REPORT: Deceased contractor warned not to enter foam-filled hangar

EGLIN AFB — J.D. Lord, the contractor who died in an accident on base last month, entered the foam-filled airplane hangar against the advice of emergency personnel, according to an Air Force report released Tuesday.

The 31-year-old and three co-workers were “curious” to see the foam that filled the massive King Hangar during an accidental activation of the fire-suppression system, the report said.

Read the report. >>

None had received formal safety training on the dangers of the foam, according to the report.

“I offer my deepest condolences to the family of J.D. Lord. This is a tragic loss,” Maj. Gen. Arnold Bunch, commander of the Air Force Test Wing, said Tuesday as he stood in the hangar where the incident took place. “We lost a valued team member of our team who had worked with us for about six years.”

After the incident, Air Force officials immediately began investigating what happened and what measures could be taken to prevent a similar accident in the future, Bunch said. Other contributing factors included faulty parts that failed during record-cold weather and a lack of understanding of the system’s abort function.

“There are many findings and recommendations that we will undertake … to conduct safer operations,” Bunch said. “Safety is our No. 1 priority.”

On Jan. 8, after a record cold snap brought frigid temperatures to Northwest Florida, a water line burst, flooding sensors in the hangar’s fire-suppression system and accidentally triggering the release of the high-expansion foam, according to the report.

An alarm sounded for 30 seconds before tons of foam began pouring into the 90,600-square-foot hangar, Eglin’s largest.

Personnel were evacuated from the hangar and the adjacent building where Lord and the three contractors with Defense Support Services (DS2) worked, according to the report.

After all personnel were accounted for and it was determined there was no fire, firefighters worked to make sure none of the foam was escaping from the hangar. Lord helped, the report said.

Firefighters told investigators they made it clear to him that the hangar was off limits.

Unbeknownst to firefighters, Lord, the three contractors and about six to eight other employees entered the hangar using a third-floor catwalk between the two buildings, the report said.

No barriers were in place to prevent them from entering, Bunch said.

The employees told investigators they wanted to observe and take photographs of the foam that had filled the hangar below them, according to the report.

After checking out the foam, Lord and the three contractors decided to use the elevator to leave the hangar for reasons not specified in the report.

At some point they lost situational awareness, Bunch said.

The elevator opened on the ground floor and the four contractors were immediately engulfed. With no immediate escape available, they tried to make their way to an exit through the foam, holding hands to stay together.

That plan quickly fell apart when they let go of each other to try to clear the foam from their mouths and eyes, the report said.

The contractors could not see anything except what was immediately in front of them. The report described conditions as a “white out.” They also could not communicate with each other.

The conditions were described as “frightening,” even for personnel trained to respond to emergency situations, the report said.

One of the contractors, using a hood to cover his face, was able to make it out. Another broke a window to escape.

Rescue crews were called in. Two-man teams, tethered to ropes and using breathing masks, entered the foam.

One of the contractors had sat down and, turning his head to the ground, was able to make an air bubble for himself by constantly waving his arm in front of his face, Bunch said.

He was found 5 minutes after the first rescue crew entered.

It was the fifth rescue crew that found Lord, 1 hour and 19 minutes after he had entered the foam, Bunch said.

He was in cardiac arrest and was unable to be resuscitated.

Although final autopsy reports had not been released Tuesday, it is likely that Lord was rendered unconscious, either from a blow to the back of the head or as a result of panic or asphyxiation, the report said. The likely cause of death was suffocation.

High-expansion foam is used in about 146 hangars at 46 bases Air Force-wide, according to Eglin public affairs. In the past five years, there have been 25 accidental releases of the foam, including one at King Hangar in 2012.

This is the first reported fatality, Bunch said.

There is no Air Force instruction requirement about the fire-suppression system or the foam that is released, he said.

One comment that was repeated often during the investigation was the lack of understanding about the life-threatening potential of the foam, according to the report.

“There is something inherently benign about soap bubbles and foam,” the report said. Test and accidental releases of the foam often have an “air of excitement.”

The surviving contractors were “stunned when the foam became a life-threatening and panic-inducing substance,” the report said.

In addition to recommending mandatory safety training and improvements to how the system operates, the report also found that personnel need education on the potential dangers of the foam.

 “One of recommendations is to increase awareness, to treat the foam with proper respect,” Bunch said. “We want to create as safe an environment as possible.”  

Contact Daily News Staff Writer Lauren Sage Reinlie at 850-315-4443 or lreinlie@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @LaurenRnwfdn.