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Fire department changes response plan for Annapolis Neck
New policy ensures Station 8 crew will be replaced sooner during extended incidents
New policy ensures Station 8 crew will be replaced sooner during extended incidents
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
By Ryan Bagwell
Muckraker Staff Writer
Muckraker Staff Writer
Anne Arundel fire officials have changed their response plan for the Annapolis Neck Peninsula after it took nine minutes for a firetruck to get to a recent two-alarm blaze.
Under a new policy set by Fire Department Chief Robert Ray, dispatchers will immediately replace the crew of the area's closest fire station when it's tied up rescuing people from a waterway.
The change came in the wake of a June 19 fire in the Oyster Harbor community that prompted residents to wonder why a crew from the nearby Annapolis Neck Fire Station didn't show up.
Those firefighters – which double as the county's dive team - were part of a massive water rescue when the fire broke out at 1313 Washington Drive. But dispatchers didn't didn't post a replacement crew at that station, which opened specifically for Annapolis Neck in April.
Now the the crew will be immediately replaced when it's handling water rescues, which can tie up the station's firefighters for long periods of time.
The decision pleased Oyster Harbor residents, who commended officials for their quick decision to change the response plan for their neighborhood.
“It's going to save at least another three or four minutes,” said Ian MacKinnon, president of the Oyster Harbor Citizens Association, who watched last month's fire from his house across the street.
Oyster Harbor residents questioned the response to the Washington Drive fire after some said it took up to 20 minutes for firefighters to arrive on scene.
And with a previous, more devastating blaze still fresh in their minds, they wanted to know why the newly opened Station 8 – less than two miles away – didn't respond to the fire.
A five-alarm fire in December just around the corner from Washington Road destroyed three houses and left three families homeless. High winds fueled those flames and iced-in creeks hampered firefighters efforts to get water to the blaze.
But the Washington Drive fire was different, MacKinnon said. Firefighters got water to the house quickly, and never ran out of water in an area that doesn't have fire hydrants, he said.
Fire department officials concurred. “In this incident, the first officer made good decisions, there were no issues with rural water delivery,” wrote Deputy Chief John Scholz, one of the fire department's senior commanders, in a report.
Officials also confirmed that the first call to 911 was made at 12:31 p.m. and transferred to fire department dispatchers within seconds. One caller thought he dialed 911 at 12:20 p.m., which would have meant firefighters took about 20 minutes to get to the fire from the first call.
Justin Mulcahy, a police department spokesman, originally said a Public Information Request was needed for that information. The police department runs the county's 911 center, and transfers callers to the fire department for fire and ambulance calls.
But Mulcahy on Friday said he decided to expedite the information request and pass the 911 call time along himself.
Confusing incident
It's standard policy for dispatchers to post “transfer crews” at stations whose firefighters will be tied up for extended periods of time. Dispatchers decide if a replacement crew is needed, relying on firefighters' reports from the scene of incidents, Cox said.
But on June 19, Station 8's dive team took a while to say how long it would be working in Prince George's County. The crew had trouble assessing its assignment because of the complexity of the Patuxent River rescue, Cox said.
With sketchy reports coming in, Prince George's incident commanders called Anne Arundel's dive team at 11:01 a.m., according to a report by the fire department. But before the crew left the station, officials said they didn't need the team's help any more.
But at 11:10 a.m., the dive team was called to Prince George's County again. For a second time, the request for help was canceled.
Incident commanders called for Anne Arundel's dive team a third time at 11:23 a.m., and this time joined the rescue efforts until just after 1 p.m. The team searched a six-mile stretch of the Patuxent River and found 10 kayakers who became stranded on the river's banks.
But it took some time for the crew to get to the scene and assess the situation, Cox said. By the time the dive team knew it would be involved with the rescue operation for an extended period of time, the fire at Washington Road had started.
Dispatchers didn't have a reason to replace Station 8's crew, Cox said.
“I think that it was just one of those sad events,” MacKinnon said. “It just happened to happen at the wrong time.”
Even if dispatchers had, it probably wouldn't have made a difference, officials said. It appears the fire spread quickly, leaving firefighters without enough time to get water to the flames before it engulfed the house.
“Based on the status and the severity of the fire upon their arrival … the fire had gained considerable headway,” Cox said.
