Read final report on operations at the July 29 fire
Read report from fire investigators
Read electrical engineer’s report
Read 2007 report on Adams Mill Road fire
On Saturday, when a fire occurred at a home in the 2800 block of Chain Bridge Road, the DC Fire & EMS Department says it was ready. Along with a water supply company on the initial alarm, a water supply task force was sent and the firefighters began the process of putting large diameter hose on the street to more distant hydrants in case the eight-inch main on Chain Bridge Road again proved inadequate. Fire officials say the extra effort wasn’t needed in this case, but it helped prove the department is better prepared to handle fires in areas where water supply is an issue. The operation drew the praise of Mayor Adrian Fenty, who said Monday morning, “Even right in that same street we were well prepared to fight fires”.
The mayor lead a press conference to provide the city’s final reports on a July 29 fire on Chain Bridge Road. That blaze destroyed the home of former school board president Peggy Cooper Cafritz. During that incident firefighters struggled for the better part of two hours trying to provide an adequate water supply to fight the fire. The internal report by the city lists nine recommendations on how the DC Water and Sewer Authority (WASA) and the DC Fire & EMS Department can better handle fires at locations in the city where there are small water mains.
July 29 Chain Bridge Road fire
The report echoes some of the work of a consultant hired by the city in 2007 after a devastating apartment building fire in Adams Morgan where water was also an issue. In both cases firefighters found they were drawing too much water off an 8-inch main and didn’t have the maps to easily show them where to go to get the water needed to handle the fire.
Chief Dennis Rubin says the latest report was done internally because money wasn’t available to hire another consultant.
The new report does not address why some of the recommendations for the 2007 report weren’t implemented until the days following the July fire. These include staffing water supply companies, better maps and better training from WASA for the department’s battalion chiefs. Chief Rubin said during the press conference, “The mayor provided full funding for fire and EMS department and there were cuts that we had to react to out of council committee”
The man who chairs that committee, DC City Council member Phil Mendelson tells STATter911.com those items must have been handled in private discussions between the chief and Mayor Fenty because, “It never came to the council.”
Mendelson and the chief have clashed before over this issue, with the council member saying at a September 25 hearing that the real problem at the July fire was with the leadership of the fire department. On Monday Mendelson said, “The chief is busy blaming first Water and Sewer Authority for not having water. Now the council for cutting his budget. And he really ought to be looking at himself.”
“We believe that he, like anyone else, is entitled to his opinion”, Chief Rubin said in response to Mendelson’s concerns about his running of the department. The chief believes that Mendelson is getting bad information and criticized him for quoting an anonymous comment off of this blog as part of his opening statement for the September hearing.
Besides the new report on the water issues, the city provided answers about the cause of the July 29 fire. Officially it will be listed as undetermined, but investigators believe it is likely that the blaze started on the porch from paper towels that spontaneously combusted after being soaked with linseed oil.
As for the fire on Saturday, a city worker who first spotted it helped the lone occupant to safety. It is believed to have started because of an electrical problem in the attic. One of the biggest similarities to the July fire is that it happened at the home of another prominent DC citizen, June Hechinger. She is the widow of John Hechinger, who was the city’s first appointed council chairman and operated a well known chain of hardware stores bearing the family’s name.
Also on STATter911 …
- Dennis Rubin sues DC over retirement. Councilmember Mendelson scoffs at The Rube wanting more money. – December 7, 2011
- Inspector General’s report says DC deputy fire chief violated city rules in controversial fire engine & ambulance donation. Read entire report. – April 26, 2011
- The Rube exits: Listen to Chief Dennis Rubin’s farewell message to the DC Fire & EMS Department. – December 31, 2010
- DC firefighter paid for not showing up to work for more than two years. Part of a 2008 corruption probe. – December 9, 2010
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Of course there was no money Dennis, because your not going to take any responsibility so why not do an internal report where you can make yourself and the Mayor look like everyone else is the problem. Ive never seen such a more crooked local government then the one thats in place now. Cover up everything to make ourselves look good.
