IG Report: Move Faster When Firefighters Die
In response to an MSNBC.com investigation in February, Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) asked for an investigation by the federal inspector general, who issued his report this week.
From Bill Dedman at MSNBC.com:
Federal investigators should respond quickly when a firefighter is killed on the job, should spread the word promptly about equipment safety issues and may need increased legal authority to compel fire departments and unions to cooperate with investigations, according to a report this week by a federal inspector general.
The report was prompted by an MSNBC.com investigation, which revealed in February that 15 firefighters have died since 1998 in fires where a motion sensor called a PASS alarm, or Personal Alert Safety System, either didn’t sound or was so quiet that rescuers couldn’t find a downed firefighter quickly. Nine of those deaths came after managers at the Centers for Disease Control blocked an investigation by their own fire safety engineer into possible failures of firefighting equipment. Documents showed that the engineer was told by his manager in 2000 to “minimize your fact gathering during investigations.” [emphasis mine]
[snip]
The inspector general did not contradict any of MSNBC.com’s findings: The CDC usually takes more than a month to send investigators to the scene of a fatality; doesn’t investigate if the firefighters union or fire department refuses to cooperate; has cut back on the number of firefighter deaths it looks into, and destroys information that could help identify patterns of problems with safety equipment, training or tactics.
These problems are caused by a lack of resources and oversight, not by any wrongdoing or desire to cover up problems, said the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Daniel R. Levinson.
Read the entire article here.
Also read: Bill Dedman’s earlier reports on the No Go Team and the failure of PASS alarms.
As I wrote in Firefighters Die, No One Cares in February, this issue matters to me as the mother, ex-wife, and sister of volunteer firefighters. Our firefighters, especially the volunteers, deserve better than a shrug from the agency tasked with investigating their deaths and preventing future ones.
9 Firefighters Killed in S.C.
Nine Charleston firefighters were killed fighting a blaze at a furniture warehouse.
From MSNBC.com:
Fire swept through a furniture warehouse, collapsing the building’s roof and claiming the lives of nine firefighters in a disaster the mayor described Tuesday as “difficult to fathom or quantify.”
“Nine brave, heroic, courageous firefighters of the city of Charleston have perished fighting fire in a most courageous and fearless manner, carrying out their duties,” Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley said at a morning news conference. “To all of their loved ones, our heart goes out to them.”
[snip]
The warehouse was packed with furniture and the blaze “rolled through it like a fireball” while the firefighters were trying to put it out overnight, said Pam Blevins, secretary to the Charleston City fire chief, Russell Thomas.
“All we know is nine firefighters, all at once …” Blevins told Reuters by telephone, choking up with emotion. “The building collapsed on them.”
[snip]
Riley called the missing firefighters heroes.
“This is a profession that we must never take for granted,” the mayor said. “There’s a fire raging and they go toward it.” [my emphasis]
*
The Firefighter’s Prayer:
When I am called to duty,
Whenever flames may rage,
Give me strength to save a life
Whatever be its age.
Help me embrace a little child
Before it is too late
Or save an older person from
The horror of that fate.
Enable me to be alert
And hear the weakest shout
And quickly and efficiently
Put the fire out.
I want to fill my calling
To give the best in me
To guard my every neighbor,
protect his property.
And if according to Your will
I must answer death’s last call
Bless with Your protecting hand
My family one and all.
When It Works
I live in Sayre PA, in a community known collectively as “The Valley.” The Valley consists of 6 communities in two counties, in two separate states, blended together over the border with NY: Sayre, South Waverly, Athens, Athens Township PA, and Waverly and Barton NY. [GoogleEarth map]
It is impossible, except by air, to see where one community ends and the next begins. Our streets and roads blend seamlessly. From the air, you can see NY’s Rte 17 (soon to be I-86) slashing through the upper end, but a section of the highway actually runs just south of the border – through PA.
In 2000, we were the first FEMA-designated ‘Project Impact’ community to cross state lines and FEMA regions, and a showcase for how to run disasters that impact communities on both sides of a border. We even got some great little signs that notify visitors to the area that we are a “FEMA-designated, Multi-State, Disaster-Resistant Community.” Catchy, eh?
