Incident Name:
Date: 11/15/1987
Personnel: Allen A Wilde
Age: 59
Agency/Organization: Swansea Fire Department, Swansea, Massachusetts
Position: firefighter
Summary: On November 15, 1987, Allen A Wilde suffered a heart attack and died while working on a brush fire.
Maps
Swansea Fire Department, Swansea, Massachusetts
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Reports, Documentation, Lessons Learned
- Record from the National Wildfire Coordinating Group’s list of Historical Wildland Firefighter Fatalities 1910-1996
- Year: 1987
- Name of Incident / Location: Swansea, MA, Vol. FD
- Fatalities: 1
- Agency: PVT.
- Fire behavior: Unknown
- Remarks: Heart attack at a brush fire.
- Excerpt from Protective Clothing for Wildland Fire Suppression …Protective Clothing for Wildland Fire Suppression
The article that this was transcribed from is no longer online — was at tinhelmet.com under archives_files/mauney_wildland.pdf
The following portion was apparently a MTDC review of deaths of firefighters (1985-1999) wearing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) not designed for wildland fire conditions.
The following has info on firefighters that died… Ch 8 (pp 26-27) heart attack and heat stroke fatalities.
“The following individual firefighter fatality information was obtained from NFPA, NIOSH, and OSHA investigation reports as well as personal interviews with department personnel.”
6.1 East Coast Fatalities
(snip)
Swansea, MA, Captain Alan Wilde died of a heart attack while fighting a grass fire on November 11, 1987. After wearing structural PPE for approximately two hours he collapsed and died. This information was verified via three separate personnel within his department.
- MTDC: 1993 – Components of Wildland Fire Personal Protective Equiipment (PPE)
- Allen A Wilde, Swansea Fire Department, Swansea, Massachusetts
- United States Social Security Death Index: AA Wilde
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Wildlandfire.com Links:
Media Articles and Reports
Photos, Videos, & Tributes
- USFA Memorial Database: Allen A Wilde and honored on a plaque at the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial at Emmitsburg, Maryland.
Contributors to this article: Mellie
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