Its funny how Dennis Rubin tells the council that he might have to close companies due to cuts the council proposes when it hasnt even been discussed with them.
This clown has overshot the budget each year he has been in office, which isnt a whole lot(due to his speaking monthly around the country). Its ok though because Mayor Fenty will protect Dennis as long as Dennis does everything possible to not make Mr. Mayor look bad. You wonder why things are covered up.
In this article it says money wasnt available for a private consultant to do this report, therefore it was done internally. It amazes me poor Dennis says there isnt any money etc, but he has money to make unecessary videos like Rubes Rumor Control, State of the Fire Dept adress to the latest video he made about the Metro train crash that cost the city taxpayers a pretty penny so he could use it at the FDIC in Dallas FOR HIS OWN PERSONAL GAIN.
Maybe you could donate 1/2 of your income from speaking around the country and fund the smoke detector program and fund the making of your own videos instead of the taxpayers flipping the bill. Then you wont have to blame Mr. Mendelson for everything because he puts you in your place.
In Re: to the “Final Report on Operations”….
Q1 Who is the author?
Q2 Looking at the hydrant flows, just because you have a main with five, 1000 GPM hydrants, doesn’t mean that you can get 5000 GPM out of the main. Who’s doing the testing?
RECOMMENDATIONS:
#1 Put at least as much effort into making sure each company can fight fire as the department does in making sure there’s a Paramedic on the engine companies. Every member should have live-fire attack evolution training at least as often as they get recertified as an EMT.
#2 Revise the hydrant testing program to test the mains, not just the hydrant – this means testing the residual pressure at the tested hydrant while flowing the adjacent hydrants.
#3 End the PEC program, and reduce the EMS call load on the Engines, so that they may test and be familiar with the hydrants and mains in their response area. There’s no reason to send an Engine on nearly every EMS run – only the small fraction of calls that are emergencies, and only then when the engine is closer than both the ambulance and the medic unit. A middle-of-the road engine in DC is busier (with EMS) than the busiest engines in most jurisdictions.
#4 Equip every engine with 1000′ of 5″ LDH and a 2250 GPM pump, so that each one may pump 1500 GPM over a distance of 1000′.
NOTICE OF PROPOSED ACTIONS
Case No.: U-09-GUILTY
We the people hereby charge Chief Dennis L. Rubin an employee of the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department, as follows:
Charge 1 Violation of the regulation cause utilizing D.C.F.E.M.S. Order Book Article VII Section 2.2; “Any on duty or employment-related act or omission that interferes with the efficiency or integrity of government operations.
Specification 1 Specifically Chief Dennis L. Rubin failed to ensure a back up line was in position as per N.F.P.A. 1403 the standard on live fire training evolutions. Chief Rubin’s failure to adhere to standard practices in a training exercise caused and jeopardized the lives of firefighters causing a member to be hospitalized overnight.
pSWdOTCom…………………..Bingo…put that on thewatchdesk…..best post ever….
To the firehouse lawyer, the event was not a training evolution, so NFPA1403 does not apply. It was a demonstration. Unless, of course, these seasoned DCFD veteran FF need remedial training on how to extinguish an open sided wooden box. No wonder the Cafritz house burned down.
I would suspect there were hundreds of these same type of demonstrations conducted all over the country. Leave it to a couple of FF’s who were not paying attention to have melted plastic fall on their PPE.
DCFD is right on par with the Redskins and Nationals. When the players can perform on the field, blame the coach.
Anonymous,
NFPA applies when departments choose to use it.Use some,ignore some…Whatever is best at the time!!BUT,a Demonstration IS live fire traing.
Why not blame “the coach”,as you put it. When the coach doesn’t know the game, why blame the players.
In this case,THE Players know what to do. They are just limited to WHAT they can do by persons NOT keeping current with Technology and being OUT of The City more than in…