**NATIONAL FIRE/EMS NEWS**
Washington, D.C...
The IAFF president has asked for an investigation by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). A preliminary investigation into the deaths of firefighters Frank Young and John Hudgins, Jr. has indicated that the Chesapeake Fire Department administration violated federal and state safety regulations known as the "two-in, two-out rule."
Those regulations require that firefighters can only enter a burning building in teams of no less than two, and that there are no less than two firefighters remaining outside, prepared and equipped to account for and to rescue those firefighters who are inside of the fire building. The two-man standby rescue team must be present prior to the entry of the firefighters into the burning building and throughout the entire portion of the interior attack.
IAFF General President Alfred K. Whitehead said, "Our preliminary findings show that the two-in, two-out regulations were not followed at the tragic March 18 incident, and, in fact, it appears that the fire department administration has routinely ignored these important safety procedures in the past."
Whitehead said that he was shocked at the lack of accountability and poor communications at the fire scene. He said, "The whole point of these long-standing OSHA regulations is to make sure that if firefighters risking their lives inside a burning building are accounted for at all times, and that trained personnel are standing by to rescue them immediately, if necessary. in this incident, we had two firefighters down inside the building, with no stand-by team ready to rescue them, and no one even knew about their situation until it was too late."
The IAFF president added, "In any fire department, the fire chief and his chief officers have a responsibility to establish and enforce regulations and procedures on firefighter safety. NIOSH will conduct an impartial and comprehensive investigation to determine whether the fire administration complied with these and other safety regulations."
In summing up, Whitehead said, "The IAFF initiated the federal investigation because firefighters Young and Hudgins were members of the IAFF and we want to make sure there is no retaliation against local union members. Our objective is to make sure a similar tragedy doesn't occur again in Chesapeake or anywhere else."
(c) EmergencyNet News Service, 1996, All Rights Reserved.
ENN would like to thank Jim Richardson of Mountain NewsNet for his assistance with this story.