Prior to Project Impact and the signing of Memoranda of Agreement by state, county, and municipal officals, it was a bit of a problem for fire, ambulance, and police to cross the border to assist. Now, it’s simply a matter of requesting mutual aid, the same as is done with same-state companies. It’s done fairly often, especially with police. Since these are small communities, there isn’t a large amount of back-up that can be called. So, when calls go out, Waverly NY’s PD can request assistance from any of the PA communities, and vis versa.
All of which is a long introduction to explain “When It Works.”
On Monday night, three tractor-trailers crashed on Rte 17/I-86, between Exits 58 (Chemung) and 60 (PA Rte. 220 junction) where construction had been on-going and traffic was reduced to two-way traffic, using the previously-eastbound lanes.
Apparently, one driver was westbound and crossed into the eastbound lane, hitting another truck head-on, which caused the crash of the third truck as it attempted to avoid the accident.
It was a massive incident, with trucks on fire and several explosions heard by those in the area around it. One driver was killed, another was taken to the hospital and then flown to a burn center in Syracuse where he’s in critical condition, and the third was treated and released. Fire companies responded from all over the Valley, as well as from all over Tioga County. Greater Valley EMS responded with several rigs.
The highway, naturally, had to be shut down. Local police from both states, the Tioga County Sheriff’s Department and the NY State Police were on the scene, and detoured traffic off Rte 17, sending vehicles onto Rte 17C. Even after the fire was out, traffic was detoured as state police reconstruction unit investigated, the trucks were removed from the scene, and the highway milled and repaved. As of 4pm yesterday afternoon, when I returned home after a trip to Scranton, traffic was still being detoured.
Co-ordinating about 15-18 volunteer fire companies, several law enforcement units, and multiple ambulances is one thing. Throw in a Hazardous Response team, the NY Dept. of Environmental Conservation, Dept. of Transportation, and the Red Cross and Salvation Army. Then add in a house fire in South Waverly – complete with a “large amount of ammunition inside and poisonous snakes.”
Then try doing it with two or three county communications centers, in two states. The people at the comm centers in Bradford County PA and Tioga County NY, as well as Chemung County NY deserve huge amounts of praise. They did an amazing job.
Speaking of that house fire, that was also another ‘Project Impact’ incident. (scroll down) And, other than Sayre and South Waverly, none of the departments who fought it normally work together. Their fire districts don’t border each other, and one of them is from almost 25 miles south of the Valley. Yet, they also did an amazing job, which speaks to the dedication and training of all our volunteers, in both states.
When it works, it works.
Now, if only the feds would get their act together….
The “No Go Team” – Firefighters Die, No One Cares
Incompetence, lack of funds, poor management – who knows what the exact cause is. But the agency given the charge of investigating firefighter deaths is failing to do its job.
What follows are several excerpts from Bill Dedman’s very long report on MSNBC, on the Centers for Disease Control’s National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and their failure to properly investigate every death of a firefighter in the line of duty.
But first, here’s why this is important to me:
That’s my son. He’s 17 and a junior volunteer firefighter. I also have a brother and an ex-husband who are volunteer firefighters. And you can bet your life that if something happens to any of them while on a scene, I will be raising a hue and cry the likes of which have never been seen before until I get an answer on how and why it happened, and what could be done to keep it from happening to others.
So, raise a ruckus with your CongressCritters and tell them to do what it takes to make sure the CDC is properly funded and staffed and motivated to investigate EVERY. SINGLE. DEATH. of EVERY. SINGLE. FIREFIGHTER.
From MSNBC.com: [all emphasis mine]
The CDC didn’t ask for the job of investigating firefighter fatalities. That job was handed to it, after a union boss got a seat next to President Clinton on Air Force One. They were talking blue windbreakers.
After a plane or train crash, the National Transportation Safety Board dispatches its experts within two hours. The investigators in their familiar jackets take charge of the scene, secure evidence, follow leads.
