A rash of firefighter injuries over the past month, including 26 injuries sustained at two wind-fueled blazes on March 31, prompted a city administration investigation into the contributing factors.
Public Safety Commissioner Steven M. Pare said officials, are concerned about the number of firefighters injured — more than two dozen — at three burning houses on Eaton Street near Providence College and two houses on Laurel Hill Avenue.
“That’s a lot of firefighters,” Pare said.
“We have to review our firefighting techniques so we minimize injuries as much as possible,” he said.
Meanwhile, 19 of 26 firefighters injured at the two blazes have returned to work, he said. Another seven firefighters are not on duty under a status known as injured-on-duty or they are on light duty, Pare said.
Since April 1, in the aftermath of the fires of March 31, a total of 14 firefighters have been injured at other emergencies with nine of those firefighters returning to work and five of them remaining injured-on-duty. This includes four firefighters injured at a fire on Job Street last Saturday.