IAFF: Staffing Major Factor in Houston Fire Captain's Death
Source: International Association of Fire Fighters
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has released its report on the Oct. 13, 2001 death of Houston Local 341 member Jay Jahnke. The report points the finger directly at the city’s unresolved staffing problems and repudiates an earlier explanation released by the City.
"These results are no surprise," said IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger upon reading the new report. "NIOSH looks closely at the facts, and the facts point straight to the staffing, training and deployment operations of the Houston Fire Department."
The 40-year-old Jahnke, an HFD captain, died while fighting a fifth floor, high-rise apartment fire. Among their findings, NIOSH investigators concluded that, to minimize the risk of the similar occurrences, all fire departments should "ensure that adequate numbers of staff are available to immediately respond to emergency incidents."
At a Houston press conference, Local 341 President Stevie Williams made it clear that the report dealt a heavy blow to City claims that Jahnke’s death was not linked to any problems in the department.
"As you will see when you read the federal report, inadequate staffing was a key factor in the loss of Captain Jahnke," Williams said. "This federal report, which is by design and federal law unbiased and independent of the union and the fire department, flies in the face of the whitewashed report issued months ago by the department, which said staffing was not a factor."
Williams reminded the press that the earlier HFD internal investigation and report on the tower fire put the blame squarely on individual fire fighters, including Jahnke. He also made it clear that the NIOSH report vindicates the claims of fire officers who have been demoted or ridiculed for failing to back the City’s fatuous claims.
The Local 341 president also provided handouts detailing instances in which City leaders and the HFD command staff had been informed of the staffing shortages affecting the safety of fire fighters and Houstonians.
"Those same city leaders have chosen to disregard our concerns," continued Williams. "It was not until a proud, courageous and grieving widow spoke to thousands of fire fighters and city leaders at her husband’s funeral one year ago, that four fire fighter staffing was implemented."
Jahnke’s wife raised the staffing issue in the wake of her husband’s death, forcing the City to deal with some of the department’s staffing issues. But despite that internal change, HFD staffing still does not approach full compliance with nationally recognized standards.
The NIOSH report also concluded that fire departments should:
- Ensure that the fire department’s high-rise Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are followed and refresher training is provided
- Ensure that team continuity is maintained
- Ensure that personnel are in position to maintain an offensive attack
- Ensure that a lifeline is in place to guide fire fighters to an emergency stairwell
- Instruct and train fire fighters on initiating emergency traffic (Mayday-Mayday) when they become lost, disoriented, or trapped;
- Ensure that a Rapid Intervention Team (RIT) is established and in position
- Ensure that a backup line is manned and in position to protect exit routes
- Ensure that the Incident Commander (IC) continuously evaluates the present weather conditions (i.e., high winds) during high-rise fire operations
The complete NIOSH report can be found on NIOSH’s website at
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/face200133.html
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