By Michael Rubinkam
The Associated Press
 Photo courtesy of IAFF Local 60 James Robeson at the scene of a previous incident. |
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — The Scranton fire department and an electrical utility apparently had a breakdown in communication prior to the death of a veteran firefighter, who was electrocuted Sunday while battling a house fire that killed two elderly residents, an official said Monday.
Scranton Fire Capt. James Robeson, a 25-year veteran, was in the bucket lift of a fire truck, trying to prevent flames from spreading to neighboring houses, when he came into contact with an arc from a power line and suffered a fatal shock. Three other firefighters suffered electrical burns and were hospitalized.
“This is just a tragic, tragic (case of) what appears to be miscommunication,” Deputy Fire Chief Terry Osborne said Monday.
He said the fire department planned to meet soon with the Allentown-based utility, PPL Corp.
“That doesn’t bring back Jimmy Robeson, but we want to assure this never happens again,” he said.
Osborne declined to say more about the circumstances surrounding Robeson’s death, or explain departmental procedures for dealing with electrical lines, citing the ongoing investigation.
PPL spokesman Rich Beasley said Monday that the lineman who had been dispatched to the blaze met with firefighters on the scene and “it was agreed that he’d cut electrical service to a structure on Ash Street where the fire was occurring. He cut the service to the house, and reported back to fire department officials that he had done so.”
Beasley declined to say whether the fire department also asked PPL to cut power to the overhead lines running down the street, not just to the wire connecting the house.
State police Trooper Bill Satkowski said the cause of the fire itself officially remains undetermined. State police are expected to announce the results of their investigation on Tuesday.
The fire, which broke out shortly after 7 a.m., killed residents Richard Fenstermacher, 82, and Maria Fenstermacher, 87.
Despite the hazard posed by live wires, firefighter electrocutions are rare. Between 1997 and 2006, 13 firefighters in 10 separate incidents nationwide were killed by electric shock, according to the National Fire Protection Association. Some of those cases involved downed wires.
Carl Peterson, director of the association’s Public Fire Protection Division, said it’s standard operating procedure to have the electricity shut off to an engulfed structure, and to cut power to any overhead transmission lines that might be in the way of fighting the blaze.
“If the layout of the building and power lines are such that you’re going to have to operate ladders around it, you’re going to want to try to get the overhead lines running down the street shut off,” he said.
It’s unclear why that didn’t happen in this case.
Mike Wieder, assistant director of the International Fire Service Training Association, said standard practice requires firefighters to stay at least 10 feet from a live wire to avoid the possibility of being touched by an electrical arc, as apparently happened to Robeson.
“Unless you have absolutely been assured the power has been shut off, there is absolutely no way you should put an aerial device within 10 feet of a live wire,” said Wieder, an expert in aerial firefighting.
Robeson, 50, was the first member of the fire department to be killed in the line of duty in more than 25 years. At an age when many firefighters start to think about retirement, Robeson had no desire to quit, said Osborne, who joined the fire department on the same day in 1983 as Robeson.
“When we talked about retirement, he’d say, ‘I’m staying, I’m staying.’ This was his life, this was his job and he loved it,” Osborne said.
A huge turnout was expected at Robeson’s funeral on Thursday, with firefighters from around the nation calling the Scranton department to inquire about hotel accommodations. Also, fire departments in the region have offered to staff city firehouses to allow Robeson’s colleagues to attend his funeral.