Editor-in-Chief, A.J. Heightman comments:This tragic loss of life and injuries to multiple firefighters points out the hazards involved in fires of any size and nature, and the need for EMS crews on standby at all fire incidents to have personnel and gear at-the-ready to manage any injuries that occur during the fire s management. You never know when a small fire will take off and escalate — or explode into a major incident, when a floor will collapse under a fire crew, or a ceiling will fall in on an attack team. Standby crews need to set up for patient management at any fire scene. This can be accomplished by “gearing up” a stretcher with all the essentials needed to manage an illness or injury, setting up a basic rehabilitation area that can be quickly converted to a primary treatment area if something goes wrong, or officially setting up color-coded triage and treatment areas at a fire scene. Crews may grumble about the set-up and tear-down of tarps and gear if nothing happends during a fire call, but everyone will appreciate it if (and when) something goes wrong.
ST. ANNA, Wis. (WKOW) — One firefighter was killed and nine others hurt in an explosion at a manufacturing plant in the eastern Wisconsin town of St. Anna.
Calumet County authorities were on the scene overnight after the accident, which happened at Bremer Manufacturing around 7:20 p.m.
Firefighters were called to a report of a fire in a dumpster next to the building. While trying to put the fire out, the explosion happened.
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