the same link above.

Posted by on September 6, 2009 • Filed under: fire
  • north chief

    Pray that the brothers will be ok. Looks like an older truck, hope they had done the annual inspection.

  • north chief

    Pray that the brothers will be ok. Looks like an older truck, hope they had done the annual inspection.

  • Hoffhoshoffer

    Glad that no one was seriously injured. Next time stay on the ground and use the halyards to operate your ladder pipe. This was an unnecessary risk. The chief officers need re-training if they knowingly allowed this dangerous act.

  • Hoffhoshoffer

    Glad that no one was seriously injured. Next time stay on the ground and use the halyards to operate your ladder pipe. This was an unnecessary risk. The chief officers need re-training if they knowingly allowed this dangerous act.

  • Dal90

    Uh guys…

    Assuming the ladder wasn’t lowered after the collapse (something I think would be hard to do), that ladder was never designed to operate a ladder pipe at that angle.

    Aerials of that generation were meant to operated at 70º elevation, 70% extension when flowing water. Inspections and procedures don’t matter much when you’re out of engineering specifications.

    Lanyards, and remotes, aren’t always the safest or most effective option. I’ve run ladder pipes when if you weren’t watching from the top, you would’ve been ineffective with how to apply the water…would’ve looked good on the ground even though the thermal column was absorbing the stream. From the top, you could watch as you worked the line in from the edge cooling as you went. When you have firefighters operating in the same vicinity, something common in my area (say on exposures or with 2-1/2″ lines) or just someone roaming where they shouldn’t be, I like to have a set of eyes up there to make sure you don’t hit someone you don’t see from the lanyards or the remote on the turntable. This is more critical with the modern ladders that have an extensive side-to-side sweep which increases the “danger zone.”

  • Dal90

    Uh guys…

    Assuming the ladder wasn’t lowered after the collapse (something I think would be hard to do), that ladder was never designed to operate a ladder pipe at that angle.

    Aerials of that generation were meant to operated at 70º elevation, 70% extension when flowing water. Inspections and procedures don’t matter much when you’re out of engineering specifications.

    Lanyards, and remotes, aren’t always the safest or most effective option. I’ve run ladder pipes when if you weren’t watching from the top, you would’ve been ineffective with how to apply the water…would’ve looked good on the ground even though the thermal column was absorbing the stream. From the top, you could watch as you worked the line in from the edge cooling as you went. When you have firefighters operating in the same vicinity, something common in my area (say on exposures or with 2-1/2″ lines) or just someone roaming where they shouldn’t be, I like to have a set of eyes up there to make sure you don’t hit someone you don’t see from the lanyards or the remote on the turntable. This is more critical with the modern ladders that have an extensive side-to-side sweep which increases the “danger zone.”

  • DaGonz

    Ladder 14 is a Maxim aerial. Whenever I see or hear of an aerial failure, my first thoughts are “are the Brothers okay?” followed by “was the aerial tested recently/annually?”

  • DaGonz

    Ladder 14 is a Maxim aerial. Whenever I see or hear of an aerial failure, my first thoughts are “are the Brothers okay?” followed by “was the aerial tested recently/annually?”