What happened?

Steve Lynch, a firefighter employed by the City of Seattle Fire Department, was dispatched to an “electrical fire” in the Night House, at the Woodland Park Zoo, on December 15, 2016. Firefighter Lynch was sent into the vacant Night House building to help put out the fire before the electrical power to the building had been shut off, sustaining injury when an energized electric panel arced, blowing him back and causing him to land on the floor. Firefighter Lynch suffered serious, permanent injuries as a result.

A few months after the fire, Steve wrote two letters describing the events leading up to his injury, the care he received afterwards, and suggestions for improvements in safety. The first was to the Chief of the Seattle Fire Department, Harold Scoggins, and the second was to the Seattle Fire Department’s Safety Committee. Both of these letters highlighted the need for SFD to have a TBI policy and several others in SFD leadership concurred.