Contra Costa County Fire Protection District

Line of Duty Deaths

The Contra Costa County Fire Protection District announces with sadness the death of Fire Captain John Nunes on March 31, 2009, from leukemia.

Capt. Nunes served more than three decades with the Contra Costa Fire Protection District. He served as a reserve for eight years before being hired full time on April 1, 1983. In 1990 he was promoted to Senior Firefighter, and in 1998 he was promoted to Fire Captain. This April, Capt. Nunes would have completed 32 years of service.

The NIOSH Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP) has released their investigation report (#F2007-28) on the Michele Drive incident. The report contains nine recommendations, eight of which are included in the Fire District’s Michele Drive LODD Investigation Report. The ninth recommendation is directed toward the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and refers to the proposed inclusion of additional training requirements in NFPA 1001 and NFPA 1021.

The Investigation Report (#F2007-28) is posted on their website located at: www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire

This report (completed in April 2008) contains the Investigation Team’s findings and recommendations, which are intended to correct the identified deficiencies and move the Fire District forward. The Team recognizes and respects that crews encountered a challenging incident compounded by a reported rescue. In identifying and reporting findings and recommendations, the Team’s intent is not to place blame or point fingers at personnel who made split-second decisions while attempting to aggressively stabilize the incident and rescue the trapped occupants. We ask every person who reads this Report to have the same degree of respect, appreciation, and consideration for all of the personnel who responded to this incident. It is our hope that by sharing this report and the important lessons learned with other firefighters and the fire service community, it will help prevent a similar tragedy from occurring.