NILES REFUSES TO PUT OUT FIRE ??????????????????????????????

[yfdgricker]

This was posted on Firehouse.com from the Youngstown Vindicator 2/3/2004...

City Reports Confusion Led To Ohio House Fire Delay

SHERRI L. SHAULIS
Courtesy of The Vindicator

NILES — Communication breakdowns at several levels led to confusion about who was supposed to fight a fire, a city report says.

Officials released their official report Friday on the Jan. 15 fire at 2782 Robbins Ave. It found that confusion about where the fire was located, about whether the Weathersfield Township fire department had actually been notified, and an unwritten policy led to the episode.

The investigation — conducted by Tom Telego, emergency management coordinator; Mayor Ralph A. Infante; Maurice Guarino, safety director; and Fire Chief Charles Semple — found that under guidelines in place at the time, and based on information they received about township firefighters' being en route, Niles fire crews were not wrong to wait, the report says.

"Not having a mutual aid agreement, following verbal orders to remain in the city and believing that Weathersfield Fire was not far behind ultimately became the factors behind the captain's decision," the report states.

Let fire burn

City officials began looking into circumstances surrounding the fire after city crews were criticized for letting the house continue burning after determining no one was trapped inside. Niles fire crews were mistakenly dispatched to the home, which is actually in McKinley Heights, a portion of Weathersfield Township.

The report shows the Ohio State Highway Patrol received a 911 cellular call at 12:53 p.m., which was transferred to the county's 911 center within one minute. Niles crews left the downtown station at 12:57 p.m., and arrived on the scene by 1:03 p.m.

No answer

When Niles crews determined the fire was actually in Weathersfield, they tried to contact the city dispatch center at least four times to verify Weathersfield was coming, but never received an answer. A Weathersfield Township police officer arrived on the scene, and said township crews were en route, but the volunteer department actually wasn't dispatched until 1:04 p.m., the report shows. Township crews first arrived on the scene and began battling the blaze by 1:12 p.m.

The report also states that Niles crews quickly determined that the only way to fight the fire would be for all nine firefighters on duty to enter the house. But before that date, the report says, city crews had been told to remain in the city unless they had approval from the fire chief, the safety director or the mayor.

That order is one of the things that needs to be changed, the report recommends.

"Through this unfortunate chain of events many important lessons have been learned, and a window of opportunity has been created to examine current safety procedures," the report reads.

Evaluate orders

The department and city leaders should review all ordinances and mandates, either written or verbal, and evaluate them for consistency. The report also calls for establishing mutual aid agreements between the city and all bordering communities, which is under way.

Other recommendations include the formal adoption of an Incident Command Structure by all departments in the city, recording all fire department radio traffic and increasing the participation of Niles fire crews in local fire chief meetings and training exercises.

[Bs918]

Niles in a full CYA Mode. Spineless politicians make me sick. The less said about this fiasco the better.

[Anonymous]

you is right on paizano
they are trying to make it look like a minor oversite
but they are liars and thugs

[Bs918]

I don't mean to bring a dead horse back from the dead

Then why did you ? Mutual Aid is done evryday all over this country, Your example of AFD using a new ladder is riduculous, fire departments use their equipment when needed. fagetaboutit

[FPO D/800]

Wow, I can't believe in this day & age that something like this could happen. I don't think I have ever heard of anything that has made me be embarrassed to have been a firefighter until now.

  To sit & wait while somebodys home was burning is an outrage. Who cares about where the fire is you were called, you came, you put it out... no questions asked. I don't care if my career was in jepardy, If I were in charge we would have gone to work, no questions asked.

  When I was an active firefighter we had a mutual aid dept, who didn't like us because we showed up at one of their fires where the attack & supply engines had a LDH line hooked to discharges on both rigs (doesn't take rocket scientist to figure out why both pumpers engine pressure was above 200 psi & nobody was getting water). When I arrived on our Ladder Co. we saw what was happening told the Engineer what was wrong, picked up their lines that they had left laying around & put out their fire. So they didn't call us for mutual aid for sevl years. We still called them. When lives & property are at stake, back yard Brawls have to be put aside.

  Here are sevl things realy wrong here.
1. No mutual aid agreement in place. - Get with the program, No Dept can function alone, even FDNY, (Remember 9/11) there can always be an incident too big for us to handle. This, we have our turf and a couple of rigs "John Wayne" crap has got to stop. It's a recipe for firefighter injuries or fatalities.
2.Whos gonna cover my district? See #1.
3.My career might be at stake?   Yeah, well somebodys property & possesions ARE in Danger.
4. Whats the chief or Mayor gonna say? - Your the ranking officer, YOUR IN CHARGE. ( I hope this dept isn't ruled by one of those "Don't do anything until I get there chiefs)
5. They don't fight our fires, we don't fight theirs. - How many buildings have burned down in Niles because they won't call for help?

Now if it looks like I am 100% against the Niles FD Consider this.

6. It took Weathersfield a long time to get there. - See #1. If it sounds like a worker get some help. If you aren't getting anything on the road, get some help. In my area, if you haven't hit the road in 4 minutes, the dispatch center sends help, its an SOP.
7. If one of the WFD Officers or dispatch center Knew that NFD was O/S, Requst them to assist. Mutual aid agreement or not.

 It sounds like there is a solution in the works for this problem, but it's too late for the TAXPAYER whose house burned. And thanks to modern News reports alot of TAXPAYERS (ie people that pay for the shiny trucks & salaries that have little or no knowledge of the fire service) now know about this. Remember that the next time that we (the fire service) are begging to keep City Hall from closing another company or are trying to sell tickets to a chicken Bar-B-Que to buy a "new" 15 year old pumper. They (Taxpayers) might just remember this incident.

Remember its "To save lives & Protect Property" Not " Sorry buddy you live on the wrong side of the street.