SALT LAKE CITY — A year after a Salt Lake City fire station caught fire and forced nine firefighters to receive treatment for smoke inhalation, four firefighters plan to take legal action against the city.
The Salt Lake Tribune reported the firefighters filed notice of claim for negligence and violation of the city’s fire code leading up to the fire. They claim there were no smoke detectors in the sleeping quarters and a smoke detector that was in the station was not installed properly. As a result, it did not go off until flames had already broken out.
“The act was a conscious decision that violated the requirements for fire protection systems in government-owned buildings, and choosing to violate code and law is not a discretionary function,” firefighter Steve Hoffman said.
Firefighters Kyle Marston, Jim Williams and Gregory Holmes are filing notices of claim along with Hoffman.
City spokesperson Matthew Rojas said the city does not agree with the claims but could not elaborate because of potential litigation.
“I don’t think anyone would characterize the Salt Lake City Fire Department as lax on safety,” Rojas said. “The mayor is always willing to listen to employees at all levels.”
The fire station that caught fire had recently undergone renovations. Hoffman said the renovations were improperly done and contributed to the fire, which started from oily rags.
“The improper reconstruction in 2011 was the largest contributing factor in the fire at Station #2,” Hoffman said. “Had proper detectors been installed per code, the detectors would have alerted the crew long before the fire ignited, during the smoldering stage.”
Hoffman also said he requested an air-tight container to store flammable rags but the request was denied by fire department administration.
Fire Chief Brian Dale said that no request had been made for an air-tight container and that the fire station was equipped with up-to-date smoke detectors during the 2011 renovations, according to the report.
“The department cannot currently identify the location of each detector within the facility as of the date of the [March 2, 2015] incident or verify whether all of said devices were properly supplied with electrical power at that time,” Chief Dale said. “The investigative report of the incident did indicate that several firefighters heard an activated smoke alarm.”
According to the chief, there have been four fire department fires caused by oily rags.