J.
C. GERARD
CHIEF ENGINEER AND GENERAL
MANAGER
May 14, 1979
TO: Bureau Commander,
Bureau of Fire Prevention
& Rescue
FROM: Brian D. Bradley Firefighter II,
F.S. 93-A detailed to 39A
SUBJECT: FATALITY INVESTIGATION - F.F. HAZLETT
1. |
When we arrived
on scene (I was on Wagon 39) we assisted Engine 81, pulling 1 1/2" lines
into the building. Within a few minutes, it was determined that the
sprinklers had knocked down the fire.
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2. |
Word was given
to start a "de-watering" operation. I helped Kuramoto (Wagon 39) pull in 3
sections of 1 1/2" line to use for a Prosser discharge line.
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3. |
On my way out
for more lines, I helped Captain Mello in trying to move a forklift out of
the aisleway.
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4. |
Within a few
minutes I heard men shouting that the fire had flared up again.
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5. |
I ran out to
Wagon 39 and put my breather back on.
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6. |
I then helped
Kuramoto and Alba take in a 2 1/2" line; which we advanced to the fire. We
started squirting water and then bells started sounding.
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7. |
Kuramoto's bell
was sounding, so he started working his way back on the 2 1/2" line.
Then my bell went off, so I too went back on the 2 1/2" line, towards the
outside.
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8. |
On my way out, I
tripped and lost track of the 2 1/2" line. I found an 1 1/2" line
and started to follow it until it made a loop back towards the fire, then
I started to go back on it to try to find the 2 1/2" line. I bumped
into a "fresh" fireman who pointed me to the direction of the door and
helped me find the 2 1/2" line. I then ran completely out of air and
started to panic. I tired to unscrew my breather hose so I could put
the tube in my turnout, but my gloves were so slippery that I couldn't
unscrew it. I then pulled my mask off and continued out of the
building.
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9. |
When I got out,
I went to the R.A. area and took some oxygen. I rested for
approximately 10 minutes. |
|
Bureau Commander
Bureau of Fire Suppression & Rescue -2-
May 14, 1979
10. |
I heard someone say that
Captain Drake, F.F. Alba, and F.F. Hazlett were still in the
building and that their breathers should be empty.
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11. |
I went and asked Captain
Mello if I cold go to the back of the building and look for these men back
there. He sent me to the rear, but I came upon a high fence. I
returned and got F.F. Barber, and we took a ladder and put it up against
the fence. I climbed up, but I couldn't see anything. We took the
ladder back, then I told Captain Mello that I was going to "run" around
the back of the building by going around the block. He said O.K.
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12. |
When I got to the back, I
found Captain Drake. He told me he had come out of the back door
with F.F. Alba. I asked if he had seen F.F. Hazlett outside of the
building, he said "no".
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13. |
I ran back around the block
to the front and checked inside the RA's, looking for Hazlett. He
was not in any of the RA's, so I went back to Captain Mello and told him
that F.F. Hazlett was not in the back and that he was not in the RA and he
was not anywhere in the front of the incident scene.
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14. |
Captain Mello (who was lying
down under a paramedics care) instructed me to tell Chief O'Miela what I
had said.
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15. |
I told Chief O'Miela that
F.F. Hazlett was not anywhere to be found. He told me that F.F.
Hazlett had been accounted for in the rear of the building.
I told him that I was just in the rear of the building and that F.F.
Hazlett was not there, and had not been seen by anyone back there.
He told me that he had heard a radio report that F.F. Hazlett had been
accounted for in the rear of the building.
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16. |
I then went to the Command
Post and told Chief Bennett and Chief Adams that F.F. Hazlett was still
inside the building as far as I was concerned. They also told me
that they had heard that F.F. Hazlett was accounted for in the rear of the
building. I told them I had just checked the rear of the building and that
F.F. Hazlett was not there and had not been seen back there. I also
told them that I had checked the RA's and the front of the scene and F.F
Hazlett was not in those places either. Chef Bennett said he would check
it out. Chief Adams asked me to find someone to help me take air bottles
to the front of the building.
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17. |
I then started back to the
front of the building, when I found Captain Drake. I convinced him
that F.F. Hazlett was NOT accounted for. We went to RA 88 and
contacted Captain Grogan on the "Hear" radio at Valley Receiving Hospital.
Captain Grogan; who was said to have had seen F.F. Hazlett, said that he
did not have eye to eye contact with F.F. Hazlett outside of the building. |
|
Bureau Commander
Bureau of Fire Suppression & Rescue -3-
May 14, 1979
18. |
Then Captain Drake and I
went to the front of the building and told Captain Mello what we had
learned, and Captain Mello formed a search party consisting of Captain
Drake, and F.F. Johnson, and Captain Disney and I
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19. |
We proceeded into the
building with fresh breathers and started to search for F.F. Hazlett.
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20. |
After a 10 minute search,
F.F. Hazlett was found near the southeast section of the building, laying
in about 2 feet of water without his mask on.
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21. |
We picked him up and carried
him to the outside, where the RA people met us. We put him on a flat
stretcher and started C.P.R. then the RA's took him away on a gurney. |
__________________________
Brian D. Bradley, F.F. II
Fire Station 93-A
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