This shouldn't even be a question, the video speaks for itself. 

Yep should have been wearing that mask and pack there. I will say on my truck typically the nozzle man will mask up and the back up man doesn't but then again if your the backup man and you don't have a mask on don't get close. I have seen quite a few magnesium explosions in car fires, heck the last one we went to had it under the dash somewhere and when you hit it you will know it. Nozzle man always should wear full ppe and scba on vehicle fires and dumpsters, who wants to breath that crap.

Car Fire Checklist:
SCBA safely stowed on the engine - check
Helmet strap secured on back of helmet - check
Shield up - check

I really hope this guy is fine, if anyone has more info, it would be nice to know. I was glad to see he did not hit his head when he fell backwards, since there was no protection from the helmet that blew off.

On the workers comp issue, always hard to say what they will cover, but insurance companies are always looking to cut cost and paying claims is their biggest cost.  If you are not following guidelines, that is one reason to cut or deny a claim. Bigger issues is when there is a video like this one that shows what actually happened. Most forms ask if you were wearing PPE at the time. Most people know they should and some are tempted to say they are, even if they were not. Now comes the video that clearly shows no mask, safety glasses etc. If you tell them you were using PPE and were not, that is fraud, they can deny the whole claim and request you be charged with insurance fraud. Sounds like a whole lot of trouble when you could just pack up on every call.

On are department it is manditory that you wear scba and mask AND BE ON AIR when fighting a car fire. Even if your old school dont think you need one or what ever the smoke that rolls off a hybrid electric car when the lithium batteries start burnin can drop you with one breath, and yes at least where I come from we do get wind changes. We are getting alot of hybrid cars around here and have been on two car fires with them. bad stuff, but to each his own and if your IC your shouldnt be wearing one, if you are your not an IC anymore your a firefighter.

dumb...use your brain put your mask on