A bill inspired by last year’s death of Homewood firefighter Brian Carey passed the state Senate Friday and is headed to the governor’s desk for his signature.The bill requires oxygen suppliers to strongly encourage users to notify local fire departments and other emergency responders that oxygen tanks are stored in the house.
Carey was fighting a blaze in March 2010 at the home of 87-year-old Homewood resident Wendell Elias, who had several oxygen tanks stored in his home. While investigators couldn’t determine that the oxygen contributed to the violent fire that killed both Elias and Carey, it is known that fires in higher-oxygen atmospheres spread faster and burn hotter.
The bill will not require oxygen suppliers to notify fire departments, but it would require that they make oxygen users aware of that option and encourage them to do so.
“It’s just a matter of educating people that this is something they should do,” said state Sen. Ed Maloney (D-Chicago), the bill’s sponsor.
The bill piggybacks the Premise Alert Program, created in the 2009 session, which allows people with special needs or disabilities to voluntarily report that information to emergency responders. It is then added to a database and held there for two years. The resident must update the information every two years if he or she wishes to stay in the database.
Homewood firefighter Mike Bell said any additional information is helpful, though it doesn’t change the fact that firefighting is always dangerous.
“It may change the way we approach fires, but the bottom line is we have a job to do and we face those dangers all the time,” he said.
The bill now goes to the governor’s desk and goes into effect when he signs it.