Fire Chief

Report: IC failed to maintain control in Texas LODD

The report accuses the incident commander of failing to maintain control and says the firefighters went into the building before a rescue team was on standby.

From KRIV TV: A report from the Texas Fire Marshal's office concluded that it was too risky to send firefighters inside the egg-farm building fire that killed Wharton (Texas) Fire Department Capt. Thomas Araguz in 2010.

The report accuses the incident commander of failing to maintain control and says the firefighters went into the building before a rescue team was on standby.

Araguz and Capt. Juan Cano took a hose inside the building, but lost contact with it. Cano said he and Araguz searched for the hose in high heat and near-zero visibility. Cano's breathing mask finally ran out of air, so he took it off and started banging on a wall. Fire crews outside cut a hole in that wall, rescued Cano and searched for Araguz.

The report says Araguz never made any radio contact. Araguz's radio was too damaged to determine if it was working, according to the state investigation. Cano says he tried to make several radio calls but now believes his radio was on the wrong channel. Read the entire article here.

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