THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 23, 1996 TAG: 9607240652
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JUNE ARNEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 204 lines
A national firefighters union has released a report that says firefighter response time is inadequate for about two-thirds of the city's households and 11 schools.
In those areas, it takes firefighters eight minutes or longer to respond with at least two engines, or with an engine and a ladder truck, which the union says would provide enough manpower and equipment to begin to effectively fight a fire.
``If you don't have an effective response in eight minutes, you can kiss goodbye to the building and, God forbid, anyone in it,'' said George Burke, director of the International Association of Fire Fighters, from his Washington office Monday.
In addition, only 52 percent of the addresses in Chesapeake can be reached in less than six minutes by the first engine, the report concludes. An acceptable response time is four minutes or less, according to the report.
``Most other cities have a response of four minutes or less and respond with four firefighters, which allows them to begin an effective response,'' Burke said. The city has three-person crews on its fire trucks.
A spokesman for the Chesapeake Fire Department did not dispute the findings, but said Chesapeake's response rate is probably comparable to many other cities'.
``That report would be extremely frightening if Chesapeake were the only city that did not arrive in under eight minutes,'' said Edmund Elliott, the Chesapeake Fire Department's deputy chief of operations.
``I think there are cities that are far worse than us. No doubt about it.''
The department's goal is to get to a fire in five minutes and to have the next unit there as quickly as possible, Elliott said.
Chesapeake's annual report for the 1994-95 fiscal year shows the fire department's average response time was 6:01 minutes.
Neither Elliott nor Burke was aware of other cities in Virginia that had run programs that would show comparative response times. And information about response times in other states was not available Monday from national union officials.
The union's findings were based on computer analysis that examined locations of fire stations, staffing, equipment, traffic and other factors.
Burke said if he lived in one of the 65 neighborhoods with poor response times, he would be concerned about his house burning down.
The computer analysis also addressed a March 18 fire that claimed the lives of two Chesapeake firefighters at an auto parts store on Indian River Road. It concluded that it would have taken support vehicles at least eight minutes to reach the scene.
The Fire Department's report showed that the ladder truck did not arrive until 14 minutes after the call, according to the union's study.
The fire, which killed John Hudgins Jr., 32, and Frank Young, 38, prompted the union, which represents the majority of Chesapeake's firefighters, to call for the resignation of Fire Chief Michael L. Bolac. The union blamed his policies for the deaths. Bolac has defended his policies.
``You still clearly have a situation here where firefighter safety and public safety is put in jeopardy,'' Burke said.
``We still think (the chief) is pulling the wool over the eyes of the citizens of Chesapeake.''
The union's report concluded: ``Inadequate coverage by the Chesapeake Fire Department has resulted in extremely high response times. When such elongated response times are coupled with poor staffing, the safety of the community as well as its fire fighting personnel is severely jeopardized.''
About 50 people gathered Monday night in Western Branch for a meeting of the newly formed Radcliffe Civic League. Marianne Nelowet showed a video of a fire at her townhouse and city fire officials outlined their handling of that fire and fielded questions from angry citizens.
City fire officials also explained new requirements that call for two firefighters to be present as backup before two firefighters enter a building.
Nelowet's townhouse, in the 4300 block of Arundel Lane, burned on Father's Day, June 16, after her roof apparently was struck by lightning during a thunderstorm. Her home, rendered uninhabitable, is not in one of the neighborhoods identified by the union as having slow response times.
Nelowet said she was sitting in her den about 3:45 p.m. when a light next to her made a loud banging sound and then went out. She checked the circuit box and flipped a few switches. Moments later, she looked into the den, where she and saw smoke.
By that time, neighbors who had spotted smoke coming from the home had called the Fire Department and arrived to aid her and her 89-year-old mother, who is legally blind and wears hearing aids.
``I stood there and watched my house become a raging inferno because the firefighters had to wait for backup,'' Nelowet said. ``The people in Chesapeake need to be aware that they are in danger.''
Nelowet said that the Taylor Road fire station, the station closest to her, was on another call. A Deep Creek crew, already nearby on Taylor Road, handling the fire.
Nelowet said she hopes to convince city officials that there should be four- or five-person crews on each engine.
She thinks that people are misled into thinking they are safe because they see a fire station at the end of their road. But in reality, those stations would need to wait for backup before they can fight a fire.
``They think someone's taking care of them, and no one is minding the store,'' she said. ``Everyone in the city of Chesapeake, unless they live in a pup tent and have a garden hose, are at risk.''
Deputy Chief Elliott said the first engine arrived at Nelowet's within six minutes of the call, and an interior attack to extinguish an attic fire was underway five minutes later.
But Maria D. Lopez-Lee, Nelowet's neighbor, disputed the times in Monday's meeting. ``I'm sorry,'' she said. ``I was right there. I couldn't believe no one was pumping water on that fire. It wasn't five minutes. We knew when the water got turned on because we were holding the hoses.''
Elliott said the fire department was stretched thin that day because nine calls had come in at once from Deep Creek, Brentwood, Bowers Hill and Western Branch.
``I agree with the eight-minute'' standard, he said. ``The problem you run into is pulling an example like this that is uncharacteristic of a normal response and trying to build a case.''
In a recent interview, Anne Tregembo, secretary of the Chesapeake Council of Civic Organizations, said the problem of poor response times goes beyond any particular neighborhood.
``We don't have enough firemen,'' she said. ``The people in the whole city have been lulled into a false sense of security. Just because there is a fire station in your area doesn't mean the manpower is there or the necessary equipment is there.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
SLOW-RESPONSE ZONES
These are the Chesapeake neighborhoods and schools that a
national firefighters union identified as having potentially slow
fire-response times. The union says it would take firefighters eight
minutes or more to get either two engines or an engine and a ladder
to the scene.
NEIGHBORHOODS:
Ahoy Acres
Albemarle Pines
Albemarle Acres
Albemarle Farms
Ashburn Point
Bailey's Creek
Beaver Meadows
Bowers Hill
Brandermill
Camelot
Cedar Grove Acres
Charlton Lakes
Colonial Point
Country Club Meadows
Country Estates
Country Mill
Davids Mill
Elizabeth Manor
Emerald Lake Estates
Etheridge Woods
Etheridge Meadows
Fentress Gardens
Forest Hills
Forest Lakes
Greenhaven
Green Ridge Farms
Holly Cove
Indian River Estates
Inland Colony
Ipswich Village
Jolliff Woods
Kemp Woods
King James Colony
Las Gaviotas
Manning Estates
Meadow Wood Estates
Mill Pond Forest
Mount Pleasant Heights
Norfolk Highlands
North Landing Farms
Northwest Acres
Oak Ridge
People Estates
Pine Ridge
Plantation Lakes
Poplar Ridge
Poplar Ridge South
Raleigh Place
Riverbend I, II and III
River Wood
Sandy Meadows
Sandy Pines
Schoolhouse Crossing
Scotfield
Seminole Park
Sir Raleigh Estates
Sunray
Tanglewood
The Birches Apartments
Timberwood
Turnbridge Station
Waterway Estates
West Chadswyck
Willow Lakes
Woodards Mill
SCHOOLS:
Butts Road Primary
Butts Road Intermediate
Camelot Elementary
Chittum Elementary
Georgetown Primary
Greenbrier Intermediate
Hickory Elementary
Highlands Primary
Southwestern Elementary
Southeastern Training Facility
Sparrow Road Intermediate
KEYWORDS: CHESAPEAKE FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORT
RESPONSE TIME by CNB