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Race to the Bottom – Conclusion

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Race to the Bottom

A Historical Vignette
by Tom Parquette

Part Four of Four
(Part One is HERE, Part Two is HERE,
Part Three is HERE)

The timeless parallels of Triangle and Kader exceed the record keeping of deaths, injuries and destruction. Certainly Triangle held the 'record' as the worst (fatalities) industrial fire accident through decades until the Kader incident. But the parallels far exceed fatalities, flames and rubble. They exceed the record books and the lunch room discussions of technique or international comparisons.

 

Triangle, as noted earlier, raised the consciousness of the nation, our nation, as to worker safety and the fledgling subject of corporate responsibility. Regardless of the nefarious dealings of Blanck and Harris, the partners in Triangle, and their ability to scam the system (or buy it off), the repercussions due to the Triangle Fire continued for decades and it became the mantra of all concerned with public and with employee safety. The American Society of Safety Engineers was founded as a result on October 14, 1911. The Women's Trade Organizations, the ILGWU and other unions used Triangle heavily as justification for organizing. NFPA undertook the writing and rewriting of codes and directives. Legislatures reacted quickly regardless of their collective bipartisan incompetence. Enforcement of these issues was clearly ratcheted up over the ensuing years, not only in New York but nationally as well. We have had other horrific fires. We have had large portions of entire cities go up in flame and we have had large loss of life. But no other fire, regardless of it's type, origin or consequence has had the collective impact on our society than the collective impact of Triangle.

 

And then, 82 years hence, there is Kader in Thailand. Eerily similar to Triangle in origin, substance, loss of life and aftermath. Yet the national conscious, the world conscious, in either the US or Thailand, was hardly tweaked. Thailand has laws. Many are modeled precisely to follow NFPA guidelines from our own country. Yet firm inspection, citation or possible closure in the face of violation was barely scratched just as it was barely scratched in 1911 in New York.

At this point you are likely to still be wondering where the title of this article came from. The Race To The Bottom. Four words strung together can mean many things but this time, they are specific. As countries and economies change over time the regulatory and socio-economic changes and legislations governing those changes tend to, and in fact do increase. As these burdens, if you will, of added legislative requirements and social welfare changes are implemented the cost of doing business within the boundaries of that country or political unit also increase.

 

We, now in our modern time, are rightly or wrongly heavily involved in a world economy.And the costs and underlying requirement of doing business are impacted by the aforementioned changes and legislation (rules, codes, policies, inspections, permits, wages, etc. etc. etc.) imposed on business operating within those same boundaries.

"Back in the Day' the sweatshop operators could, for a time, get away with basically slave labor conditions. After all, the US as well as Europe were not that far removed in 1911, for instance, from a society of slavery itself. As unscrupulous operators ignored or bent the rules for profit, disaster often followed. As the socio-economic changes developed here, countries and political subdivisions without those changes looked pretty inviting to the barons of the times.

This has caused the Race To The Bottom. The bottom rung of operating costs and the attendant legislative requirements leading to or impacting those costs. This phenomena, if you will, largely is what has led to the exportation of much of the US labor market to the underdeveloped (read unimpacted) geographies and certainly if not underdeveloped or unimpacted then those geographies which readily lend themselves to graft, bribery and corruption to circumvent those socio-economic changes and rule implementations.

 

The Kader facility in total was only owned by Thai citizens to the extent of .4% of it's stock holding. The balance was owned by Hong Kong, US and European investors. The social responsibility didn't exist. And as or if Thailand tightens the screws, the next country of choice, Bangladesh perhaps, becomes the next rung down on the cost of doing business ladder in the world economy, and so on.

 

This article makes no attempt to become a political dissertation in any way. The author exacts no specific condemnation on any country or society. It is alleged though, that China for instance, has made some effort to impose fire and worker safety regulations on it's manufacturing base. The same manufacturing base that is undermining the economies of countless nations, ours included. And, it is also alleged for instance, that Walmart, one of the worlds largest buyers from Chinese manufacturing, is lobbying heavily to curtail those same regulations. This is the same Walmart that claims it didn't know tens of millions of dollars were paid to bribe the Mexican officials for store locations. Being the skeptic that I am, I challenge any Walmart employee to spend tens of millions of dollars without Walmart knowing where its going.

That's it. The Race To The Bottom continues as it has for decades. It sadly may continue for decades more until true corporate responsibility is legitimately imposed from within, not by regulation. And it will continue for as long as we have bi-partisan incompetence in our political subdivisions, here and abroad. And, still sadly, all this may continue for as long as 'we' find it desireable to save a buck on some cheaply made crap at the local discount mavens cave. Yes it may continue. And too, the Triangles and the Kaders will continue as well. Oh, the location may change. The numbers may change. But the Race To The Bottom won't. The race to build substandard facilities, temporary facilities really, will continue. Until the political heat gets too hot or too expensive or the bribes don't work. Then the scoundrels will fold up the temporary operation and move on.

 

It sadly makes the terrible, deadly lessons learned all the more terrible and deadly. But wait! I did say this story wouldn't turn in to a commentary or opinion piece, didn't I? Well, steam has to vent somewhere, sometime. Maybe George Santayana was right after all.

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Posted by on May 18, 2012 • Filed under: commentary, history, Parquette

Race To The Bottom – Part Three

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Race to the Bottom

A Historical Vignette
by Tom Parquette

Part Three of Four
(Part One is HERE, Part Two is HERE)

*  *  *

The workers and security personnel labored quickly and diligently to snuff the blaze but they were no match for the rapidly spreading conditions. At 4:21 pm the local police fire brigade was called. The same local authorities report calls also received at 4:30 and 4:31. This triggered the Thai version of mutual aid and the fire companies from Bangkok and Nakhon Pathom Province also responded. The first apparatus arrived at 4:40 and firefighters found Building One totally engulfed with the top floors untenable and already beginning to collapse.

Royal Thai Police and Fire Brigade, Danthai Group

There are conflicting reports as to exactly how many employees were on the site or in which building when all this began. When the fire began, it was reported that there were 1146 workers in Building One alone. Thirty Six on the first floor, 10 on the second, 500 on the third and 600 on the fourth. There were a reported 405 workers in Building Two with 60 on the first floor, 5 on the second, 300 on the third and 40 on the fourth. Building three, still under renewal from the February fire was uncounted. Each of these buildings carried a full fuel load, varying, but composed of polyester, cotton and plastics.

Kader Toy Co. victims  (Bangkok Police Fire Brigade photo)

Building One collapsed completely at 5:14 pm. High winds made the struggle worse as the fire brigades fought on. Building Two collapsed at 5:30 pm and Building Three followed at 6:05pm. Building Four was saved along with other accessory structures. Some 50 pieces of fire apparatus were engaged in the effort and declared the inferno under control at 7:45 pm.

No firefighters were killed in this fire attack. Only 1 was injured. The Bangkok Police Fire Brigade reports officially that 188 souls perished in the blaze while another 469 were seriously injured jumping from the second, third and fourth floors.

Representative diorama from ILGWU archives

The walkways which connected the buildings were either fully locked or used as storage areas. Despite the increasing smoke, it was reported that security personnel ordered the workers to stay on their assigned stations. As the fire continued to spread rapidly in Building One, the fire blocked the one stairwell at the south end of the building so most of the workers rushed the north stairwell. That left 1100 frantic people trying to exit through one stairwell.

Hugh Williamson photo

Post fire efforts to determine the true cause of the fire were largely inconclusive due to the total destruction of the point of origin areas. It was at first thought and reported to have been electrical in origin but that was later discounted in favor of a cigarette butt as the culprit. The large loss of life and injury counts were and are attributable to insufficient, inadequate and blocked exits and stairwells, lack of a fire supression system, a non working alarm system in Building One, the height and type of building construction, the lack of any fire proofing, the excessive number of workers allowed in the facility and lack of any fire separation walls throughout the structure(s).

Spontaneous Employees Memorial
(Wall Street Journal)

The similarity which exists between Triangle and Kader cannot and should not be discounted both from a historical and modern day lessons perspective. The parallels are quite astounding when one thoroughly investigates even the information currently in accessible reach. Triangle reached it's severity level in less than 30 minutes. NYFD performed well and quelled the Triangle blaze in short order. Still record setting deaths were involved. Kader, not in a metropolitan area, still was under control in less than three hours. And, yes, still new records of death and injury.

So, what makes these two fires, which occurred in similar industries yet some 82 years apart and over 8,000 miles distant, so similar? What includes them as examples of the Race To The Bottom? We'll discuss that next.

Tomorrow, Part Four – Conclusion

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Posted by on May 17, 2012 • Filed under: commentary, history, Parquette • Tagged: ,

Race to the Bottom – Part Two

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Race to the Bottom

A Historical Vignette
by Tom Parquette

Part Two of Four
(Part One is HERE)

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911 was significant not only for the horror and devastation caused to 146 young people and certainly their families, but Triangle has been matched in many respects in terms of sadness and loss. Triangle became the 1911 poster child of what were concerted efforts to not only improve fire safety, but working conditions and wages as well. The event was in many respects the genesis of, or better stated, the flux of, union efforts already under way at that point in history. The employees of Triangle had gone out on strike only a year prior to the disaster. That strike and the fire itself led to codes and regulations but these were largely ignored, side stepped or bought off altogether for many years following.

The parallels to the Triangle Fire continue, essentially unabated. "What's that?" you say. I know and I don't ignore that we have some of the most progressive and well thought fire codes and regulations known world wide to mankind. It would be too easy for me to turn this article into a commentary or opinion piece but that is not what this article is. This article is rightly titled, "The Race To The Bottom" and we will get to the bottom of that as the article continues.

(Bangkok Police Fire Brigade photo)

As the Race To The Bottom continues, you, gentle reader, are asked to fast forward with me to 1993. Monday May 10, 1993, at approximately 4:00 pm while concluding a normal workday shift, a small fire was discovered by an employee of the Kader Toy Company factory. The Kader factory was a facility of Kader Industrial Co. Ltd., a multinational company. This particular plant was located in the Sam Phran District of Nakhon Pathom Province just outside of Bangkok, Thailand near the site of the famous World War II railroad bridge over the River Kwai.

Thai Tourist Board

The company was first registered to do business in Thailand on January 27, 1989 but that registration was suspended after a fire on August 16, 1989 destroyed the then-new plant. The 1989 fire was blamed on the combustion of polyester fiber used to make dolls. Following the reconstruction of the facility, Kader was allowed to continue to conduct business in Thailand.

In May of 1993, the Kader facility was under contract to Mattel, Tyco and Kenner to produce items to their specifications. Bart Simpson was just reaching full tilt success in the US and this was one product on the assembly line on May 10th. The US and European toy companies mentioned would fax their orders and specifications to Kader in Thailand and expect products made to their exacting specifications. These also multinational firms didn't inspect the property or inquire or care under what conditions their orders were filled, just that they were.

The Kader facility was made up of four buildings and were numbered accordingly. Actually, they were all parts of the same large structure and were fully connected. Building One largely contained sewing machines, dolls of wool, handicraft and raw materials. A separate Building Two was largely toy assembly and plastics while Building Three was finished storage, more sewing and fabric storage. Building Four, while connected, was not connected in the same fashion and was largely office and storage.

International Labour Organization images

The buildings were all four story constructed of concrete slabs supported by a structural steel frame which was not fireproofed. The buildings were equipped with fire alarms, portable extinguishers and hose stations on the outside walls and stairwells. There was no sprinkler system.

After the certificate of registration was reissued following the 1989 fire, Kader experienced several more fires at the same facility. The latest one, in February of 1993 destroyed much of Building 3 and started in the middle of the night in waste cotton and polyester materials. At that time the Ministry of Industry issued a warning that the plant needed safety officers, safety equipment and emergency planning. It was ignored.

(Bangkok Police Fire Brigade photo)

Since the Kader facility was just beyond the jurisdiction of Bangkok, security officers and workers tried to put out the small fire as they had tried so many times before. Oh, how they tried.

Tomorrow, Part Three

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Posted by on May 16, 2012 • Filed under: commentary, history, Parquette

Race to the Bottom

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Race to the Bottom

A Historical Vignette
by Tom Parquette

Part One of Four

American philosopher, George Santayana, wrote in "Life Of Reason I", that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. The words have been hacked and changed and twisted over the years since, but the intent and validity of the observation stand the test of time. And rightly so. Life and history itself are most certainly a learning process, whether the life is our own or another’s. And, whether the history is ours personally or that of our society collectively.

