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Chicago Battalion Chief Suspended for Sleeping During Fire
CHICAGO (AP) -- A Chicago Fire Department battalion chief has been hit with a 15-day suspension for sleeping at a fire station while his crew was battling a blaze.
According to authorities, the chief failed to accompany his battalion when it received a call in June to help extinguish a fire at a home on Chicago's South Side. At the time, authorities said the chief was at the fire station fast asleep.
Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford refused to identify the battalion chief, the Chicago Sun-Times the discipline process was followed and the chief was suspended for an appropriate period.
According to Langford, no was injured during the fire, which was believed ignited by a fire bomb. He added that the chief's absence had no affect on how the blaze was handled.
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Information from: Chicago Sun-Times
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
According to authorities, the chief failed to accompany his battalion when it received a call in June to help extinguish a fire at a home on Chicago's South Side. At the time, authorities said the chief was at the fire station fast asleep.
Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford refused to identify the battalion chief, the Chicago Sun-Times the discipline process was followed and the chief was suspended for an appropriate period.
According to Langford, no was injured during the fire, which was believed ignited by a fire bomb. He added that the chief's absence had no affect on how the blaze was handled.
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Information from: Chicago Sun-Times
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Shareef Abdu Nur on
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I do not know the situation as I was not there, but in my FD, we never leave anyone behind. Anything could have happened. He could have been laying in the shower with his head split wide open from a fall, he could have had a CVA(stroke) or MI(heart attack) in his sleep, or he could have just not heard the tones. We protect our own! Nonetheless, even if we do not like him, we still make sure everyone is up for a run for 2 reasons. 1. how can we ever justify more manpower or at least no more cuts to the public if we don't need every set of available hands at a fire. 2. how can we miss the golden opportunity to bust on the chief for not doing the one thing that we are here to do(answer calls). That can be leverage for free dinners, lunches, no housework, etc...for a while.
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Permalink Reply by Fireyladd - Retired Chief Sharp on
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Enough said!
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Permalink Reply by Loyd Dittfurth on
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lol man you got it right as i had pounded in my head my first month what happens on shift STAYS ON SHIFT
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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on
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It is not unusual for guys to sleep through some tones, we have had similar issues here. Usually if someone had a rough shift or may feel they would sleep through a tone, they tell someone on the crew to make sure their up. In this case though, it depends upon the company, I will look out for another member of my crew, but I'm not going to go search for a ladder guy if I'm on the pump. If we are staffed, we are rolling. So in this case, the chief may not have been in the same house as the responding crews, he may not have someone to ensure he was responding to the call. Just because it states he slept while his crews worked doesn't mean he was at the same station. Our battalion chief is at a different station and could be dispatched, but the other companies in house are not. I'll admit that if I don't hear my unit dispatched, I'm rolling back over and sleep, I'm not getting up to see if the guys left. In some cases you may not hear the doors open or the rig leave either, so there are many other factors which could be the case here.
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Permalink Reply by FETC on
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He is a Battalion Chief. He doesn't respond on every call with his Battallion, therefore you guys have no clue about "Leave no one behind" More than likely he doesn't even sleep in the same quarters with the line.
That would be like driving to your Chief's house everytime the tones are dropped to make sure he's OK.
WTF
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He doesn't respond on every call with his Battallion, therefore you guys have no clue about "Leave no one behind" More than likely he doesn't even sleep in the same quarters with the line.
I basically stated the same thing...easy on the "you guys" stuff.
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OK, if this was us we would have rolled when our rig was staffed. From waking to the tones to getting to the rig, getting the bunkers on and ready to get going, I rarely look at the other rigs to see if all members are doing the same. I'll know if a member of my crew is missing, but I'm not going around making sure everyone else is awake. If we're staffed we're rolling.
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Permalink Reply by Oldman on
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"He added that the chief's absence had no affect on how the blaze was handled."
If that is the case, why is this so news worthy? Apparently this departments ICS works.
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Permalink Reply by Joe Stoltz on
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I would have thought Chicago FD had a bell system or other means of alerting each company or chief individually. It seems unlikely that a chief would sleep through such an alert; perhaps it was inoperative?
I doubt that the FD expects its chiefs to stay awake the entire shift whether day or night.
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