By Eric C. E. Wilson
Training Captain
Muncie Fire Department
Just a few more seconds — that’s all we would have needed. Just a few more seconds and there would be no need for this article. After all, these were some of our best, well-seasoned firefighters on the department.
The right calls were made, the fire was read, and the crews were on their way out when the lightweight roof trusses gave out.
We had seven firefighters inside the church at the time of the collapse, all of them scattered to the winds and bailing out the nearest opening they could find — all but one.
June 15, 2011 will forevermore be remembered on the Muncie Fire Department as the date we lost firefighter Scott Davis.
Scott hired on our department after serving for many years with one of the local volunteer departments, attaining the rank of chief of their department.
While we were fortunate that we did not lose all seven firefighters, the loss is no less painful or significant.
The months since Scott’s death have seen the obligatory investigations by OSHA, NIOSH, and the like.
Of course, we have rehashed the incident over and over in our own minds, in small circles, and the department as a whole.
The Muncie Fire Department has always been known as an aggressive department. Our city has a population of around 67,000 people, with a mid-size university campus of around 20,000 students.
Our poverty levels are high, and we have a lot of older construction in our post-industrial city.
We fight a lot of fire, and while that is a good thing for gaining experience, we sometimes rely on that experience to push the proverbial envelope. We have saved a lot of lives through the years.
The impact of Scott’s death will be felt for a very long time. It has caused us to reexamine once again the way we spend “another day at the office.”
We will synthesize all the investigation reports as best we can, and we will review the fundamentals.
We will be smart enough to address anything we lack, and in Scott’s name, we will push forward and do all we can to make sure that we never again need just a few more seconds.