NIOSH Cites Factors in Firefighter's Death in Leonardtown, MD, House Fire

"Fire departments should develop policies to aid in the selection of the appropriate strategy and tactics for offensive, defensive, and transitional attacks."

That was one of the recommendations that NIOSH officials suggested following their probe of 2023 house fire in Leonardtown where Patuxent Naval Air Station Firefighter Brice Trossbach perished.

Two minutes after he and another firefighter launched an interior attack, he fell through the floor into the basement.

A rapid intervention team (RIT) and others made several attempts to rescue him. However, the operation became a recovery mission. 

His body was recovered nearly two hours later. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital. 

Richard McNeil, who owns the home, said he and his were overwhelmed with sadness about Trossbach's death. They escaped before firefighters arraived and were standing in a nearby yard. 

In addition to compromised situational awareness, investigators said other factors include:

• Ineffective risk/benefit analysis and scene size-up
• Ineffective use of appropriate strategy and tactics
• Ineffective professional development
• Lack of ongoing crew integrity
• Lack of information shared from 9-1-1 caller to responding unit

Recommendations include:

• Fire departments should develop and implement a professional development plan to ensure all personnel receive technical and academic competencies relative to the roles personnel are expected to perform on emergency scenes
• Incident commanders and company officers should ensure that crew integrity is properly maintained by visual, direct, or verbal (voice or radio) contact when operating in an immediately dangerous to life and health (IDLH) atmosphere.