Turnout Gear Thermal Burns

[joejoe33]

There was a news story that ran on the local television news here in the Dallas area about a few Dallas Fire Fighters that recieved thermal burns through their turnout gear. The Dallas Fire Fighters injured during fire attack operations recieved thermal burns where the stitched on reflective stripe crosses the lower forearm of the turnout coat. The reflective material super heated and caused thermal burns to the fire fighters through the coat. Injuries sustained were second degree thermal burns only where the stripe crossed the forearm. Dallas Fire-Rescue was in contact with the turnout gear manufacturer about the problem. The turnout gear manufacturer developed a new reflective material with micro holes in it to allow the reflective material to breathe and not become super heated. Dallas will be changing over to this new type of reflective striping. I do not recall the turnout gear manufacturer and I am working on getting a link to the story to post here.

[jfTL41]

Do you know what type of reflective material it was. Also what were the fire conditions was the garment shell around the reflective tape damaged. Sound's like when Houston had the Arashield garbage that FDNY uses now, guys got anterior shin burns because the arasheild did not allow anywhere for absorbed water behind the pad to go when it turned to steam.

[Spencer534]

I know there was some problems not long ago with the glowflex reflective striping, but I thought they pulled it off all recent (last 2 years or so?) gear.

[MemphisE34a]

Same thing happened here a couple of years ago. We wear Morning Pride with lime yellow triple trim. I think its manufactured by Scotchlite. It happened here in a drill tower. Small amount of fire (recruit training) but I think the people that got burnt pressed their arm up against the interior block walls.

[Crisb1419]

It looks like the air holes are what they are going to, not what caused the burns. The old style caused the burns. Just wanted to clear that up.

I know LION is using this kind of trim, not sure if it is a LION thing or what, but it works well. Stay Safe



Important change coming for firefighting gear

10:37 PM CST on Wednesday, March 2, 2005

By DAN RONAN / WFAA-TV

Dallas Fire-Rescue officials are taking the lead nationally to make a small but important change in the protective clothing firefighters wear.

Firefighters depend on their equipment to put out blazes and keep them safe. Now, one of the leading companies that makes firefighting suits is listening to Dallas officials after discovering a problem that led to several injuries.
Also Online

Video: Dan Ronan reports

Firefighter Dameon Burcie has scars on his left arm from burns caused last spring.

"I had some second-degree (burns) on my wrist and fingers, and a couple third-degrees on my fingers and thumbs," Burcie said.

Burcie was burned right where the uniform manufacturer installed reflective trim designed to help find a firefighter if he's lost in a blaze. That plastic trim holds heat, and doesn't breathe like the rest of the coat.

"The moisture, either on the skin or in one of the layers of the protective clothing, heats up and is not allowed to escape because of the trim," said Dallas section chief Ray Reed.

"I've had probably 5 or 6 of my friends, guys I work with, who have gotten burned the same way I did," Burcie said.

Now, Dallas officials are leading the effort to change the national standards for uniforms.

"It's not just something that we're having a problem with just in Dallas," Reed said. "Other departments are experiencing the same thing."

3M, the company that makes the widely-used reflective trim, is now selling a new product with hundreds of small holes that's designed to release heat.

All new uniforms in Dallas will eventually have it - and it will likely become the industry standard.

"We've tried it on a couple of our coats already, and we think it has some promise, so we're going to try it and see if it reduces our burn injuries," said Irving Fire Captain Sam Alan.

Burcie now wears a suit with the new trim, believing the improvement will solve the problem.

"When the radiant heat goes in, they say it won't trap it in there," Burcie said.

Dallas Fire-Rescue officials said it will take about three years to completely replace all of the suits, which cost more than $1,000 each. Eventually, each firefighter will get a new one.

[Weruj1]

learnin' something new everyday !

[captstanm1]

I have never seen this type of trim....but......I will certainly research it at FDIC......

[Dave404]

We had a recent visitor from the Winnipeg fire department. He was involved in a flash over, wound up with 3rd degree burns on his arms and back, right where the reflective tape was. He has contacted firefighters around the US and Canada with similar burns in order to prevent these burns from happening.
I have forwarded the story to him, hopefully he can provide Dallas with some more information.
Dave

[captstanm1]

I do know that Clearwater Florida had an incident a couple years ago and the firefighters were wearing jumpsuits with REFLEXITE trim on them. The had significant burns in these areas.

[Crisb1419]

I know LION did have it last year at FDIC. It is also on there web-site. The idea seems to work very well, I myself have been burned where the trim is loctaed on my gear. This seems to solve the problem. I am sure if you find the LION booth at FDIC, they can show you how it works. Stay Safe