By James Pinkerton
The Houston Chronicle
HOUSTON — Houston firefighters who punched ventilation holes in the roof of a burning residence worsened a wind-driven blaze last spring that killed two of their colleagues during a “fast attack” response criticized for lacking coordination, communication and basic knowledge of fire dynamics, according to an exhaustive investigation by federal safety officials.
The federal report followed a Texas Fire Marshal’s inquiry into the fatal fire on Easter Sunday morning last year on Houston’s east side, but had sharper criticism of the Houston Fire Department’s field tactics and training.
The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health listed eight key contributing factors to the April 12, 2009, fire that killed veteran Houston Fire Department Capt. James Harlow, 50, and probationary firefighter Damion Hobbs, 29.
“Less than six minutes after arriving on-scene, the victims became disoriented as high winds pushed the rapidly growing fire through the den and living room areas where interior crews were operating,” the report states, noting that seven other firefighters managed to escape. The commander on the scene attempted to contact the two firefighters, but it later was determined Harlow had left his portable radio in the fire engine and Hobbs’ radio was set to a different frequency and was turned off.
HFD has lost seven firefighters inside burning buildings since 2000, all of them members of the first arriving companies on the scene. HPD typically employs a “fast attack” operation that includes entering burning structures to suppress the fire while searching for victims.
Report not disputed
Following the release of a critical state fire marshal’s report in February, HFD officials produced the department’s own investigation report — which included some of the same findings — and insisted firefighters at the scene followed department guidelines in fighting the blaze.
On Wednesday, acting Fire Chief Rick Flanagan did not dispute any of the NIOSH report, which included more extensive findings and criticism of the handling of the blaze, including shortcomings in HFD training.
“We respect all of the content in the report,” Flanagan said. “We’re going to take this report, and we’re going to look at those values they have stipulated in it, and we’re going to make sure we apply those values by reiterating the significance of them.”
Flanagan said the report will not cause him to “second guess” the department’s fast attack approach to fighting fires, adding he does not believe the federal report suggested gross negligence by HFD.
“I think what they have done is they have offered some content that speaks in terms of where we can make improvements, and that’s the one thing we want to do,” Flanagan said.
The elderly residents of the 1950’s-era home were across the street with neighbors when the first firetrucks arrived shortly after midnight. The fire, caused by a light switch in a bedroom closet, quickly surged into a towering blaze after a back wall of glass windows and doors collapsed, allowing wind gusts up to 26 mph to blow into the home.
Firefighters did not adequately size up the residence before starting operations, the NIOSH report stated, but investigators noted a full survey of the property was hampered by side walls topped by fencing and a 11-foot embankments at the rear of the property. A thermal imaging camera was brought but not used during the sizing up, which could have detected fire burning unseen in the attic.
Fire crews used power saws and pikes to knock holes in the roof and ceiling next to the front door, although fire conditions had not been reported by the crews inside the structure to the incident commander, the report stated.
“Moments after the roof was vented, the fire conditions changed drastically as the fuel-rich gases ignited,” the report stated. “These actions increased air supply to the ventilation-controlled fire burning in the void space between the ceiling and roof. Flames in the attic ignited the fuel-rich smoke on the ground floor. Rapid fire development on the ground floor may have resulted in the failure of windows (at rear of home) providing a flow path for wind-driven fire.”
‘10 rules for survival’
Firefighters at the scene twice risked their lives and attempted to enter the burning home to rescue their two colleagues, but falling debris, intense heat and flames drove them back, the federal report notes. Once the fire was controlled, Harlow was found in the dining room and Hobbs was found in the living room near the front door nearly 40 minutes after their arrival.
Since the Easter Sunday fire, and an earlier collision between two firetrucks that killed a bystander and injured several firefighters, HFD officials have issued “10 rules for survival,” Flanagan said. They include mandatory use of seat belts, obeying all traffic signals, issuing a Mayday call when a crew member is missing and frequent use of portable radios to give progress reports from inside and outside the fire.
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