Phoenix, AZ
From Tragedy to Model Fire Safety City
The Phoenix (AZ) Fire Department is a career department with more than 1,000 uniformed members and more than 300 civilian members. The department protects 1.3 million residents within 478 square miles that make up the city limits. The department provides fire protection, emergency medical, technical rescue, hazardous materials, public information, and support services. Each day an average of 356 firefighters are on-duty.
Challenge
On March 14, 2001, Phoenix Firefighter/Paramedic Bret Tarver died in the line of duty after his self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) ran out of air inside a burning supermarket. He became disoriented and then incapacitated. Several of his colleagues tried to rescue Tarver, but they were unable to pull him to safety. He died of carbon monoxide poisoning while battling the 5-alarm blaze. Prior to this incident, the Phoenix Fire Department had not experienced a firefighter fatality on the fire ground in over 20 years.
After this tragedy, Fire Chief Alan Brunacini, Assistant Chief Bob Khan (who has since become the fire chief) and IAFF Local 493 President Billy Shields asked the Deployment Committee to ascertain exactly what happened during this fire and identify how the department could improve firefighter safety. They were aided by representatives of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the Arizona Occupational Safety and Health Agency (OSHA) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).
Solution
After researching and ultimately recommending a number of safety and training improvements, Assistant Chief Khan became an advocate for the building-installed firefighter breathing air replenishment system (FBARS). Spurred by Assistant Chief Khan's advocacy, the Phoenix Fire Department approached RescueAir.
RescueAir worked with department personnel to provide a thorough understanding of how the system works and the kinds of systems available. Phoenix chose a system that worked for them operationally, and that would also work economically for their local design/build community.
But that wasn't enough. As part of their due diligence, before recommending a code change to their city council, the Phoenix Fire Department wanted to test the system in their Live Burn Tower, located in their main training center. By testing a live system in a staged emergency, they could ascertain if the system truly lived up to its anticipated value and if the system would perform under live burn conditions. They also hoped to get valuable feedback on use of the system from their trainees.
RescueAir agreed to put a system into the Phoenix Live Burn Tower, where it was tested and performed beautifully. In April of 2004, a joint venture between the Phoenix Fire Department, RescueAir and Arizona Public Service Company put the state's first firefighter breathing air replenishment system into APS's new 20-story headquarters building. APS is Arizona's largest and longest-serving electricity utility, serving more than 1.1 million customers in 11 of the state's 15 counties. RescueAir delivered the system at cost to use as a prototype for future construction. The system was unveiled to much press attention when the building was commissioned that spring.
At the same time, RescueAir personnel worked with prevention and operations specialists from the Phoenix Fire Department to help draft code language that specified the exact system they wanted.
Results
In the spring of 2004, the Phoenix Fire Department went forward with a recommendation to add the firefighter breathing air replenishment system to the city's building code.
The council immediately adopted it. Shortly thereafter, a number of cities in Maricopa County adopted similar requirements, including Chandler, Gilbert and Tempe.
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