Fatal fire draws charges - baltimoresun.com
New information has been released regarding the death of the BCFD cadet in February. Click on the link for the whole story, the synopsis is below.
Racheal Wilson died Feb. 9 after she was trapped in a rowhouse that had been deliberately set on fire as part of a training exercise.
A state agency charged the Baltimore City Fire Department yesterday with "intentionally" and "knowingly" violating safety rules resulting in "a substantial probability [of] death or serious physical harm" during a Feb. 9 training exercise that killed a fire cadet.
The Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, after a five-month investigation, cited the department for 33 safety violations and singled out two fire commanders for the haphazard planning and execution of the live burn that claimed the life of Racheal M. Wilson, 29, and injured two others in a vacant rowhouse on South Calverton Road in Southwest Baltimore.
It said that eight fires -- not seven as the Fire Department previously reported -- were lit by three people inside the rowhouse while the safety officer stood outside. One blaze was set on the first floor, five on the second floor and two on the third floor, the document said.
National standards require that only one person -- an ignition officer -- should set the fire and that only one blaze should be set at a time.
The newly disclosed information also showed that firefighters and trainees inside the burning building were not wearing proper breathing or safety gear and that when the fire got out of control one instructor abandoned four trainees.
Also, when the cadets entered the burning building, the backup hose line, which should have been charged with water in case of emergency, was "rolled up on the back of a pickup truck," according to the document. It said there was no water reserve available for the burn.
National regulations require a hose line to be charged and ready to put out a training blaze from the moment it is ignited...
All 33 violations were labeled "serious," meaning there was "a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result," according to definitions of the violations listed in the charging document.
Of those, 17 were also labeled "willful," meaning "the employer committed an intentional and knowing violation" or acted with "plain indifference to or in careless disregard of employer responsibilities."
The charges dealt exclusively with the fatal live burn on Feb. 9 and did not address other incidents. The day before, for example, two firefighters were injured at a live burn in a vacant house in East Baltimore. It was unclear from the charging document whether the earlier burn was, or is, being investigated...
One citation said the instructor-in-charge -- Crest -- "did not stop the live-fire training evolution when multiple fires set on three floors of the burn building created the potential for a rapid uncontrolled burn."
Another said the safety officer -- Hyde -- should have prevented instructors from lighting the multiple fires. He also failed to remove debris from the building, ensure that backup hose lines were in place and establish emergency exits, according to the charging document.
When the house was set on fire it contained "mattresses, broken window frames, trees and brush, tires, lumber, street lamp, trash, drywall and insulation," the document said. Such materials -- particularly the tires -- can release toxic smoke.
