Blitzfire Failure Close Call
On April 21st the BAVFC experienced a catastrophic failure of a device known as the Blitzfire; a portable master stream device, during a driver’s training session. The nozzle on the Blitzfire separated from the body before the valve was ever opened. At that point the entire body of the device, the short piece of 3 inch hose attached to it and a gated Y adapter became airborne and struck the engine with such force as to punch a hole in the officers cab door (see attached).
The attached photos are the remains of the device. The BAVFC has been in contact with the manufacturer, Task Force Tips who stated that they have never had this type of failure before. They are taking this unit back to their engineers to attempt to determine the cause of the failure. As a precautionary measure the BAVFC has also removed a second Blitzfire from the fleet as they were purchased at the same time. This unit is also being sent to Task Force Tips so that they can inspect it.
The BAVFC is extremely fortunate that no one was injured in what can be deemed a close call event for the personnel involved. It is the hope that Task Force Tips will be able to glean some valuable data to help other departments who also use this same device. Any questions can be directed to 10715@bavfc.org. RG
