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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Burned in the line of duty
Two firefighters endure 500-C heat
The heat of the blaze at this Jefferson Avenue house was so intense that it melted the firehose. (DAVID LIPNOWSKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES)
A pair of firefighters injured in a West Kildonan house fire last weekend suffered second-degree burns to their faces and necks after escaping from a blaze so hot that it burned through their water hose.
On Saturday afternoon, firefighters entered a Jefferson Avenue home that caught fire while a resident stepped out to visit a relative. Believing the fire was on the second floor, two firefighters walked up a flight of stairs and found themselves trapped on the upper storey by flames billowing up from the main floor.
"The fire, in fact, erupted from the kitchen. The heat buildup was within seconds of going up the stairs," deputy fire chief Ken Sim said Monday.
"The firehose was burned through, which is a strong indicator the heat was pushing up to 1,000 Fahrenheit," Sim said, referring to temperatures above 500 C, which is higher than the melting points for zinc and lead.
"As good fortune would have it, the two individuals jumped out of second-storey windows -- separate windows, in fact -- and landed on a shed. They didn't have a long drop to the ground."
The firefighters wound up with second-degree burns to their cheeks, chins and backs of their necks. They had spent less than three minutes in the home but only seconds on the upper floor, Sim said.
Each will be off work for at least 10 days but possibly longer, as their wounds must heal completely before they can again wear specialized breathing equipment that tightens around sensitive points on the face and neck.
The injured firefighters -- who had 32 and 10 years of experience -- showed "good presence of mind" to find escape routes, Sim said. Jumping out of a window is never planned or predicted, but a "last resort" when situations suddenly become potentially lethal, he said.
Even after their wounds heal, the men "will always remember how close they came to being burned to death," added Alex Forrest, president of the United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg.
"People always ask me why firefighters jump out of the windows when all they have to do is wait for a ladder in a few seconds.
"The answer is there is no worse pain in the world than when your gear reaches its maximum protection value and you begin to feel the pain of being burned. It is like you have no clothes at all," he said.
Damage to the home has been estimated at $200,000.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 7, 2009 B1
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