This writer has long had a fascination with historical events which should have or might have influenced the future much in keeping with Santayana's musings. That fascination increases enormously especially when there is evidence that given historical events haven't influenced or positively changed anything. So much for that.

The Asch Bldg.

This spring marks the anniversaries of two events in fire history which are or should be alarmingly similar in many, many respects. A few weeks ago, March 25th marked the 101st anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City. Most in the fire service have heard of this event insofar as it marked the milestone of being the largest industrial accidental loss of life by fire in our nation’s, and the world’s, history. There are varying definitions of the record holder of these dubious claims. We're not here to debate levels of severity. Suffice to say that the Triangle Shirtwaist fire was a horrific event in the history of modern mankind.

A typical garment district sweatshop.

Triangle Shirtwaist was a sweatshop garment operation in New York City which manufactured various clothing items using the labor of mostly young immigrant women. The business was located in the Asch Building (now called the Brown Building) at 23 Washington Place. The factory occupied the eigth, ninth and tenth floors of the 10 story building in Greenwich Village. The owners were Max Blanck and Isaac Harris. These two employed up to 500 immigrant women between the ages of 14 and 48 who worked on average some 9 hours each day plus Saturday for earnings of somewhere between $7 and $9 weekly.

On Saturday March 25, 1911 as the work day was ending, smoke was noticed as a fire flared up in a scrap bin under a cutter’s table in the northeast corner on the eighth floor. Blanck and Harris were at the factory at that time and had even invited their children to the factory that afternoon. The scrap bin the fire ignited in had not been emptied of accumulated cuttings for over two months. Smoking was banned in the factory but it was widely reported that employees were known to smoke anyway and even exhaled the smoke through their lapels to disguise or conceal it. 129 young women and 17 men died as a result of the Triangle Fire.

Triangle Shirtwaist on fire.  (New York Times)

Fire exits, though mandated by City code even then, were not adequate and were in fact missing altogether in certain locations. The fire escape which was installed on the building bent under the heat and collapsed. It was later discovered to have been installed with substandard fastners and workmanship. The only fire supression of any kind in the building was the presence of a total of 27 buckets of water. Nine on each of the three floors. The employees were accustomed to and only knew of one way to exit the building, that being one of two freight elevators. One wasn't in operating condition. Exits had been locked and chained shut to keep the employees from leaving their sewing machines, sealing their fate.

New York Times archive

While the owners and their kids were escaping the holocaust using the roof and adjoining buildings, 50 of the employees were being incinerated on the three floors and 60 were driven to their death by jumping 90 to 100 feet to the street below. Of the 146 dead, 129 were immigrant women from 14 to 48.  Of the total dead, 6 could not be identified until modern science caught up with history in 2011 and they were duly recognized and memorialized. There is closure for you.

Max Blanck and Isaac Harris were charged with multiple offenses resulting in death. A long trial worthy of Perry Mason resulted in an acquital of both men. A civil trial resulted in a 'victory' for the victims survivors. That 'victory' afforded a judgment of $75.00 per head. Blanck and Harris profited heavily from the disaster. They were able to induce an insurance settlement of $400.00 per death and a settlement which exceeded the material losses by some $60,000. Blanck and Harris had much experience in fires. At two other locations operated by these nefarious crooks, early morning fires were commonplace. Especially at the close of the garment selling season. The partners found fires profitably took care of carryover inventory and then some.

Max Blanck and Isaac Harris  (ILGWU Archives)

Triangle Shirtwaist Company reopened in 1913 in a different location in the city. Within twelve months of it's reopening, Max Blanck was arrested by fire inspectors when a surprise inspection found another exit door chained shut. He was fined twenty dollars and given an apology from the judge for disturbing him.

Now, don't be mistaken. There was some good which resulted from this devastating event. After the fact, of course. Fire Chief John Kenlon identified some 245 factories in the City which were sitting ducks for the same type of devastation in New York. From the date of the fire until 1913 alone, 64 laws were passed including building access, fireproofing requirements, alarm systems, auto sprinklers, fire extinguishers not to mention comfort issues of rest rooms, eating space and hours of work. This, at the time, put New York on the map in the effort to improve not only employee safety, but the general public safety as well. The development of NFPA 101, the Life Safety Code can be directly attributed to the Triangle fire.

As for George Santayana, though. Well, it seems to me from my meager vantage point, that George was correct. And history proves him right once again. In fact, not once again, but rather 'many times', again!

We'll continue with "Race To The Bottom" Part Two tomorrow.

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Posted by on May 15, 2012 • Filed under: commentary, history, Parquette • Tagged: , ,

Lessons Learned …. Or Not?

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Lessons Learned …. Or Not?

A Historical Vignette
by Tom Parquette

Lesson One of Four – Burnable Chicago

 Part One, Lesson One – This story has to start somewhere so Part One, Lesson One seems reasonable. But, the chapters and the lessons began far earlier than what will be presented to you here.

Most of us, in or out of the fire service, have grown up with at the very least, anecdotal references to the "Great Chicago Fire" which began October 8, 1871. It seems that Mrs. O'Leary's cow carried the blame for this historic event for something over 128 years, when an investigation by the Chicago City Council in 1999 absolved the cow and Mrs. O'Leary from blame but couldn't come to any conclusion as to who or whom were to blame. There are two other people 'of interest' but that is another story for another day. Not this one.

History seems to agree that Chicago's great fire of 1871 was largely a conflagration for two primary reasons which had nothing really to do with an old lady's barn burning down, or whoever struck the match. Chicago was a city of over 300,000 population on that date and had been built largely of primary fuel for a fire. Wood and shingles combined with wood heating and unsafe heating appliances were a primary factor. A 25-to-40 MPH wind that evening aided the fire. And, to the city and it's planners discredit, a system of, well, Mickey Mouse alarm bells and a severely underequipped and understaffed fire service all fed the success of the Great Chicago Fire.

If there was a more revealing set of post fire scene conditions available to city planners, government agencies and, yes, the fire service as an educational tool of what not to do, Chicago must have been high on the list. $200 million (1871 dollars) in damage, thousands of structures lost, 125 bodies recovered though safe estimates float around 300 likely dead, and of those statistics, interestingly, there were no fire fighters lost, of record. Although several succumbed later to injuries received in the fire. An incontrovertible fact, regardless of the statistical data available, the anecdotal 'evidence' available, or the often twisted lore which collects over some 141 years since this tragedy is that it was, it had to be, it surely presented, a lesson. But then, maybe not!

That said of the Great Chicago Fire, we fast forward to 1889, a mere 24 years following the end of the Civil War and 18 years past the aforementioned fire. National interest was high in celebrating the 400th anniversary of the arrival of Christopher Columbus. What better way than to create and theme a World's Fair Exposition as the Columbian Exposition and start it on the Columbus anniversary? St. Louis, New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C., all threw their collective civic hats in the ring and started jockeying for their cities to be the hosts. Money was a major motivating factor, of course. The competition and the discourse became so heated between these cities that the U.S. Congress was going to have to make the decision. One of the representatives of the New York contingent was so outspoken against Chicago that he continually referred to the Chicago backers and their offers in negotiation as 'the windy offers from out west'. Hence, we have Chicago, the Windy City.

It really came down to New York vs. Chicago. The Big Apple's J.P. Morgan, Cornelius Vanderbilt and William Waldorf Astor threw in a $15 million dollar pledge thinking Chicago hicks couldn't meet that price. But Chicago's Marshall Field, Phillip Armour, Gustavus Swift and Cyrus McCormick matched it and added significant city and state pledges of support as well. Congress was finally convinced to give it to Chicago when Chicago banker Lyman Gage coughed up an additional $5 million within 24 hours to top New York's offer.

 Tomorrow, Part One Lesson Two – The Construction of the Exposition Begins

(Part One Lesson Two is HERE)

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Posted by on May 1, 2012 • Filed under: commentary, history, Parquette • Tagged: , ,

Truth IS Stranger (Than Fiction) – Part Four, Conclusion

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Truth IS Stranger
(Than Fiction)

A Historical Vignette
by Tom Parquette

Part Four, Conclusion – The Roundup Continues
(This article begins with Part One HERE
Continue with Part Two HERE.  Part Three is HERE.) 

It was 1986 and it seemed like the jig was up. Wig, Cooney and some of their kids were on the hot spot as were several others including the police chief of Kermit. In West Virginia in the 70's and 80's, the last place on earth a crook wanted to be sent was the West Virginia State Penitentiary at Moundsville (now closed). It was a hell hole and constantly on the nation's top ten list of most violent prisons. But the enterprising law enforcement team that engineered the cleansing of Kermit used that to their advantage, especially with Wig. Plea bargain on Federal charges, accept the sentence or we can charge you under West Virginia statutes and you likely wind up in Moundsville. Wig chose the former as did many others. A country club Federal prison farm certainly beat the idea of Moundsville. Part of that plea deal was information the investigators wanted from the Preece clan and they got it. Over the months following Wig and Cooney Preece's arrests, a total of 73 public figures in Kermit and Mingo County were arrested on various charges. They didn't get Wig on the arson for hire but they got him on conspiracy to distribute drugs and tax evasion. He was sentenced to 10 years. Cooney, the ring leader of the drug empire was sentenced to 16 years. All arrested with the exception of David Ramey, the police chief and his wife (Wig's daughter) Debbie, a town councilwoman, pled guilty and took deals. Ramey and his wife were tried and convicted. The investigation extended it's reach throughout Mingo County and beyond, right up to the Governors office in Charleston. 

Wig Preece's reach in Kermit was extensive. Aside from the Police Chief, a son was the school principal, and the then-current mayor, the past mayor and even the United Baptist pastor were married to Preece women. The final tally of Preece convictions, aside from Wig and Cooney, included nine Preece children and in-laws who were sentenced to prison terms totalling 55 years. Cooney Preece, even before she started serving her sentence as the drug kingpin, was dumbfounded by it all. Cooney repeatedly stated that, “Everybody in Mingo County knew it,” then she added, “I don't understand it. Wig and I have been paying off all the right people since 1957.”

The former Sheriff of Mingo County, a Democrat political boss, Johnny Owens, stated, “It's the way things have worked in this county for as long as I can remember.” Owens, the head mover and shaker of Mingo politics grew tired and bored as Sheriff in 1982 and decided to 'sell' his job to his successor. The price in 1982 dollars: $100,000 of which Johnny kept half and spread the rest around to assure the transition. The four year investigation brought down not only the Kermit police chief, but it's police captain, councilmen and the county director of senior citizens affairs, the county surveyor and a former county clerk right down to the former cook at the Mingo County jail convicted of bribing a candidate to not run for office. Former Sheriff Owen was convicted in state court of bribing a juror in a murder trial.

The investigation also bagged the largest big boss of the Democrats in Mingo County, Larry Hamick. Hamick, aside from being the head of the party in Mingo County was the president of the county school board and executive director of a federal anti poverty program charged with distributing excess commodities to the poor. Hamick was convicted of bribing a juror in a drug trial by offering the juror a job with the school in return for an acquittal.

Hamick also funneled over $60,000 in federal funds to his own use and stole commodity cheese and goodies and spread it around as graft rather than give it to the poor as intended. Hamicks latest claim to fame was strangling a pit bull to death. He stated he really didn't intend on killing the dog, but “Once you've got your hands around a pit bull's neck there isn't much else you can do.” Hamick was also charged with choking a female employee intent on testifying against him.

Three-term governor Arch Moore was investigated through campaign contribution records but managed to escape criminal charges. I know that shocks you.

Depending on where you are standing, 25 years have passed since the upheaval in Kermit and Bloody Mingo. The criminal investigation was considered a success. The sentences imposed were served, people came, people went and the hard scrabble life continues. Mary Virginia “Cooney” Preece passed away in June of 2009. Wig Preece is 84 now and returned to Kermit as the Fire Chief of the Kermit Volunteer Fire Department until recently. Many of the Preece clan have gone from Kermit, but just as many have stayed. The population of Kermit is about 356 now. A decided drop from the 80's. This writer repeatedly tried to contact Wig Preece, current Chief Sartin, and other city officials in Kermit but was rebuffed immediately. The only people willing to talk, even to this day, are Preece kids trying to rewrite the history of this family and its abuse of privilege.

