Fire department admits ladder truck failure as three people jumped from 4th floor apartment
In Quebec City, fire officials now admit a ladder truck failed to properly work as three people were trapped in an apartment fire Wednesday morning. A mother, her son and her partner decided they couldn’t wait and all dropped from a fourth floor apartment window to escape the fire. While fire officials call the ladder failure “worrisome” they defend the actions of firefighters. Some neighbors and relatives of the victims are very critical.
Family members of the three people who were forced to jump from the top floor of a burning apartment building Wednesday morning in the Charlesbourg neighbourhood have hired well-know lawyer Guy Bertrand.
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Previous coverage, including raw video from the fire
Fire officials say there was a mechanical failure with the ladder on the truck. (Brother of female victim Guy) Chicoine wants to know what exactly went wrong and believes errors were made.
He also wants to know why didn’t they didn’t put out a carpet or a trampoline to catch the occupants.
While he’s angry he wants to thank the two police officers, and two other bystanders who helped. He calls them heroes and said he’s never had so much gratitude.
CBC:
“The firefighters did a very bad job. Utterly incompetent. Seriously, I’m afraid to say it, but completely and utterly incompetent,” said neighbour Jeremy Hamel Vigneault.
“They were trying to open the ladder. [The firefighter’s] ladder wasn’t working, but the guy just stayed there and did nothing. He didn’t communicate with the other firefighters that it wasn’t working,” Hamel Vigneault said.
Another neighbour, Alexandre Tellier said his father called 911 six times.
Tellier said it took about 15 to 20 minutes for help to arrive, even though the closest fire hall is located about a block away from the apartment.
The fire department is defending its actions.
A spokesman told CBC News that firefighters arrived rapidly on the scene as soon as they received the call. He admitted that the mechanical failure of the fire truck ladder is worrisome.