Though Station 8's crew will be immediately replaced when it's working on a water rescue, dispatchers won't get a crew there immediately. It takes time to find an available crew, Cox said, and
“It won't be instant,” Cox said. “If that unit is out and there's a call somewhere, the transfer crew might have to come from a different area of the county or outside the county.”
Under a new policy set by Fire Department Chief Robert Ray, dispatchers will immediately replace the crew of the area's closest fire station when it's tied up rescuing people from a waterway.
The change came in the wake of a June 19 fire in the Oyster Harbor community that prompted residents to wonder why a crew from the nearby Annapolis Neck Fire Station didn't show up.
Those firefighters – which double as the county's dive team - were part of a massive water rescue when the fire broke out at 1313 Washington Drive. But dispatchers didn't didn't post a replacement crew at that station, which opened specifically for Annapolis Neck in April.
Now the the crew will be immediately replaced when it's handling water rescues, which can tie up the station's firefighters for long periods of time.
The decision pleased Oyster Harbor residents, who commended officials for their quick decision to change the response plan for their neighborhood.
“It's going to save at least another three or four minutes,” said Ian MacKinnon, president of the Oyster Harbor Citizens Association, who watched last month's fire from his house across the street.
Oyster Harbor residents questioned the response to the Washington Drive fire after some said it took up to 20 minutes for firefighters to arrive on scene.
And with a previous, more devastating blaze still fresh in their minds, they wanted to know why the newly opened Station 8 – less than two miles away – didn't respond to the fire.
A five-alarm fire in December just around the corner from Washington Road destroyed three houses and left three families homeless. High winds fueled those flames and iced-in creeks hampered firefighters efforts to get water to the blaze.
But the Washington Drive fire was different, MacKinnon said. Firefighters got water to the house quickly, and never ran out of water in an area that doesn't have fire hydrants, he said.
Fire department officials concurred. “In this incident, the first officer made good decisions, there were no issues with rural water delivery,” wrote Deputy Chief John Scholz, one of the fire department's senior commanders, in a report.
Officials also confirmed that the first call to 911 was made at 12:31 p.m. and transferred to fire department dispatchers within seconds. One caller thought he dialed 911 at 12:20 p.m., which would have meant firefighters took about 20 minutes to get to the fire from the first call.
Justin Mulcahy, a police department spokesman, originally said a Public Information Request was needed for that information. The police department runs the county's 911 center, and transfers callers to the fire department for fire and ambulance calls.
But Mulcahy on Friday said he decided to expedite the information request and pass the 911 call time along himself.
Confusing incident
It's standard policy for dispatchers to post “transfer crews” at stations whose firefighters will be tied up for extended periods of time. Dispatchers decide if a replacement crew is needed, relying on firefighters' reports from the scene of incidents, Cox said.
But on June 19, Station 8's dive team took a while to say how long it would be working in Prince George's County. The crew had trouble assessing its assignment because of the complexity of the Patuxent River rescue, Cox said.
With sketchy reports coming in, Prince George's incident commanders called Anne Arundel's dive team at 11:01 a.m., according to a report by the fire department. But before the crew left the station, officials said they didn't need the team's help any more.
But at 11:10 a.m., the dive team was called to Prince George's County again. For a second time, the request for help was canceled.
Incident commanders called for Anne Arundel's dive team a third time at 11:23 a.m., and this time joined the rescue efforts until just after 1 p.m. The team searched a six-mile stretch of the Patuxent River and found 10 kayakers who became stranded on the river's banks.
But it took some time for the crew to get to the scene and assess the situation, Cox said. By the time the dive team knew it would be involved with the rescue operation for an extended period of time, the fire at Washington Road had started.
Dispatchers didn't have a reason to replace Station 8's crew, Cox said.
“I think that it was just one of those sad events,” MacKinnon said. “It just happened to happen at the wrong time.”
Even if dispatchers had, it probably wouldn't have made a difference, officials said. It appears the fire spread quickly, leaving firefighters without enough time to get water to the flames before it engulfed the house.
“Based on the status and the severity of the fire upon their arrival … the fire had gained considerable headway,” Cox said.
Though Station 8's crew will be immediately replaced when it's working on a water rescue, dispatchers won't get a crew there immediately. It takes time to find an available crew, Cox said, and
“It won't be instant,” Cox said. “If that unit is out and there's a call somewhere, the transfer crew might have to come from a different area of the county or outside the county.”
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