The internal report of Baltimore County’s Lutherville Volunteer Fire Department covering the January 2011 line-of-duty death (LODD) of Firefighter Mark Falkenhan has been released. Audio of the incident (edited) has also been released.
The report does not identify a primary reason for the LODD, but does identify different issues including crew integrity, incident command, strategy and tactics, and communications. It discusses its findings and makes recommendations. The report states that many of the issues will not require changes to current practices, policies, procedures, or equipment.
Although tragic, it is critical that every firefighter learn as much as possible from any line-of-duty death. Issues with crew integrity were also cited as factors.
The report can be found HERE (PDF).
The audio can be found HERE.
