By Robert Crowe
The San Antonio Express-News
SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio’s fire chief is taking heat from union leaders because he wants greater control over when firefighters should rush into a burning building.
Under a new policy, which Chief Charles Hood said clarifies long-standing practices of the San Antonio Fire Department, a single fire commander is required to first calculate the risks before firefighters can enter an engulfed dwelling.
But the policy has angered some of the city’s firefighters, who say it’s their job to save people and property, even when it means putting their lives on the line.
“We have always learned that you never know if someone is in a building unless you search it,” said Chris Steele, president of the San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association. “Somebody who doesn’t want to do that is probably in the wrong line of work.”
But, Hood said, the deaths last week in Houston of two firefighters underscores the importance of combining safety with bravery.
“We will risk a lot in a calculating manner to save lives that are savable,” Hood said. “We will risk little to save savable property and/or to save someone who’s already lost.”
Hood announced the policy two weeks before Houston fire Capt. James Harlow and firefighter Damion Hobbs were killed while trapped inside a house fire in southeastern Houston. Neighbors had warned firefighters that nobody was inside.
Fire departments across the country — including those in Austin and Phoenix, Hood’s former employer - have embraced similar risk management policies. The Texas fire marshal’s office also has encouraged departments to seriously weigh risk.
“Saving lives is of paramount importance, but firefighters recognizing when the risk outweighs the reward is also extremely important in order to avoid tragedy,” said Rachel Neutzler, a state fire marshal spokeswoman.
Critics: Changes unwarranted
But critics of the city’s new policy said San Antonio has not had a history of fatal errors or accidents to warrant major changes.
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Steele said.
Over the past 30 years, no firefighter has been lost to “fire ground” operations, officials said. From 1987 to 2008, four firefighters died — all from heart attacks, a few of which were brought on by smoke inhalation.
Hood countered, “We can’t wait for a tragedy before we make changes.”
In Houston, fire officials said they have a long-standing approach that calls for an aggressive interior attack because fires can be doused quickly, while potential victims can be found and saved.
But that approach — which has been linked to a few deaths of Houston firefighters over the past decade — has been criticized by state officials.
Under the new policy in San Antonio, the first commanding officer to arrive at a fire — usually a captain or lieutenant — is responsible for deciding whether to battle a fire “offensively” or “defensively.”
Steele said this concerns some commanders because they are not sure yet how to calculate risk. And union members, he said, fear the new policy could backfire if a resident dies inside a building deemed too risky.
Firefighters battle blazes offensively during aggressive interior attacks, while defensive strategies call for dousing the exterior of a building when entering is not possible.
Hood said a series of forthcoming training videos and mock fire operations will explain when to use offensive or defensive strategies.
New duties
“If it’s a 2 a.m. apartment fire, there’s a good chance someone is inside, so we would do an interior search,” Hood said. “If it’s 3 a.m. and a warehouse is fully engulfed, with no cars parked outside, it’s not a good idea to enter.”
Also under the policy, three assistant chiefs will work in three separate shifts. The assistant chiefs, who typically oversee administrative issues, must now manage firefighting operations to ensure everyone follows protocol.
Thursday, the Houston Fire Department held a memorial service for the two fallen firefighters. The causes of their deaths are still unknown.
Since 2000, Houston has recorded seven firefighter deaths during fire ground operations
Combined, the cities of San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, El Paso and Corpus Christi had fewer deaths for that period, according to the state fire marshal’s office.
On April 12, before Harlow and Hobbs entered the burning Houston home, a neighbor warned firefighters that no one was inside. But firefighters said they had to enter because they didn’t know if the neighbor was accurate.
“We’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t,” said HFD District Chief Tommy Dowdy. “What happens if someone dies inside the home because we didn’t search inside?”
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