IA Lawmaker Wants Probe into How Firefighters Assisted at Blaze

A City Council member is calling for the state fire marshal to investigate the way Cedar Falls firefighters assisted at a fire in Dike last month.

At-large council member Dave Sires posted a video to his Facebook page on Oct. 20 he says he asked a friend to shoot during a fire that destroyed a two-story building in Dike on Oct. 16.

"Six guys trying to figure out how to shut a door," the person behind the camera says as the video begins, showing uniformed firefighters load into the bucket of a ladder truck as black smoke fills the air.

The video goes on for nearly 11 minutes, showing firefighters exiting the bucket and others taking their place, hooking up gear, raising the bucket about four minutes in and spraying water when they reach the top, but only from one of two mounted hoses.

The narrator of the video suggests throughout that firefighters were incompetent at using their equipment. Sires seems to agree.

"I was told the actual time that the truck was there from the time it pulled up to the time the bucket went up in the air was 35 minutes," Sires commented on the post, which drew 288 comments and 713 shares.

The issue came up during Monday night's council meeting, when Ward 1 member Mark Miller asked Public Safety Director Jeff Olson to explain what happened.

Olson said his agency was asked to assist by Dike firefighters because a ladder truck was needed, and 19 fire personnel helped fight the fire for four hours.

Olson said the two fire hydrants nearby were in use by other fire departments, so the ladder truck hooked up to another fire truck for water.

Personnel were switched out, he said, because it was initially decided by the Dike fire chief to send up two firefighters. One of them then was replaced by a supervisor.

Both firefighters then had to be reattached to all gear, including safety belts and air lines, Olson said. When the bucket was raised, one of the two hoses had a "water pressure problem."

"We train routinely with that ladder truck. This year we trained over 44 times," Olson said. "Our firefighters are very familiar with that truck."

Olson noted in his conversation with Dike's fire chief that "they've had no complaints" about Cedar Falls' assistance.

Sires disputed Olson's account.

"I talked with those guys, and they have a completely different story from the one you just painted for us," he told Olson.

Sires said he wouldn't "go into all the different rules" but said he was told there were "many violations" in the video.

"If we can't get that boom truck up in a few minutes, people are gonna die," Sires said. "I'd like to call in the fire marshal. They can do an investigation and figure out what's going on."

Miller, as well as Ward 5 member Frank Darrah, took umbrage with Sires' comments.

"The comments regarding our public safety officials are completely out of line," Miller said. "To put on his Facebook page? Completely unacceptable."

"I've worried about our staff the past couple of weeks. They don't feel supported by City Council," Darrah added.

The fire gutted the two-story building, which included vacant retail space on the ground floor with occupied apartments above. Everyone got out safely.

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