Two-Pen Perspectives | Art by Paul Combs, Narrative by Anonymous
I live in the city in which I work. In the spare bedroom turned office in my house sits a picture frame. In the frame there is a family of five–a father and his four children. All have smiles on their faces and hope in their eyes. On the top of the frame there is an engraving that says, “Search and Find Everyone.” The bottom of the frame has the name of the family and a date. Every time I look at this picture, I am reminded of the tremendous consequences that we face as firefighters and how we can overcome incredibly difficult conditions, scenes, and scenarios when we foster an environment of learning, education, training, and growth instead of one full of ego and bravado that inhibits us from learning from our mistakes or inhibits us from reaching our full potential. This is a philosophy that allows us to challenge our status quo in the name of having the best possible outcomes for both civilians and firefighters on the fireground.
The month of March marks the first anniversary of an extremely difficult and fatal fire that occurred in the city in which I work. It is the date on the bottom of the picture frame. At approximately 11 p.m., a fire was dispatched, and first-due units arrived within four minutes to find a single-story condominium with smoke showing from the attic space and fire showing from the rear of the structure. Crews quickly made access to the interior of the structure through the back door and were met by heavy fire conditions. There were no reports of anyone trapped and no reports of anyone exiting the structure. Multiple engine companies occupied the interior with handlines working on the fire while a ladder company aggressively worked on vertical ventilation directly above the fire that had started in the kitchen. The condominium had a split floor plan with a bedroom and living room to one side of the kitchen and two separate bedrooms and a bathroom on the opposite side of the kitchen.
As crews gained control of the fire, an adult victim was found by the bedroom and the living room. The victim was removed, fire control was gained, and a primary “All clear” was called over the radio. Twenty minutes had now elapsed from the arrival of the first two engine companies. At this time, a fourth engine company was assigned to get a secondary “All clear” of the structure.
Entering the structure from the front door, the crew made a direct route to the two bedrooms on the opposite side of the kitchen. The door to the first bedroom was closed. When it was opened, firefighters from the engine company found four children inside the bedroom. The children were all special needs and were ages 11, 9, 8, and 7. The children were removed from the structure and all four of them were in cardiac arrest. Two of the children had pulses when they arrived at the hospital; however, all four children perished, as did their father. A family of five was lost.
In the days and weeks that followed this tragic incident, lots of finger pointing and blame circulated around the organization, but no one had a harder time than the crew that located and removed the children. While there are many common catch phrases in the fire service, it is hard to believe that they will ever be said in your own organization until you hear them repeatedly. Statements like “They were dead before we got there” and “There is nothing we could have done” echoed throughout.
When some members of the organization asked if a tactical review with lessons learned could be done it was met with resistance and denied. This is a life changing event. Not just for the family of five and their extended family but for the members that arrived quickly and operated that night, for the members who found the children, the members who treated and transported them as well as any of their family members and friends that continue to bear the burden of “what if” something could have been done different, done better, done more in order to have a different outcome that night.
Negative outcomes do not have to be all negative. There are positive changes and lessons that can be learned and reinforced. There is no better way to honor those who perished that night. There is no better way to let those who responded that night lift some of the burden that they bear by involving those members in creating organizational change. There are no fingers to point or people to blame. There only remains the number one tactical priority on the fireground–life safety–and the training, education, and practices that should be prioritized to give every person the best chance at survival. Not everyone will survive, but everyone deserves the best chance.
Giving people the best chance means that we are not afraid to change. We are not afraid to grow. We strive to be our best knowing that there are times where we may fall short. Still, we push forward. We look at ourselves first and make changes to the things that we can control. Change takes time. Still, we are growing, learning, training, and doing everything that we can to be the example of hope and of change.
