NIOSH report into Racheal Wilson LODD. Recruit died in live fire training in Baltimore rowhouse. Fitness standards cited.
As we have read before, there is a lot that went wrong leading up to the death of Baltimore Fire Department recruit Racheal Wilson on February 9, 2007. A number of people have pointed out an interesting part of the recently released NIOSH report that focuses on something that happened well before she went into that burning rowhouse . It has to do with the physical requirements of the job. Susan Nicol Kyle made note of this aspect of the report in her article posted last night at Firehouse.com:
They also determined through interviews that the department had no physical fitness requirements to become a firefighter.
“It was reported to NIOSH investigators that the fire department relied on self-elimination of recruits as the only means of screening candidates. Information provided during multiple interviews suggests that the environment at the training academy was to pressure the less qualified recruits to drop-out,” they wrote.
NIOSH officials also said in the report: “It was also reported that the victim did not meet the minimum required time to complete the physical ability test developed by the fire department when she was hired. She reportedly was re-tested just prior to the incident, and produced a slower time than the initial test…”
