Washington Blaze Put Firefighter at Risk: Department Fined for Safety Violations

EVERETT, Wash. (AP) -- The Everett Fire Department has been fined $4,550 and by a state agency which found safety violations in a blaze last summer.

According to a citation issued Feb. 20 by the Department of Labor and Industries, leadership failure put firefighters' lives at risk as flames gutted the Stewart Title Co. building on June 25. The loss was estimated at $1 million.

Investigators wrote that the commander didn't know how firefighters were deployed. They added that firefighters sometimes worked alone, contrary to federal rules, and were not required to use respirators.

State officials wrote that reported that the problems had been corrected since the fire.

City spokeswoman Kate Reardon says the citation is being appealed. She says it has no basis in fact or law.

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Information from: The Herald, http://www.heraldnet.com

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Luckily no one was killed. This kind of thing eats me up. Does no one value the lives of themselves or others anymore? It's nice to see that there are pentalties for putting peoples lives in danger.
There is not enough information in the article to allow me to say whether this was a fair fine or not. The actual article was too vague also. If anyone has a link to the actual report from the Washington State Labor and Industries department, it would help.

Didn't know it was against federal rules to work alone........

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