WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A D.C. fire captain is under fire for blowing the whistle on what she believes went wrong during the huge apartment building fire in Mount Pleasant.
The five-alarm fire on March 12 was one of the most destructive in D.C. history, displacing 200 people and spreading to a neighboring church.
Now D.C. Fire and EMS Capt. Vanessa Coleman, who criticized how the blaze was fought, is under fire herself.
"She was made a scapegoat," said Richard Condit, senior counsel for the Government Accountability project. Condit represents people claiming protection as whistleblowers, a category that now includes D.C. Fire and EMS Capt. Vanessa Coleman.
Condit believes the fire department blames Capt. Coleman for the fire spreading.
The fire report clearly states the blaze began in the basement. Condit says it was Capt. Coleman's initial responsibility with Engine Company 21 to check the basement, but she was re-directed to the third floor, according to recordings of the D.C. fire department's radio transmission.
"We're on the second floor, chief," said Coleman in the transmission. "Twenty-one is on the second floor. We are entering the second floor. Copy?"
"Stretch your line to the number 3 floor. I want you above the fire, OK." replied an incident commander.
"Twenty-one copy." Coleman replied
A few minutes later:
"Alright truck 14, I got engine 4 and 28 going to the basement." said a fire official.
But sources say those firefighters couldn't contain the fire, which gutted the building.
Condit says after Capt. Coleman defended herself to superiors, she was reassigned and has been ordered to submit to a mental evaluation, an order she and Condit are challenging in court.
"And then, when she raises basic questions and tries to get matters addressed, she finds herself, essentially, slaughtered by the bureaucrats who are trying to hide and cover up," said Condit.
Fire officials are not commenting on Coleman's case.
There is no mention of problems fighting the fire in the official report; the official cause remains undetermined.
But two arson investigators say the aftermath of this fire was botched and a person of interest was let go.
Republished with permission of WJLA-TV.
