A Florida fire captain who was accused in a post-incident report of not doing enough to help a 76-year-old who died in a home fire has resigned.
Polk County Fire Rescue Capt. James Williams stepped down from his post Tuesday, WTSP-TV reports. The resignation comes less than a week after interviews were concluded by the outside consulting firm investigating the Nov. 23 blaze in North Lakeland.
Williams, who was in command at the scene, had been suspended without pay for 24 hours after he was accused of posting a Snapchat video from the scene of the fire that killed Loretta Pickard, WFLA-TV reports. Posting the video violated the department's policies concerning social media accounts.
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Pickard had called 9-1-1 after the fire broke out, and she told dispatchers that she was trapped in the burning home. She was on the line for 20 minutes as smoke filled the house, and dispatchers assured her that crews knew she was still inside, according to WFLA.
In his post-incident analysis released last month, Battalion Chief Jeremiah Gilley wrote that Williams and a fellow firefighter should have put on masks with breathing apparatuses, grabbed tools and tried to rescue Pickard, The Ledger in Lakeland reports. Williams' inexperience and lack of knowledge also hampered efforts in the fatal fire, added Gilley, who arrived later to the fire.
