Texas LODDs report
Photo from Bullard FD. Caption with photo in report:
This photo at 02:23 shows thick, black smoke exiting the front door under pressure. Williams and Cheek have been in for 11 minutes.
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It has been a year since the deaths of Captain Kevin Williams and FF Austin Cheek of the Noonday VFD in Texas. A report into the August 3, 2007 deaths at an overnight house fire has been completed by the Texas State Fire Marshal’s Office. Click above to read the entire report. Below are nine findings listed in the report:
A stationary command post was not set up and the Incident Commander remained mobile throughout the incident.
Although a RIC was established during operations, the RIC was not dedicated for immediate deployment.
The Incident Commander did not ensure that a personnel accountability system was immediately utilized.
Initial crews failed to perform a 360-degree scene size-up and did not secure the utilities before operations began.
Perimeter designations were inconsistent between responding departments.
Ventilation operations were not closely coordinated with interior fire attack placing the crew between the fire and the point of ventilation.
The Incident Commander failed to establish good communications with interior crews and did not take immediate actions when his request for updates went unanswered.
As fire conditions progressed changes were not made to the fireground operations.
