The below NIOSH Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP) report and slides were published this afternoon:
F2026-02 PA: Career Firefighter Injured after Falling from Ladder while Self-Extricating from Boarding House Fire – Pennsylvania
Report: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/firefighters/programs/pdfs/f202602.pdf
Slides: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/firefighters/programs/pdfs/f202602RS.pdf
The report was published exactly 64 days after the fire department submitted a request for a NIOSH investigation.
FFFIPP continues to accept requests for serious injury and line-of-duty death investigations through the NIOSH website. Firefighters and other interested parties can see what investigations FFFIPP is currently working on by visiting the ongoing reports web page.
EASTON, Pa. — A boarding house destroyed in a three-alarm fire in February — leaving dozens displaced and a firefighter seriously injured during rescue efforts — had not undergone fire inspections since at least 2017, according to a newly completed federal investigation.
That was despite a history of code violations, fire alarm problems and prior safety concerns, the investigation found.
Easton firefighters had asked city officials for years for authority to conduct those inspections themselves, but those requests were not granted, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health report on the Feb. 20 fire at the Hotel Hampton.
A copy of the report, which has not yet been publicly released, was obtained by LehighValleyNews.com.
The study found that, because of limited staffing, the city’s code enforcement office had not conducted fire inspections anywhere in the jurisdiction since 2017.
That included the Hotel Hampton, a five-story boarding house used for people experiencing homelessness and temporary housing, where dozens of residents were living at the time of the fire.
The report indicates several annual and complaint inspections in the building between 1990 and 2008, along with a cause and origin investigation in 2008 following a fire in the building. At that time, the investigation found a smoke detector wrapped in plastic bags to prevent activation as a resident was cooking in their room using a hotplate.
Records reviewed by investigators also showed past inspections of the Hotel Hampton found windows to fire escapes nailed shut and nonfunctioning smoke detectors in hallways and bedrooms.
It also found fire doors propped open, missing stair railings and exit signs, as well as repeated complaints involving garbage, hoarding conditions, insect infestations and a malfunctioning fire alarm system.
“It is unknown if the fire alarm and detection systems were functional at the time of the current incident,” the report states.
LehighValleyNews.com filed a Right-to-Know request with the city March 23 seeking records tied to the Hotel Hampton property at 462 Northampton St., including certificates of occupancy, rooming house permits, inspection reports, code violations, complaints and renovation records.
The city initially responded by providing dozens of documents — including those tied to businesses on the first floor — but much of the request remained unfulfilled, prompting an appeal to Pennsylvania’s Office of Open Records.
In its response to that appeal, the city argued many inspection and occupancy records were exempt from disclosure under Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know Law because they were part of non-criminal investigations tied to code enforcement and permit approvals.
City officials also said no additional responsive records existed beyond what had already been produced.
Firefighter Mayday and rescue
Within its 30-page report, NIOSH heavily examined the incident in which Wilson firefighter Bobby Lewullis ran out of air while searching the smoke-filled building for residents needing rescue.
Lewullis became stranded on the fourth floor and radioed repeatedly for help before calling a Mayday, the report states.
It also states he removed his regulator, placed his hood over the facepiece connection to filter his breathing and hung his head out of a window while awaiting rescue before activating his personal alert safety system, or PASS — a life-safety device that automatically emits a high-decibel alarm to alert nearby firefighters when someone is incapacitated or trapped.
After more than 10 minutes without air, Lewullis climbed onto a ground ladder raised to his window, lost consciousness while descending and fell more than 20 feet to the ground, the report states.
He suffered a broken back and ankle, shoulder injuries, and smoke inhalation injuries requiring oxygen therapy and hospital treatment, according to investigators.
They said he depleted a full air supply inside the building in about 15 minutes, with his EOSTI, or end-of-service time indicator, sounding as he tried to find a way out.
The report also detailed how the building’s construction played a major role in the rate at which conditions deteriorated.
Residents had opened the basement door before firefighters arrived in an attempt to ventilate smoke, allowing additional oxygen into the structure, it said.
Firefighters then initially found what appeared to be a manageable basement electrical fire near an electric panel, with light smoke and little heat.
But once crews knocked down the basement fire, fresh air moved into concealed wall voids, feeding flames upward through the building’s balloon-frame construction — an older style in which wall cavities run continuously between floors.
That allowed fire to spread rapidly vertically through the structure, turning what began as a basement fire into an active fire on upper floors and trapping residents above, according to the report.
NIOSH said the building’s maze-like layout, limited exits and heavy fuel load further complicated rescues and firefighting operations.
Compounding the danger, fellow firefighters and dispatchers missed multiple radio transmissions from Lewullis saying he was out of air, and the electric utility initially reported the building’s power had been remotely disconnected when it had not.
Later, during defensive operations, water from an aerial truck energized underground power lines, trapping firefighters on the apparatus until Met-Ed’s utility crews shut power to the entire city, according to the report.
