1990 09/06 KS Todd Colton

Incident Name:
Date: 9/6/1990
Personnel: Todd David Colton
Age: 25
Agency/Organization: Sedgewick County Fire Department Wichita, KS
Position: firefighter

Summary: On September 6th, 1990, Firefighter Colton and several other firefighters were fighting a brush fire. At approximately 4:03 pm, Colton was found collapsed on a car wheel and tire near a barbed wire fence. The fire was on the other side of the fence. It was determined that Firefighter Colton died of a heat stroke. The firefighters were wearing 40-50 lbs of equipment and operating in 94 degree temperatures with high humidity.

Maps

Sedgewick County Fire Department, Wichita, KS

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Reports, Documentation, Lessons Learned

USFA Memorial Database: Todd David Colton
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.”

6.2 Mid-West and West Coast Fatalities

(snip)

On September 6, 1990, Sedgwick County, Kansas, Firefighter Todd Colton died of heat stroke at a one acre grass fire. He was found dead in his structural PPE. The coroner listed his PPE as a factor contributing to his death. Two other firefighters suffered heat exhaustion at this fire while wearing structural PPE.
MTDC: 1993 – Components of Wildland Fire Personal Protective Equiipment (PPE)
US GenealogyBank Obituaries: Todd David Colton
Todd’s name and death date are included in the USFA Firefighter Fatality Retrospective Study, published April 2002 (2,888 K pdf)