HOUSTON -- Communications issues, violations of policies as well as building construction were among concerns raised in a fire department internal report about the fatal high-rise blaze in March.
Capt. Joel Eric Abbt became separated from his crew while searching for victims on the fifth floor. His repeated Mayday calls were not heard by the incident commander because of other radio traffic. However, a dispatcher in the communications center picked up his frantic call for help.
For 27 minutes, fellow firefighters searched the building looking for the captain, who was rushed to a hospital for smoke inhalation.
Authors of the quality assurance report said the captain's failure to maintain crew integrity jeopardized both him and those engaged in his search and rescue.
Other concerns included fire companies that self-dispatched to the incident and then placed units out of service. "This endangers the civilian population and firefighters from those units' response area due to their absence."
They also had issues with the incident command structure that was established as well as the fact that some units didn't report to a staging area. The "freelancing" of officers also caused concern.
The panel also determined that there was a sufficient number of EMS personnel to handle the needs of the civilians and firefighters.
Houston Assistant Chief Jack Williams said quality assurance reviews are conducted following all major incidents, especially those involving fatalities.
"They are not done to criticize or to discipline. We do them to see how we can improve. We're always looking at doing better because the safety of our firefighters and the public is what's important."
Williams warns against people second-guessing decisions. "Some of these were split second decisions. What we're interested is making sure our people, our officers are prepared to make those decisions."
The assistant chief said the department uses the reviews as training tools, adding that it also pointed out many things that were handled correctly.
"This (report) was not done to bury someone."
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