Fire Service Vehicle Accidents - Research Paper Example

The driver was unable to control the tanker and it run out of the road to the sideways. The sideways of the road were observed to have scanty grass cover, with sand and dirt that aligned along the edge of the road. When the tanker swerved out of the road into the sideways, the sand and the dirt lining caused it to skid. The driver tried to control it by taking it back to the road. This is when it overturned several times before it rested upside down on the road. The driver was thrown out of the tanker completely, a distance of 10 feet away while the other accompanying firefighter was moved halfway out of the tanker.

The two firefighters died instantly on the scene of the accident. The tanker was observed to have been travelling at a speed of 50 Mph and none of the two firefighters riding in the tanker had a seat belt on (NIOSH, 11). There are policies that guide the field of firefighting in North Carolina, that were in place prior to the occurrence of the accident. It was required that the firefighters are 18 years of age and above, and the firefighter needed to complete a period of 90 days while still under probation of the fire service department.

Furthermore, under the fire fighting policies of this State, any fire fighter should attend training in live fire, before they embark on participating in structure fire rescues (IAFC, 108). The firefighters are also required to attend a minimum of 36 hour training every year, in order to keep in touch and maintain the desired consistency and strength in fire fighting. The fire fighting department had adopted and put in place some Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), that the fire fighters needed to observe any time they were in the line of duty.

The fire fighters needed to be in full fire fighting gear, in possession of communications equipment and to be putting on the self contained breathing apparatus (AIFC, 83). However, the Fire