‘Lost, Trapped, and Disoriented’. According to a ten-year study by the U.S. Fire Administration, these are the second leading cause of all firefighter deaths in the United States. In fact, according to a study of non-cardiac fireground deaths by the National Fire Protection Administration (NFPA), firefighters today are twice as likely to be killed inside a structure as compared to 30 years ago. The job is getting more dangerous.

Sixty-three percent of structural firefighter deaths list asphyxiation as the cause of death. Clearly, firefighters are not saving enough air to get out if the fire does not go ‘just right’. Solving this problem is complicated by an outdated piece of federal regulation that prevents an SCBA’s low air alarm from being adjusted above 25%. The result is that most fire service SCBA leave the user with a mere four to six minutes of exit air.

The Columbus Fire Fighters Union is undertaking an effort to change this outdated federal regulation to allow fire service users of SCBA the ability to adjust the low air warning alarm to warn users earlier. This will result in increased exit time and a greater margin of safety.

We need your help to make this happen. Changing a federal regulation takes broad support to accomplish. Please take a minute and submit a comment in favor of this change.

Sponsored By The Columbus Firefighters Union IAFF Local 67