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Investigative report released in fire that injured seven
Six of seven firefighters injured May 25 while fighting a house fire in Leesburg appeared before the Board of Supervisors Sept. 16 to receive a commendation for their heroic efforts. The other firefighter commended was unable to attend.
Based on an investigative report released Sept. 13 detailing the fire and rescue effort at the home on Meadowood Court, some of the the firefighters are lucky to be here to read the report.
“We could have very well had the unfortunate circumstance to have to bury four firefighters, possibly more,” said Montgomery County, Md., Fire and Rescue Service Division Chief Richie Bowers, who led the investigative team.
The report contains 64 recommendations for Loudoun County Fire and Rescue Chief Joseph Pozzo to consider implementing that will make firefighters in the county safer.
In addition, several favorable factors are addressed, including how the firefighters involved stayed aware of the situation, even as conditions deteriorated, and were able to rescue themselves.
Among the recommendations are:
Increasing the staffing requirements to at least four firefighters on all units at all times.
Setting a template for which incidents will be on which radio channels so all firefighters will be tuned into the correct channel.
Making sure all firefighters have proper gear that they wear correctly.
Establishing procedures in the dispatch system that address modifications to which unit arrives when.
The investigative team of seven firefighting professionals from around the Washington, D.C., metro area found that all of the firefighters were not tuned into the correct radio channel while fighting the fire, and some were not wearing their gear properly.
One of the problems right off the bat was that the fire company that was supposed to be the first arriving unit was on a call for a fire at a store in Leesburg, so a secondary unit had to respond first. This meant that arriving units had to take on different assignments than they were originally assigned, creating confusion.
Pozzo said the report needs to be looked at with the perspective that the investigative team had months to go over every single decision made, while the firefighters who responded had only seconds to make each decision and had to make a lot of assumptions.
“We're faced with the unknown every day,” he said, calling the event successful since no one died and all but two of the injured firefighters are back at work.
Pozzo said all fire and rescue departments in the region were alerted to the report's existence. He said it probably will be in trade publications so departments all over the country and in Canada can learn from what happened.
The investigative report was presented to the supervisors Tuesday after the firefighters were commended.
“There are findings here that will protect firefighters, potentially, worldwide,” said Supervisor Stevens Miller (D-Dulles).
The report is available online at www.loudoun.gov.
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