Kermit VFD Firehouse  (Robt. Carlton)

Oh, the Preece clan doesn't deny the drug dealing and graft. They just insist there wasn't anything wrong with what they all did. Even Tomahawk Preece was outspoken about the tumble the family took.  “Hell, they never sold none to juveniles. Cooney only was taking care of her family,” he offered.

Early June of 2007 marked Wig Preece's 80th birthday celebration in Kermit. Firmly (re) ensconced back on the Fire Chief throne at the time, the only conspicuous people in town were the ones conspicuous by their absence. Wig's party was something like a who's who of Appalachian politics. West Virginia Senate Majority Leader H. Truman Chafin, Chief Magistrate Dee Sidebottom, Circuit Judge Michael Thornbury, Prosecuting Attorney Michael Sparks, Magistrate Pam Newsome, County Commissioners John Mark Hubbard, Hootie Smith, Clerk Big Jim Hatfield (yup!) were among the dozens of dignitaries raising a glass and warmly patting ol' Wig on the back. Since the birthday bash, Wig Preece has relinquished his position to Eric Sartin, who currently serves as chief with Timmy Preece still in the Asst. Chief position.

Oh, one thing though. The major fire rate in Kermit is reported at 0. Go figure. Maybe truth is stranger than fiction. They cancelled Boss Hogg and the Duke clan in 1985. One can only guess whether the episodes in Kermit are new or reruns. Or, how long they'll run at all.

Sources used for this story: 
Houston Chronicle

Barry Bearak- LA Times

Ocala Star Banner

Mingo County Prosecutors Office

Mingo County Commission

Kermit Volunteer Fire Department

City of Kermit

Williamson Daily News

Federal Court records search

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Posted by on April 20, 2012 • Filed under: commentary, history, Parquette • Tagged: , , ,

Truth Is Stranger (Than Fiction) – Part Three

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Truth IS Stranger
(Than Fiction)

A Historical Vignette
by Tom Parquette

Part Three of Four – The State Takes An Interest in Kermit
(This article begins with Part One HERE 
Continue with Part Two HERE.)

People did start complaining though. Secretly, anonymous calls were going to the state about the decadence. The business was so brisk at the trailer that the Kermit cops couldn't find a place to park in their own parking lot. A line actually stretched out onto the street with people from Ohio, Kentucky and elsewhere buying the good stuff Preece was selling. When business was too good and they ran out of pot, they would hang a sign in the window, "Out of pot. Back in fifteen minutes."  And they would be.

Cooney Preece (family photo)

In fact, Cooney pretty much ran and controlled the dope operation. And she wasn't a bit worried about the illegality of it all. She had a bad habit of storing the pot in plastic garbage bags and leaving it next to the porch of the trailer. One day, the local trash hauler backed up and loaded it in the truck and went on his way. Cooney flipped out, called the police chief for a police escort and chased down the trash truck and made him come back and unload all of the trash in the street until she got her dope back. Police Chief Ramey and Preece daughter Debby were scraping by on his $800.00 per month police pay. Yes, they were scraping by so much that the townsfolk started calling them J.R. And Sue Ellen.

Kermit VFD

While Cooney was busy building the drug empire old Wig was busy with his own nefarious stuff. You see, at that time Kermit had a population of 705 citizens and something like 190 structures of which he was the responsible fire commander. Strange thing, though. The city was averaging 100 serious fire calls annually. Wig Preece controlled the response time or whether there was a response at all. Sometimes equipment wouldn't start. Sometimes the alarm got lost. Sometimes. Other times it was an effective little fire department. The investigators, the politicians and the public darn well knew it depended on Wig and the level of fire insurance involved. Some homes were burned to the ground, rebuilt and burned again! The town was starting to look like a bombed out war zone with all the skeletal building remains sitting everywhere. And, yes, every morning a thick pall of heavy smoke greeted the citizens as they awoke to another day. It got to a point in Kermit at least, where you couldn't buy fire insurance and if you thought you could, you couldn't afford the premium. Together with psychological intimidation and financial intimidation, Wig's flourishing arson for hire business added that intimidation as well. The citizens were kept in line by whichever way it took.

Google Street View two blocks from the Kermit firehouse

All the calls to Charleston and the state caused the martialing of a huge undercover operation involving state and federal officials. West Virginia state trooper Marty Allen went undercover to make buys from the Preeces operation. The FBI, IRS, DEA and state police worked in unison in the investigation. Since the Preece's were in the habit of accepting cash or merchandise as payment for the drugs, area malls were experiencing a notable increase in thefts of appliances and other commodities. The state police supplied trooper Allen with merchandise to trade and over 1-½ years they documented everything going on in Kermit. Toward the conclusion of the surveillance, IRS criminal investigator John Weaver was brought in to track the money and FBI agent Calvin Knott set up direct undercover surveillance. Knott stationed six agents in an old parked and abandoned rail car near the Preece trailer and the police station and recorded and taped up to 600 transactions per day taking place.

At one point during the undercover surveillance, Wig Preece is recorded in a conversation with agents posing as drug buyers telling them that he wanted a new boat for the fire department. He told them the make and model and color, what dealer had it and exactly how to steal it. Since Wig Preece was the Chief, his son Timmy the Assistant Chief, three other sons and three grandsons were on the department, well, it seemed only right. I guess.

Assistant US Attorney Joe Savage was in charge of the task force. Savage had moved to West Virginia so that his wife could fulfill her med school requirements by serving in an under served area. Joe Savage learned fast what Mingo County, nicknamed "Bloody Mingo", was all about. He packed up his wife and moved her out as he continued with the task force. Savage is on record as stating, "The police chief and the sheriff weren't arresting the bad guys. They were selling the drugs. The fire Chief was running an arson operation, the school board president wasn't teaching children ethics, he was bribing jurors." State Trooper Allen commented on the record that, "the (Preece) family is low life scum. And Cooney is an evil woman."

On May 30, 1986 the task force felt they had all they needed to change things in Kermit. A virtual fleet of unmarked squad cars converged on the town from both ends of highway 52 and closed it in. The telephone system leading to and serving the town was disconnected. A helicopter assisted as the Kentucky authorities closed the access across the Tug Fork River bridge leading to Lovely, Ky. Trooper Weaver commented on the record that they had enough troops to "wipe out the Sandinistas." Officers arrested Wig and Cooney Preece, five of their kids and 13 other individuals. But this was just the very beginning.

Tomorrow, Part Four (Conclusion) – The Roundup Continues

(Part Four is HERE.)

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Posted by on April 19, 2012 • Filed under: commentary, history, Parquette • Tagged: , ,

Truth IS Stranger (Than Fiction) – Part Two

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Truth IS Stranger
(Than Fiction)

A Historical Vignette
by Tom Parquette

Part Two of Four – We Get To Know Wig a Little Better
(This article begins with Part One HERE)

Wig Preece was a powerful man in Kermit and thus, the Mingo County political scene. Even as a saloon keeper, it was said Wig could carry 500 votes in any election. If he wanted to. He and his family readily boasted that in a poor town like Kermit, a five dollar bill or a bottle of cheap rot gut whisky would assure the vote from some hapless resident. And in Kermit then, there were a lot of hapless residents. As time went on, an election investigator trying to prove election fraud as an observer said they had never witnessed so many blind people showing up at the polls who needed help in the voting booth. Just the way things were, I guess.

Wig Preece  (Kermit VFD photo)

But, hey, what's a little crooked politics and electioneering among friends? It happens anywhere, doesn't it? Look at Chicago, New York, I mean, anywhere. But Wig Preece and his clan picked up where even brazen crooks left off. Little Kermit didn't go unnoticed. And neither did the Kermit Volunteer Fire Department. Now don't misunderstand this story. There are some fine folks in Kermit and in Mingo County. Fine folks, indeed. They kinda knew something was wrong. It just 'seemed' like something was wrong. All the cars around all the time,…strange cars,…many with Kentucky plates. And dang near every morning getting up to the smoky haze laying down over the town. Fire-smoke smoky haze. The ones that knew couldn't and wouldn't talk. The ones that didn't know, but suspected, well, they would know in time. Would they ever know.

Wig and Cooney Preece had 14 children and enough grandchildren and great grand children to populate a small town of their own. The kids had nicknames such as Bull, Slick, Red Ed, Ball, or Powder. I guess they were easier to keep track of that way. Even though Wig and Cooney were considered the political elite in Kermit and every one in the area knew the politics was crooked, well, that was expected in the coal regions of West Virginia. Nothing unusual in that. Wig was a good ol' boy who many say would give you the shirt off his back. If you needed a tow or if you needed an ambulance, Wig was up and out in the middle of the night and he was there. He and his young ones actually 'were' the Kermit Volunteer Fire Department in it's early days. The kids would go and help him fight fires and they weren't too bad at it. And if you were partying late and needed an extra bottle of booze to keep the party going after the municipal liquor store had closed, you only needed to go see Wig.

Williamson Daily News archives

The gracious Miss Cooney was the 'Grand Dame' of Kermit. She helped Wig with the Fire Department and whatever else he needed. It only came out much later that Miss Cooney was more like the ring leader than a dutiful wife/gofer. Early on in their marriage Cooney took the thought that Wig just might be fooling around with some other Kermit cuties. She promptly pulled a pistol and blew a hole in Wigs hand just to show what might happen if he did.

As crooked as the politics were, and they were, and as much as Wig was the point man for getting you elected, things weren't so bad before 1978. Crooked politics, poverty, hard living and small town wheeling and dealing was the norm for folks in southern West Virginia and had been for decades. What changed things is anybody's guess but it seemed like when their son Tomahawk Preece (yup! That was his given name since he was born in the back of a car in Tomahawk Kentucky) was busted for selling pot, Wig and Cooney took an interest. They took a big interest when they learned how much money the kid took in doing it. They did get Tomahawk off the drug charge. It took about 1 ½ to 2 years for Wig and Cooney to get rolling in the illegal substance for fun game. It sure beat driving a cab. By 1980, they had built up a real going enterprise. It outgrew their living room so they moved the business downtown in Kermit into a rented trailer next to the police station. Wig put in a drive thru window.

Kermit City Hall  (photo by Robt. Carlton)

You see, Kermit's Police Chief, Dave Ramey, was married to Preece's daughter and they knew he didn't want to make trouble for the inlaws. Wig and Cooney built things up to where they were operating the largest illegal drug business in southern West Virginia. State officials estimate they were taking in about $1 million annually. Pretty soon, the Preece kids were doing quite well. Cadillacs and Corvettes ruled the garages and crystal chandeliers and diamonds took over the new and newly decorated homes. The only thing that caused problems for the operation from time to time, were the Preece's themselves. The state cops would arrest members of the clan for numerous offenses and do so with regularity. Records show 54 such arrests over a 2 ½ year period. No convictions. The judge in the county regularly would inform prosecutors they didn't have a case. This happened once while Cooney was sitting on the judge's desk as he said it.

Tomorrow, Part Three – The State Takes an Interest in Kermit

(Part Three is HERE.)

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Posted by on April 18, 2012 • Filed under: commentary, history, Parquette • Tagged: , ,

Truth IS Stranger (Than Fiction) – Part One

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Truth IS Stranger
(Than Fiction)

A Historical Vignette
by Tom Parquette

Part One of Four – Welcome to Kermit

Many of us, myself included, wax fondly of the period from 1979 to 1985 when television still had something called integrity. Well, what else could you call Friday nights riveted to the tube and watching the Dukes of Hazard in preparation for J.R. Ewing and the Ewing clan? Ol' Jefferson Davis Hogg of fictional Hazard County (Georgia) fame as portrayed by outstanding actor Sorrell Booke was so demonstrably crooked and unashamed of it, he was refreshing. In an entertaining sort of way.

The show was originally filmed in rural Georgia and as it became a success, they moved the action to a sound stage in California. But if the wild goings on of the Duke clan and the Hazard County crooks was, well, mindless cinema at it's best, then the goings on almost directly north of that Georgia birthplace was anything but mindless cinema. Some 350 miles or so due north (as the crow flies) would drop you in somewhere around Mingo County, West Virginia.

