NEWS IN BRIEF

NEWS IN BRIEF

Glove basis of firefighter’s lawsuit

Firefighter William Middlemiss of Lawrence, Massachusetts recently was awarded $20,000 by a Boston jury for secondand third-degree hand burns he sustained during a 1986 fire while wearing gloves manufactured by the Edmont Division of Becton-Dickinson Company. Under Massachusetts law, the verdict was reduced to S12,000 based on 40 percent negligence on the part of the firefighter.

The plastic-coated gloves melt and bum when exposed to flame or heat, explains Neil Rossman, attorney for Middlemiss, who adds that the product was advertised in firefighter magazines in the ’60s. Middlemiss says he purchased the gloves from a uniform supply store between 1980 and 1985.

“The gloves definitely are unsafe for firefighters,” Middlemiss stresses. “They melt on contact with heat. If firefighters are using them, they should remove them from service.” Me adds that he brought suit not for the money but to get the gloves out of circulation for firefighters.

The manufacturer contested liability during the trial, stating that the gloves never were designed—and are not suited—for interior-structure firefighting and that it was unaware that firefighters were wearing them into burning buildings. Ross contends, nevertheless, that the manufacturer should have attempted to recall the gloves and to make firefighters aware of the potential danger.

David Geiger, attorney for the manufacturer, says there was no need for a recall since the gloves have not been advertised to firefighters since the ’60s and since the manufacturer “did not expect firefighters to wear them.” The gloves, Geiger adds, are sold in hardware and garden-supply stores and are insulated, general-purpose work gloves especially suited for use in cold and wet conditions, such as for directing traffic, working on construction sites, and entering refrigerator/ freezers. The Edmont Division, according to Geiger, since has been acquired by another company.

The gloves still are being sold in uniform supply stores, according to Middlemiss, and Ross says he has seen these gloves on firefighters at fire scenes and in photographs published in trade magazines several times in recent months. Middlemiss notes that the gloves are not NFPA-approved, but he was never told not to wear them.

“Firefighters continually fail to realize,” Ross points out, “that the people who manufacture the products that they rely on to save their lives on the fireground oftentimes know nothing about firefighting and the hazards of the job.”

Is it flashover or arson?

Two Arizona residents convicted and sentenced for arson/murder have been freed from prison and are awaiting new trials based on the premise that flashover can make an accidental fire appear deliberate.

One case involves John Henry Knapp, whose two preschool-aged daughters died in 1973 during a fire in his home. Knapp told investigators that while his wife was attempting to rescue his children, he was outdoors trying to stop the blaze with a garden hose. Knapp, who had spent 13 years on death row, received a new hearing and is awaiting a new trial scheduled to begin April 23, according to defense attorney Larry Hammond of law firm Meyer, Hendricks, Victor, Osborn, Maledon in Phoenix, Arizona.

Ray Girdler’s mobile home caught fire in 1983; his wife and daughter perished in the blaze. He told officials that by the time he returned from his car with a fire extinguisher, the blaze was out of control. Girdler was accused of murdering his family for insurance benefits and was given two consecutive life sentences. He has since been released from prison and, according to some officials, may not be retried because the county of jurisdiction does not have sufficient funds. Hammond, whose firm also is representing Girdler, says that to his knowledge Girdler’s trial is still pending (at press time).

Some fire investigators say they can go only so far in agreeing with the flashover/arson premise. “In my opinion, the flashover premise is not newly discovered evidence,” says Dave Dale, deputy fire marshal for the state of Arizona and an investigator in the Knapp and Girdler fires. “Flashover doesn’t change the findings after the fact. The evidence remains.” Dale adds that some evidence found in the Girdler incident was more consistent with the presence of a liquid accelerant than with the conditions cited. In the case of Knapp, he explains, the path and behavior of the fire were not consistent with flashover.

But, notes Hammond, “Flashover fire can mimic effects that are consistent with what we at one time thought were emblems of suspicious fires.” He adds that there is sufficient evidence to suggest that each of the above fires could have been of innocent origin. In this case, he continues, each of the effects—the floor-burning pattern, melted aluminum, broken glass—used by the prosecutors could have occurred without the deliberate use of an accelerant.

