Charleston Union Calls for Changes. Fire Chief says: “Our firefighting techniques are not going to change”.

Thirty-three years ago, when I began as a volunteer firefighter in Prince George’s County, I didn’t know what an “incident commander” was. It was a term we didn’t use. Same with “command post”.

Things were very simple then. Either the chief, assistant chief, or deputy chief was in charge. The person running the fireground was just as likely to be standing inside the fire next to you as he was walking around in front of the building.

It was also a time when we wore three-quarter length boots, rode the back step of the engine and the side of the ladder truck. And every so often you would see someone walk into a building for a reported structure fire with a booster line. All of our fires eventually went out. Sometimes because of our efforts and sometimes despite our efforts.

Firefighting has come a long way since then. While there are gripes from some about aggressive firefighting tactics being lost in the process, it is hard to argue with systems that require a clear command structure, someone in charge looking at the big picture, personnel accountability on the fireground and a requirement that firefighters wear all of their gear. With rare exception, I see and hear these practices in place every day in the fire departments I cover in and around Washington, D.C.

That is why, like many others, I did a double take last Tuesday morning when I read the caption to this picture from charleston.net.

Yes, the man in the white helmet is THE fire chief for the City of Charleston, Rusty Thomas. Apparently no command post was set up. Just Chief Thomas standing a few feet from the flames.

As we looked a bit closer at some of the other pictures and watched the videos of the fire, we saw firefighters operating without full protective gear and many other things a lot us aren’t used to seeing in 2007,

The comments made to reporters by Chief Thomas and Assistant Chief Larry Garvin indicate that the Charleston way of doing things is very different than the best practices accepted by fire departments across the nation. As far as Chief Thomas is concerned things are apparently going to stay that way. In The Post and Courier today, Thomas told reporter Ron Menchaca, “Our firefighting techniques are not going to change in the City of Charleston Fire Department”.

This comes at the same time Roger Yow, the president of the Charleston Firefighters Association, IAFF Local 61, told reporters, “Today I challenge Chief Thomas to work everyday from this day forward and to find ways to improve operating procedures, safety standards for his firefighters”.

Larry Osborne, an IAFF vice-president, said: “Were concerned about issues of incident command, unity of command on firegrounds. There are accepted national standards for these things, just as there is for building construction. We are concerned if the chief says we have our own rules and that’s what we go by”.

You can see excerpts form the press conference from charleston.net and from WCBD-TV.

Michael Parrotta, president of the South Carolina Professional Firefighters Association was also at the Wednesday press conference. As you may have read in yesterday’s report, Parrotta told me he stands by the message IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger sent about the planning of last Friday’s memorial service in Charleston. The comments from Parrotta and Jim Bowie, Executive Director of the South Carolina Firefighters’ Association, show that the two men have little common ground.

Corresponding with a Charleston reporter who has done great work on covering the essential issues of this fire, I wondered if this squabble is part of the bigger picture. If these two sides are so far apart on how to run a memorial service, is it fair to ask if this troubled relationship negatively impacted the ability over the years to put in place modern standards that might have made a difference in the outcome of the fire at the Sofa Super Store?

I don’t know the answer to that question. All I know is that I talked to two fire service leaders in South Carolina. Each passionate in their views. Views that are very different.