If you're sitting around reading old history books on West Virginia, you won't find Mingo County mentioned before 1895. You see, it didn't really exist. Even though West Virginia was formed in 1863, it didn't think about Mingo County until 1895. It seems a moonshiner was arrested in Logan County West Virginia and brought to trial. He filed an objection to the charges insofar as he claimed the offense didn't take place in Logan County because his still was actually in Lincoln County so they couldn't arrest him. That set off a full scale land survey which proved him right! Of course, they refiled the charges in Lincoln County and convicted him. Confused yet? Well, the resurvey process brought the legislature to the conclusion that Logan County was too large for the proper function of the law so they carved another county out of Logan and named it after an Indian tribe. Voila! Mingo County!

Tug Fork Valley  (photo by Robert Carlton)

Sitting on the north bank of the Tug Fork River, Mingo County is but a mere stone's throw from the state of Kentucky. West Virgina was formed by seceding from Confederate Virginia during the Civil War and since that sort of made West Virginia a bit Yankee, things often didn't go too well along the Tug Fork River.

Mingo County. Er, Logan County, was actually the stomping ground for a lot of the action created by the Hatfield and McCoy family feud that started in the 1860's.  But history records it getting off and running sometime around 1882. Over a hundred years later, the two families would mend their ways and actually get along a bit.

Williamson Daily News, 1951

Yes, Mingo County. Coal was and is king in Mingo County as it is in much of West Virginia. Second only to Wyoming in coal production, your lights are probably burning right now because of some chunks of West Virginia coal and the blood, sweat and tears of the hard working coal miners and their families. Coal is king. Up until the 1970's, coal company towns were 'home' and mining script was the coin of the realm. The miners were paid in script, lived in company housing, and spent the script in the company store.

As Tennessee Ernie Ford once sang, "You load sixteen tons, what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt. Saint Peter don't you call me, cause I can't go,….I owe my soul to the company store." In the 1970's the unions took hold and grew more powerful. But so did mechanization. Coal machines and transports cut down the need for much manpower. Mingo County is Appalachia. Appalachia is Mingo County. Then, as now, high unemployment, 1/3 of the kids born to abject poverty and 1/3 of the people on welfare. It's a tough life and a tough future which regardless of the New Deal, John Kennedy or all of the Robert Byrd political mumbling and promises, hasn't changed the fundamental fact of life.

Williamson Daily News photo

On the bank of the Tug Fork River, in Mingo County, sits the community of Kermit, West Virginia. Contrary to John Denver, it ain't 'Almost Heaven'. In fact, for many years and decades, Kermit could be compared to that other place, the hotter one. Kermit and Mingo County are the focal points of this story as both political subdivisions fell prey to some of the most crooked, outlandish dealings in recent history. The Democrat political machine, at least in Mingo County and Kermit, had as one of it's kingpins, and one of it's core power brokers, none other than the Chief of the Kermit Volunteer Fire Department, one Wilburn T. Preece Sr. (known simply as "Wig") and his wife, Mary Virginia (known as "Cooney") Preece. By all accounts, Wig Preece loved the fire service. He first started hanging around the fire hall at the age of three and became Chief in his teens or early twenties. Wig was a saloon operator at one point in time, owner of a taxi company and the local ambulance service among his other pursuits. Just an all around good ol' boy, Wig was a dedicated leader, they say. In fact, Wig had the main fire phone wired straight to his house. He and his crew were quick responders…….if…….if the fire "needed" to be put out.

Tomorrow, Part Two – We Get to Know Wig a Little Better

(Part Two is HERE.)

photo by Robert Carlton

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Posted by on April 17, 2012 • Filed under: commentary, history, Parquette • Tagged: , ,

CAFS and Cops – A Commentary

4 comments

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Just Who Do You Think Our "Friends" Are?

Commentary by Patrick Mahoney

Tim Sendlebach is the editor-in-chief of Fire-Rescue magazine and a fire chief. It is a great magazine that offers a lot to the fire service and he is a commendable leader who has made the fire service a better place. Sadly, he recently published one of the most misguided editorials I have ever seen from a fire service leader. Chief Sendlebach wants us to listen to the International City/County Management Association because "in short, they're our bosses" (emphasis his).

The context here is a dustup over an ICMA-published magazine article from August of last year that advocated CAFS usage. Chief Sendlebach objects to the greater fire service's objection to the article. Specifically, the fire service was critical of the article because it was made by authors who never served as firefighters. Several arguments in the article are worth summarizing here: the fire service has failed to adopt the miracle of CAFS more widely because of tradition, the fear that doing so will allow staffing cuts, firefighters don't understand CAFS, and early models of what the authors apparently think were CAFS systems were complicated. A few representative quotes may also be useful:

"The adage "100 years of tradition unimpeded by progress" has been regularly quoted by progressive fire managers in many issues of the magazine Fire Chief."

"The role of the fire service is not to be an employment agency"

" the city managers were discussing the introduction of CAFS into the department, a firefighter from a neighboring jurisdiction stood up and rattled off a number of critiques about CAFS. Not one was true."

The two guys who wrote that article are not firefighters. One is a cop who became a city manager and the other is a cop who became a city manager and somehow got involved in some fire service standards-making efforts by virtue of his role as a public administrator. Suffice it to say that many cops and city managers across the country are often not the biggest fans of adequate fire services. These guys were also completely wrong about CAFS and the fire service.

IndianaFireTrucks / Allen

The article glowingly references the LA County CAFS tests and articles from Fire Chief magazine. Go check out the LA County CAFS tests if you're curious. (Spoiler: they're about exterior firefighting at flow rates unsafe for interior operations, like all CAFS tests, and, therefore, abandoning the interior position and anyone who happens to be in there.) The tests are not applicable to the interior firefighting that is responsible for the level of reactive performance the urban American fire service is known for. As for Fire Chief magazine, a publication run by someone who has never been a firefigther, it is free for you (you know about how you get what you pay for?) and thus apparently funded by advertising and sponsorship. I don't know how much ad revenue they take in from apparatus and pump manufacturers but I would bet it's a non-trivial sum.

They are also wrong about the fire service. The fire service changes and embraces innovation at a pace not entirely unheard of in the private sector. Just because some stupid movie in the 1990s highlighted a sign that one particular department used to poke fun at itself it has become axiomatic that this is a hundred years of tradition uninterrupted by progress. Yes, there are pathologically conservative departments; there are even regressive leaders. But in general, the fire service is open and adaptive. If you doubt it and you belong to a career department of more than a couple of stations then I'd ask you how much homeland security and NIMS training you've had in the last 11 years. Then, for you old-timers, I'd ask how much EMS training you got in the 1980s and 1990s. To suggest that CAFS is not in wider use because of tradition and a fear of losing jobs is grossly offensive. It also, unsurprisingly, sounds like boilerplate city manager babble that plays well at the chamber of commerce but has little or no bearing on reality.

Insofar as the ICMA is made up of "our bosses" I think we know enough about the bosses to judge that tree by its fruit. When city after city after city is decimating its fire services for the sake of crooked politics, nonessential services, payback to other public agencies, breaking labor's back, and just plain bad thinking then I believe we are allowed to disregard their recommendations. In short, what these guys have to say is valuable in an advisory sense only for the insight it offers into the mindset of those who are not our friends.

Thank you,
Patrick S. Mahoney

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Posted by on April 11, 2012 • Filed under: commentary, FireHat • Tagged: ,

How Deceptive Journalism Can Hurt a Good Firefighter

2 comments

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Firegeezer notes:  Recently a story ran in the New York Post, a newspaper with one of the country's highest circulation rates.  They also posted the story in their online version of the daily paper.  The story purported to "expose" a retired FDNY firefighter's working as a rescue tech while drawing a disability retirement.  The story immediately went around the Fire World and was linked to by many fire and ems sites (including this website).  However, the Post made the unwise decision to "steal" a 2-yr.-old photo of the firefighter off of a professional photographers FLICKR page and that simple yet illegal action led to the disclosure that the story itself was a complete fabrication containing barely, if any, facts.  The photographer, Lou Angeli has written a counter-editorial that traces the disclosures and actions relating to this story.

New York Post: Discrediting Firefighters Whenever Possible

OPINION by: Lou Angeli

Lewes, DE (April 5, 2012) — I don't know where to start, but first allow me to make this personal statement. The New York Post, one of America's largest newspapers, is also one of its worst. It serves up yellow journalism on a daily basis and "…is best used to line the bottom of bird cages."

On Monday March 26, 2012, The Post ran a story about a former FDNY firefighter who the paper claims faked a medical condition in order to collect a disability pension. I'll use the name Ray for the matter of this discussion. This news piece hit home because not only is the story a total fabrication of a fellow Delaware volunteer, but the venerable NY Post lifted one of my photos, that I posted on many fire-rescue websites 2 years ago, to illustrate the story. For the record, I never gave them permission to use the photo — and told the editor and writer NOT TO USE IT on three separate recorded telephone conversations.

The shot seen 'round the world.
Lou Angeli's photo

I was horrified when I saw that so many fire-rescue sites ran the story, because as a journalist I instantly recognized that the piece was riddled with inaccuracies and fabrications. The paper boasts that they've exposed a hero firefighter, claiming that he asked for a disability pension so he could volunteer as a NASCAR firefighter. Unfortunately, many firefighters and citizens take the Post's false allegations as gospel truth because they aren't savvy to such journalistic tricks or, more importantly, aware of how the disability system works.

Ray is a former FDNY firefighter who had a sterling career, so much so that officers of Rescue-1 (Manhattan) and Rescue-3 (The Bronx) fought over him. He served under Capt. Terry Hatton and learned the ropes from fellow firefighter Joey Angelini, who at 65 continued to hold an honored spot on Rescue-1's rig. But all of that came to an end on September 11, 2001. Hatton, Uncle Joe and most of Rescue-1's crew were lost to the towers that day. Ray was off, but responded from home arriving just before the north tower collapsed.

Although I'm not using the firefighter's true name, many of you will recognize him by his voice. When Jay Jonas, serving as Captain of Ladder 6 on September 11th, reported that he and his crew were trapped but alive, it was the Ray who responded by radio. "We're coming for you brother…We're coming for you." Those nine words remain one of the most chilling radio transmissions from that horrible day.

During Rescue and Recovery, Ray searched for his brothers day-in and day-out, spending many, many weeks on the pile. It was hard work but Ray was determined to bring his colleagues home. His decision to see the mission through had its ramifications though. Ray started suffering from pulmonary ailments and after testing, was released from service on disability at just 45 years of age.

Fast forward ten years: Ray, now living in downstate Delaware, became a member of his local volunteer fire company — not so much to ride the apparatus, but to work with the department's junior members. Imagine the quality of education those kids received!

Because of his rescue expertise, Ray was asked to serve as a consultant Dover International Speedway's Track Safety Crew, where he worked with NASCAR safety personnel to come up with the SOP's for the extrication of drivers. During the races, Ray drove the utility truck that carried the rescue tools. By the time he would arrive four other fast response vehicles were on the track with a total of 16 firefighters — enough manpower to attack a well involved room and contents fire.

It must have been a slow news day for the New York Post that day. Working on a single tip from an angry individual who didn't care for Ray, the newspaper ran the following headline "Disabled FDNYer with 95K Pension Now a NASCAR Rescuer." The writer was Creepy Carl, as he's known in the business, a Mr. Carl Campanile. One individual who has been following Campanile's career notes, "Carl one time was an idealistic journalist, but after years at the Post he has become nothing but a mindless, brainless robotron who does the bidding for his master Rupert Murdoch."

The story is written in the first person narrative as if Carl knows Ray personally. In reality he's speaking for a single individual who called the paper with a tip — make that a false allegation — about a former member of FDNY. Campanile ran with it because the Post discredits firefighters (and law enforcement) whenever possible.

Campanile claims that Ray "may have received his disability…(because) he was overweight." Well, anyone who knows that at 6' 5", 200 pounds, Ray is far from overweight.

The information on Ray comes from a single source — a whistleblower claims the journalist. Unfortunately, the whistleblower wouldn't allow the newspaper to release her/his name. Perhaps Campanile should have done a background check on his source before ripping into Ray and ruining his life.

The issue of firefighter salaries, pensions and disability benefits are currently being taken to task by the press, citizens and citizens organizations. But how can one fault Ray?. His salary and pension were determined before he came on the job. And who could have predicted the events of 9/11 and the long term medical issues suffered by tens of thousands of responders? It was the City of New York who gave Ray his walking papers. His preference would have been to remain on the job and work into a command position in special operations.

