CAUTION: Hazard On-Board
Earlier this year the U.S. Fire Administration completed a long-term study on the safe operation of water tenders. The study was to document statistical information on water-tender accidents in an attempt to reduce those numbers through recommendations based on the statistics.
For the past several years, according to NFPA statistics, about 25% of firefighter fatalities were due to vehicle accidents, making them the second leading cause of all firefighter deaths. While almost half of those accidents involved firefighters responding in personal vehicles, the next leading type of accident involved water tenders.
Further dissection of the statistics shows the majority of the accident victims to be between the ages of 20 and 29, followed by the 30-39 age bracket. Two-thirds of the victims were drivers, with the remainder riding in the right front seat. Sadly, one glaring statistic showed that 75% of the victims weren't wearing seatbelts. Most accidents took place between noon and 3 p.m. About half of the accidents were the result of the right front wheel leaving the road first, and half were the result of excessive speed.
Looking at studies of both injury and non-injury accidents, there were five main causes: backing accidents, reckless driving, excessive speed, lack of driver experience and poor apparatus design.
In an effort to categorize the accidents so as to make safety recommendations, the study team came up with five categories, each of which gave the researchers plenty of information for making recommendations on water tender safety. Those groupings are:
- Human factors
- Driving surfaces
- Apparatus design
- Emergency scene
Human factors are the result of some form of negligence, such as insufficient training. Drivers who aren't ready to take control of these vehicles cause accidents. Even when they have been trained, a lack of real-world experience behind the wheel caused a great many accidents. Other accidents were linked to the inability of inexperienced drivers to recognize danger signs. A good driver training program is a must, as well as actual behind-the-wheel experience.
Another human factor was excessive speed, which was the cause of many of the accidents. Lack of seatbelt use is a human factor that affects survivability. Although most fire departments have SOPs for drivers that address response speed and seatbelt use, it was found that a good number of those SOPs had been disobeyed.
The lack of seatbelt use by 75% of accident victims is alarming in light of DOT statistics:
- 75% of people ejected from a vehicle will die.
- 80% of fatalities in rollover accidents involved occupants ejected from the vehicle.
- Occupants are 22 times more likely to be thrown from the vehicle in a rollover when not wearing seatbelts.
Apparatus design is a big category when determining the cause of water-tender accidents, because it covers a number of issues.
The first is vehicle weight. Overweight vehicles aren't as stable as those of safe weights. Many accidents showed the tender to be too heavy for the given road surface. The surface broke down, causing the vehicle to become unstable and contributing to accidents. A second problem encountered many times was the effect of overweight vehicles on stopping distance. Stopping in traffic or slowing due to road conditions was compromised by the weight of the vehicles.
Another factor in the design deficiency of water tenders was vehicle age. Next time you see a department's fleet of apparatus, take a look at the age of the water tenders. They are kept in service far longer on average than fire engines, but they tend not to receive the attention to detail that the newer units receive. These older apparatus will deteriorate more and show fatigue in their mechanics and materials. Neglect in the general maintenance of many of the wrecked vehicles was an issue.
An unusually high center of gravity was another problem with older water tenders. The higher center of gravity reduces road stability, especially at higher speeds and in curves. Newer units tend to be built with a much lower center of gravity in an effort to improve this deficiency.
Accident investigations also pointed out that many units had undergone improper modifications. Agencies had added racks, cabinetry and other external fabrications to the units to carry more equipment in addition to the water. These fabrications had a detrimental affect on apparatus stability.
Some departments had even replaced an older tank with a larger one on the same chassis. The frames were not designed for this added weight and bulk. In some cases the water tender had been rebuilt to carry something other than water. The changed material contributed to accidents by causing frame and chassis failure. Another overlooked item when changing the substance carried was the needed change in baffling. Water tenders are built to account for the movement of water; other substances move differently and contribute to instability and accidents.
In many cases the driving surface wasn't meant for this type of vehicle. One example is the road design itself; in many cases the road's high center was the cause of accidents.
Another deficiency is improperly banked turns. A high center of gravity, increased speed and an improperly banked turn will lead to an accident unless the driver is aware of the hazard and drives cautiously. When examining the banking of turns, the steepness of grade should also be considered. Steep grades, whether driving up or down, led to a number of accidents.
The surface itself also can be a factor in accidents. Anything other than a good, hard surface can lead to an accident, including muddy roads, dirt roads and gravel roads.
The emergency scene itself was a contributing factor in a number of water tender accidents, with scene congestion as the largest factor. Emergency units vying for space in a confined area led to a number of collisions.
The road space itself was a factor on the emergency scene. Narrow streets, poles, signs, and low-hanging or over-arching trees all create hazards. In some cases bystanders who were in the way caused accidents.
The accident rates and number of fatalities of water tender operators is unacceptable. The study pointed out a large number of contributing factors and made suggestions for their remedy. Driver training programs, better apparatus design, proper maintenance programs, and responsible behavior on the part of the drivers and passengers will all help to reduce this alarming trend.
Sadly, as this article was being written, I heard of yet another water-tender driver fatality. The 47-year-old man, who had been on the department for more than 20 years, rolled his water tender off of a steep mountain road and was ejected from the vehicle as it rolled several times down a slope. The cause of his leaving the roadway is yet to be determined.
Dennis Childress is a captain with the Orange County (Calif.) Fire Authority who teaches fire science and command throughout the state. He is currently working on a new 40-hour state fire officer course for wildland-urban interface tactics and strategy and has just finished a similar course for the NWCG/NFPA that is offered through the NFPA as an instructional package. He sits on the board of directors for the Southern California Fire Training Officer's Association, chairs the California State Firefighters Association's Health and Safety Committee, and sits on the NFPA 1500 Committee.
| Failure to wear seatbelts | 31 |
| Wheels left the right side of the road | 25 |
| Excessive speed | 21 |
| Fatally injured individuals ejected from the apparatus | 20 |
| Overcorrection when attempting to bring right wheels back onto the road surface | 19 |
| Failure to negotiate a curve | 17 |
| Loss of control while descending a grade | 6 |
| Failure to follow posted speed recommendations on a curve | 3 |
| Mechanical failure | 2 |
| Poor road condition | 1 |
| Poor apparatus design | 1 |
| Driver inattention | 1 |
| Unknown | 1 |
| Impairment by prescription medication | 1 |
| Failure to stop at an intersection | 1 |
| Source: USFA | |
| State | Crashes |
|---|---|
| Texas | 6 |
| California | 3 |
| Virginia | 3 |
| Kentucky | 3 |
| Tennessee | 3 |
| Mississippi | 3 |
| Pennsylvania | 3 |
| Arkansas | 2 |
| Louisiana | 2 |
| Missouri | 2 |
| Alabama | 1 |
| Indiana | 1 |
| Michigan | 1 |
| North Carolina | 1 |
| Oregon | 1 |
| South Carolina | 1 |
| Washington | 1 |
| West Virginia | 1 |
| Source: USFA | |
The Safe Operation of Fire Tankers manual provides comprehensive information regarding the safety practices and principles of fire tanker vehicles for local-level fire departments.
As part of this project effort, a panel of technical experts in the areas of fire service emergency vehicle operations, emergency vehicle maintenance, fire tanker design and tanker water shuttle operations provided detailed recommendations on how to enhance the safety of fire tanker operations that were incorporated into the manual.
Download Safe Operations of Fire Tankers from www.usfa.fema.gov or order limited quantities from the USFA Publications Office, 16825 S. Seton Ave., Emmitsburg, Md. 21727; 800-561-3356 or 301-447-1189, fax: 301-447-1213.
