A Fire Department panel has recommended that two more city firefighters be dismissed from their jobs because of their roles in the Feb. 9 training burn in a Southwest Baltimore rowhouse that killed a recruit and injured two others.
One of the two, Lt. Barry Broyles, responded yesterday by saying that the Fire Department never followed safety standards during live burns and that it should not have hired the recruit who died.
Broyles and Lt. Joseph Crest have been suspended without pay since the February blaze that killed cadet Racheal M. Wilson, 29, a mother of two. Mayor Sheila Dixon fired Kenneth Hyde Sr., the chief of the Fire Academy, about two weeks after the fire.
Broyles and Crest appeared last week before a panel of their peers, who heard testimony and recommended termination, said Rick Binetti, a Fire Department spokesman.
Binetti said Fire Chief William J. Goodwin Jr. usually accepts such recommendations but won't make a final decision until sometime next week.
Broyles, a 32-year veteran, said his actions do not merit dismissal, and he described himself as "flabbergasted."
Crest, who has been a member of the department for 26 years, said he accepts some responsibility for mistakes during the fire but does not think he should be fired.
Neither firefighter knew about the panel's recommendations until contacted by a reporter.
A preliminary investigation by the Fire Department found 36 violations of the National Fire Protection Association safety standards the department says it follows.
Instructors set seven fires during the training exercise, even though safety standards require that recruits fight only a single blaze. The house used in the drill had previously been ripped apart, making it more likely to burn out of control. Recruits were not familiar with the layout or exit routes. And not all of the instructors had radios.
Capt. Stephan G. Fugate, president of the fire officers union, said yesterday that any move to dismiss members is premature.
"The investigation is not over yet," he said. "I don't know how you can pass judgment on these two members without the benefit of a complete report."
Mayor Sheila Dixon has asked Howard County Deputy Fire Chief Chris Shimer to lead an investigation of the fatal exercise and review the Baltimore department's safety and training standards. That report was to have been released in late March, but has been delayed at least until summer, according to Anthony McCarthy, the mayor's spokesman.
