Mike058
Gold Member
Volunteer FF Dies After Being Struck By Recoiling Tow Rope This is a great, albeit tragic, example of how important it is to know the limitations of your equipment. I hope everybody will take a look at it.
Tractor Towing Accident Kills Fire Fighter
- Thread starter Mike058
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valleydweller1
Silver Member
That's pretty bad. 11 years and no formal training as a firefighter? It is n't even required in that state; the person in charge of that state's fire training should be strung up.
Every time we get an Engine or Ambulance stuck we call a tow truck. That's what insurance is for, and it's certainly a whole heckuva lot cheaper than a life.
Greg
Every time we get an Engine or Ambulance stuck we call a tow truck. That's what insurance is for, and it's certainly a whole heckuva lot cheaper than a life.
Greg
SCDolphin
Gold Member
I was around similar incident years ago when a chain snapped hitting the windshield. Some how the driver ducked. The chain went through to the back window of the pickup then came back around on the drivers side back through the front windshield. A pack of smokes sitting on the dash was cut in half. The driver had not a scratch. Now I always open the hood of my vehicle if I am winching something back towards me.
valleydweller1
Silver Member
If the windshield and rear window didn't stop the shackle then what makes you think a 16 ga steel panel will? All it will do is keep you from knowing when to duck.
Greg
Greg
RoyJackson
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valleydweller1 said:
The steel hood is more elastic then glass. It would dent pretty badly...maybe even break off the hinges. I really doubt the shackle would penetrate through the hood though.
The angle of the raised hood would probably deflect the shackle downward.
aczlan
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in addition when the shackle hits the hood, the hood will do one of three things: 1. spread the impact of the shackle over more of the glass, 2. slow down the shackle so that it hits the glass with less force or 3. stop the shackle altogether.RoyJackson said:
if I were in a similar situation I would defiantly have looked at the shackles before letting them pull on the truck and not let them use the smaller one, and I would have also put the hood up before trying to pull the truck out.
Aaron Z
Lanse
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RoyJackson said:
that could be worse then death
Wayne County Hose
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This was a job best left to professionals. My buddy owns a garage/towing business and does many of the extrications in the area. Nobody is allowed in the vehicle being extricated, for any reason. There is equipment for towing on roads, and there is equipment made for pulling stuck vehicles. All the rules were broken on this one. This fire engine should have been winched out with a heavy duty wrecker. They put the controls off to the side for a reason.
plastikosmd
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at the very least, we would always use a couple of blankets on the chain in bad situations. not that this is a good idea..but it made us feel better.
QRTRHRS
Elite Member
I have told this story already and I think on this board but will post it again.
A friend of mine was in Maine hunting moose with some buddies. Someone shot one out in a swampy area so they decided to drag it with a propylene rope. They hooked it up with a snatch block on the moose end. The block broke and the rope came flying back and hit my friend.
My friend is an old gent, a marine who served on Iwo and he still looks like a DI. At least one of his buddies was also a WWII vet and a medic at that.
The rope took out a chunk of muscle from his thigh about the size of a softball barely missing the femoral artery. His buddy balled up a t-shirt and stuffed it into the wound.
I don't know anymore how they contacted for help but they took off down the logging roads and met an EMS crew or something who met up with a chopper who flew him to a hospital.
The doc happened to be a Viet Nam vet and this type of wound was not new to him. They kept him for two weeks then he was transported to a hospital closer to home.
With time, he healed pretty well but must spend perhaps an hour a day with a device on his leg that somehow manipulates the blood flow which is now normally limited to his lower leg. His buddy said that his injury would have killed a normal man but our friend is one tough old bird and of course a Marine.
A friend of mine was in Maine hunting moose with some buddies. Someone shot one out in a swampy area so they decided to drag it with a propylene rope. They hooked it up with a snatch block on the moose end. The block broke and the rope came flying back and hit my friend.
My friend is an old gent, a marine who served on Iwo and he still looks like a DI. At least one of his buddies was also a WWII vet and a medic at that.
The rope took out a chunk of muscle from his thigh about the size of a softball barely missing the femoral artery. His buddy balled up a t-shirt and stuffed it into the wound.
I don't know anymore how they contacted for help but they took off down the logging roads and met an EMS crew or something who met up with a chopper who flew him to a hospital.
The doc happened to be a Viet Nam vet and this type of wound was not new to him. They kept him for two weeks then he was transported to a hospital closer to home.
With time, he healed pretty well but must spend perhaps an hour a day with a device on his leg that somehow manipulates the blood flow which is now normally limited to his lower leg. His buddy said that his injury would have killed a normal man but our friend is one tough old bird and of course a Marine.
