Ladder 42 Update -- Fire Safety Impact

Old Brooklyn's Ladder 42 has been browned out for several weeks now. My sources in the Cleveland Fire Department provided me with some examples of recent fire truck coverage shortages that made my hair stand on end.

The following are examples of truck coverage shortages on Cleveland's West side from the early morning hours following the 4th of July. I have not independently confirmed these yet, but I trust my source.

In reading the following, recall that a "box alarm" means a reported possible structure fire and the National Fire Protection Association regulations requires the following initial response from the Cleveland Fire Department: Two Engine Companies, One Ladder Truck, One Rescue Squad, and One Battalion Chief. This minimum response must be on scene within 8 minutes to be in compliance with NFPA Standards.

The following is a written description of alarm and response scenarios that occured in the early morning hours of July 5, 2006.

01:50 am - Box Alarm for Battalion(B)-4 - Response is Engine(E)-20, Ladder(L)-20 & E-24. No rescue squad.

Few minutes later - Box Alarm for Battalion 3 - response is E-23, L-23 & E-4 No rescue squad.

01:54 am - Alarm office calls Battalion 3 to free up units from their Box Alarm and go to another Box Alarm at 3563 W 63rd Street. Only E-4 and L-23 responded initially and this alarm turned out to be an actual fire. E-24 is then released and sent to W 63rd fire. This response is not in compliance with NFPA Standards, which the Fire Chief told us could still be met with L-42 browned-out.

At this point in time, all Battalion 4 units are on assigments except E-42; and Battalion 3 units were all on assignments including E-38, E-23, L-23, and E-2.

At 02:00 am there was a Box Alarm at 2136 W 31st Street. Because all of the above west-side units were on assignments, the units that responded to this fire alarm were all from the eastside, as follows:

Battalion 2 from E 49th & Broadway
L-9 from E 67th & Woodland
Tac-5 from E 37th & Woodland
E-13 from E 49th & Broadway

This is a full response, but all thse units are responding to a fire on W 31st Street!!! This turned out to be an acutal fire and these units were kept on scene on the west-side (leaving the near eastside exposed) until the following times:

B-2 until 02:19 am
E-13 until 02:07 am
Tac-5/L-9 until 02:29 am

02:08 am - Box Alarm for 1300 Kennelworth -- only units that responded were B-2 and E-20. Response is short an Engine, a Truck and a Rescue Squad.

02:15 am - Box Alarm for Professor Avenue (Tremont) -- only unit responding was L-13 (from eastside) Response is short 2 Engines, Battalion Chief, and Rescue Squad.

02:24 am - Box Alarm for 5208 Memphis -- only unit to respond was E-42. Response is short an Engine, a Truck and a Rescue Squad.

During this same time another Box Alarm came in on the eastside that was an actual fire and it tied up the following units: E-36, L-36, E-6.

During this same time period the following units were tied up on motor vehicle accidents: E-1, L-1, E-2, and Rescue Squad 4 (the only Rescue Squad covering the who west-side and should have been responding on all these box alarms to be in compliance with NFPA.)

These actual scenarios depict fire department coverage that was DANGEROUSLY low on the night of July 4, 2006 -- a night that, one would imagine, there may be a significant number of fire call do to holiday activities.

Public Safety, including fire protection, must be JOB 1 of our city government. These scenarios scared the living daylights out of me and they should scare you too.