Ann DeMatteo, Assistant Metro Editor
09/24/2007

Hamden Fire Chief Dave Berardesca, left, holds a rescue device developed by New Haven firefighter Eric George, center. At right is New Haven firefighter Frank Ricci. (Jeff Holt/Register)

HAMDEN — When 60 firefighters from across the country come to Hamden Thursday, they’ll be part of a cutting-edge experiment that will test a new piece of rescue equipment, as well as the gases firefighters inhale when they run out of air.

Firefighters from Los Angeles, New York City, Detroit, Indianapolis, Dallas, Bergen County, N.J., and Montgomery County, Md., as well as ones from New Haven, Middletown, Hartford and Naugatuck, will be going into a burning building on Putnam Avenue while wearing the Last Chance Rescue Filter, a device conceived by New Haven firefighter Eric George.

Simultaneously, the Yale School of Medicine will monitor the oxygen, carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide levels in the environment. Fire temperatures also will be gauged. The meter readings and the data are expected to be published by Dr. David C. Cone and the National Fire Protection Association.

"We are using a non-invasive breath analyzer to measure carbon monoxide levels in the participating firefighters," said Cone, associate professor of emergency medicine and public health and chief of emergency medicine at Yale.

Fire Engineering Magazine will be filming and reporting on the exercise.

The fires will be set on the second floor of the house and in the automotive repair shop once owned by the Dadio family. The town has recently acquired the 11-acre site at 466 Putnam Ave. consisting of the buildings and vacant land for the new home for the Hamden Fire Department.

"The whole thing is a survivability study for the Last Chance respirator and the conditions firefighters encounter" on the job, said New Haven firefighter Frank Ricci, who is coordinating the event in his role as the director of fire services for the Connecticut Council on Occupational Safety and Health.

"Traditionally, firefighters and victims are just treated for carbon monoxide poisoning when they have smoke inhalation. So now, with this study, it will enhance awareness for the medical community and firefighters about gases and the products of combustion that firefighters face," Ricci said.

The new device has only been tested in laboratories, so the trial run Thursday will determine how effective it is in a real-life simulation, Ricci said. "The data from the meters will help firefighters better understand the environment we operate in and the environment we find victims in," he said. B. W. Honeywell is providing the meters for the experiment.

George, a New Haven firefighter for close to 21 years, said he wrote to several manufacturers about the idea for the device, which he has patented, before Essex P, B & R Industries of St. Louis, Mo. came forward.

The Last Chance Rescue Filter, a Thermos-looking canister which attaches to an air mask, provides 15 minutes of oxygen to a firefighter who is trying to escape a fire and is facing an "out-of-air emergency."

The product is being advertised and will be available Oct. 1. "We’re trying to get it to be standardized equipment for fire departments," George said.

The canister filters out gases firefighters encounter and changes carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide, George said. "Carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide is what’s been killing firefighters," he said.

Firefighting remains one of the nation’s most dangerous jobs, with 100 killed and 81,000 injured in the line of duty annually. According to the National Fire Protection Association, 264 firefighters lost their lives in structure fires from 1995 to 2004. Two New York City firefighters recently died from smoke inhalation.

"Firefighters continue to run out of air and we’re trying to find a way to protect them," Ricci said.

The results of the study will provide the academic and practical communities with information on oxygen levels in a structure fire, Ricci said.

"Never has this been done anywhere. We’re hoping that if this is validated, we will see the tangible result of a firefighter going home to see his kids instead of his kids going to his funeral. And that’s why everybody from all over the country is coming to participate in this burn," Ricci said.

Ricci said the event wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for the cooperation of Hamden Fire Chief David Berardesca and Mayor Craig B. Henrici. Hamden firefighters will put out the fires and the New Haven Fire Department will provide equipment and other resources.

The burn will take place at 466 Putnam Ave. from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., so motorists are being advised to avoid the area during that period.

In recent weeks, Ricci and others, including Hamden public works employees and firefighters, have been getting the former Dadio household and auto repair shop ready for the event.

"It’s been complicated, but (the study) will be so helpful to all firefighters across the country," said Berardesca. "It’s been a huge undertaking."

"It says something for Hamden when you have major cities all coming here to participate in a study. That speaks to the quality of the department," Ricci said.

As a follow-up to the burn, the Hamden Fire Department on Friday will sponsor a lecture by Ricci and Dr. David G. Penney, a foremost expert on carbon monoxide poisoning from Detroit. The lecture will be held at 1 p.m. Friday at the New Haven Fire Training Academy on Ella T. Grasso Boulevard.

©New Haven Register 2007