In wake of deadly fire, panel advises changes

Extensive training programs will be implemented, especially for issues in the fatal S.C. fire.

By Page Ivey,

Associated Press

Charleston, S.C. | The city's fire trucks should never roll without at least four firefighters and protective gear should be updated, a panel recommended Wednesday in the aftermath of a furniture store inferno that killed nine firefighters.

The panel's list of about 200 recommendations also suggests the fire department prioritize training, better plan its implementation and identify trainers both inside and outside the agency.

On the issue of equipment, the city said it already has formed safety committees to study breathing equipment and protective clothing worn by firefighters. It also has added thermal imaging cameras to ladder trucks and started stating commands clearly on the radio rather than codes like 10-4, a preliminary recommendation made by the panel in August.

The city put together the advisory panel after nine firefighters were killed June 18 in a blaze at the Sofa Super Store, the single greatest loss of firefighters since the terror attacks on the World Trade Center.

Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. said he hopes the report will make the fire department one of the best in the country. The recommendations will require "substantial additional investment in public safety," the mayor said, though he didn't have a cost estimate.

Changes to come

The mayor and Fire Chief Rusty Thomas met with firefighters Wednesday to go over the report.

"I'm ecstatic about everything in the report," Thomas said. "We want to be better. I'm just ready to go."

The department will work to get four firefighters on all ladder trucks and plans to hire 12 additional employees, Riley said. The department also is now making sure that two firefighters remain outside a burning building for every two going inside.

The city took issue with a recommendation to increase overtime pay "to provide a greater incentive for members to work additional hours when they are needed."

The city will review its overtime policies, which were set by a federal lawsuit between firefighters and the city several years ago, but a change cannot be guaranteed, Riley said.

Other recommendations reveal the fire department to be insular with power controlled at the top, which has resulted in the creation of an assistant to the chief, held now by 20-year veteran Robert O'Donald. The report also recommends Thomas delegate many tasks to speed their progress.

The report also said the department's equipment is outdated and needs to be upgraded or repaired, and communications should be improved among the various ranks. The department should work with outside firefighter groups, such as the firefighters' union, to improve safety.

The International Association of Fire Fighters objected to Riley's characterization of the report as a "management review," and said it showed "the need for immediate and real change."

"This is a landmark report that highlights hundreds of problems and failures in a fire department whose policies and procedures contributed significantly to the deaths of nine firefighters," the union's general president Harold Schaitberger said.

Thomas said he has not spoken with the firefighters' union as the report recommends, but will.

"I need help from everybody," Thomas said. "We need help from everybody."

Riley and Thomas said the department should have larger hoses and upgrade or replace every respirator next year.

Extensive training programs also will be implemented, especially for how to run the scene at a fire, and how to keep up with firefighters and rescue fallen men - all issues in the fatal furniture store fire.

Citations contested

State regulators fined the fire department $9,325 for violating safety standards in the furniture fire. The state Occupational Safety and Health Administration did not say that the violations led directly to the firefighters' deaths, but cited the fire department for four violations, including one "willful" violation for having an inadequate command structure that could not ensure firefighter safety in an emergency.

The city has contested the citations and has asked for a hearing before state regulators.

Officials still have not announced a cause for the blaze, though authorities have said the fire began in a loading dock area. Employees have said workers took cigarette breaks in that area.

Local and state police agencies, as well as the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, are investigating the fire.

The city's advisory panel will provide a detailed analysis of the furniture store fire, to be completed sometime next year.