Woman dies after being struck by fire hose
February 1, 2010 by Fred HosierPosted in: Bizarre Accident of the Week, Fatality, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, Transportation safety
The Bureau of Labor Statistics says 10% of all workplace deaths are caused by employees being struck by objects or equipment.
In this case, it was a bystander who was hit, but the story still conveys the need for employees to make sure equipment and stock is always safely secured.
An 82-year-old woman died two days after a hose dangling off a passing fire truck struck her in Cambridge, MA.
The truck was on the way to a fire call when a hose slipped out of a compartment on the vehicle’s side.
The driver didn’t know the hose was unspooling.
Police say as the truck turned a corner, “the hose swung around like a slingshot and the (metal nozzle) end of the hose” hit Gertrude King behind the knees.
King had been standing on an island median waiting for the truck to pass.
The Cambridge Fire Department is investigating why the hose came loose.
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Tags: Bureau of Labor Statistics, secure equipment, struck-by
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February 2nd, 2010 at 2:41 am
tsk..this is so sad…Everyone must prioritize safety to avoid accidents like this!
February 10th, 2010 at 1:58 pm
THIS IS UNCALL FOR BECAUSE OF SOMEONES ACTIONS OF NOT MAKING SURE THE HOSE’S WERE SECURE, BUT IT DOES HAPPEN, WE ARE HUMAN AND WE MAKE MISTAKES, THIS TIME SOMEONE LOST THEIR LIFE AND I’M SURE THAT THE PERSON RESPONSIABLE FOR SECURING THE HOSE’S HATES IT HAPPEN. WE SHOULD ALWAYS THINK SAFETY NO MATTER WHERE WE ARE, WORKING, SHOPPING, WALKING IN THE PARK, EVERYWHERE, ACCIDENTS CAN AND DO HAPPEN WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT IT TO.
March 4th, 2010 at 11:38 am
It’s really sad when things like this happen. A fireman’s entire lively hood is to try to help others when they need it the most. They are always going into the face of great danger, almost without reservation. A long time ago I rode the back of a “pumper” or now called engine company. And with the advent of additional safety we were move inside the truck behind the cab. One of the things we did to help keep this sort of thing from happening was to place the loose end of the fire hose down into the folds of the hose which lay underneath ( going from the top layer of hose to the lower layer of hose). This sometimes would cause a slight delay in connecting the hose to the fire plug on the street but with practice in connecting the hose, this down turn in time was soon overcome. In the old days the hose coupling was made of brass and was heavy somewhere around two and a half to three pounds.Today they are made of a composit of lighter materials. Still it is not difficult to understand the physics involved when the hose, along with the coupling being driven down the street by a tuck going thirty or forty miles an hour or less. The shear mass of the truck along with the hose being bounced around can and obviously is a very dangerous situation.
My heart goes out to the family of the bereaved and also to those involved in the fire department. It is all too easy to say “what if ” and be an arm chair quarter back. It is another story all together to live with the results, never easy.