As for any firefighter or police officer who went on disability, what does the Post and unnamed sources of information expect them to do? Sit in a wheelchair in front of the TV? Any individual, ill or healthy, should be given the opportunity to pursue a lifestyle that makes them happy, healthy and whole. That's all that Ray wants. And what better way than by serving the community by sharing his incredible knowledge of firefighting and rescue — whether it's with the young people of Lewes Fire Company, or the Safety Crew at Dover Speedway?

Ray won't be defeated by a nameless accuser that's for sure. He's a Firefighter — a member of the brotherhood. And if ever a brother needed a lift, Ray is the guy and today is the day.

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Posted by on April 10, 2012 • Filed under: commentary

Fewer Fires = Fewer Firefighters, Right? Wrong!

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Fresh Excuses Leave The Same Results – A Commentary

This past week brought reports from Washington State and Missouri of the ongoing destruction of the American fire service. In Missouri we see that because there are fewer fires they need fewer firefighters. Maybe their mayor should let NIST know.

This formulation of public policy is rampant across the country these days. We had X fires and Y firefighters in 1975 and now we have 0.75X fires so we only need 0.75Y firefighters. Certainly this is faulty thinking and bad policy. It's dangerous and counterproductive and simply not the way things work in the actual world. But all arguments to the contrary can be squelched in so many minds by invoking the mantra of efficiency.

South Missourian News

Efficiency is a noble value insofar as it counters the unfortunate tendency to waste the plenitude of our world. But it has been fetishized by a culture that values success in business (read: gotta get paid) above nearly all other values. The American public, we are told, wants a government that "runs like a business." Never mind that government cannot run like a business. Its products are non-exclusionary and its methods, if they are to serve all members of the public equally (read: democratically), cannot be made profitable. Along the way to running government like a business a lot of public administrators became obsessed with the notion of efficiency. It's a fantastic banner to hang out in front of the taxpayers.

City managers and politicians love this "run it like a business" dictum even if they don't themselves believe it and even though its nonsensical. This is where this prevalent notion that fewer fires necessitate fewer firefighters comes in. I suspect that the fire service is the most democratic of all local-government services. Its members hold an unparalleled commitment to service and it is quickly and readily accessible 24 hours a day by the lowliest of society and the richest in equal measure. Not so when most cuts are made.

If a city closes a station that makes two runs a week that may be a reasonable move. Dropping a company to the dangerous three-person minimum can never be a reasonable decision. And cutting stations and staff because you have "fewer" fires is irrelevant when you do have fires, which are inevitable. It is important that the fire service recognize that a lot of these decisions to cut resources can be contextualized in a larger, more powerful, line of poor reasoning and bad thinking. Only then can we really understand what is happening to the fire service beyond the immediate concerns of this year's budget and that city's staffing.

………. Patrick S. Mahoney

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Posted by on April 6, 2012 • Filed under: commentary, Fire Rescue Topics, FireHat • Tagged:

LAFD Woes Continue

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It's All Starting to Come Out Now

THE VIGOROUS CAMPAIGN FOR MAYOR of Los Angeles (California) is exposing more failures of the City Council and the Mayor.  Among the agencies which are coming up short is the Fire Department.  That fine agency has been undermined by the current mayor who has slashed the FD budget by 16% in recent years, instituted rotating station brown-outs, and eliminated units from one-fourth of the city's 106 fire stations.  All this time the mayor and Fire Chief Brian Cummings have been saying that the department is doing okay despite the large cuts.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, left, and Fire Chief Brian Cummings
discuss response times and deployment at a March 13 news conference.
(Barbara Davidson, Los Angeles Times / March 13, 2012)

But one of their "proofs" of success, the average response times were found to be based on jiggered numbers and are really noticably slower than they had admitted to.  (See the Firegeezer article from March 11, LAFD Admits Inflating Response Times Favorably HERE.)  As more people from the political opposition and reporters from the local press start looking behind the facade, even more deception is being exposed.  Yesterday (Saturday) a columnist for the Los Angeles Times unloaded on the mayor and fire chief for the deterioration of the FD since they have taken control.  Some quotes from Stephen Lopez's detailed commentary indicate that all might not be well in the city:

Nobody was lying, we're told. But the Fire Department has now switched to a more accurate formula for tracking response times.

How hard can this be?  Your house is on fire, you call the Fire Department, and they show up in either four minutes, five, six, 10, whatever. Does it have to be more complicated than that?

It was on the basis of the rosier information that the mayor and council agreed to big cuts. Now Fire Chief Brian Cummings admits the department should have made clear that it had switched to a different formula, and both he and Villaraigosa tell us both formulas were accurate.

Huh?

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They also said public safety hasn't been compromised by the mothballing of equipment as part of a plan to save $200 million over three years. How could it not be compromised?

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"This department is being held together with bubble gum, baling wire and duct tape," says Pat McOsker, president of United Firefighters of Los Angeles City.

"Forty percent of the time we are not getting there in time to prevent brain death," said McOsker, referring to the length of time it generally takes for someone who's not breathing to suffer lasting injury.

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Mid-City resident Mike Eveloff has been doing his own spade work, demanding Fire Department records and crunching numbers. When you remove equipment from service and shutter or partially shutter fire stations, you're playing a game of Russian roulette, said Eveloff.

"You see them on longer and longer runs because they don't have as many firefighters. As an example, my station, 92, they were sent 14 miles away to the eastern part of Hollywood with red lights and siren. It's happening all the time," said Eveloff.

"If you look into the eyes of these guys, they are beat to death."

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"When I first came on, retirement was a sad day for the retiree. Now it seems like the retiree can't leave soon enough."

Apparently the shell game has extended into the maintenance division.  A combination of harder usage on the trucks coupled with a 30% reduction in the number of mechanics has left the fleet shaky and unreliable as more reserve apparatus are being used while normal repairs are backlogged as much as a month.  Now the reserve fleet is failing from the excess work.

Read Steve Lopez's entire commentary HERE.

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The LA Times has followed up with a separate article about the falling-apart of the emergency dispatch center.  They tell about a day recently where a woman had her hand mangled in a piece of machinery and had to wait 45 minutes before any help arrived because the dispatch system had just failed:

The dismemberment occurred March 7, when a brief equipment failure left dispatchers unable to alert fire stations. At a firehouse in Harbor Gateway near Torrance, just a mile from the bleeding woman, the alarms never rang, according to firefighters.

"I was in horrible, horrible pain," said Wafer, 36, who was later told by a doctor that too much time had elapsed to reattach her finger.

Firegeezer comments:  I find it amazing that nobody in that huge dispatch center had the presence of mind to call the nearest station by land line and get a unit started right away.  Don't you have to take a test or something in order to work there?

Read the detailed article on problems at the 9-1-1 center HERE.

Firegeezer adds further:  Having observed the LA Times' past behavior which includes dubious reporting by partial disclosure of facts and events, I recommend that we pause and give the FD time to get back to work on Monday and see if they address these charges.

Hat tip to:  Mike T.

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Posted by on March 18, 2012 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, apparatus, commentary, dispatch, Dispatch & Communications, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing • Tagged: , , ,

The Little Engine (Maker) That Could …. And Did – Part 3

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The Little Engine (Maker) That Could ….. And Did

A Historical Vignette by
Tom Parquette

Part Three – Conclusion
(Begin with Part One HERE
Part Two is HERE)

Nott barreled head-on into the new century offering new equipment and addressing, or at least trying to address, the advent of motorized fire apparatus. Nott was building steamers at a rapid pace. Bitter competition was still the norm. As American LaFrance brought out it's patented spring hoist aerial ladder in 1904, Mr. Seagrave sprung into action himself to keep Seagrave's inventions in the forefront. By 1909 sales were so strong that Nott, as well as Seagrave and Ahrens-Fox had to pass up displaying at the National Association Of Fire Engineers just to tend to the burgeoning order backlogs. But quickly, by 1910, the future of motor fuel apparatus was being well written.

Minneapolis, Minnesota, Water Tower 1
1891 Hale-patent water tower mounted on 1913 Nott open-cab apparatus chassis.
This is the same water tower that was pictured horse-drawn in Part One (HERE)

William Nott would soon end his relationship with the unpredictable Mr. Seagrave and Nott aligned himself, for a time at least, with his former archrival, American LaFrance. Apparently Nott thought ALF was a better candidate to lead into the future than Seagrave. Who knew?

Waupaca, Wisconsin, 1926 Nott engine sold new for $5,000

Nott tried to avoid the massive capital requirement which the motorized apparatus market was going to require but it didn't stop him from designing and selling fire equipment. He came out with a vastly modern unit nicknamed the Universal and was pumping out some 25 to 30 rigs annually. Although these rigs were manufactured by another Minnesota company, the Luverne Fire Apparatus Company in Luverne, Minnesota. The Depression hit in 1929 and a pure firestorm hit the fire apparatus industry, W.S. Nott and all. An aspiring governor then County Attorney, charged Nott's company and it's representatives along with five aldermen and seven businessmen with bribing a city alderman on a fire hose sale. The Nott company managed to escape damaged reputation as the employee charged, Emmett Browning, was found not guilty largely on his personal reputation.

1927 Nott engine

But this signalled the end of W.S. Nott Fire. That and the distaste Nott had for the huge investments again needed together with the backlash of the Depression. Nott arranged to set up a blacksmith in Lindstrom, Minnesota in business. Elmer H. Abrahamson was also the fire chief in Lindstrom. When his community couldn't afford to buy a pumper, he undertook the task to build one himself and by all accounts did a fine job. This caught Nott's eye and he arranged to transfer the apparatus business to Abrahamson and helped him set up the Minnesota Fire Equipment Company in 1939.

Nott continued on with the original W.S. Nott Company and it's line of industrial supplies including forklift trucks among it's wares. W.S. Nott is a thriving company today and continues it's operations from the Twin Cities area of Minnesota.

W.S. Nott and the Nott Fire engine. Yes, the Little Engine That Could, and did really. You see, as the legacy of Nott and his cartel/trust/conglomerate fighting efforts of the 19th & early 20th centuries as to fire apparatus and it's industry ended about 1939, another was born.

Elmer Abrahamson continued with the Minnesota Fire Equipment Company which became General Safety Equipment Company and continued building custom apparatus for departments throughout the upper midwest and the nation. Elmer grew the company turning out excellent equipment and developed a strong reputation. A huge military contract in the 1940's put the firm on the map supplying pumpers to the government. Elmer passed away in 1967 and in doing so, handed the reigns to his son in law, Mitch Kirvida. Mitch and his wife purchased the company and ran it until his retirement in 1988. The new owner of the company was Mitch's son, Kevin Kirvida, who continues as general manager. Mitch Kirvida passed away in 1991. The business continues to this day under the guidance of the third generation since Elmer Abrahamson, and not long ago became part of the Rosenbauer (Minnesota) firm. Rosenbauer claims to be the largest fire apparatus manufacturer in the world at this time. But that's another story and, just perhaps, another vignette.

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Posted by on March 8, 2012 • Filed under: apparatus, commentary, Fire Rescue Topics, history • Tagged:

Saving Money Instead of Lives

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Mayor Has His Priorities

HAVERHILL, MASSACHUSETTS, HAS BEEN going through a period of slashing firefighter positions in the name of economy while keeping city hall populated and the most recent cut has been to reduce the city's rescue squad unit to driver-only.  This nonsense has put Mayor James Fiorentini in the spotlight following a fatal fire in a residence.

Eagle-Tribune / Daly

The fire began around 1 am Wednesday morning on the first floor of a triple-decker and spread rapidly through the entire building.  When the first units arrived on the scene they were met with the building fully involved and, according to the police chief who is now in charge of the FD, untenable.  However, the firefighters who were there are claiming that a rescue crew, if there was one, could have begun a search in the first floor where the victim was finally located.

An elderly woman in the unit where the fire began perished in the blaze and two other people suffered some non-life threatening burn and smoke injuries.  Residents in the upper floors were able to escape without injury.

The fire went to two alarms and was contained to the fire building in the densely-built neighborhood.  But the fact that a life was lost is bringing out a public debate on the Mayor's relentless cutting back on resources for fire suppression and life saving.  It was just ten days ago that he arbitrarily reduced the rescue squad staffing from 3 to 1.

Later in the day at a hastily-assembled press conference in front of the burned-out dwelling, the Haverhill union president along with the president of the Massachusetts state union organization lambasted the mayor for this result.  The Eagle-Tribune reports today:

The death of an elderly woman in an early morning inferno yesterday torched a political maelstrom, with firefighters saying she may have survived had Mayor James Fiorentini not cut two men from their rescue truck. "No amount of manning would have changed this tragedy," said Public Safety Commissioner Alan DeNaro.

