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Ind. agency: Firefighters lacked rescue training

A volunteer fire department will stop attempting some rescues of trapped people after state safety inspectors found that firefighters weren't properly trained when they tried to save two workers who were fatally overcome by acid fumes, a fire chief said.In a report issued last month, the...

A volunteer fire department will stop attempting some rescues of trapped people after state safety inspectors found that firefighters weren't properly trained when they tried to save two workers who were fatally overcome by acid fumes, a fire chief said.

In a report issued last month, the Indiana Department of Labor found that Liberty Township firefighters not trained in confined-space rescue entered a 5 foot wide-by-12 foot deep well pit at a home near Muncie in May, The Star Press reported Thursday.

In that accident, authorities said plumber Eric Dalton, 40, passed out in the pit because of fumes from an acid used to clean pipes and that co-worker Justin Benson, 19, was also overcome when he tried to help Dalton.

Volunteer firefighters Rick Compton Sr. and Brian Buck arrived at the scene in their personal vehicles and street clothes ahead of their fellow firefighters, who were traveling in fire trucks with rescue gear. Compton and Buck entered the well unaware of the dangerous fumes below.

All four men were unconscious when other firefighters arrived. Dalton and Benson, both of Anderson, died, while the two firefighters recovered after hospitalizations.

The fire department is changing its practices to avoid having to pay a $1,500 fine from the state agency, Chief Brent Devine said.

The department will "make sure we are not doing anything we are not trained in," Devine said. "We also have stopped the use of all personal vehicles driving to the scene like Rick and Brian did."

Devine said it would take his department three years to properly train and equip its firefighters for confined-space rescue.

"All we can do in the future is get there, recognize the confined space, and call for a confined-space rescue team," he said.

The Muncie Fire Department has such a team. The newspaper reported Muncie firefighters trained in confined-space rescue worked with a Liberty Township firefighter wearing a self-contained breathing apparatus to pull the four victims from the well pit.

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Information from: The Star Press, http://www.thestarpress.com

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