by Editor Rhett Fleitz

Has a staffing precedence been created following the outcome of the Meadowood Court fire in Leesburg (Loudoun County)? Today’s article in the Leesburg today might have some thinking so.

From The Leesburg Today
Meadowood Court Fire Draws Workplace Citation

The Loudoun County Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Management has been cited by the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry’s Occupational Safety and Health Compliance division for violation of workplace safety standards. The violation notice stems from a May 25 house fire in which seven crewmembers were injured.

Specifically, the violation is for “employees that were exposed to fire hazards while engaged in search, rescue and interior structural firefighting activities at a single family residence.”

The department has presented additional information to the state agency in an effort to reverse the findings of a violation. Fire-Rescue Chief Joseph Pozzo said this is the department’s first occupation health and safety citation.

The document states that there was insufficient staffing on site at the time that fire-rescue crews entered the burning home on Meadowood Court near Leesburg. The citation, dated Nov. 24, does not impose a fine because Virginia law does not permit such penalties against public agencies.

It further states:

A separate three-month regional investigation into the incident resulted in 64 recommendations for the fire-rescue department, ranging from additional training programs, communication processes and staffing. The final report suggests an increase to the minimum staffing requirements for engines, trucks and rescue companies to four qualified firefighters, a measure that would most likely require additional local tax funding from the county’s budget.

Pozzo said the crux of the violation is staffing, but he has made a presentation to VOSH that disputes some of the claims in the citation. One of the National Fire Protection Association standards recommended for adoption by VOSH, 1720, was adopted by the county in December 2005 when the department’s service plan was adopted by the previous Board of Supervisors. Under that standard, staffing levels for a suburban area should be 10 firefighters arriving within 10 minutes of receiving the call. While acknowledging that there were not 10 firefighters on the scene, Pozzo said the department was still within the boundaries of the standard.

I know that the County will not be fined, however one would think that this would open up a slew of civil liabilities for the injured firefighters as well as the homeowners. For years, firefighters and fire service professionals have stated that a safe minimum staffing standard must be adhered to but all too often it falls on deaf ears.

Read more about the incident here