[snip]
After a decade and more than 300 investigations, how is the CDC doing?
Call it the “No Go Team.”
An investigation by MSNBC.com shows that the CDC routinely takes as long as a month — and sometimes as long as nine months — to visit the scene of firefighter deaths. The CDC also:
- Doesn’t investigate a death at all if the fire department or fire union raises an objection.
- Has cut back in the past three years on the number of investigations.
- Destroys information that could help identify patterns of hazards with firefighting equipment, training and tactics.
[snip]
About 100 firefighters each year die on the job in the U.S. The number had been declining until the early 1990s, when it flattened out. It has stayed at 100 (not counting the 343 firefighters who died on Sept. 11, 2001), which means that the death rate per fire has climbed sharply, because fire safety efforts and smoke detectors have substantially reduced the number of fires. The number of structure fires fell by about one-eighth just in the past decade.
Last year was typical, with 104 firefighters dying in the line of duty, according to the memorial list kept by the U.S. Fire Administration.
[snip]
MSNBC.com found that the CDC delays sending investigators to the scene of firefighter fatalities. Although its investigation manual calls for a site visit within three weeks, the typical or median delay is actually 33 days, according to investigative reports studied by MSNBC.com. The longest delay was 266 days, or just about nine months.
[snip]
In St. Louis, after two firefighters died on May 3, 2002, the CDC team traveled from Morgantown on June 24, a delay of 52 days.
[snip]
Even in Worcester, Mass., where six firefighters died on Dec. 3, 1999, the CDC managers didn’t want to send anyone immediately to investigate, said Schmidt, the former CDC fire prevention engineer. He said he called a CDC manager at home.
“And his comment to me was, ‘Well, that’s not what we do. We’ll get up there in a couple of weeks,’” Schmidt said. “But the next day, I see that they’d all left to go up there.”
Castillo confirmed that the CDC went to Worcester immediately, only because the firefighter union called.
[snip]
Although the CDC told the association of five firefighter deaths that occurred where PASS alarms weren’t heard, MSNBC.com found 15 in its review of the agency’s reports.
The CDC didn’t identify the manufacturers, say when the alarms were made, or how they were maintained.
The CDC didn’t say, because it didn’t know.
The CDC investigators don’t collect the same information in every fire about firefighter equipment or clothing. Castillo said it is left to individual investigators to judge which information to collect on each case.
And once the information is collected, the CDC often destroys it.
[snip]
Castillo confirmed that the program keeps only the information in the reports it issues on firefighter deaths and the information in the CDC’s investigations database. But MSNBC.com found that neither of those repositories has information on the make or model of PASS devices, or boots, hose lines, fire engines or any other gear that firefighters rely on — except for air supplies, for which the CDC is the certifying agency.
Please read the entire story here.
Also read Bill Dedman’s previous report on the same agency’s ignoring a warning in 2000 about the failure of PASS alarms, meant to sound when a firefighter falls and/or fails to move for more than 30 seconds, allowing other personnel to locate and rescue them.
Some alarms are apparently malfunctioning when exposed to – you won’t believe this – heat and water.
UPDATE: 2/6/07 – 11:01pm EST
Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) is calling on the Dept. of Health and Human Services to investigate criticisms that the CDC ignored a 2000 warning that PASS systems were not working properly.
From MSNBC.com:
“It is completely unacceptable that our first responders don’t have the proper safety equipment, and if these allegations prove true, it’s unfathomable that the CDC would cover up something so detrimental to our firefighters’ safety,” Kerry told MSNBC.com. “I have asked the Department of Health and Human Services to launch a full investigation into these allegations. Nearly 1 million brave men and women risk their lives every day; we owe it to them and to the families of the deceased firefighters to get answers and hold the negligent parties accountable.”
Within hours of the story’s publication, Kerry’s office issued a press release stating that the Massachusetts Democrat had written to HHS Inspector General Daniel Levinson requesting the investigation of the unit of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention charged with investigating firefighters’ deaths.
