Report Into Baltimore Training Death
Baltimore Sun diagram of the training fire where recruit Racheal Wilson died.DEADLY NEGLECT AT FIRE ACADEMY
New report details ‘unacceptable’ practices that led to the death of Racheal M. Wilson in a February training exercise
Here are a few excerpts from today’s paper as reporter Annie Linskey briefs us on the investigation led by Howard County Deputy Fire Chief Chris Shimer:
A Baltimore fire recruit who was killed in a February training exercise was not ready to be sent into a burning dwelling, had failed agility tests and had been given old protective gear that frayed and failed to protect her from the intense heat, according to a report prepared for the mayor.
The 121-page report by an independent investigator, obtained yesterday by The Sun, adds new details to the death of Racheal M. Wilson and places much of the blame on her instructor, who investigators say abandoned her in the burning rowhouse, and on other mid-level fire commanders, three of whom have already been fired.
It describes a chaotic scene conducted by instructors who acted with little oversight and concludes that 50 national safety standards were violated during the exercise, more than the 36 previously acknowledged by the city and the department.
Fire Chief William J. Goodwin Jr., who has been criticized for allowing lax standards at the training academy he once headed, is mentioned once in the detailed report, in a paragraph in which investigators note that he was unaware that the live-fire exercises would take place.
Shimer concludes that the fire academy is governed by an “unacceptable” view that “recruits must be exposed to heavy fire conditions in order to be adequately prepared for the field.
“These practices are unacceptable and may lead to serious injury and in this case death,” the report says.
