r/Firefighting • u/The_Road_is_Calling NH FF • Nov 25 '24

News Ohio fire department confronted about response to double fatal fire

https://chroniclet.com/news/411559/wakeman-fire-board-meeting-ends-in-shouting-match-over-fatal-fire/
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18

u/The_Road_is_Calling NH FF Nov 25 '24

Some additional information in this article

12

u/[deleted] Nov 25 '24

That’s not a home that was fully involved. In the other hand you get what you pay for, in this case a VFD

19

u/CaptPotter47 Nov 25 '24

They did arrive pretty quickly and reported the house was fully involved. It might not have been safe to enter.

That being said, it looks like it’s a 1 story house. The bedroom mom and sister died in would be a 1st story bedroom. So it’s not clear why they couldn’t have went in the window that mom threw the cell phone out of to get her. Unless there was fire from that window, which it doesn’t seem like there would have been given the pictures in the news.

Lastly, mom and sister are in a first floor bedroom, and mom was able to throw the cell phone out the window, why did she not leave via the same window or push her daughter out the window.

This whole situation seems odd.

14

u/RaptorTraumaShears Firefighter/Paramedic Nov 25 '24

Based on all of the articles I’ve read, it sounds like her daughter had a neurogenic disorder that sometimes caused mobility issues. I’m assuming she went back in to find her daughter and get her out. The two of them were found together in the bedroom.

6

u/[deleted] Nov 25 '24

Thats awful....

10

u/Zerbo Southern California FF/PM Nov 25 '24

Right? I hate to be too hard on the volly departments, but if you don't fucking pay them to train to do the job, you're going to get firefighters with minimal training. I don't know why so many communities insist on finding that out the hard way.

2

u/[deleted] Nov 25 '24 edited Nov 25 '24

There is no reality where an extremely rural town of 1,000 affords a paid FD, so thats a fairly moot point.

Many of these towns don't even have a paid police force, and you think they can afford 3 shift staffing to a manpower level that would have made any difference? This town has volunteer police officers.

What else are they gonna do? A paid county level FD, if the county could even afford it as they are likely in the same boat, would be much farther away as there is zero chance they could fill all the volly shack stations with paid personnel. Having paid staffing in the town would have helped but it is just seems astronomically unfeasible. Having a county level resource might have helped but in my mind I don't think the likely much further away paid house would have impacted victim survivability due to rural response times.

5

u/[deleted] Nov 25 '24

Nothing to do with paid or not paid, you have guys that prolly get 1 house fire a year. Spend money, send them to trainings were they could actually learn something and possibly make a difference, there are rural VFDs all over the country that make saves. This department failed this woman and this child.

-9

u/RaptorTraumaShears Firefighter/Paramedic Nov 25 '24

“You get what you pay for” is a terrible excuse for failing to perform the duties you swore to perform. You take an oath when you sign up. You have to live it whether you get paid to or not.