Learning from Critical Incidents: How to Complete a Case Study for the Purpose of Training

Firefighting is an inherently dangerous job and sadly numerous firefighters lose their lives each year to hostile fire events. On February 12, 2007, the Ottawa Fire Service came close to losing five firefighters when they were forced to jump from multiple windows of a multi-story residential building, narrowly escaping a rapidly developing fire. All sustained injuries, some critical, leaving them wondering what happened and why? Critical incident investigations are legislated under the Safety Act of Ontario and are developed to discover the underlying causes in order to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future. For the Forward Avenue fire, a 100- page worker’s report was developed in which many recommendations were made. The development of the From Knowledge To Practice (FKTP) fire dynamics program was a result of these recommendations and with the help of a case study review template and fire dynamics training, the what and why of this pivotal fire for the Ottawa Fire Service has become clearer. In this 2-hour program, Carissa will begin by giving you a firsthand perspective of the Forward Avenue fire as one of the firefighters who was critically injured having jumped from the 4th story window. Carissa will share her understanding of the events based on photos and her experience as one of the first crews on scene. Cheryl will then break the Worker’s Report down into vital components highlighting the cause and effect of firefighting efforts using the FKTP Case Study template and Carissa’s experience as a guide. The information will be presented in an organized way that promotes a valuable training opportunity for firefighters.

Cheryl Hunt has been firefighting for 18 years having begun her career with the Ottawa Fire Service in 2003. She is now an Acting Lieutenant and Safety Officer in suppression. For the past 6 years Cheryl has been learning the finer skills of enclosure fire dynamics and has become one of the elite lead instructors for the “From Knowledge To Practice” Fire Dynamics program, based in Ottawa, ON. This partially federally funded program is founded on science and modern fire attack tactics and aims to bring a standard language to firefighting across Canada. Cheryl has recently become a fire dynamics instructor with the Ontario Fire College and is enjoying the opportunity to be able to expand the reach of the program and share the knowledge and experience she has gained with firefighters across Ontario.

Carissa Campbell-Darmody is a 15-year fire fighter/hazmat technician with the Ottawa Fire Services. Carissa’s career began in the fall of 2006. At her first station, downtown Ottawa, Carissa was a member of the first in crews involved in a devastating fire which turned out to be a pivotal event for OFS. As a rookie, new to the world of firefighting, Carissa will share her story and her lessons learned from that day. Carissa has since become an instructor for the FKTP Fire Dynamics program in an effort to better understand what happened that day, and to do her part to ensure that her fellow firefighters will hopefully never have to what she did.