Like all bodies of science, Hammond points out, the pool of knowledge pertaining to flashover did not develop overnight but evolved from findings that were noted over time in various places. Although flashover has been studied at least since the 1970s when some of the data were published in technical publications, Hammond explains, the information was not disseminated to the firefighting community in general. Investigators still are learning about the phenomenon, Hammond says, and their familiarity with it depends on where they are located. “They have heard the word but don’t have a full understanding of the concept.”

Whether the flashover defense is justifiable is up to the courts, but Hammond believes it is a convincing argument. Hammond, whose firm has taken on these cases on a pro-bono basis, maintains: “The questions have to be asked: How could this happen? How could these men have been convicted of the crimes based on the evidence presented?”

Kerosene heater linked to fire

A manufacturing defect in a portable salamander, kerosene-fired, forced-air heater caused at least three fires in New York state last winter. The appliance, says Robert P. Diamond, a fire investigator based in Baldwinsville, New York, is manufactured for sale under various brand names and is sold in some retail chains.

The heaters involved in two of the fires and an identical heater purchased for examination purposes, Diamond explains, were inspected by a mechanical engineer who found that when the fuel level in the heater became low, the igniter turned off and the fuel was atomized and forced out onto the floor in front of the heater, forming an oval-shaped pattern several feet long. When the igniter—-which was connected to an AC source— subsequently turned back on, the atomized fuel in the air and the vapor from the fuel on the floor in front of the heater ignited.

Diamond is investigating whether the heater represents a serious threat to public safety and is asking firefighters who have had similar experience with the heater to contact him. “If the problem is significant, it may warrant investigation by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission,” Diamond says.

To report incidences or obtain additional information, contact Diamond at 2002 Irene Drive, Baldwinsville, NY 13027 (315) 638-4487.

Ul Labs seeks standards input

Underwriters Laboratories Inc. is offering a free copy of a proposed draft of “Outline of Investigation for Damper Operators” (Subject 1819) to interested parties wishing to review and comment on it. The procedure applies to pneumatic and electric damper actuators rated 600 volts or less used with fire dampers and to leakage rated dampers used in smoke-control systems. Subscribers to UL’s services in the UL 555 and 555S categories will be sent an outline draft as soon as it is available and need not request one.

The outline will cover actuators intended for factory or field installations that comply with the requirements in “Standards for Fire Dampers” (UL 555) or “Use in Smoke Control Systems” (UL 555S). The tests conducted in accordance with the proposed requirements are for the performance of damper actuators during the period of temperature test exposure and are not intended to determine their acceptability for use after other conditions of exposure.

For a copy of the proposed outline, contact L. M. Cohen, Underwriters Laboratories Inc., 333 Pfingsten Road, Northbrook, IL 60062-2096.

UL also is inviting extinguishing agent manufacturers and other qualified individuals to participate in the development of standards for replacement extinguishing agents for halon 1301 and 1211. Additional information on this project is available from William M. Carey, Fire Protection Department, at the above address.

ASTM focuses on IMT training standards

Subcommittee F30.12 of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) is developing consensus standards to provide a guide for training emergency medical technicians.

The eight to 12 guidelines that will emerge from the process, according to Anne McKlindon, ASTM staff manager, will assist curriculum developers in state units—and even in other countries—to determine what to include in paramedic training courses. She adds that it could be a number of years before the guidelines become available, since they would have to be voted on by the entire committee before adoption.

The next ASTM meeting will be held in Atlantic City, New Jersey May 5-8. For more information, contact Gina Graham (215-299-5461) or Anne McKlindon (215-299-5490), ASTM, 1916 Race Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103.

Four Firefighters Hurt in Fire in Abandoned Harlem (NY) Building

Four firefighters were injured battling a massive fire that tore through an abandoned Harlem building where jazz icon Billie Holiday reportedly once lived.