IRS plays Grinch
When five firefighters were killed while trying to put out a wildfire in Southern California, the community, and even the nation, rallied around the families, donating money to their families. Now, the IRS says the money can’t be given to them because the county asked the United Way to handle the funds.
From the AP, via MSNBC:
More than $1 million donated after an arson blaze killed five firefighters can’t be distributed to their families because the charity didn’t follow IRS rules.
Riverside County asked the Central County United Way in Hemet to handle the donations when offers started pouring in after the U.S. Forest Service firefighters died in October.
However, tax-exempt charitable organizations cannot raise money for a group as small and specific as the families of five firefighters. Under federal law, such groups can give money to individuals only if those individuals or families are part of a wider class and if giving the money ultimately benefits the community.
[snip]
“This was a spontaneous effort — there wasn’t time to go to a bunch of tax attorneys and CPAs,” said Riverside County Supervisor Marion Ashley. “We feel like the IRS is the Grinch that stole Christmas.”
Bob Duistermars, the local United Way’s chairman, said the problem stemmed from ignorance about the process and confusion because of special exemptions made for the families of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
[snip]
An IRS spokesman wouldn’t discuss the firefighters’ case specifically but said the agency has clear restrictions on how tax-exempt organizations can provide financial aid.
Duistermars said expanding the fund’s reach would be a last resort, but his organization intends to follow the law. He said if the fund is expanded, donors could ask for their money back.
The five firefighters were overrun by flames while protecting a home in Twin Pines, about 90 miles east of Los Angeles. The blaze destroyed 34 homes before it was contained, and an auto mechanic later was arrested. He has pleaded not guilty to arson and murder in the case.
Jenn’s Sunday Sermon
This post was originally scheduled for Sunday, but WordPress hates me. 🙂 Due to some glitch, I wasn't able write posts or edit drafts, (Thanks Podz for the fix!) but it's working again, so back to the show!
* and ** denote changes made since this was posted. Changes are italicized.
Sunday:
I planned to write about something entirely different this morning, but that was before my brother's fire pager went off around 2am and before middle-of-the-night research revealed that this week just past was 'National Volunteers Week'.
So, instead, I'm going to talk about volunteerism, specifically volunteer firefighters.
I live in a rural area, and every single fire company in the county is run and crewed by volunteers. I've been around volunteer firefighters for a long time. I started dating a guy who was a volunteer firefighter, and eventually married him. Literally in the middle of our vows, fire pagers started going off. Before we married or had kids, I'd ride along on calls, helping the auxillary pass out donuts and coffee, sandwiches and milk. Later, after the kids were born, I stayed at home, listening to the scanner for that one voice, and unable to sleep until I heard the magic words, "Returning to station."
You live with the fear that this call could take the life of one you love, and – for me – the answer was to stay awake until I knew he was safe.
After we divorced, I packed away the scanner, and learned to enjoy sleeping through the night for months at a time. Then, my brother – who is 11 years younger – went and joined his local fire company. Even though I wasn't listening to a scanner, I worried.
Now however, I've pulled the scanner out of the box in basement, re-programmed it to the new high-band frequencies, and – just last night – remembered all those old fears. Only, they're magnified about 100-fold because my sixteen-year-old son is a junior firefighter, responding to calls with his dad.
One thing overrides that fear, and that is my pride.
Volunteer firefighters and volunteer EMS crews don't respond just to fires and motor vehicle accidents. Many fire companies also do search-and-rescue or search-and-recovery missions, as well as rope and water rescues. The volunteers who staff those companies attend training classes – usually on their own dime – to meet state certification requirements, hold company-wide training sessions and county-wide major disaster drills. They and their auxillaries hold bake sales and carnivals to raise money for equipment and apparatus.* (Note: after receiving several emails, I wanted to clarify this. Equipment mean things like hoses, spanner wrenches, axes, and pike poles that are carried on apparatus, which means the trucks.)
When you call 911 in Bradford County** (or any other county with volunteer emergency services), the people responding are coming from their homes, their workplaces, their houses of worship, their family events. They are leaving their loved ones to come to your aid.
