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Injury Reports-St. Louis
ST. LOUIS (AP) - The president of the St. Louis firefighters
union is "disappointed" in the chief's report into a rash of
injuries that occurred at four fires this year, the St. Louis
Post-Dispatch reported Friday.
The confidential report by Fire Chief Sherman George and done in
conjunction with Public Safety Director Sam Simon. It was released
Tuesday to the Post-Dispatch. In the report, George said injuries
to 13 firefighters could have been prevented had they and their
commanders followed department procedure.
But Dan Sutter, president of Local 73 of the International
Association of Firefighters, questioned why at least eight
firefighters involved in battling the fires were not interviewed as
part of the four-month investigation.
"I'm disappointed that he didn't interview all people involved
before he drew conclusions," Sutter said. "I don't know how he
can come to a conclusion without interviewing those at the scene."
Capt. Addington Stewart, chairman of Firefighters Institute for
Racial Equality, the group that represents most of the city's black
firefighters, said there were rumblings from his members that they
had not been asked for input, although some of them had been
working at the fires where the injuries occurred. But Stewart said
he did not fault George for leaving some firefighters out of the
interview process.
George said that his review did not dictate an interview from
everyone involved since department policy requires every injured
firefighter to turn in a written statement explaining what
happened.
"A guy had a burn on his hand and said he didn't have a glove
on. There was no need to go any further," George said, especially
in the case of a minor injury.
In the report, George said the injuries at all four fires had
been preventable and had been caused by firefighters ignoring
procedures and commanders not being accountable. Firefighters went
into parts of a house alone and did not have a second way out.
Sutter said firefighters were not surprised that the injuries
occurred. They had concerns beforehand that more training was
needed, he said, noting that commanders had been told of their
concerns.
More training was one of the main recommendations George made in
the report.
Simon said that while the review was complete, the process of
looking at ways to improve the department was not. The report did
not address the fire on May 3 last year in which firefighters Derek
Martin and Robert Morrison were killed, but a separate internal
investigation led by George is ongoing.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
union is "disappointed" in the chief's report into a rash of
injuries that occurred at four fires this year, the St. Louis
Post-Dispatch reported Friday.
The confidential report by Fire Chief Sherman George and done in
conjunction with Public Safety Director Sam Simon. It was released
Tuesday to the Post-Dispatch. In the report, George said injuries
to 13 firefighters could have been prevented had they and their
commanders followed department procedure.
But Dan Sutter, president of Local 73 of the International
Association of Firefighters, questioned why at least eight
firefighters involved in battling the fires were not interviewed as
part of the four-month investigation.
"I'm disappointed that he didn't interview all people involved
before he drew conclusions," Sutter said. "I don't know how he
can come to a conclusion without interviewing those at the scene."
Capt. Addington Stewart, chairman of Firefighters Institute for
Racial Equality, the group that represents most of the city's black
firefighters, said there were rumblings from his members that they
had not been asked for input, although some of them had been
working at the fires where the injuries occurred. But Stewart said
he did not fault George for leaving some firefighters out of the
interview process.
George said that his review did not dictate an interview from
everyone involved since department policy requires every injured
firefighter to turn in a written statement explaining what
happened.
"A guy had a burn on his hand and said he didn't have a glove
on. There was no need to go any further," George said, especially
in the case of a minor injury.
In the report, George said the injuries at all four fires had
been preventable and had been caused by firefighters ignoring
procedures and commanders not being accountable. Firefighters went
into parts of a house alone and did not have a second way out.
Sutter said firefighters were not surprised that the injuries
occurred. They had concerns beforehand that more training was
needed, he said, noting that commanders had been told of their
concerns.
More training was one of the main recommendations George made in
the report.
Simon said that while the review was complete, the process of
looking at ways to improve the department was not. The report did
not address the fire on May 3 last year in which firefighters Derek
Martin and Robert Morrison were killed, but a separate internal
investigation led by George is ongoing.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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