Firefighter Breathing Apparatus Failing In San Antonio

From The San Antonio Express-News, May 30

SAN ANTONIO, TX – Trapped by furniture and surrounded by thick smoke, a firefighter dove through a first-floor window after his breathing equipment failed as he battled an East Side house fire Monday night.

The incident again called attention to the problematic gear the City Council approved for replacement last month after it repeatedly malfunctioned, leaving firefighters gasping for air and, on at least one occasion, sending a firefighter to the hospital.

"It's (the equipment) affecting the way we do an operation," said Chris Steele, a district fire chief and president of the San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association. "In our job, seconds count."

Fire Department Capt. Stephen Ersch also had his equipment fail Monday, before he even set foot in the smoky building in the 600 block of Burnet. He had strapped on his breathing mask and it fell apart.

Neither the captain nor the firefighter was hurt.

The malfunctions were all too familiar to some firefighters.

Since the city bought the gear, made by Interspiro Inc., in February 2005, firefighters have experienced everything from air leaks to equipment that stops pumping air to their masks, Steele said.

On April 21, failing equipment sent one firefighter to the emergency room — the same day the council voted to buy $2 million worth of new self-contained breathing apparatuses.

All firefighters also have been fitted for new breathing masks, and officials are about to receive training videos on how to use the equipment, District Chief Alfred Lozano said.

Union officials first called for an investigation into the equipment in November, after five devices failed in one weekend, said firefighter Roland Winn, with the department's safety division.

Thus began months of back-and-forth negotiations involving Interspiro, the firefighters association and city officials.

"The (breathing apparatus) is our No. 1 piece of equipment," said Steele, the association president, who criticized what he called fire administrators' slow response to the problem.

He said the delay brings "another 100, 200, 300 opportunities for a firefighter to get killed."

Department spokesman Randy Jenkins said the new equipment is expected next month.

Winn said of Monday's failure "this is critical, this is the worst that can happen right here."

The safety expert said the firefighter who dove through the window had plenty of air left, but for some reason it stopped being delivered to his mask.

No firefighters have died as a result of breathing apparatus failures.

Monday's blaze started about 5:30 p.m. and engulfed about half the house, leaving it almost uninhabitable and causing about $105,000 in damage to the structure and contents, Capt. Ersch said.

The firefighter whose equipment failed was in one of two teams doing a primary search of the home to ensure that no one was inside, District Chief Lozano said.

For the past eight to 10 months, firefighters have followed a policy to conduct a "deep penetration" of a home only if they have a good idea someone might be trapped, Lozano said.

Officials said the firefighter in Monday's incident was near a side window when his breathing tube suddenly froze up and air stopped coming out of it.

Too far from the front door, he jumped through the first-floor window — the glass had already been shattered by the heat of the blaze, Ersch said.

The elderly woman who lives in the house was out of town, neighbors said.

As he packed up the gear that malfunctioned Monday, Winn already had plans to address a whole new problem with the equipment: why the button that secures Ersch's mask broke and caused the device to fall apart.

The other firefighters went home knowing more blazes would likely follow the next day. Lozano was thankful that one of their own was again spared and that the new gear "was around the corner."

"I would never wish that anybody got hurt to make a point," Lozano said.