Maine Firefighter Suffers Spinal Injury During Training Drill

A Maine firefighter suffered a spinal injury during a training drill last week.

Rockport Firefighter William "Billy" Smith suffered two lumbar fractures when he fell during a scenario, The Pen Bay Pilot reported.

Smith, also a local police officer, is being treated at Pen Bay Medical Center.

Smith's foot became caught up as he was making a controlled descent through a hole in the ceiling to the room below. 

Rockport Fire Chief Jason Peasley told the reporter that loaded down with 40-50 pounds of firefighting gear, and holding on to a charged line that acted like a rope to help him make the descent, Smith was unable to hold on while he worked to free his foot and lost his grip.

Smith fell about 4-feet, and landed flat on the floor below, on his back. He was wearing an SCBA.

After Smith fell, his gear was removed to make him more comfortable, and he was assessed by the trainers from Bangor Fire Department.

"He wanted to get up, but they kept telling him to stay down," said Peasley. "He did eventually stand up and was uncomfortable, and I took him out to my truck. Very quickly though, he was in agonizing pain. He refused an ambulance, so I took him in my truck to Pen Bay."

But, once at the emergency room, the chief had to get four people to help him get the injured firefighter out of his truck. 

From his hospital room Monday morning, Smith confirmed Peasley's details to the reporter.

"It was excruciating pain. I was yelling and crying, it was so bad."

The chief called it a "freak accident," saying the instructors told him the firefighter did everything correctly. "We had done the prior work and watched the videos, practiced the maneuvers..."

"Two other firefighters also fell, but they both landed on their sides and were able to walk away uninjured. Training is for learning, and that’s what we did this weekend.”

After Smith fell, the training continued. But, with one adjustment -- a pad was placed under the hole.

“They’re calling it the Billy Pad,” said Peasley. “But the reality is, the training doesn’t call for one, but now we know we want to use padding when we can, because Billy’s fall happened so fast the nearby instructors couldn’t get there fast enough to prevent it.”

Days before he fell, Smith was on patrol in Rockland when he stopped to sled with his kids and others. The video has since gone viral. 

"Today, I'm here with a broken back. Unbelievable," Smith told the reporter from his hospital bed.

He will be fitted for a back brace, and expects he'll have to wear it for six to eight weeks in it. So far, there is no talk of a need for surgery.

"We were such great training this weekend, the Bangor guys were so great to work with. I feel so bad that I got hurt, but it shows that our profession is dangerous. If this can happen in a controlled environment, where there's no actual pressure to save your life or someone else's and you can go slowly and take your time to do it right, bad things can still happen."