Mayor Riley to release report, but denies STATter 911 story; Panel to review MD fire; Is 50 too old?; PGFD on budget; Videos from PA, IN, CA, & VA
(Updated at 12:36 PM)
Riley reverses course and will release report. Schaitberger praises Riley.
Another sudden change in plan in Charleston. Facing mounting pressure, Mayor Joseph Riley announced at noon today he will release the Routley led report into the Sofa Super Store fire on Thursday, May 15. From the Charleston Post and Courier:
Charleston Mayor Joe Riley has reconsidered his decision to withhold a highly anticipated report on the deadly June 18 Sofa Super Store fire.
“The right thing to do is to not delay the report,” Riley said at a noon news conference.
Last week, the mayor said he wanted to hold the report until two federal agencies completed their probes of the blaze.
In releasing the report Riley has received some unusual praise from IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger:
“Mayor Joe Riley showed today that he is an uncommon man among elected officials. In my almost 40years of work in the political world, it is rare to find a politician at any level who has the self-confidence to listen to all opinions, to honestly reflect on what’s in the best interests of those he represents, and to reassess a publicly announced decision regarding a high profile, emotionally charged issue.
“This union, at every level, looks forward to continuing the dialogue that has begun. For our part, we pledge to work in partnership with Mayor Riley where appropriate, to improve the safety and lives of Charleston’s fire fighters and to make the City safer for everyone.”
Scroll down for our coverage from earlier today.
Update on injured MD FFs: One home, two in fair condition. Review panel to be announced.
In the center of this picture from the Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service is the hose that Firefighter Mark Mechlin was still holding when he landed after falling from apartment 203 into apartment 103 at 12,819 Twinbrook Parkway. Firefighter Mechlin is home after more than two days at the Washington Hospital Center Burn Unit. Captain Dwayne Dutrow and Firefighter James Heikka are still in the burn unit in fair condition.
At 1:30 PM today Chief Tom Carr is holding a news conference to announce a “special regional fire review panel to look into all aspects of the fatal fire.” He will also release some new video of the fire. STATter 911 will have more from the conference later today.
Click here for our coverage of this very close call.
Latest on Charleston battle: Mayor denies STATter 911 report. Copy of contract between Routley and city.
The IAFF is calling for people to show up at tonight’s City Council meeting in Charleston, SC to show their displeasure over Mayor Joseph Riley’s decision to delay the release of the report on the Sofa Super Store fire from the panel led by Gordon Routley.
In the meantime, while I couldn’t get a response from a Charleston spokesperson about our report that advice from lawyers concerned about liability issues prompted the mayor’s decision, a TV station did get an answer directly from Mayor Riley. The mayor flatly denied the accuracy of the STATter 911 report, but a council member suggests liability concerns are behind the decision.
Read more from WCBD-TV’s Meryl Conant. Click the video button and watch her interviews with the mayor and the council member.
Read WCBD-TV’s Brad Franko’s blog
Read contract between City of Charleston and J. Gordon Routley
Chief Billy Goldfeder of Firefighter Close Calls and The Secret List fame is quoted in today’s Post and Courier article about the report delay. Chief Billy shared with me his entire response to the paper’s questions:
In some respects, my initial thought was a mild: well, wha’dya expect ? When you get attorneys and politicians together with such a critical issue such as a final report providing the facts on the tragic line of duty deaths of 9 Firefighters?…well, wha’dya expect they would do?
While factual information is vital for all aspects of preventing another tragic loss, in some respects I wasn’t surprised that the city has asked that it not be submitted…given some of their history. Unfortunately, what this does is raise more un-needed suspicion as to the genuine intent by the City and it’s leadership as far as truly wanting the facts and an unbiased report. As far as the report: I am very confident the report will be fair, 100% accurate and provide numerous solutions that Charleston can learn from-as well as the nations fire service.
I do know many FD’s have already used Phase 1 as a template for evaluation and improvement (at their own FD’s) and I fully expect this final report to play an even more important role. Really, there is no greater way to honor the “Charleston 9” than to allow everyone to learn what happened-and never repeat…whatever the report suggests never repeating.
Unless I am missing something, I think the only reason to delay the report is for Chief Routley and his panel of experts to be able to meet privately and present these final facts to the families, the real survivors of the fire. By releasing this report (which I don’t think will be very different from the NIOSH and NIST reports) as soon as possible after that publicly, the sooner Firefighters within and outside of Charleston, can do to prevent repeating this horrific event in our history.
Firefighting over 50
This is the controversial topic FireGeezer teased on Monday. FossilMedic Mike Ward looks at the cardiac stats, Gordon Routley’s study (we’re turning into all Routley, all the time) and his own thoughts on the AARP crowd still doin
g the job. Click here for the column called Parking Your Firefighters.
