Pa. Fire Chief, Union Leader Disagree on Response

March 13--The lack of on-duty firefighters that temporarily shut down two city firetrucks Monday morning led directly to substantial damage on a home in the Swetland Street fire that destroyed another home and left 12 people homeless, the city firefighter union president charged.

"It hampered the ability of firefighters to effectively combat the fire out there," union President John Judge said. "It's what we were warning against for months now, and unfortunately, they're going to see the fruits of what they've done. ... That second house is absolutely on the administration."

But city Fire Chief Tom Davis disputed the union head's pointed assertion.

Chief Davis said the first firefighters arrived as quickly as they would have if no firehouses had closed because a fire engine from elsewhere had been stationed at one of the close firehouses. The first fire engine was at the scene in five minutes, he said. He also knew of no interruption in getting water on the fire Monday and denied the damage on the second home was due to a shortage of fire equipment or personnel.

"When you have flames going out that hot, you're going to get a scorched side," Chief Davis said.

The fire is sure to inflame the raging debate over whether Mayor Chris Doherty's decision to sharply trim the Fire Department is damaging its ability to fight fires. The administration recently reduced the city's complement of firefighters from 150 to 100 to cut into multimillion-dollar budget deficits. That meant the closing of three engine companies and temporary closures of others daily based on available staffing. Two engine companies and a truck company were closed Monday, including the two engine companies closest to the fire.

The fire, which the chief said was started before 9 a.m. by a boy playing with a candle, destroyed a double-block home at 1518-1520 Swetland St. and spread to a home at 1516. The duplex was so badly damaged that the city dispatched a demolition crew to immediately tear it down. The side of the other home was charred, and the building sustained smoke and water damage.

City procedure

Chief Davis and Mr. Judge agreed firefighters were unlikely to save the duplex because the fire had too big a head start. From there, their opinions mostly diverged.

Chief Davis said the fire was reported at 9:03 a.m., and Engine 8 arrived at 9:08. Engine 8, which is normally stationed at 207 W. Market St., had been transferred to 1047 N. Main Ave.

The North Main Avenue firehouse was once home to Engine 9 and Truck 4, but Engine 9 is one of the three permanently closed firefighting units, and Truck 4 was temporarily closed Monday morning because of a lack of firefighters.

To compensate, the city moved Engine 8 to North Main Avenue. The firehouse is about 1.1 miles from the fire, based on a Mapquest search.

Pumper trucks, which carry water on board but can also pump from a hydrant, are referred to as engine companies. Ladder trucks, which have the tall, white, aerial ladders, are referred to as truck companies.

Chief Davis and Mr. Judge confirmed that city firefighting procedure is to have the first pumper truck to arrive quickly and train its on-board water -- enough to last about four minutes -- on a fire.

The idea is to get water on a fire quickly and give a second engine time to arrive and attach its hoses to a hydrant to supply a steady flow.

In this fire, Engine 7 at 1917 Luzerne St. would normally have acted as the water-supply truck, Chief Davis said. Engine 7 is also about 1.1 miles away from the fire, though slightly farther (1.16 versus 1.12 miles) away than the North Main Avenue firehouse.

But Engine 7 was also temporarily closed because of a lack of staff, which meant that the water-supply truck became Engine 2, stationed at Gibbons Street and Pittston Avenue in South Scranton. Engine 2 was about 3 miles from the fire, or more than 21/2 times farther than Engine 7.

Points of view

That alone had to slow the response to the fire, Mr. Judge said, though he acknowledged he could not say if water flow to the fire was interrupted or reduced because of the extra distance.

But beyond the distance, the city only had 19 firefighters at the scene, which meant fewer people to accomplish the many tasks that arise at a fire, Mr. Judge said.

"Last year, we would have had 27 firefighters there," he said. "That second house (catching on fire) is on the administration."

Mr. Judge said firefighters could have contained the fire to one building if more help were available.

"This is a direct result of the administration and the city council failing to fund an appropriate and safe number of firefighters to protect this city," he said.

He pointed to the fact that the city called in Dunmore firetrucks to help fight the fire.

"If I was a Dunmore resident, I'd be upset that my firefighters are in Scranton," Mr. Judge said. "This is going to happen all the time now."

But Chief Davis said calling on Dunmore is standard procedure when the city needs extra help and said the city's ability to fight the fire was unaffected by closures. With Dunmore available, 23 firefighters were at the scene, more than enough to fight the fire, he said.

He said Engine 2 arrived from South Scranton and Rescue 1 arrived from 940 Wyoming Ave. at 9:11, three minutes after Engine 8. Truck 2, stationed at fire headquarters at 518 Mulberry St., arrived at 9:12. Each had additional water onboard, he said.

"We had the same response time," Chief Davis said. "You couldn't have gotten there any faster."

If anything delayed firefighters, it was an electrical line to the home that burned off and swung down to the street, still sparking and live, Chief Davis said. Firefighters had to move equipment before starting to fight the fire.

"That didn't help things," he said.

Chief Davis said a fire that burned as hot as Monday's would have scorched the damaged home regardless.

He praised his crews for saving the second home.

And, he said, "Nobody was hurt."

Without acknowledging the layoffs affected the firefighting Monday, Chief Davis said he would love to have more firefighters, but the city's budget constraints don't allow it. He called on the union to act more cooperatively to ensure fire protection.

"We've got to work together here because things are not going to get better here," he said.

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