The Blade
TOLEDO, Ohio — Toledo Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson has established a panel to review a federal report regarding the January, 2014, fire that killed two Toledo firefighters, which concluded several fire department practices contributed to their deaths.
The 46-page report on the deaths of Pvts. Stephen Machcinski and James “Jamie” Dickman was compiled by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
The panel is made up of Toledo Councilman Theresa M. Gabriel; City Human Resources Director Director Mark Sobczak; Joe Walter, the Lucas County Emergency Management Agency’s former director; and city attorney Terry Green.
“I have not read the report, but I have seen the need for us to have this independent review,” the mayor said.
For the second day, the mayor said Thursday she could not say if she agrees with fire union officials that Fire Chief Luis Santiago should be held responsible for policies that may have contributed to the deaths of the two firefighters last year.
Firefighters Local 92 President Jeff Romstadt blamed Chief Santiago for contributing to the deaths of Pvts. Stephen Machcinski and James “Jamie” Dickman on Jan. 26, 2014, at 528 Magnolia St.
“The leader of this department, Chief Santiago, for two years, had a flawed system,” Mr. Romstadt told The Blade. “We brought it to his attention. … He needs to be held accountable for the decisions he made that are contributing factors in two firefighters’ deaths.”
“I am not a firefighter and I think it would be irresponsible on my part to say at this point that someone will be held responsible or not because there are many factors that come into play why we are here today,” Mayor Hicks-Hudson said.
Mr. Romstadt said the elimination of a full-time safety officer in 2012 made working conditions for Toledo firefighters unsafe.
Mayor Hicks-Hudson said she is “very cognizant of the issues of safety.”
“I take the allegations … from Local 92 very seriously,” she said. “We want to make sure that firefighters are protected as well as our community is protected.”
Toledo fire Lt. Matthew Hertzfeld, a department spokesman, this week said the safety officer position was not eliminated, but changed and “enhanced.”
Before 2012, as implemented by former fire Chief Mike Bell in the 1990s, the fire department had three full-time safety officers, one per shift, and a fourth safety officer filled in as needed.
In 2012, fire Chief Santiago changed the full-time nature of the position and all officers — lieutenants and captains — received in-house safety-officer training, Lieutenant Hertzfeld said.
The NIOSH report makes 11 recommendations the department should implement, one being the reinstatement of a full-time safety officer.
According to city leaders and the report, an investigator from NIOSH traveled to Ohio to review the incident. That investigator met with fire and dispatch officials, largely those who were on scene that day. Other city leaders were not interviewed.
Ray Abou-Arab, 62, of Oregon, who owned the 528 Magnolia building, is accused of setting the fatal fire. He is charged with two counts of aggravated murder, each with death penalty specifications; two counts of murder; eight counts of aggravated arson; and one count of tampering with evidence.
Officials allege that Mr. Abou-Arab started the fire in the garage of the apartment building. A June 29 hearing is set for Mr. Abou-Arab’s attorneys, Pete Rost and Sam Kaplan, to argue that the fire department investigators may have destroyed preliminary fire reports that suggested the blaze started in a kitchen inside the Magnolia Street apartment building rather than in the garage.
Mayor Hicks-Hudson acknowledged she is concerned how discrepancies could affect the criminal case against Mr. Abou-Arab.
The mayor, who is seeking election this year, said she is unconcerned about political fallout from the fire union if she decides the chief should not be held responsible.
“I have to do what is in the best interest of the citizens here so if I lose that endorsement, so be it. If I get it, so be it,” she said. “I was appointed and I have to do what I believe is right.”
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