Response from PGFD on budget issues
As we first reported on Monday things are heating up in Prince George’s County, MD over proposed budget cuts. There have been a number of cost cutting measures that are being considered.
One of them, not funding career staffing in some stations between 3:00 PM and 5:00 PM, Monday to Friday, was strongly opposed by the cities of College Park, Greenbelt and New Carrollton, along with the Town of Berwyn Heights. The municipalities sent a letter to Prince George’s County Fire & EMS Chief Lawrence Sedgwick on April 30.
There is also a plan to reduce box alarm assignments to three engines and two trucks.
Also, companies with mini-pumpers have been told PGFD will no long maintain and insure the units. The Accokeek VFD (Station 824) says its mini-pumper is necessary for a large parcel of land immediately across the Potomac River from Mount Vernon.
We have asked PGFD Chief Spokesman Mark Brady about some of these issues. Here is his response:
Numerous staffing plans are being discussed and reviewed by the Fire/EMS Department. The proposal to adjust career staffing from some Fire/EMS Stations between 3 PM and 5 PM, weekdays, was under consideration and has been placed on hold based on the volunteer leadership of those Fire/EMS Stations concerns about providing adequate staffing during that time frame.
The 3 and 2 assignment is still under review. We review all of our staffing concepts and their compliance with NFPA standards.
A rough estimate of about 90% of structure fires we are dispatched to are routinely handled by the first arriving engine and special service. Less then 10% require more resources from the original assignment then just the first arriving engine and special service. There is a small percentage remaining of incidents that require the full assignment and beyond to handle (2ND alarms, etc.).
By adjusting the amount of apparatus dispatched provides benefits of reducing the number of crashes involving responding apparatus and the availability of fire/EMS units in a particular area. The working fire dispatch assignment would be enhanced to include additional resources such as an engine, truck/squad, ambulance, medic, EMS officer, air unit, etc, etc.
During the dispatch process a number of individuals would have an opportunity and authority to enhance the assignment. A Communications Supervisor, who normally would have an idea if the incident was going to be a “working” incident, can add additional resources based on information being received via 911, responding command officers have authority to add additional resources as well as the first arriving unit. Safety of our Fire/EMS Department members, our citizens and residents will always remain paramount.
Underground parking garages and multi-level parking garages are constructed similar to high-rise buildings – with a standpipe system. So, if you are dispatched a report of an auto fire in an underground parking garage, would you choose to respond in a mini-pumper and access the scene via that unit to the burning auto (keeping in mind the crew is not wearing PPE or SCBA and at the most has 2 personnel on-board) or would your choice be to respond with a full crew on-board a class A pumper, utilizing all PPE including SCBA, hook up to the stand pipe and advanced your line to extinguish the fire?
Don’t know where and don’t know when
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70tEvWTPrEo&hl=en][youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2z2JXXS_9I&hl=en]
But still an interesting pair of videos..
PA house fire
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-M7LRxoYz8&hl=en]
I believe this is a house fire on Lawton Avenue in Uniontown, PA.
FF sues 84-year-old woman over injuries
A Lake County, Florida firefighter is suing a homeowner who she says failed to properly cover a septic tank. FF Jennifer Roland literally ran into some …. Let me phrase that another way. The fire truck broke through the top of the tank adjacent to the driveway during an emergency call at 84-year-old Elizabeth Baker’s home. Roland suffered neck and back injuries.
The Bakers bought the property in 1954 and claim they never knew the tank was there. Read more. Watch the story.
IN landmark burns
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1ebSKpMeMk&hl=en]
That’s what they are calling Steinert’s Grill and Pub in New Albany, Indiana. Click here to read more.
Click here to see other clips from this fire.
CA house fire
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Vsj6fpj9PE&hl=en]
This is from El Sobrante on April 14.
Fire in Finland
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJmNBADD49w&hl=en]
This fire was on Monday in Riihimäki. Burning is a construction site for a travel center at a rail station. Click here for details.
Smokey underground
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGZlH5gdYWk&hl=en]
From the Britomart Transport Centre in Auckland, New Zealand, a lot of people just stand and watch as smoke begins to fill the train platform on May 2.
Side view
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9IUkcsimPM&hl=en]
As some of you who read and watch closely may know, I usually don’t run response videos that end when the crew arrives on the scene. I make an exception for this one because the camera angle reminds me of the view you would get when riding the side of the ladder truck back in the day. It is from Prince William County, VA’s Station 508 (Yorkshire VFD). See more of their response videos here.
