Shortly after 6 p.m. Friday, October 16, Pikesville Volunteer Fire Company’s Confined Space Team was alerted to respond to the Constellation Energy facility at 1001 Carroll Island Road (Box 21-10) for a reported worker trapped in a silo. Ten PVFC CST32 firefighters grabbed their confined space bags and jumped on Squad 322, Tower 323 and Utilitty 329 to make the 27 mile drive through the cold and steady rain to the far edge of Bowley's Quarters in eastern Baltimore County. <br>
Bowley’s Quarters Squad 213 arrived first, confirming a working confined space rescue with an injured but conscious victim at the bottom of a silo. A worker had fallen from the 8th floor into a coal silo, approximately 130 feet above grade. The worker's initial fall was approximately 80 ft before he struck the sloped bottom and slid into the bottom portion of the hopper (over 120 ft below from where he fell). Prior to the fire department’s arrival, workers had already began ventilating the silo and their remote air monitoring found 21% oxygen at the victims location. <br>
Prior to CST32's arrival, S213, Truck 221 (Middle River volunteers), E54 (Chase career) S262 (North Point-Edgemere volunteer) and SU267 had begun to develop a rescue plan. Upon their arrival CST32's crews hauled up large amounts of rope and hardware, and when BCoFD USAR17 (Texas career) arrived they brought the rest of the required equipment to the rescue area. The rescue crews held a brief discussion to finalize the rescue plans after discussing the options, and ensured that everyone was on the same page. Rescue operations were switched to an alternate radio channel for rescue restricted communications. Due to the extremely dangerous working environment, all rescuers working near the confined space were required to be in a Class 3 harness, secured into one of two steel cable tag lines with a fall arrester. <br>
Crews utilized 3 vertical steel I-beams as the bomb-proof anchor points for the 6 rope systems in place. A secure steel cable sling located above the confined space was used for a change of direction point for some of the rope systems, including the main haul line. The CST's from 32, 17, and 26 set up a 3:1 Z-rig as the haul line, which was modified with a bar rack to lower the rescuers and equipment. Additional belay lines and tag lines were also put into place to ensure additional safety. With the extremely limited amount of working space, one of the challenges was keeping the various rope systems apart from each other. Due to the possibility of coal dust at the bottom of the silo, the Supplied Air Breathing Apparatus was utilized for the rescuers. With a high priority patient anticipated, two Confined Space Tech's with paramedic certification were elected to enter the confined space. Three additional Confined Space Tech's from CST 32 stood by as the RIT. <br>
FF/PM Ross (S322) was the first rescuer in the confined space, advising a Priority 1 - Category A trauma patient. He found that the area where the patient had ended up was narrow and approximately 5 feet in length, and that the SABAs were not necessary based on the air quality. Upon administering oxygen, the patient became more alert and was able to hold a conversation. FF/PM Lyons (USAR17) entered next and assisted FF/PM Ross with packaging and stabilization. Crews decided to use a LSP to remove the patient from the confined space. The patient was lifted with the 3:1 haul system and turned over to awaiting BCoFD personnel and the Shock Trauma Go Team. A MSP medevac helicopter had been requested earlier in the incident, but Trooper 1 located just around the corner at Martin State Airport was down due to weather. The patient was extricated in approximately 2 hours 45 minutes from the time of dispatch. Once extricated, the two rescuers in the bottom of the silo were removed vertically using the same rope systems. After extensive cleanup and a quick debriefing, Pikesville units headed home more than four hours after the initial response. <br>
Units on scene
BC3 E54 T221 S213 USAR17 TOW17 M17 CST26 S262 SU267 CST32 S322 TOW323 U329 M54 M55 EMS4 AU426 HM114 F14 RH154 RH155
Photos courtesy Greg Skirvanis - MRVFC Company 22