The Illinois Department of Labor’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health released a scathing report of the Beardstown Fire Department yesterday about a May 2021 apartment building fire at the former Myers Hotel that injured 3 firefighters, one of which was the fire chief. The names of the injured were not included in the report.
The report says the injuries to the firefighters were directly caused by “exposure to a fall hazard of approximately 21 feet from an emergency bailout due to rapidly deteriorating fire conditions.”
The report further says that key factors contributing to injuries were a lack of initial incident command, search and rescue operations taking place above an active fire without fire suppression in place, and firefighters performing search and rescue operations in zero visibility without a hoseline or tagline.
As a result of the investigation. the fire department was issued 8 citations for violations. Two citations were classified as repeat violations with monetary penalties. The report identifies 15 indirect causes of the incident and provides 19 recommendations to reduce the chances of a similar outcome in the future.
Reports about the incident and the IL OSHA report can be found here and here.