But the tragedy at 477 Washington St. later led to a rare agreement between Fiorentini and the firefighters' union. Firefighters said the agreement has secured the safety of city residents for at least one night.

Two firefighters volunteered to staff the rescue truck last night without pay, and Fiorentini said he planned to talk with union President Greg Roberts today to try to devise a plan to restore the rescue truck to full staffing as soon as possible.

The agreement followed a long day of high drama and accusations that began in the early-morning hours when Firefighter Todd Guertin, a leader in the firefighters union, said Fiorentini "should be charged with murder for taking the rescue truck out of service over a dispute with the union."

"Ten days ago there would have been a rescue crew going in and searching that building for that woman," said Edward Kelly, a Boston firefighter and president of the Professional Firefighters of Massachusetts, who was brought in by the local union to help set up the press conference. "Because of the reductions in manpower the mayor instituted, there was no rescue team to go in and search for her. We feel very strongly that woman would have survived if the cuts to the rescue truck had not been made."

The Eagle-Tribune has posted the first several minutes of radio traffic from the call:

 

Firegeezer comments:  There is a lot of emotion involved in this controversy and it has enveloped this tragic death to serve each side's position.  Unsaid is just why the Mayor is being allowed to send out a rescue squad with only a driver in the first place.  Instead of assigning the sole remaining firefighter to an engine where there would be enough people to launch a rescue attempt, he is parading a truck in order to fool the taxpayers into thinking that they have a real rescue squad showing up at fires.

Following is a clip from yesterday's news conference:

 

Read the Eagle-Tribune story HERE.
The Boston Globe has MORE.

Eagle-Tribune / Bilodeau

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Posted by on March 8, 2012 • Filed under: commentary, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, labor, rescue, Videos

The Little Engine (Maker) That Could …. And Did – Part 2

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The Little Engine (Maker) That Could ….. And Did

A Historical Vignette by
Tom Parquette

Part Two of Three Parts
(Begin with Part One HERE)

An effort was underfoot to eliminate virtually all competition among manufacturers and it got dirty. Very dirty. On December 14, 1899 the New York City investment firm of Alexander and Green formed and incorporated the International Fire Engine Company with privately held stock valued near $9 million dollars. It immediately purchased the assets of at least 11 fire apparatus manufacturers including virtually every steam fire engine builder at the time. The major shareholders of International were the the principals of the acquired firms. This left only two experienced firms manufacturing fire apparatus which were not 'locked' into the International trust. The Seagrave Company of Ohio and Peter Pirsch of Wisconsin.

The trust immediately cut out any sales agencies including W.S. Nott Company. International assumed an extremely aggressive posture in the industry and was hell bent on controlling all aspects of it. William Nott was undeterred by this. Although Nott's primary business and income was industrial belting, he had a strong taste for the fire apparatus potential. He had built a strong following supplying fire equipment in the western states especially. Nott would not give up this position, certainly not willingly.

William S. Nott

He needed a manufacturing company capable of supplying the best and the most the quickest. Nott rapidly invested heavily in the fire apparatus industry creating shop and manufacturing facilities. What he couldn't do on sight, he would farm out to others. A key player in Nott's efforts was H.E. Penney, a former steam engineer and shop mechanic for the Minneapolis Fire Department. Penney's designs and manufacturing efforts would serve strongly to the future of W.S. Nott. William Nott managed to set up operations including staff and begin sales through his network of well connected municipal sales people and enlisted Pirsh and Seagrave as back up suppliers. It wasn't until October of 1901 that publicity surfaced about Nott's entry in the field and his challenge to the International trust. By this time Nott had orders from as far away as Oklahoma, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Montana and the Phillipines. Most of these orders were for chemical and hose wagons and Nott knew the lucrative segment, though harder to market, would be steam fire engines.

The Nott steamer

Penney and Nott would move on to develop a steamer and hit the market. But that market brought a fierce onslaught from the International Fire Engine trust in the form of widespread misinformation, under-handed dirty tricks, bribery and payoffs. Nott continued to fight back. Documentation supports the fight in the municipalities was severe. Nott had some quality problems as he entered the steam field and the trust magnified every one a hundred fold. Internal memos and documents of the W.S. Nott company suggest widespread bribery and graft was the order of the day as they proceeded to compete against the trust. That documentation also suggests Nott wasn't or couldn't be above playing the same game against the trust.

1910 Nott steamer - Tucson, Arizona

Nott continued the battle. To curtail the manufacturing and quality problems he was having he met the problem head on with more investment capital. Nott expanded production facilities and abilities in 1902. This may or may not have been wise but it allowed for increased design elements and presentation to the industry. Nott continued with representing other apparatus manufacturers as well. By 1904 he had turned almost exclusively to Seagrave as a supplier and Seagrave in turn agreed to set up Canadian operations to circumvent trade trariffs and facilitate entering the western Canadian market. In 1903, Nott incorporated the fire apparatus operations separately under the name of Nott Fire Engine Company to keep it's operations separate and divided from his industrial supply business. But the parent firm held on to it's positions with Seagrave.

In 1904 Silsby which had been a key component of the International and the American Fire Engine Company trusts, pulled out of both. In January of 1904 the International trust was down to $95,205 in cash and $176,523 in receivables which was insufficient to meet it's $347,294 liabilities. An additional $2.5 million bond sale couldn't help. The trust crumbled under it's own weight. They apparently were more content with milking the market for all it was worth and ignored the cyclical nature of the fire apparatus industry. Within this combine or trust, the American Fire Engine Company remained solvent and merged with LaFrance to become the venerable American LaFrance Company. Several other firms in the trust, Ahrens and Waterous among them, split off and went their separate ways.

The Nott mansion – Minneapolis (modern view)

As late as 1910 Seagrave was warning Nott, and others, that American LaFrance was nothing more than a continuation of the old trust or combine and for all to expect the same dirty tricks. The truth though, at least by 1910 was that the industry was now composed of some six major players of which American LaFrance was simply the largest. Others were Seagrave, Nott, Pirsch, the new Ahrens-Fox, and Waterous. Mr. Seagrave was known as a very nervous and often flighty character who was extremely difficult to contend with. Nott continued with Seagrave, but the relationship would prove to be on borrowed time.

Tomorrow – Part Three:  The Great Depression and bribary charges lead to a major change for Nott Fire.

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Posted by on March 7, 2012 • Filed under: apparatus, commentary, history • Tagged:

The Little Engine (Maker) That Could …. And Did

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The Little Engine (Maker) That Could ….. And Did

A Historical Vignette by
Tom Parquette

Part One of Three Parts

History is a given which is constantly with us and increases minute by minute and second by second. Some is good. Some is less so. The fire service is no different. We are blessed with history which is at once both fascinating and educational. History can and does offer constant insights into how we got where we are. This Vignette touches not so much on the history or development timeline of our modern day fire apparatus as it does the circumstances through which some of those responsible, struggled.

While the history of conglomerates, the robber barons and other monopolistic business efforts of the late 1800's and the early 1900's is generally well known it is often related in terms of 'busting the trusts' or 'fair play'. During this period, the evolution of fire apparatus suffered a period in which 'fair play' or a 'level playing field' was anything but the norm.

Let's look at the W.S. Nott Company of Minnesota fame. In 1879, then 26-year-old William S. Nott joined the E.B. Preston Company of Minneapolis to capitalize on the burgeoning demand for leather belting and supplies to drive the growth of the lumber and flour milling industries based in that area. Preston had been supplying fire equipment and fire hose as well but only as a sideline to it's main business of leather belting.

Industrial leather belting used to
drive machinery and tractors.

By 1887, W.S. Nott had prospered sufficiently to break away from his affiliation with Preston and form his own company, W.S. Nott Company. He specialized in the same fields, leather belting and supplies but Nott had bigger aspirations and they involved fire apparatus. Preston had achieved national prominence in 1885 with the development of an 85 foot wooden aerial ladder which Preston followed with a 93 foot metal ladder of superior design two years later. That was enough for W.S. Nott to see his vision of the future and his spot in it. Nott continued to sell his leather belting and hardware supplies as well as act as a sales rep for Preston following his deparature to his own company. By the 1890's Nott had become a sales agent for a number of other fire apparatus manufacturers and built up a huge trade in the midwest.

W. S. Nott Co. factory – 1900
Minneapolis, Minnesota

The fire apparatus industry saw a gelling of it's future during the 1890's. From the 1860's forward the industry was very fragmented with many local wagon shops and blacksmiths supplying their respective areas with less complex equipment such as hose wagons or ladder trucks for small communities. But the larger and more complex items such as advanced steamers, water towers, chemical trucks or aerial ladders required more in terms of technical expertise and certainly capital to supply the labor and equipment. By 1890, fifteen or so firms had emerged as major suppliers of apparatus. These included Silsby, LaFrance, Clapp & Jones, Button, Ahrens, Amoskeag and Waterous building steam fire engines while LaFrance, Preston, and Gleason & Baily supplied aerials, Babcock, Holloway, Macomber, Champion and Gleason & Bailey supplied chemical units and the Hale Company furnished water towers from Kansas City.

Minneapolis Water Tower 1
Hale-patent water tower mounted on horse-drawn wagon.
(Brown Collection photo)

In 1891, Silsby, Clapp & Jones, Button and Ahrens joined forces in a sort of trust to market together and named it the American Fire Engine Company. This was followed by Babcock absorbing Preston, Champion and Hale. These unions were purportedly created to reduce litigation, cut losses and raise added capital while each could offer a broader product line. But this new approach to fire apparatus marketing proved to be only a precurser of things to come.

Tomorrow:  Part Two.  Down and dirty monopolization pollutes the fire engine industry.

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Posted by on March 6, 2012 • Filed under: apparatus, commentary, history • Tagged: ,

Defense, Offense, Defense …. OK?

2 comments

A Commentary

I recently listened to a fire department work a one-story wood-frame residential structure fire. The first engine company arrived to find heavy involvement and stated that an offensive attack and primary search were impossible at that time. After a few more companies and a BC arrived they decided to go offensive. This entailed sending crews in on handlines and having a truck company go to the roof to cut a hole. They went defensive again shortly thereafter.

This raises a good question about basic philosophy of strategic decision-making. Is it ever okay, short of a rescue, to go FROM a defensive strategy TO an offensive strategy? There are a number of foundational questions here: what indicated the need for a defensive strategy initially? Was it related to lack of resources? Was it related to conditions? Was it related to water supply or some other unexpected physical problem? Just asking this question can lead to an interesting discussion about our own departments’ philosophies.

Well…?
(Bozeman Daily Chronicle)

I think it is safe to say that, in many places, the strategic offensive/defensive decision is predicated on the conditions found without much regard for resource availability. Brunacini talks about the imperative of not overrunning your resources in his Fire Command book, but I think this is often under-recognized in the heat of "battle." Let’s say your box alarm is the (traditional?) three-and-one response: three engines, a ladder, and a battalion chief. Your company officers (i.e., initial incident commanders) make strategic decisions in that context. Do they recognize, through their actions, the differing context when they are operating with only another engine company? The gist of this line of thinking is that operations that are advisable with a 3-1 response are not advisable with reduced responses, and decision-making should take that into account. In other words: conditions ARE NOT the sole, or even totally dominant, consideration in the strategic decision-making process. So maybe the defensive-to-offensive decision was based on the inability to extend an interior attack with just the one company on scene. Maybe they needed to meet up at the rally point (front yard) and bang it out with more than three guys.

Okay, that caveat out of the way, is it okay to go from defensive to offensive if your defensive strategy decision was based on conditions? If things were so bad that you couldn’t go in at the outset then why are they good enough three minutes later? That’s however many minutes of fire attacking the structure, smoke and heat building up in unburned spaces, and chances of survival of any victims precipitously declining. There are a ton of variables here: maybe the first-in company officer has a different idea of acceptable risk than the chief does. Maybe the size-up was incomplete and things weren’t as bad as they initially appeared. But still, is it a good idea? Is there liability that comes from reversing a decision to go defensive? How much property are you going to save if you wrote it off for however many minutes?

……… Patrick Mahoney

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Posted by on March 5, 2012 • Filed under: commentary, Fire Rescue Topics, FireHat • Tagged:

Have We Learned From Our Past? – A Historical Commentary

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What Have We Really Learned?

