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March 12-18
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Firefighters fired, chief resigns as investigation continues
- 2/3/10
- Categorized in: DeKalb News
Four DeKalb County Fire Rescue firefighters terminated on Jan. 29 for neglect of duty that resulted in the death of an elderly Dunwoody woman may face criminal charges.
Fire Apparatus Operator William J. Greene, Capt. Tony L. Motes, Battalion Chief Lesley Clark and Battalion Chief Bennie J. Paige were fired following an investigation into a fire on Jan. 24 at 1687 N. Houghton Court in Dunwoody. The body of Ann Bartlett, 74, was found in the remains of the home.
The Dunwoody Police Department is conducting an investigation into Bartlett’s death and is working closely with the DeKalb Fire Department and the DeKalb County district attorney’s office, according to a statement released by Dunwoody Police Chief Billy Grogan.
On the heels of the termination of the four firefighters, Fire Rescue Chief David Foster resigned on Monday, Feb. 1, and Deputy Chief Eddie O’Brien was named acting chief. No reason was given for the resignation.
Dunwoody Police officers were dispatched to the fire to assist with traffic control. The officers left for the scene five minutes after fire personnel were dispatched, according to the statement.
Bartlett called 911 shortly after 1 a.m, on Jan. 24 and told the dispatcher, she set the house on fire “with the thing from my nose,” referring to the oxygen infuser she used.
“Two Dunwoody Police officers arrived at the scene and found several DeKalb County Fire Department vehicles preparing to leave,” Grogan said in the statement. “The Dunwoody Police officers were advised by a firefighter from Ladder 18 that they could not locate any fire and were going back in service.”
Five hours later, at about 6:40 a.m., another call was received reporting a fire in the same area. Emergency personnel went to the scene and found a home fully engulfed in flames.
“We’re looking at the whole process,” said county spokeswoman Sheila Edwards, regarding the ongoing investigation. “There may be a review of policy and training, or there may be other officers involved. I don’t know yet.”
The DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office is waiting on the conclusion of investigations by the Dunwoody Police and DeKalb fire departments before determining if criminal charges are warranted, DA office spokesman Orzy Theus said.
Clark, Greene and Moates, along with Capt. Sell Caldwell, were placed on administrative leave during the fire department internal investigation that ended on Wednesday, Jan. 24. The investigation determined that Greene, Caldwell, Clark and Motes failed to establish incident command. According to departmental guidelines, “the first unit to arrive at the scene of an incident shall establish command and remain in command until relieved by a ranking officer or until the incident is terminated.”
The investigation also revealed that no one walked up the driveway of the home to determine whether there was a fire.
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If the firefighters had located the given address they certainly would have gone up the driveway to the door. The lack of an incident command did not cause the death of this victim and the firefighters did not cause it either. However many other factors did contribute to her death and that is where this investigation should be headed instead of head hunting.
Now Andrew, take your break and try to get your head out of your butt so you can pay closer attention.
1. Anyone who does not have their address clearly marked (so that it’s visible from the street) needs to do it immediately and if possible in more than one way.
2. If you are aware of out of sequence numbering or anything else unusual in an area, make it known immediately to your local fire station. Ask them to post it in the station and notify their neighboring stations to do the same.
3. If you or anyone else you know of commonly uses an automatic garage door for entrance and exit of their home, be sure everyone in the home is aware of how to open it or take the next best exit in case the door malfunctions in an emergency.
4. Install smoke detectors throughout your home, each bedroom, each hallway, each utility area and on all floors regardless of use. Test them monthly and replace the batteries yearly. They are inexpensive and many fire departments (such as Dakalb County GA) provide them free of charge if you cannot afford them and will even install them and provide replacement batteries.
5. Keep a check on your elderly loved ones and be sure these things are done. Also be aware of their method of use with respect to things like oxygen equipment.
Any one of these things could have saved this woman’s life.
Rest assured the firefighters will get their due if they are negligent.
However, every firefighter I’ve ever met would rather fight a fire in its early stages instead of when it becomes an inferno.
No matter how lazy or tired or hungry or cold or wet or burned out they may be.
If Dekalb County fired every fire officer who did not properly implement the incident command system within the last 6 weeks, they would probably have to shut down the service until they could hire, train and promote several hundred firefighters. There are many reasons to fire someone but an honest mistake is not one of them.
If the firefighters had located the given address they certainly would have gone up the driveway to the door. The lack of an incident command did not cause the death of this victim and the firefighters did not cause it either. However many other factors did contribute to her death and that is where this investigation should be headed instead of head hunting.
All the misdirected anger and publicity could be better used to inform the public of things that may well prevent a similar tragedy in the future.
I would not be surprised if the remaining firefighters chose not to act as officer in the future for fear of loosing their jobs. Under this kind of scrutiny, who would want to risk it? It’s hard enough to make decisions in that position without being second-guessed by everyone.