Injuries at Northfield Fire-Training Exercise Raise Questions

Friday, July 11 2008 @ 06:59 pm EDT

Contributed by: CBrining

By STEVEN LEMONGELLO Staff Writer, 609-272-7275

From the Atlantic City Press Published: Thursday, July 10, 2008

NORTHFIELD - An explosion and flash fire at a June training drill that injured several firefighters has drawn attention from state and city officials, who looked into why firefighters weren't wearing oxygen masks at all times and why apparently no support was ever requested from the city Rescue Squad. A closed-door meeting will be held today between the Northfield Fire Department, Rescue Squad and other town officials to discuss the incident as well as the overall cooperation between the two departments, reportedly strained after the recent decision to allow the Rescue Squad to bill insurance companies for services.

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No ambulance was on stand-by during the June 23 drill at the Burton Avenue volunteer fire station's training center, nor was any ambulance requested after the fire - so when several firefighters were injured, they were transported to a hospital in a Fire Department van. Mayor Vince Mazzeo said that as first responders, the Fire Department does have vehicles designed for the purpose of emergency transport.

The exact number of injured firefighters is unclear - Mazzeo said he thought it was two; Rescue Squad President Frank Perri said he thought it was five - but Mazzeo said the injuries turned out to be minor.

Fire Chief Henry Martinelli, Assistant Fire Chief Lauren Crooks and Rescue Squad Chief Ray Adams could not be reached for comment.

A complaint was filed with the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development Office of the Public Employees Occupational Safety & Health, or PEOSH, Mazzeo said. A PEOSH spokeswoman said their investigation revealed no violation of standards, adding that there is no requirement under state regulations that an ambulance be on hand during a fire department drill. Still, Mazzeo said that the Fire Department has now agreed to wear oxygen masks at all times during drills.

"That's one good thing to come out of it," Mazzeo said. "They realized they should have been wearing masks, and they will from now on."

As for the Rescue Squad issue, Mazzeo said that the Northfield department is unique in that several firefighters are trained emergency medical technicians. He added that there was an aide on duty during the drill.

"If there was something drastic, the Rescue Squad would have been called in on that," Mazzeo said. "The Rescue Squad felt it should have been on hand, but they weren't called because (the Fire Department felt) they had no reason to be there."

Perri said that "our stance was that we were not notified, we were not on stand-by and we were technically not part of rescue operations at the fire drill," adding that no calls came into 911 requesting assistance.

"There were burns," Perri said. "It would have been a better operation with EMS standing by for immediate treatment. Our problem is with communication between the Fire Department and Rescue Squad."

He said there was "a little bit of stress" between the two departments over City Council's decision to allow the Rescue Squad to become self-sufficient by charging patients' insurance carriers for medical services. Some in the fire department, he said, had sought a similar arrangement for their EMTs.

"There is some animosity," Perri said. "But it is what it is, and we want to provide the best services at the best price for professional services."

He said that the Rescue Squad has already started billing insurance carriers, although it was still waiting for applications to Medicaid, Medicare and certain hospitals to go through.

"We need to get the contracts all in line," Perri said, "But basically our system's a go."

The 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. day shift is entirely compensated, he added, while the night shift is a mix of volunteers and paid employees.

The private meeting is scheduled for tonight at 6.

"We're going to go over the process to see where we can go and where we can learn from the unfortunate happening a couple of weeks ago," Mazzeo said. "First and foremost, we want to try to prevent this from happening again."

E-mail Steven Lemongello:

SLemongello@pressofac.com