| Editor’s note: Following claims that a federal unit ignored concerns over PASS devices, the second part of an investigation into the Centers for Disease Control by MSNBC.com claims the agency takes more than a month to visit the scene of firefighter fatalities and has reduced its number of investigations. |
By FireRescue1 Staff
A federal unit that investigates firefighter fatalities routinely takes more than a month to visit the scene of deaths, according to the second part of an investigative report released today by MSNBC.com.
It claims that while the investigation manual of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) calls for a site visit within three weeks, the typical time is 33 days.
The CDC has also cut back on the number of its investigations in the past three years, the MSNBC.com report added.
Firefighter safety program manager Dawn Castillo is reported as saying that delays in visiting the scenes of deadly fires did not mean the agency was not taking its duties seriously.
She added members of her unit begin making phone calls to line up visits quickly, but that they delayed visits to be respectful to the family of the deceased and fire departments.
Last summer, the CDC officially proposed reducing the number of firefighter deaths it examined, but dropped the plans following public opposition.
However, Castillo maintained the CDC does not have the resources to investigate every firefighters’ death, according to the report.
But the group has already been reducing the number of deaths it investigated, according to the report.
From 1998-2003, the CDC investigated 89 percent of fire scene fatalities, but the figure dropped to 70 percent from 2004-2006, MSNBC.com said.
In recent months, the International Association of Fire Chiefs and union leaders have called for the CDC to investigate more deaths of firefighters.
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