January 14, 2008
In 2005, Exponent was retained by the Fire Department, City of New York (FDNY) to provide independent, third-party engineering consulting and technical review services related to FDNY’s design and procurement of personal safety systems (PSSs) for use by its members. A PSS is a system of components intended to provide a firefighter with the means for self-rescue, and is carried by all fire fighters at all times when performing operations. Exponent analyzed and assessed FDNY’s efforts to ensure that the PSS met FDNY’s requirements, and that the system provided a suitable and efficient means of exiting a structure if conditions become untenable.
On New Years Eve, a New York fire fighter used the PSS for the first time since it had been issued. Working on the fourth floor of a wood-frame building at 540 Willoughby Avenue, at 3:41 a.m., a firefighter encountered flames blocking his means of egress. With no other means of escape, the firefighter hooked his PSS to the window frame and escaped outside, where he dangled below the ledge. Firefighters manning the aerial equipment immediately moved their apparatus to meet him and lower him to safety. Click here to read the full story.
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