By Tom Parquette

Modern society has experienced many often devastating fire disasters througout history. One needn't go back too far to collectively gain hindsight into many of these disasters. In fact the 1870's isn't a bad place to start. The Great Chicago Fire, Peshtigo, Wisconsin, Port Huron, or the Great Boston Fire of 1872 come to mind and all took place within months of each other.

Peshtigo, Wisconsin – October 1871

Fast forward into the 20th century and the examples are also numerous. Culminating, at least notoriously, with the Twin Towers and the horrendous loss of life and property.

Some of these were acts of God, some were accidental acts of man and of course, some were intentional acts of cowardly miscreants. But virtually all were marked by tragedy and tremendous loss of life and resources, both simply the innocent and the courageous protectors we appoint to guard against, prevent and control the incendiary results.

April 16th is just like any other day of the year. It's springtime in most places and our thoughts turn to the outdoors and a new seasons opportunities. Those of us who have been around a while probably view it as any other spring day excepting for notable personal milestones which may have marked that day in our personal histories. But as we approach April 16th in the not too distant future, the year 1947 comes vividly to mind.

April 16, 1947 was just another spring day even in 1947. The only notable event was the coining of the phrase 'Cold War' by Bernard Baruch, the multi millionaire financier and close friend of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. In 1931 Churchill was run over by a taxicab in New York while on a trip to visit Baruch. Notable historical vignettes but not shocking or historically significant, at least on that date. Certainly the term 'Cold War' would take on expanded and frightful meaning in the following years for many.

But hundreds of miles from Mr. Baruch and New York, a French Liberty ship, The Grandcamp, was loading in the Port of Texas City, Texas. As the loading of the ship progressed with the taking on of large balls of twine, peanuts, drilling equipment, tobacco, cotton and a small consignment of ammunition the crews focus shifted directly to a small plume of smoke rising in Hold 4 which already contained 880 tons of ammonium nitrate with some 2300 tons already loaded in other holds on the ship. The small plume of smoke was rising between the ship's hull and the cargo holds. The crew tried to douse it. A gallon jug of water (!) and the contents of two fire extinguishers didn't do the job though.

The crew laid a line into the hold but the captain halted that and wouldn't allow water to be used fearing damaging the value of the cargo. Instead, he ordered the hatches sealed and covered with tarps, the ventilators shut down and the steam system turned on and diverted into the hold. All this took place between roughly 8:00 am and 8:30 am but didn't quell the fire which by 8:30 had reached a bright orange plume drawing notice from the citizenry as hundred gathered to watch dockside.. The steam had blown off the hatch covers and the fire was progressing rapidly. The stevadore notified the city fire crews and soon, within minutes, twenty six men from the Texas City volunteer department arrived with four apparatus followed by the Republic Oil Refinery Company fire fighting team.

A photo from 8:45 am showed at least one line trained on the deck of the Grandcamp. The deck was so hot by then the water was vaporizing. Twelve minutes later, The Grandcamp exploded and disintegrated in a spectacle heard 150 miles away. Two light planes were knocked from the air. Blast overpressure had incinerated the fire crews and the ships crew. The Grandcamp showered down over an area of many square miles depositing schrapnel in a reported grid of every square foot of those square miles and destroying property well into the Texas City business district and destroying nearby refineries, storage tanks and pipelines creating more infernos.

Buildings swayed in Baytown, fifteen miles to the north. People were thrown to the ground in Galveston. As the fire and devastation continued, the death toll only mounted. At 11:00 pm that night, some 15 hours after the Grandcamp explosion, it was discovered that an adjacent ship in the harbor, the High Flyer, was also burning. By 1:00 am on the 17th, flames were shooting out of its holds and it exploded with a blast some recalled as worse than that of the Grandcamp.

The pictures show some of the damage of this disaster. But this article isn't really about Texas City. At least not directly or intentionally. It is about knowledge, learning from experience and, well, prevention.

Texas City was a loss of 568 lives, 3500 injured and over $100 million in 1947 dollars. The disaster resulted in landmark Supreme Court cases as the government actually tried to screw the responders and the injured. Sound at all familiar?

Have we learned anything? Certainly we must have given the 65 years which have passed since this disaster. Hell, we learned something between 1871 and this 1947 thing, didn't we?

Less than a year following Texas City, in 1948 several chemical and refining companies operating in the Texas gulf region banded together and formed what today is the largest non-profit industrial fire fighting group in the country. The Refinery Terminal Fire Company today is owned by some 11 companies (at last count) and employs over 100 full time trained firefighters operating 365 days a year. They protect over 70 individual facilities from six houses and in-house locations and operate a 5.5 million dollar training facility which is a state of the art facility sought after world wide.

RFTC is funded by assessments to its members. Some of those members contribute equipment and other resources as well. Among these members, names like Citgo, Diamond Shamrock, Valero, El Paso, Calpine, Koch, and Lyondell are notable. The RTFC also is responsible in a unique joint response arrangement for the Port of Corpus Christi with all dispatch and reporting going through RTFC call centers and dispatch.

RFTC has all of the same problems as any other fire company in the country. But they are an outstanding example of, essentially, industry specific, directed responsibility for fire control. It is largely a well run, well staffed and well equipped company and they get the job done both in their direct areas of responsibility and those of assist to municipal companies in their geopraphic area of operation.

This is an outstanding example of corporate responsibility directed to and operated by fire professionals. BUT. Yes, there is always a BUT. But could or would the identical Grandcamp fiasco of 1947 have the same or similar result were it to occur on April 16, 2012? Could the various responders, including perhaps RTFC or other similar companies have really changed the outcome of history? Perhaps reducing the collateral damage? The loss of life? The injury? The loss of property and the devastation?

I'm not so sure there is a positive answer to that question. At least I'm not sure as I examine the continued gutting of our municipal fire companies by inept, often corrupt and uncaring politicians throughout the country. We can and in most cases do have the highest level of fire professionals in the management and execution of our fire service including the best training, prevention and equipment which our experience and modern technology can produce.

But we also have some of the most inept and yes, I'll say it again, corrupt politicians at the ultimate control of these emergency resources. The purpose of a military for instance, is to kill people and destroy things. Our military, for one, is incomparably the best in the world at this. With one exception, and that is the political structure in effect 'controlling' that mission.

 Our government has the primary charge of developing infrastructure and protecting the citizenry. Period. Part of that 'protecting the citizenry' is in the hands of that military on one level, and in the hands of our police, fire and first responder organizations countrywide, or on a different level.

In this period of tight economics it would seem the politicians prefer to shirk their responsibility to the citizenry by 'cutting' staffs and operations at critical front line levels when in fact these cuts, if needed at all, should be the last thing on the plate. I believe our emergency personnel at all levels be it police, fire, EMT, whatever, have a responsibility to 'call out' and identify these politicians who are choosing to castrate services while keeping the graft and special interest money going in the dumper. We need to educate the people who depend on these emergency services just what the morons at the throttle of funding and operation are doing to this nation.

Where might we be, how much risk might we all bear were the RTFC and others like it non existant? Could, is it possible, is there a chance of another Texas City type disaster? Or, how about another Chicago Fire, Peshtigo or Boston or one of the many others? I'm neither smart enough nor prepared to answer that question but I do have an opinion.

Have we learned anything? I'll leave that to you to answer. But as our population continues to climb it seems reasonable to assume the potential at least for serious public disaster, too will climb. Will we be as effective as we can reasonably be? Or will the possible horrors of the future be followed by butt covering and excuses, smoke and mirrors as it so often has in the past?

………. Tom Parquette

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Posted by on February 22, 2012 • Filed under: commentary, history • Tagged:

Taking Chances – a Commentary

1 comment

Saving Money Instead of Saving Lives in Philadelphia

In Philadelphia they've apparently disciplined (in a roundabout semi-official way) a guy who suffered some crescent burns on his cheek during a double rescue, apparently because he failed to properly don his hood. I guess, in Philly, you're responsible for the strength of that little elastic band around the face hole on your hood.

I like the union's theory that this is an effort by the city to intimidate the members into refraining from reporting injuries and thus reduce the city's workers' compensation claims. The more cynical among us may wonder whether it will work that way or if it will just cause the members to avoid risk. Some people out there undoubtedly approve of the latter end. But Philly's is an old and hard-nosed fire department and I suspect that the mission will triumph over the asininity of the city.

Leaving aside the question of motivations, this curious turn of events on its own gives us a window into one of many possible futures of the fire service. Is this trend of post-incident consequences for good-faith actions inevitable? Though we do see this spat play out on the internet in the comments and forums, I am not convinced we will ever get to the point that things like what happened in Philadelphia are common by design. There is already significant pushback against advocates of the Culture of Safety and more and more sane professionals within the fire service are standing up for smart aggression. (With two rescues made there is probably an argument that the actions on scene in Philadelphia were ipso facto smartly aggressive.)

The horse may already be out of the barn, though we are still in the process of closing the gate. Will forces outside the fire service, be they OSHA, the workers' compensation board, cities' risk managers, headline-hungry DA's, or homeland security/public safety directors (read: cops in charge of firefighters) push us down a road that ultimately destroys the aggressive culture that saves civilian lives? I am afraid the answer may well be yes.

………. Patrick Mahoney

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Posted by on February 16, 2012 • Filed under: commentary, FireHat, Funding & Staffing, health & safety • Tagged: ,

KayCee City Manager Wants To Lay Off Firefighters, Use Savings To Give Other City Employees Raises

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Pencil Pushers Have Gone 3 Years Without a Raise

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, CITY MANAGER Troy Schulte presented his proposed budget to the City Council members on Tuesday.  His $1.3 billion proposal includes a lot of cutbacks in several city services, but the one measure that has raised eyebrows is his suggestion to lay off 105 firefighters.  He told the Kansas City Star, as Kansas City’s economy remains stubbornly sluggish, firefighters should no longer be untouchable. "We have to make strategic reductions in public safety," he said.

City Manager Schulte  (K.C. Star)

In a most absurd justification, he is also quoted by the Star:

His budget letter to (Mayor) James recommended reducing the Fire Department by 105 positions because fire calls have dropped by more than 60 percent in the past 10 years. He said he believes the reductions can be made without jeopardizing public safety.

So there you have it.  The number of firefighters and fire stations is to be determined by how many fires you get, not what you need when get a fire.  By his logic, all the firehouses will then be clustered around the high-activity neighborhoods leaving those slow residential areas to stand in the front yard and watch as their rare house fires consume all they own.  As for the airport… well, a hot-line phone box will do.  How often does a plane crash out there, anyway?

But as the late Ron Popeil used to say, Wait, there's more!  Again from The Star:

Those personnel cuts would help free up about $7.6 million — money that could go toward raises for other city employees. Many of them haven’t had a pay increase in three years.

No raise in three years, but at least they'll still have a job.  This is budgetary Russian roulette.

Note:   He earmarked $5 million for police raises and the balance for other management-level employees.

The City Council at its regular session today  (Wednesday) publicly reviewed the proposed budget.  The Local had exactly 105 firefighters in the council chambers this morning making their presence obvious.  KSHB-TV Ch. 41 had their video crew there too, and filed this report earlier today:

 

Local 42 President Mike Cambiano believes that this just might be some sort of dance and preening on the part othe city manager leading up to contract negotiations with the FF's that begin in April.  In addition, the fire chief was never consulted by the city manager on these proposed reductions.

Later this afternoon, following the above video report, Fire Chief Smokey Dyer addressed the Council.  The Star reported this afternoon:

Dyer told the city council’s Public Safety Committee that Chicago, Memphis, Louisville, Dallas and Houston are among major U.S. cities that require at least four firefighters per pumper, in compliance with national fire protection standards. That staffing allows two people in the first pumper on the scene to begin spraying water on a fire, while two others can begin attacking the fire within a building and rescuing any victims.

Chief Dyer  (KCUR)

Kansas City began increasing its firefighting ranks and staffed up its pumpers ten years ago to meet that standard. But City Manager Troy Schulte has recommended cutting 105 firefighters, saying the city has far fewer fires now and can save $7.5 million without compromising public safety.

Such a reduction would force deployment changes and reductions to the pumpers, Dyer said.

Mayor James will present his response to Schulte's plan tomorrow.  However one councilman didn't wait to voice his opinion:

Committee Chair John Sharp said the city made a conscious decision in 2001 to beef up its pumper staffing and he opposes any change. He said the fire department has to accept cuts like all other departments, but not this way.

