Death examination report about the IRMO firefighter death published by death

Irmo, SC (WIS) -The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Niosh) has completed his death report on the fallen hero of Irmo, 25-year-old James Michael Müller.

In May 2023, the Columbia-Richland Fire Department (CRFD) reacted to a three-alarm fire in the Tropical Ridge Apartments in Columbia.

The fire was so strong that resources from the surrounding fire brigade were necessary, including the IRMO fire brigade.

According to CRFD, a Mayday was called, which had to be on site almost 60 firefighters to clear the building. The building collapsed and Müller was stuck inside.

Niosh is responsible for the investigation of the deaths of fire brigade at the request of a department. On Wednesday evening, the IRMO fire brigade published the investigation that they applied for after the incident.

This 30-page report immerse yourself in the contributions of the death of Müller and the most important recommendations for other fire brigades and the government communities. These can be checked here in the report.

The report says that the apartment complex had not installed a fire alarm or sprinkler systems, only single point smoke detectors were in the building.

One of the factors mentioned in the report was the “delayed water supply”.

The examination showed that in one of the closing hydrants and a greater supply of 4 'a hydrant cap had a hydrant cap when trying to maintain the water supply.

Fire control occupations then built a limited water supply through a 2 1/2 'hydrant outlet, while others had the supply to a hydrant of 300 feet.

This incorrect fire hydrant limited the amount of water that was available to combat the fire, which, according to the report, took a few minutes. A look at a recent report by Columbia Water showed that there are over 300 fire hydrants in the city of Columbia who need to be repaired.

The report says with seven years of experience in a fire brigade career, Müller's death followed the collapse of a multi -storey, easy building.

The loft bedroom on the fourth floor fell onto the third floor and drove to the second floor, which had locked Mullers Crew. According to the report, two of the firefighters were able to have two more self -dust tours for the report. A third firefighter of the crew was pulled out of the stack of rubble on the second floor.

2.5 tons of rubble collapsed on Müller; According to the report, he was packed and able to breathe 23 minutes after the collapse. Müller was pulled out 45 minutes after the collapse and brought to a regional hospital in which he was declared dead.

The Niosh report said there were three buildings nearby, all of which were destroyed by earlier fires and were not rebuilt. Records show that these two earlier fires, which took place in 2013 and 2017, were identical and led to a structural collapse and two injured firefighters in 2015.

Several recommendations were discussed in the report, including the guarantee of internal and external processes such as the water application. Firefighters operated during the incident within the structure, while the devices were applied to the structure of main streams outside of water.

The report says:

“Outside water application, such as master streams, should never be used directly in a building, in which firefighters work inside. These devices provide high water flows that can include the structural stability of the building. The power of water from a main stream can overflow through chimneys and walls. Many water amounts can be overwhelmed by thousands of thousands of weight to the structure components that have already been damaged and facilitated Add thousands of pound from weight to the already molested structural components.

The other recommendations and the determination of this report can be found here.

The report expressly does not name the Columbia Fire Department.

WIS News 10 contacted the department to receive a comment, but was rejected. A spokesman told WIS News 10 that the department “had never received anything more civil servants from Niosh in relation to the examination”.

WIS also turned to the IRMO fire brigade. Your answer is below:

“We are grateful for all the work that was submitted in the report. Understanding what happened in the fire helped us and the family of J helped to find a closure. J was well known and well looked at in our whole world and he is missing every day. The family has currently asked for privacy, and we ask you to respect that,” said Irmo fire chief Michael Sonfeld.

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