They have seen it all, from a teenager with head injuries who crashed on an icy road to a burned toddler who was trapped in her burning home. From the senior citizen having a stroke to the drunk driver who slammed into a minivan carrying family of four. From the small grass fire to businesses ablaze in the downtown.
They do it all, at all hours of the day and night, for no pay and no reward other than an occasional, incredibly rare, thank-you. And they do it knowing that each call could be their last.
So, the next time you're in Pennsylvania and see a blue light flickering in your rearview mirror, pull as far to the right as possible and allow that volunteer firefighter or EMT to pass. It's a courtesy, but a much-appreciated one, especially for the poor souls waiting for the aid that volunteer will bring.
And remember, next time, it could be you waiting anxiously for the fire department or the ambulance to arrive.
In closing:
I Wish You Could — Unknown
I wish you could
see the sadness of a business-man
as his livelihood goes up in flames,
or that family returning home,
only to find their house and belongings
damaged or destroyed.
I wish you could
know what it is like to search
a burning bedroom for trapped children,
flames rolling above your head,
your palms and knees burning as you crawl,
the floor sagging under your weight
as the kitchen beneath you burns.
I wish you could
comprehend a wife’s horror at 3 a.m.
as I check her husband of 40 years for a pulse and find none.
I start CPR anyway, hoping to bring him back,
knowing intuitively that it is too late.
But wanting his wife and family to know
everything possible was done.
I wish you knew
the unique smell of burning insulation,
the taste of soot filled mucus,
the feeling of intense heat through your turnout gear,
the sound of flames crackling,
the eeriness of being able to see absolutely nothing in dense smoke ~
sensations that I have become too familiar with.
I wish you could
understand how it feels to go to work in the morning
after having spent most of the night,
hot and soaking wet at a multiple alarm fire.
I wish you could
read my mind as I respond to a building fire.
“Is this a false alarm or a working, breathing fire?
How is the building constructed? What hazards await me?
Is anyone trapped?
Or to an EMS call, “What is wrong with the patient?”
Is it minor or life threatening? Is the caller really in distress
or is he or she waiting for us with a 2×4 or a gun?
I wish you could
be in the emergency room as a doctor
pronounces dead the beautiful five-year-old girl that
I tried to save during the past 25 minutes.
Who will never go on her first date
or say the words “I love you, Mommy” again.
I wish you could
know the frustration I feel in the cab engine,
the driver with his foot pressing down hard on the pedal,
my arm tugging again and again at the air horn chain,
as you fail to yield the right of way at an intersection or in traffic.
When you need us, however, your first comment upon our arrival will be,
“It took you forever to get here!”
I wish you could
know my thoughts as I help extricate a girl of teenage years
from the mangled remains of her automobile.
“What if this was my sister, my girlfriend, or a friend?
What were her parents’ reaction going to be when they opened the door
to find a police officer with hat in hand?
I wish you could
know how it feels to walk in the back door
and greet my parents and family,
not having the heart to tell them that
I nearly did not come back
from the last call I was on.
I wish you could
feel the hurt
as people verbally, and sometime physically,
abuse us or belittle what I do,
or as they express their attitudes of
“It will never happen to me.”
I wish you could
know
the brotherhood and self-satisfaction
of helping save a life,
or preserving someone’s property,
of being there in time of crisis,
or creating order from total chaos.
I wish you could
understand what it feels like
to have a little boy tugging at your arm
and asking. "Is Mommy okay?"
Not even being able to look in his eyes
without tears from your own
and not knowing what to say.
Or to hold back a long-time friend
who watches his buddy having rescue breathing done on him
as they take him away in the ambulance.
You know all along he did not have his seat belt on
~ Sensations I am too familiar with.
Unless you have lived with this kind of life,
you will probably never truly understand or appreciate
who I am, we are, or what our job really means to us
……I WISH YOU COULD.
You Have Spoken
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“I don’t have an agenda, I don’t have a program. I’m not a communist or a socialist. I guess I’m a left-libertarian and a populist, and I believe in the Bill of Rights the way some folks believe in the Bible.”
– Molly Ivins, 1944-2007
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