“I can’t imagine a worse way to make cuts in the budget,” he said.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/02/08/3417307/fire-officials-warn-cutbacks-could.html#storylink=cpy

The City Council will approve whatever budget is decided on in late March for the fiscal year that begins on May 1.

Read the earlier referenced story from the Kansas City Star HERE.
Read a more in-depth report on the city manager's plans HERE.

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Posted by on February 8, 2012 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, commentary, current events, Funding & Staffing, Videos • Tagged: , ,

What Are Your Own Expectations?

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What Are Your Expectations?

I served as fire chief of the Fairfax County, Virginia, Fire and Rescue Department from August 1991 to January 1999. I recently spent a few moments going through a few old articles and directives I drafted during my tenure. This article was published in our department newsletter and I believe it has value as much today as it did in August 1992.

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Every successful manager ensures that the people who are a part of the organization are aware of what is expected of them. Each employee must understand their specific role and responsibilities in their position in the organism.

I believe that firefighters through the chain of command to the chief of our department must possess the desire and drive to do their absolute best to serve our citizens. Ours is an honorable profession. There is no greater privilege than to have the opportunity to have a positive effect in another person's life when they are in personal peril. Senior officers, who are visible to both the public and our political leaders, are expected to be ethical, moral and possess both leadership and extraordinary communication skills. However, to the customers we serve, the company officer or E.M.T. who answers a call for assistance in their personal time of need they are the fire and rescue department, not the chief or a member of senior staff.

I do not know the Postmaster General. To me the post office is the man who delivers mail to my home and occasionally stops to talk to me or a member of my family. This just a small example of how all of us play an important role in our organization.

I think the most appropriate place to begin my list of expectations for the members of or department is to begin with my own position as chief. The following is a list of expectations that I have developed for the position of chief of our department:

  • Maintain and improve the knowledge and skills necessary to perform the position of chief.
  • Be approachable and available to members of the organization, the citizens we serve and to others outside the organization.
  • Ensure that the members of the organization are provided with safe, healthy, and efficient facilities and equipment.
  • Ensure that members are treated in a fair and equitable manner and provided a non-hostile work environment.
  • Set a good example for others to follow.
  • Be a good citizen.
  • Represent the organization in a professional manner to the governing body.
  • Ensure that the governing body is cognizant of the needs and value of the services we provide.
  • Plan and prepare the organization for the future.
  • Ensure that our citizens are receiving appropriate, cost effective services.
  • Provide decisive, timely, sound and well formulated decisions and direction.
  • Allow others in the organization to reach their potential through delegation, equal opportunity and trust in them.
  • Recognize that every member in the organization is important and the role they play is vital to the over all success of the department.

These expectations were separate from my job description, although some may be found there. Included in these expectations are core values that I believe are required to ensure that we have a viable, responsive, and proactive department of which we can all be proud.

Glenn A. Gaines
Deputy U. S. Fire Administrator

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Posted by on January 3, 2012 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Chief's Point of View, commentary • Tagged:

Where We Stand, What We Stand For

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The American Fire Service
Where We Stand – What We Stand For

The Fire Service has always been looked upon as the pinnacle of service to society. In this country it began when Ben Franklin set the fire service in motion after a huge fire in Philadelphia in 1736, Ben created a fire brigade called The Union Fire Company with 30 volunteers.

Some famous Americans who served as volunteer firefighters were: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Paul Revere, Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, Benedict Arnold, James Buchanan, Millard Fillmore and yes, Doctor Kirby Kiefer. Accordingly, the fire service has been and continues to be held in very high regard by our citizens.

Firefighter Ben Franklin

However, in the aftermath of the events of September 11, 2001 and in the recent economic downturn, the fire service faces pressures that could not have been imagined in years past.  "Well the fire chief said he needs it, so we better provide it for him," just doesn’t work today.  In today’s environment, what we do, what we are comfortable doing, and everything we say we need, is questioned by political leaders, budget staff and the citizens we serve.

But we have great leverage. Our business address is located in our customers’ neighborhood. No other public service enjoys such a unique opportunity to become a part of the fabric of the community.  No other public sector service has a better opportunity to garner citizen support than the local fire station.

Local fire and EMS personnel are always among the first to respond to events and the last to leave. Occasionally they are asked to perform during a period when they and their families are also victims of the disasters. We consider it a failure if we arrive 6 minutes after we receive the call for help. No other government service offers this unique line of business and high performance standard.  We are, in fact, critical infrastructure and the tip of the spear for homeland security.

The Fire Service is, and will continue to be, on the front line and depended upon every day by our citizens. We are depended upon when citizen’s lives or their personal property are in peril from fire, accidents, life threatening health conditions or major disasters. Firefighters must perform at maximum efficiency at these critical times. We know they cannot afford to fail. Honestly, citizens have no one else to turn to in these circumstances.  "Please hurry my house is on fire," is a call that no other agency -local, state or Federal – can answer; not in the way we do.

I am reminded of the grandfather providing some sound advice to his granddaughter. It goes something like this: "Listen honey, if you are ever lost or need help in a strange place, go to a firehouse, the firefighters well help you."  We cannot allow that respect, that confidence, that trust to erode. It is our responsibility to protect our good standing. We do indeed stand on the shoulders of the giants of our profession. If nothing else we owe it to them to continue to insist on high professional, ethical and moral standards. And maintain zero tolerance for those who violate these values.

Youngest Witnesses

But under these economic times, the Fire Service will be asked to operate with reduced resources while maintaining the same high level of service. A daunting undertaking.  We should not, however, believe that citizens will expect less from us because we have less to protect them. It is up to us, as a profession, to find ways to ensure our safety and the safety of our citizens now and into the future.

There is an old axiom that seems to be especially appropriate for today’s business and public service leaders. "Ask for what you need, but do the best with what you have."  I would add that we must identify, quantify, justify and communicate the true impact of reductions in financial, human and material resources on our communities so that our political leaders can make informed decisions based on sound, rational facts.  It is also incumbent upon the American fire service to enhance our efforts as advocates for life, health, fire prevention and mitigation with public outreach and code enforcement every day.

It is right to be out front in selling the value of preventing tragedies that may befall families. It is the purest demonstration that we care for our citizens as a profession and we have simple solutions to ensure their health and safety. It is in fact good business to demonstrate a proactive approach to fire and life safety.  We must think more critically, work more efficiently and demonstrate that we are indeed partners in seeking opportunities to reduce the cost of public sector services, while maintaining a high degree of care and service.

So I encourage you to continue your desire to:

· Learn something you do not know;
· Seek out big problems, for that is where big opportunities live;
· Do something good that has never been done before; and
· Do something good successfully no one else has been successful in doing.

May God bless the American Firefighters and keep you safe. And May God bless the United States of America.

Glenn A. Gaines
Deputy U. S. Fire Administrator

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Posted by on December 27, 2011 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Chief's Point of View, commentary

Who Needs Captains?

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Or Any Other Supervisors?

ONE OF OUR READERS SENT A CURIOUS EMAIL the other day and asked me to share it with you because he is looking  for some feedback on it.  He asks:

 I have been looking on the internet everywhere for information regarding the pros and cons of a single rank structure department. I am unable to find anything. My department is looking at going to this type of rank structure and I am not real excited about it. Currently we have Lt. and Capt. and I would prefer that we keep it that way. I was wondering if you had any information regarding this subject or if you would be willing to post something to your site so that I could get people's opinions. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Personally I have never heard of such a thing, have you?  My first thought was to wonder what this department thinks supervisors are supposed to do, and how can they function effectively without layers of responsibility.  My guess is that they are looking for a gimmick to reduce wages as a budget-cutter, but that would lead to new problems eventually.

Let's look at the basic reason for having supervisors in the first place.  As soon as you have at least two people assigned to perform a task, one of them has to be a decision-maker and be responsible for the outcome of the work.  And with responsibility comes the expectation of greater rewards (wages) for having more than the people who are only doing the work.  If you have several groups of people, each with a leader, doing several separate tasks, then the group leaders need to have somebody responsible for their work.  A division leader, if you will. 

Now just how many supervisors do you need?  The short but not definitive answer is, it depends on what you are doing, and  that brings us to the managerial concept known as "span of control."  In other words, how many people can one supervisor effectively supervise is determined by what kind of work is being accomplished.  A supervisor over an office typing pool can watch over and make assignments for 20 or more typists clacking out emails and letters.  On the other hand, a bomb disposal squad might need a super for every two technicians who are a breath away from cashing it all in.

It is an axiom of managerial theory that in the fire department the span of control is five subordinates.  Taking in to account just about all of the things that need to be done in firefighting tasks, one officer can be expected to oversee and be responsible for about five firefighters.  So each engine company has an officer who makes more money than the firefighters, because he has more responsibility on his shoulders plus the added work of preparing reports on their actions, etc.  Now if you add a ladder co. in your station, the size of your workforce increases to 8 or more, beyond the accepted span of control.  So the solution is to assign another officer to lead the ladder crew.  Now you have two work groups and two leaders.  Who is responsible for them?  The normal practice is to give one of the officers that additional responsibility of overseeing the other officer and we do that my giving one of them higher wages and a higher-level title, such as "captain." 

Has the captain's span of control jumped to eight firefighters?  No, he over sees the other three on his engine and the ladder officer for a total of four.  And the progression goes on up depending on the size of the department.  Somebody has to be in charge of the station captains, such as a battalion or deputy chief.  And in a properly organized department there will be one of those chief officers overseeing 5 or 6 stations.  Key words here are "properly organized."  There are probably some loopy city/county managers out there who want to re-invent the wheel and change our span of control to 10 or more, but that will lead to a real mess, both on the fireground and in the firehouse.

You probably already know all of that, but are not used to thinking about it in those terms.  It brings me back to this request for information about a so-called single-rank structure.  Just how can that work efficiently?  An officer will not be responsible for another who is of equal rank and pay, not without conflicts and consequences.   So I'm tossing this out to you now: 

Do any of you have any experience with a single-rank structure department?  Or heard of such a thing?  Even if you haven't, tell us your opinion on this concept by either sharing in the Comments or send us an email.  I am curious also.

Update:  A point of clarification is needed.  This refers to a single rank above firefighter.  Mostly firefighters with just one rank above that.

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Posted by on December 20, 2011 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, commentary • Tagged: ,

Penny Wise and Pound Foolish – A Commentary

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Only the Taxpayers Are Being Fooled on This One

The Braun Ambulance company (a manufacturer) has this photo of Volusia County, Florida's new rigs on their Facebook page:

Yes, those are fire engine-ambulances. They have 500gpm pumps and 300-gallon tanks. Oh, and CAFS, of course. Because what would a "forward thinking" fire department Public Protection Fire Service be without CAFS. The "forward thinking" quote is from the company rep defending these apparatus from Facebook commenters who aren't so easily duped as the public whose services are being being cut in half. Like any good stooge, he says the citizens will face no reduction in service.

This is simply not true. That the citizens will receive the same level of service is not true. That the apparatus are just as capable as any other ambulance or Class A pumper is not true. That these monstrosities show some special attention to the future is not true. These are nothing but gimmicks used by the penny-wise and pound foolish administrators of a local government abdicating its duty to provide for the public safety. I suppose it is true that these apparatus make for a more efficient use of resources than having separate ambulances and pumpers. There will be no lazy parasitic firemen lounging around waiting for a fire in this Public Protection department. There will also be no firefighters making aggressive and fast interior attacks (300 gallons is a lot less water than I have to work with on my quint!) or addressing your rescue or fire needs when your neighbor has a sniffle. Of course, we've recently been told that forward-thinking fire people shouldn't be making interior attacks anyway, so I guess this might be fine.

Don't get me wrong about EMS. I am 100% in favor of fire-based EMS and believe that we need to step up our EMS provision so it's as important as firefighting. But that means that I believe we should raise both to a level of excellence, not eliminate any semblance of respect for the exigencies of both. If fire protection matters and EMS matters then these apparatus represent a monstrous falsehood perpetrated against a public that is not getting what it thinks it is paying for.

And don't get me wrong about this question either: Why do we have fire services?

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Braun Ambulance Co. WEBSITE.
Volusia County Fire Services WEBSITE.

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Posted by on November 30, 2011 • Filed under: ambulances, apparatus, commentary, FireHat • Tagged: