This Firefighters Game

Anyone who reads this blog by now should know that the Chicago Fire Department lost two members, FF Ed Stringer (E63) and FF Corey Ankum (TL34) in the line of duty at a fire with building collapse at 1744 East 75th Street.

I've listened to the audio from the fire.  I've watched the press conferences.  I've read quit a bit of the news paper coverage.  This is one of those fires where losing members very well may have been unpreventable.  From what Commissioner Robert Hoff stated in his press conference on Wednesday evening while the building was a bow-string truss based on the Situational Awareness of both interior Company Officers and the Incident Commander the fire had NOT penetrated the truss area; the fire had been confined to an office area. The 23rd Battalion (the initial Incident Commander) reported just prior to the collapse (roughly 6 minutes into the fire) that they had two lines on the fire and had the fire knocked.  So, what the %$#@ happened?

The Chicago Tribune reported, "The building, which had been vacant for years, has become a haven for homeless people looking to escape the elements, neighboring businessmen said. It did not have gas, electricity or water service, said Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford. City building inspectors had ordered the building's owners in 2007 to repair the roof, deeming it structurally unsound, court records show. Unable to pay for the repairs or mounting code enforcement fines, the building's owner, Chuck Dai, told the Tribune that he simply tried to keep it boarded up, but vagrants kept finding a way to break in."

The owner of this building was sued by the City of Chicago for failure to maintain the building.   

City of Chicago Had Sued Owners of Building Where 2 Firefighters Died Over Roof Violations: MyFoxCHICAGO.com

So here is my question. If we are supposed to try and reduce the 100+ firefighter line of duty deaths we see each year, HOW IS THAT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN WITHOUT HELP!  Sorry I'm yelling, but seriously, WTF?  The building department had information for YEARS that this was a bad building and the Fire Department Companies didn't?!  REALLY?  What else were these guys supposed to do.  I believe Commissioner Hoff if he says that someone checked the truss; the man lost his father in a building collapse, he has spent time in a burn ward, he taught my Saving Our Own class, and he's probably the best example of a Fire Service Warrior you or I could try and live up to.  If he says they know the fire wasn't in the truss, then it wasn't. 

This is as bad as the fire FDNY had where Lt. Curtis Meyran and FF John Bellew, jumped from a forth floor window of a New York City Tenement because of uncontrolled fire spread. Four other Brothers followed them out that window.  They died, and their bodies broke the falls of the four men who lived.  They died because of an illegal renovation of the fourth floor, “The transformation of the 4^th floor apartment into a Single Room Occupancy (SRO) led to the construction of an interior partition wall that impeded the discovery of the fire and hindered the fire fighters’ searches. It also prevented fire fighters from reaching the rear fire escape, their secondary means of egress.” - 1 

Guess what, we cannot stop preventable fire fighter fatalities if we don't have the information!  You cannot tell from the street level, the front door, or in the middle of a firefight if the Bow String Truss has been in horrible repair for years.  You cannot tell if the 4th floor has been carved into an illegal tenement during your size-up.  I've said it before WE DO NOT HAVE PERFECT KNOWLEDGE.  

The building department in any municipality, district, or county needs to mark buildings that are dangerous.  I know from personal experience of two years spent working in the Fire Alarm Office in Chicago that Fire Companies go out DAILY to conduct building inspections (TOCs as they are called in the City), but only on buildings that are open and operating.  We cannot be the building department and the fire department and provide EMS and conduct OSHA mandated Training and ISO required training!  There aren't enough hours in the day.

I know one of the Lieutenants on TL34.  They drive their still district.  The know what buildings are vacant.  I would wager my pay check that they knew the building at 1744 E 75th Street was vacant,  but guess what, it's cold in Chicago in December and there are thousands of homeless people who seek shelter, start warming fires that extend, and then either flee or are rescued.  Unless we are going to say that being homeless is a crime worthy of being written off by the fire department then guess what happens?  Guys like our brothers Cory and Ed will go into search.  

Personally I don't want to get to a point in time where we EVER say that just because the building isn't supposed to be occupied that we won't search.  We see reports regularly of supposedly vacant and abandoned structures where savable victims are recovered.  Yes, we have to do our size-up for conditions, as the Officers and Members did on 75th Street on Wednesday.  

So, as we remember both our Brothers (and the 21 Chicago Firefighters and Officers who died 100 years ago to the day at the Stockyards Fire) never forget that YOU can do everything right and still get killed.  This job is a combat position and it requires a Warrior's mindset if we are to hope to make it home.  To the Brothers still recovering I hope you have a Happy Christmas, even with heavy hearts. 

Every time we lose one of our own I think of the Irish Rebel tune "Patriot Game".  You could change a few words and change it into a song about Firefighting.  "Come all you young fellows, and list while I sing.  For the love of one's comrades is a terrible thing.  It banishes fear, with the speed of a flame, and makes us a part of this firefighters game."

I'm listening to the Dubliners perform the original words as I hoist a pint and drink a toast to  Ed and Cory.  May blessings be upon your families and brothers and sisters in this terrible time, guys.  Sláinte

 

1 http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire/reports/face200503.html p.10

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