Shawntaye Hopkins
The Lexington Herald-Leader (Ky.)

LEXINGTON, Ky. — A Lexington firefighter's actions during a blaze last year in the city's Hays Boulevard area caused the injuries that left him hospitalized for weeks, according to a report released Friday on an internal investigation of the fire.

Lt. Richard Carlin suffered thermal burns to his arms, legs, hands and abdomen during the fire Oct. 8 at 4529 Parsons Lane.

The report evaluates a number of mistakes made by Carlin and others who responded to the blaze, and it offers several training recommendations. Fire Chief Robert Hendricks said it is not unusual for the department to evaluate procedures after an incident to improve practices.

Hendricks said Lexington Mayor Jim Newberry wanted this report made public.

The incident commander, company officers and firefighters at the scene on Parsons Lane failed to recognize that the situation inside the house was worse than initially thought, the report states. And they failed to change tactics that weren't working in extinguishing the blaze.

The lack of "situational awareness" placed everyone in danger during what should have been a fairly routine structure fire, according the report.

Carlin became separated from his rescue crew as he searched the second floor of the residence to make sure everyone was out of the house. He then located the origin of the fire, discontinued the search for occupants and improperly attempted to direct attack of the fire without calling the engine company, the report states.

The engine company is supposed to search for and extinguish the fire.

"The officer of Rescue 1 should have closed the door, exited the room, located or radioed Engine 21's attack crew to inform them of the location of the second-floor fire, and continued his search of the second floor," the report says.

Carlin's presence in the room adjacent to the fire was not in compliance with his assignment to search for occupants. He became disoriented as the situation worsened and was unable to get out of the bedroom.

Amid intensifying heat, an evacuation signal was sounded. A captain saw Carlin rolling down the stairs in a hurry; he grabbed him and pushed him out the front door.

Carlin was badly burned and being cared for outside of the house as two crew members stayed in the house to look for him.

Carlin could not be reached for comment Friday.

There were numerous indications that the fire inside the house was intensifying, the report says. But no one told the incident commander about the deteriorating conditions.

An engine crew also left their positions with a nozzle and left other crews in danger.

"It is imperative that the engine crews communicate with other companies operating inside the structure to ensure that they are aware that the hose line is 'backing out,'" the report reads. The crews upstairs did not tell the incident commander that they were leaving.

When the commander ordered evacuations, much of the crew had already made individual decisions to leave.

Fire Chief Robert Hendricks said the investigation was done so that the department could evaluate ways to improve.

"This was not a witch hunt," he said, adding there wouldn't be any disciplinary action.

He said his administration agrees with most of the report. In a letter he wrote in response to the report, Hendricks said the report would have been enhanced by the use of more published standards and texts.

Hendricks noted that at a fire scene there are a lot of tasks occurring simultaneously and "there's a lot of critical decisions that have to be made on a moment's notice."

The incident last year on Parsons Lane "just didn't go as well as it could have," he said.

Hendricks said his administration has been working on many of the training recommendations noted in the report.

Some training possibilities have not yet been available. For example, Hendricks said his administration wants to have a live "house burn" in an acquired structure, but the administration has not found a suitable venue.

Copyright 2008 Lexington Herald-Leader