IN ENGLAND, THREE FIRE OFFICERS of the Warwickshire Fire & Rescue Service were arrested Wednesday, but not charged, in connection with a fire in November 2007 that killed four firefighters. They are being questioned on suspicion of gross negligence, manslaughter and offences under the Health and Safety at Work Act.
Press Association photo
The fire occurred on November 2, 2007, at a food packing plant near Stratford-on-Avon and fully-engulfed the structure. Early on, firefighters were inside searching for victims knowing that there were often people in there during the night. The roof collapsed trapping four of them. Four of the firefighters were buried alive under the roof and debris. All of them were “retained firefighters,” similar to what we refer to as Paid-on-Call firefighters.
Initial search for the four men was delayed by more than a day because of the lack of structural integrity of the building. After structural engineers were brought in and equipment able to move the heavy steel, the search began for the victims. Firegeezer covered the tragedy HERE and HERE.
Two days later, working under dangerous conditions with the building still shifting, USAR teams located three of the firefighters. Four days later the final FF was located and retrieved. (Firegeezer report HERE and HERE.) One of them was the son of the first-due company’s station commander.
On November 28, 2007, we reported (HERE) on a press conference held by the police:
(The) police superintendant in charge said that they will be searching the destroyed building possibly as late as the end of January. When one of the journalists asked him if the Fire Brigade could possibly be facing criminal charges, Det Supt Ken Lawrence made the bizarre statement that: “It is possible. We are exploring every single possibility and ruling nothing out.” He added: “I still don’t know what started it. I am erring on the side of caution, treating it as if it was arson, but clearly I would add that I am open-minded about that.”
On January 16, 2008, the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) office has issued an “improvement order” to the Warwickshire Fire & Rescue Service. The Press Association news agency reported:
Speaking at a press conference, Alan Craddock, head of operations for HSE in the Midlands, said: “As a result of our work on this investigation, HSE has formed the opinion, based on the evidence we have seen, that the current arrangements employed by the authority do not comply with the statutory duties to provide its firefighters with all the information they should have to assist them in making the appropriate decisions when attending a fire.”
Mr Craddock said the fire service had four months to improve their arrangements for providing information on aspects such as locality of the incident, particular hazards of the buildings involved and where a water supply can be found.
Eighteen months later, in May 2009 four migrant workers from Poland were arrested and charged with arson with intent to endanger life. The three men and one woman were suspected of being disgruntled after one of them was fired from his job. (Firegeezer HERE.)
While the three officers who were arrested Wednesday were not identified by name or rank by the police, they have been described as being managers who played a commanding and organizational role in operating at the fire.
The national Fire Brigades Union (FBU) issued a statement saying, “We are concerned at the move to arrest these individuals at this stage when all other key players have not even been interviewed. Evidence from our own investigation suggests there may be systemic failings.”
The FBU also identified the three officers, all members of the union, as “managers who were involved in the incident command process.”
A FIRE OVERNIGHT IN THE CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, “GOLD COAST” section of high-dollar high-rises has left one civilian dead and 11 injured, including two FF’s.
The Next Attack Will Be Digital and Realtime
Comments OffI WAS WRAPPING UP TO LEAVE EARLY ON WEDNESDAY when I got this email:
I was just going to take a peek, and spent hours watching the early morning news coverage … and surfing to other related sites. If the 2001 World Trade Center attack was the most photographed/videotaped tragedy, the 2008 “Longest Running Horror Show” in Mumbai may be the most digitally recorded.
Noah Shachtman posted Mumbai Attack Aftermath Detailed, Tweet by Tweet on Wired.com.
I noticed that many of the early pictures posted on the news came from the bloggers and social networks.
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Maybe we need to add a position of internet intelligence officer (IIO) within the staffing of those command and control rigs that were purchased in the past seven years. I think the cable companies can bundle broadband with the televison and land-line hook-ups for the command post.
Firefighter Brian Humphrey would be the person I would ask to set the position up, this article outlines his success as a “One Man Geek Squad” in his role as an LAFD public information officer
How would your department respond to the TAJ hotel? Do you go in under an “active shooter” scenario or wait for law enforcement to render the scene safe?
August Vernon: Mass/Active Shooter First Responder Awareness card, April 2007 Firehouse.com article
Nelson Tang, MD: Role of Tactical EMS in Support of Public Safety and the Public Health Response to a Hostile Mass Casualty Incident
Mike “FossilMedic” Ward