Structural firefighting gloves recalled in 2011 may still be in circulation, and firefighters using these gloves may be at risk for injury.
On January 14, 2011, the Glove Corporation, a manufacturer of structural firefighting gloves, initiated a voluntary recall of one of its product lines, the Blaze Fighter glove. The company also issued a safety notice that was disseminated to a number of distributors.
The gloves were recalled after testing determined that the product line did not comply with the applicable standard, the 2007 edition of National Fire Protection Association Standard 1971, Standard on Protective Ensembles for Strucrtral Fire Fighting and Proximity Fire Fighting, specifically the Conductive Heat Resistance Test I found in Section 7. 7.5 of that standard. Subsequently, the company ceased doing business, according to a release.
Despite the recall and safety notice, however, it seems some of these gloves are still out there and perhaps in use.
In an e-mail to Fire Engineering, Greenwood (IN) Fire Department Division Chief of Training Bryan Johns reported on an August 24, 2016 incident involving a probationary firefighter who was using non-issued gloves during live-fire propane training. Unbeknownst to the firefighter, these gloves had been recalled in 2011.
The firefighter received burns to his hands. “It felt like my gloves shrink wrapped around my hands,” the injured firefighter reportedly said. He was put on light duty for three weeks. A photo of the gloves in question appear at the top of this article.
“I do not want to see any others across the country receive these types of injuries,” Johns said. “If we can show the types of gloves under numerous names all manufactured by The Glove Corp, I believe we can get the rest of these gloves out of service and prevent anyone else from receiving this type of burn injury.”
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