The Blade
TOLEDO, Ohio — Nearly a year ago, there was a roaring, rolling apartment fire. Now, there is nothing but another vacant lot and a lot of bad memories.
Months later, when that North Toledo apartment building came down under the pressure of an excavator, residents stood by and watched. It was like the souls of two Toledo firefighters who died there were finally being set free, they said.
Monday, the one-year anniversary of Pvts. James “Jamie” Dickman and Stephen Machcinski’s deaths, some will be looking for more souls to be set free — theirs — as they seek some type of closure and understanding at memorial events to honor the fallen.
“I want the firemen that lost their lives, and their families … to know they’re not forgotten for what they did for us, giving up their lives for such a selfish act of another human being who didn’t take into consideration the tragedy that would happen that day,” said Tracy Bishop, who lived in the apartment when it caught fire. Ms. Bishop, 49, of Toledo organized a candlelight vigil for 6 p.m. Monday at the site of the fire, 528 Magnolia St.
“I just want to honor them and their families to let them know they’re still thought about and appreciated very much,” Ms. Bishop said.
In the year since the fire, which police say was started by the apartment owner, Ray Abou-Arab, Ms. Bishop said she’s struggled to move on. She lost all of her possessions and now lives with her daughter in West Toledo.
“Emotionally,” she said, “it kind of changed me a little bit. I don’t trust anybody anymore.”
Mr. Abou-Arab, 62, of 1311 Sierra Dr. in Oregon, is being held in the Lucas County jail in lieu of $5.85 million bond. 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. His attorney, Sam Kaplan, is asking the court to suppress statements made by Mr. Abou-Arab during interviews with police, in which Mr. Kaplan argued his client asked for his lawyer.
A hearing for the suppression of evidence is set for Tuesday.
A final report
Chief Luis Santiago said the department’s review and report of the fire have not been completed. Fire officials are waiting for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, which investigates select firefighter line-of-duty deaths, to issue its fatality report, which the agency has not done. Chief Santiago also said the department is trying to respect a gag order imposed by Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Frederick McDonald.
The agency, as of Friday, had 24 pending firefighter fatality investigations, with one dating to 2008. The bulk of the pending investigations were from last year — 14. Toledo’s is the only case from Ohio and one of two that represents multiple fatalities in 2014.
Last year, 85 firefighters died in the line of duty, according to NIOSH. One fatality has been reported this year.
Waiting for the report and the conclusion of the murder trial to release the fire department report will allow officials to “maximize our opportunity to identify things we can learn from and make adjustments,” Chief Santiago said. “If we do it without including other factors, then we haven’t taken full advantage of the opportunity to get better.”
‘A new normal’
In attendance at every single one of the court proceedingshave been the firefighters’ families and the men and women who served with them on the job.
For them, life changed beyond measure, and there’s a “new normal” they have to adapt to.
“To me there’s nothing normal about this,” said Private Dickman’s mother, Linda Dickman. “I know he was a grown man, but as far as the mama goes, he’s always my baby, and so I do cry a lot.”
Mrs. Dickman and her daughter Libby Cheney, along with other family and firefighters, created the Live Your Dream Foundation, a nonprofit to honor Private Dickman and Private Machcinski. The foundation intends to provide scholarships to aspiring firefighters, paramedics, EMTs, and musicians. The foundation also will help fill the needs of on-duty firefighters. Through fund-raising, they hope to purchase whatever firefighters need while at their stations, places that become a second home.
Whether it’s help with an Internet or cable bill, new dishes, a recliner, or nicer mattresses than the standard-issue mattresses — the sames ones issued at the jail — they want to make life more comfortable at station houses in Toledo, in Erie County’s Perkins Township where Private Dickman worked before coming to Toledo, and hopefully to stations across the country as the foundation grows.
The foundation has an online funding Web site at gofundme.com/?kq08dc; it also has a Facebook page, the “Live Your Dream Foundation.”
“I want this to be something Jamie would be proud of,” Mrs. Dickman said. “I want to honor him. … It’s to honor the other firefighters. They’ve been our strength this year. … It helps us because firefighting was such a big thing for Jamie. It wasn’t just a career, it wasn’t just a job, he was a true-blue firefighter. He lived it. Ate it. Breathed it.”
A new family
Mrs. Dickman and Ms. Cheney said that in the year since Private Dickman’s death, the firefighters who knew or worked with him have become family. They will send text messages or phone calls on birthdays and holidays, or sometimes just to check in and make sure everyone is doing OK.
“These guys are our new sons and daughters,” Mrs. Dickman said. “And it makes us feel good when they come and give us a hug. Jamie was a big hugger.”
In the year since the fire, the department — as a whole and those who represent it — has navigated tricky waters in trying to identify and treat various individual responses to the line-of-duty deaths and trying to rest.
Yet, for a 24-hour-a-day business, that’s never possible.
“Throughout the year we haven’t had any period of time where we’ve been able to put this aside, whether it’s the court case, whether it’s an organization that wants to pay tribute to our two fallen brothers. Everybody gets triggered in different ways,” Chief Santiago said.
The community support has made a difference in how the department has moved forward.
Each gesture of kindness, ranging from meals brought to stations or gratitude expressed at the grocery store or on an emergency run, lets firefighters and paramedics know they’re appreciated.
“I can’t tell you how humbling it is to have the support of our public behind us,” Chief Santiago said.
Monday will be difficult. There’s little to argue there. But the anniversary of the deaths also allows for recognition of positives that have resulted.
“There are parts of you that would just like to take Jan. 26 off the calendar and for it to never return again, but obviously that act of Congress is not going to happen,” Chief Santiago said.
“But by the same token, there are some things that have come from this that are very refreshing. As a department we’ve come closer. … From the day it happened throughout the entire year, our department has performed remarkably, and I’m really proud of this department.”
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