WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA) -- When DC Fire and EMS Lieutenant Gerald Burton told his story to the news media in mid-December, his department declined to respond, saying it was a personnel matter. Now, a 3-page report prepared by a top ranking fire official and obtained by 9NEWS NOW disputes many of the claims made by Lt. Burton.
The report, written on December 20 by Assistant Chief of Operations Lawrence Shultz, says that Burton "disobeyed a direct lawful order, failed to secure an independent water supply and placed Engine 9 directly behind Truck 4 which prohibited them from using their ground ladders." It also found the veteran firefighter "was not truthful in preparing an official District of Columbia report."
The report was prepared for D.C. Fire/EMS Chief Dennis Rubin. 9NEWS NOW obtained it through a Freedom of Information Act request. The report, while clearly referring to Lt. Burton, was released with his name crossed out.
The incident stems from a November house fire in the 1800 block of 2nd Street in Northwest, Washington. Lt. Burton claims he was on his way to a training drill with the crew from Engine 9 when a call was dispatched for a nearby house fire. When he called on the radio, Burton says he was told to disregard the fire, as there were other crews responding. As he continued on his way, Burton says frantic citizens flagged him down, asking for his assistance with the fire.
On December 18, Lt. Burton told 9NEWS NOW, "I don't know if someone's trapped, if there's a baby trapped inside."
When he called in to the battalion chief responding to the call, Burton says he was told to be the back-up to another engine. But Burton claimed, another engine hadn't arrived yet. So he made the split-second decision to pull out the hoses and fight the fire.
Lt. Burton spoke out to the media after he was officially informed by the department that he was under investigation and facing 2 days unpaid suspension for defying his supervisor's order.
The finished report disputes many of Lt. Burton's claims. Among them, that he was flagged down by citizens. The report states, "A review of the AVL system (this system indicates speed and location of all apparatus, to include apparatus stops as 0mph) indicates that Engine 9's speed went from 35 mph to 15 mph as it turned left on 2nd Street. There was no point or time where the speed of Engine 9 was reduced to below 15 mph. It would seem impossible and unlikely for Burton to have stopped his fire engine to talk to a citizen as he has reported in many media interviews."
The report also disputes Lt. Burton's contention that he did not have time to wait for another engine before he began fighting the fire. The final report finds that another engine arrived 28 seconds after his engine and yet another engine arrived on location 21 seconds later. A fourth engine responded 1 minute and 38 seconds after Engine 9.
The report concludes, "There was no delay of arriving resources and the 28 second unauthorized pre-arrival of Engine 9 potentially created a situation of much more 'risk' than 'benefit.' Combine this confusion with the failure to follow operational policy and you can quickly see just how Lt. Burton placed many lives in jeopardy with his 'cowboy' actions."
The final report further states, "When one unit does not follow Departmental Standard Operating Guidelines, this causes confusion, improper fire ground operations and assignments that may adversely effect an entire operation."
Lt. Burton was found "guilty" and will be suspended for 48 hours. The report claims Lt. Burton has "refused this penalty which he is at liberty to accept or not accept, thus the next step will be a 'Formal Hearing' by a completely different Battalion Chief."
A phone call to Lt. Burton's lawyer, seeking comment about the findings, has yet to be returned.
Republished with permission from WUSA9.com
Learn more about this and other stories at STATter911 Blog.
Related Stories
