Request a FFFIPP Investigation

Purpose

Investigations identify contributing factors and prevention actions for the fire service. The program may also visually inspect and evaluate self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) to determine if they may have contributed to the fatality or serious injury. Findings are available in the final reports that are posted to our website.

Request an investigation

Complete the form and click ‘Submit’ to send an investigation request to FFFIPP.

Investigation steps

1. Request or receive a request for an investigation

Who can request an investigation?

• Fire department representatives
• Fire service representative organizations (e.g. The International Association of Fire Fighters)
• State Fire Marshal's Offices (FMO)
• NIOSH (Based on media coverage)

How do you submit an investigation request?

An investigation request can be submitted to FFFIPP using the form above. FFFIPP may reach out to the involved fire department after receiving an investigation request from IAFF or State FMO. Investigations are voluntary, including the affected fire department. Based on the needs of the investigation, the seriously injured firefighter, the firefighter’s family, and the affiliated IAFF local, may also participate in the investigation.

Note: The NIOSH FFFIPP trauma team often receives investigation requests, and the medical team requests them.

2. Prioritize investigation based on available resources and program guidelines

How do we prioritize investigations?

We are unable to investigate every death or serious injury due to the program's limited resources. We balance initiating new investigations with the time needed to complete ongoing reports. Once notified, we review each event to prioritize it for a NIOSH investigation using prioritization guidelines developed by NIOSH with the fire service community.

3. Conduct the site visit

How do we conduct a site visit?

A NIOSH investigator works with the fire department to schedule a site visit. For traumatic deaths or serious injuries, we work to conduct a site visit within two weeks of the event. For structure fires, this allows us to evaluate the fire building before demolition or returning property to the owner or insurance company. Medical investigations may wait until the medical examiner’s report is available as the cause(s) of death is often needed to determine if an investigation would be helpful to the fire service.

NIOSH investigators will request certain materials/records before or during the site visit. A list of these documents is available to the fire department once the department agrees to participate in an investigation. These can include department documents such as site diagrams, available photos and videos, department standard operating procedures, policies and guidelines, NFIRS/NERIS, dispatch records, training records, and departmental policies. These can also include medical documents such as the firefighter's medical records, coroner/medical examiner's reports, death certificates, and other agency reports (if applicable).

Interviews

Interviews are one of the most important components of the site visit. Interviews are voluntary and are not recorded. The interviewer takes notes that represent their interpretation of the interview. We use our interview notes and the applicable documents to describe the conditions and circumstances leading to the deaths or serious injuries. These event circumstances provide context for our final report.

Note: We do not release interview notes or other protected information, including in response to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

Interviewees

We work with the fire department to identify who may be interviewed. Interviewees may include fire department personnel at the event, department leadership, and others.

Investigators

Investigators are safety professionals and medical officers with training and experience in fireground and non-fireground hazards. Many of our investigators have experience working in the fire service in firefighter and fire officer roles.

Subject matter expertise

We may work closely with other investigating agencies. When we do not have the necessary subject matter expertise, we enlist the help of others, such as experts in building construction or fire modeling.

The personal protective equipment team of FFFIPP can be included in trauma or medical investigations when the function or performance of respiratory protective equipment may have been a contributing factor to the death or serious injury. NIOSH is the federal agency responsible for evaluating and approving respirators used in U.S. workplace settings. Investigators conduct in-depth testing, visual inspection, and evaluation related to the performance of self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBAs).

4. Prepare the report

How do we prepare a report?

Once the investigation is complete, we draft a report using information from interviews and requested documentation to describe the event, identify possible contributing factors, and inform prevention actions. To ensure the draft report is accurate we share it with the involved fire department and we may also include the seriously injured firefighter, the firefighter’s family, and union. Fire service subject-matter experts also review the entire draft report. Reports do not name the fire department, firefighter, or other firefighters involved in the event. FFFIPP then receives and addresses feedback from these reviews to prepare the final report.

5. Publish the report

How do we share the report?

FFFIPP posts the final version of the report to the website. FFFIPP notifies the fire department, the seriously injured firefighter, firefighter's family, and union (if applicable) when the final report is available. All NIOSH reports and publications are public domain and may be freely copied and reproduced for training and educational purposes.

Firefighter resource announcements are periodically sent to update email subscribers.