Firefighter's Death Continues to Save Others

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The death of an Amarillo, Texas firefighter has been instrumental in saving the lives of countless other firefighters. Responding to an alarm in April 2005, Christopher Brian Hunton was not wearing his seat belt when the door of the fire truck he was sitting next to popped open and he fell out. Hunton, 27, died two days later from his injuries.

After hearing of this death, Dr. Burt Clark, a training specialist with the United States Fire Administration (USFA)  at the National Fire Academy said it was painful to learn that a graduate of the academy had become a statistic. In 2006, he started the "Brian Hunton National Fire Service and EMS Seat Belt Pledge" now an international program to encourage all firefighters to buckle up on duty. 

"Brian could have been in any department because we're so lax," Clark told the Amarillo Globe-News. "It's tragic because we're still losing firefighters each year because of seat belts. We can fix this. It's about every firefighter doing the right thing so they can go home to their family."

Today, more than 143,000 firefighters and EMS personnel have taken the Brian Hunton pledge. About 500 fire departments in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and England have been added to the 100% compliance list. When all members of a department sign the pledge, that department is 100% compliant and they receive a certificate. Amarillo did not officially sign on to the pledge until September, according to the paper. They were presented with their certificate just last week.

"We had to change our culture," Deputy Fire Chief Monty Owens said to the newspaper. "We were very lackadaisical in wearing our seat belts. (We had to) look at the whole safety issue of the department."

"We try to do everything safe, but sometimes we forget the obvious," Lt. James Williams, president of the Amarillo Professional Firefighters Association said. "Seat belts being one." All new trucks come standard with seat belts so as he put it, there is no excuse not to buckle up. Williams went on to say, "We've got a dangerous enough job as it is."

After Hunton died, the department formed "Team Brian" to encourage safety, mentoring and other programs. "The Amarillo Fire Department made a promise to itself that we were not going to have this happen again," Williams said.

In 2008, that promise came true when in snowy and icy conditions a firetruck swerved to avoid a car, slid off the interstate, rolled, crushing the cab. All firefighters were wearing their seat belts and all walked away from the accident.

Today in Amarillo, there are more than 240 firefighters and no one pulls out of the fire station before putting on a seat belt, according to the Globe-News.

"There's not a fireman that gets in a fire truck that does not buckle his seat belt," Williams said. "It's an automatic thing that we do now that we don't ever question."

For more information on the  Brian Hunton pledge visit, www.trainingdivision.com/SeatBeltPledge.asp. To download the seat belt pledge visit, www.everyonegoeshome.com/resources/pledge.pdf.



Author:Barbara Brooks - FDNNTV.com