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Freak accident nearly claims eyesight of volunteer fire chief

http://www.wlfi.com/dpp/news/local/frea ... fire-chief" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

"A primer cap" ... plenty of other small explosives in a house that are just a dangerous. Batteries for one thing. (warning: do not burn batteries. they explode and produce shrapnel.)

"he wasn't wearing his helmet"

Thanks for the reminder to wear PPE when it's indicated and to not get complacent about potential hazards.

Eye protection is a wonderful thing . . . and simply common sense.

tbrown wrote:"he wasn't wearing his helmet"

Thanks for the reminder to PPE in locations where it's indicated and not get complacent about.

I could have lost sight in my right eye if I wasn't wearing eye protection in a machine shop when I thought it wasn't really necessary, but I followed the rules and can still see as a result.

I don't want to belabor the point, but this was not a freak accident. Wear your protective gear, that is what it is for.

A freak accident would be if two freaks escaped from the circus going through town, climbed a building to get a better view, and fell onto a group of people standing to see what was going on. Anyone injured would be the result of a real freak accident.

Just saying......

StewNTexas wrote:I don't want to belabor the point, but this was not a freak accident. Wear your protective gear, that is what it is for.

Just saying......

You got it!

Thomas wrote:"A primer cap" ... plenty of other small explosives in a house that are just a dangerous. Batteries for one thing. (warning: do not burn batteries. they explode and produce shrapnel.)

I have a pound and a half of black powder in my closet. I suppose I ought to get rid of it.

...just don't smoke in the closet...it's impractical to remove EVERYTHING that could be a hazard from the home...we need some things easily accessible...and if there's a fire...it can't be helped...

speedsix wrote:...just don't smoke in the closet...it's impractical to remove EVERYTHING that could be a hazard from the home...we need some things easily accessible...and if there's a fire...it can't be helped...

I would not want to be a fireman close to that closet though, if it went off.

I don’t think the concussion from an explosion will put out a structure fire like it will an oil or gas fire.

from the article:

Because of the injury, if an arsonist is caught, he or she will face stiffer charges.

Just doesn't make sense to me...

alexrex20 wrote:from the article:

Because of the injury, if an arsonist is caught, he or she will face stiffer charges.

Just doesn't make sense to me...

If you are shooting in your backyard in violation of a city ordinance. If the shots you fire do no harm it may just be a ticket, if one of those shots hit and kill someone you may be facing a manslaughter charge. Same concept, people are responsible even for the unforeseen (I just learned that I have been spelling that word wrong) consequences of their actions.

alexrex20 wrote:from the article:

Because of the injury, if an arsonist is caught, he or she will face stiffer charges.

Just doesn't make sense to me...

If someone is injured or dies during or as the result of a crime the offender is held accountable. Even a vistim suffering a fatal heart attack during is accountable to the criminal act.

I would also like to add, that despite all of the "he should have been wearing eye protection" statements the situation he was in is one where nearly everyone would have been without eye protection. If he had taken the headset off and put a helmet on when he got off the truck to go reassess the fire he would not have put down his face shield for that.

tallmike wrote:I would also like to add, that despite all of the "he should have been wearing eye protection" statements the situation he was in is one where nearly everyone would have been without eye protection. If he had taken the headset off and put a helmet on when he got off the truck to go reassess the fire he would not have put down his face shield for that.

I try to always wear a pair of ANSI Z71+ rated safety glasses at a fire scene, including wildfires, if not in SCBA. The long time standard face shields are good, but things can still come from below, and yes they get in the way sometimes when they are dirty, or it is night and they don't let enough light thru to see. There are other fire helmets now with closer fitting shields that slide into the helmet to help keep them clean (altho I am not sure that really helps all that much, but I still like my safety glasses, and I can wear them even if I take my helmet off for some reason.

At a wildfire scene, the glasses keep branches out of my eyes (especially at night when I can't see them); one time at a small relatively benign grass fire in a vacant lot, a bottle hidden in the grass exploded from the heat and threw glass into my face. I felt pieces hit my (safety-rated) sun glasses.

You can get ANSI Z71+ rated sunglasses at Home Depot for about $7/pair. Being polycarbonate, the do scratch up eventually, so I buy the five-or-six pack of glasses for about $18. And there are shaded versions that double as sun glasses as well.