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One fireman said he didn't see the victim's bedroom door until he fell into it, because there was no knob.
A photo of victim Sandy Hill's room shows clutter that may have hampered rescue. |
By DAN TELVOCK
With about 3 inches of snow on the ground in the early morning of Feb. 5, Chancellor Volunteer Assistant Fire Chief Tony Dennis set up a command post at Riverbend High School for a nearby house fire.
At about 1 a.m., light smoke hung over the trees near the brick two-story Cape Code-style house on Spotswood Furnace Road. From Dennis' vantage point across the street, this appeared to be a routine house fire.
Units with dozens of volunteers arrived within four minutes of the initial report.
However, this wasn't a routine house fire. Early reports came in that possibly three people were trapped inside.
One escaped on her own, and firefighters rescued another.
But Sandy Hill, 43, died in an upstairs bedroom while she was on the phone with a 911 dispatcher. It took firefighters at least 20 minutes before Hill was found facedown on her floor.
Dennis said that nothing could have prepared him for what he encountered, according to notes from his interview with a county task force. The interview is part of a voluminous binder of documents gathered by the Spotsylvania County task force of volunteer and career firefighters probing the incident.
"When a life is lost like that, especially when such an effort was put forth, there is nothing that can prepare people with dealing with that," Dennis said during a short interview with The Free Lance-Star on Thursday, his first with the media since the fatal fire.
Christie Brown escaped and called 911 at 12:54 a.m. Her teenage daughter was rescued at about 1:12 a.m.
When that rescue was made, many volunteers thought their jobs were done.
But Hill was still upstairs.
'GREAT CONFUSIONS'
Dennis was in charge that morning, and his was the third unit to arrive at the scene. He gave out some assignments, but it wasn't much longer before "great confusions" set in, Dennis told the task force.
Fire and Rescue Chief Chris Eudailey launched the internal review of the fire in March, and the task force completed the investigation in May. The following details come from interviews the task force conducted with the volunteers who were at the scene of the fire.
Some units never reported to Dennis for duties. Other volunteers "freelanced" jobs without orders.
A chief changed the water supply after it was already connected without orders.
Another chief entered the structure without his breathing apparatus.
Some volunteers communicated on the wrong radio channel, and others didn't have radios on.
Some entered the structure without tools such as flashlights.
No one used a thermal imaging camera, which helps detect differences in temperatures when locating fires, victims and obstacles in houses.
Dennis and others were never sure how many people were trapped.
As many as 45 volunteers were at the scene, according to documents in the report. The task force interviewed 34 of them.
The house did not have working smoke detectors, and the fire was caused by a small electric heater next to boxes in a downstairs hallway. The fire was extinguished within five minutes, but no one reported by radio when the fire was out.
According to the report, members of the first unit to arrive in Chancellor Volunteer Fire and Rescue Wagon 5 never completed a walkaround of the house, which is a required step. Because they failed to do that, no one saw Hill's two bedroom windows on that side of the house.
Dennis said he told a group of volunteers to put ladders to second-floor windows, but the task was never completed or followed up on.
He said he did not tell the volunteers what tools to take with them because he "assumed crews would take what was necessary."
Dennis said he expected crews to relay needs to him, but because some firefighters were on the wrong channel, important details were not being communicated or heard. He said there were too many informal operations being undertaken without orders.
FIRE DETAILS EMERGE
The Free Lance-Star obtained the notes of interviews and other documents gathered by the investigating task force through a Freedom of Information Act request. Among the new details that emerged from the interviews:
Chancellor Volunteer Assistant Fire Chief Bill Whitby entered the house without his breathing apparatus, but nowhere in the report does it say why. Whitby declined to be interviewed by the newspaper, Chancellor Administrative Chief Kevin Dillard said.
In the task force report, Whitby said he never heard on his radio "left bedroom," which is where Hill was.
Whitby told the task force that he told a young firefighter "to check that door three times," referring to Hill's bedroom door.
In the report, Chief Ronnie McGee said he told another volunteer that thermal imaging cameras were needed, but the order was never followed.
Capt. Mike Pifer said there were "way too many people to control" at the scene. He also said the house had so many belongings spread throughout that it appeared to be the home of a "borderline hoarder." He said that when Hill's door opened he was "totally surprised" that there was a door there.
Nick Haynes, a volunteer on Wagon 5, said he was not able to complete a search of the second floor because another member's air-pack alarm sounded for low air, which means the entire team must exit the building and send in another search team.
Virgil Bloom, also with Wagon 5, said his radio was turned off. He said he searched both the right and left rooms upstairs and he did not see Hill.
Daniel Floyd, Wagon 6's officer, said the house was hard to navigate because of clutter. He said thermal imaging cameras would not have helped because they cannot see through walls.
Donald Jett, of Wagon 10, said he did not understand what was left to search in the house based on the dispatcher's directions to Hill's room.
Anthony Moore, with Engine 10, said he saw Hill's door and thought the room had already been searched.
Chris Innis, also with Engine 10, said he and Moore ultimately found Hill's body. Innis said smoke was not thick on the second floor, but Hill's door did not have a knob and he did not realize it was a door until he fell into it. He said he had to force it open.
Innis also said there were too many people in a small area.
Sheriff's Deputy Daniel Babcock said he told some volunteers where victims were in the house. He said a lot of young volunteers were not listening to deputies' instructions about where victims were in the house.
Open to change
The task force has recommended 43 changes, and its report was sent to four outside agencies to review. The county group should hear back from the agencies this month.
Dennis said he is open to change and additional training to better the department and himself as a Chancellor chief officer.
He is a full-time inspector for the state fire marshal's office and has been a career fire and rescue employee in Spotsylvania, Henrico County and Alexandria. He has 23 years' experience with volunteer departments.
"We feel this tragedy has deeply affected our membership," he said. "It is one of those things where if we could change what happened we would, but unfortunately we can't."
Dan Telvock: 540/374-5438
Email: dtelvock@freelancestar.com
All members need to follow duty orders and avoid freelancing.
All members need to make sure they have the proper gear with them, including radios, flashlights and search tools. Thermal imagining cameras must be used in all fires.
All members should follow one set of standard operating procedures.
The volunteers need to establish standard qualifications for leadership roles.
The volunteers need to create an organized training program.
The volunteers need to develop enhanced training programs on how to use thermal imaging cameras, search-and-rescue techniques and ventilation techniques.
