Review of fatal blaze in Fremont clears firefighters

A detailed review of the Seattle Fire Department's response to an apartment fire last month in Fremont that killed five people, including four children, will not result in changes to the department's firefighting protocols, Fire Chief Gregory Dean told the City Council on Friday.

Dean told council members that mechanical problems with an engine that delayed putting water on the fire have been addressed and that mistakes made by its operator are being dealt with through training.

Both the chief and an independent analyst concluded that, while operator error contributed to the incident, the firefighters responsible acted according to their training and can't be blamed.

Moreover, the chief reiterated that the fire that roared through the two-story town house was so intense that it is unlikely anyone could have been saved even if the engine had functioned properly.

The outcome might have been different, Dean said, had the 40-year old structure been equipped with a sprinkler system. Sprinklers have been required in new multifamily construction since 1988.

"We are reviewing possible changes to the building and fire codes as it related to automatic sprinkler systems," he said.

The King County Medical Examiner's Office has concluded the deaths were accidental and that all five victims died from a combination of carbon-monoxide poisoning, smoke inhalation and extensive burns.

The apartment was occupied by Helen Gebregiorgis and her three children, Joseph Gebregiorgis, 13; Nisreen Shamam, 6, and Yaseen Shamam, 5. Staying there that night — they'd been to a movie and were having a sleepover — were Helen's sister, Eyerusalem Gebregiorgis, 22, and her children, Samarah Smith, 5, and Nyella Smith, 7.

The fire broke out in a downstairs closet where a foam mattress was left leaning against an exposed light bulb. Helen Gebregiorgis apparently tried to clear smoke from the house by opening windows and doors downstairs and then going upstairs to do the same.

Dean said the flow of air fed the smoldering blaze, which erupted. The air flow funneled the fire up a stairwell like a chimney. Helen Gebregiorgis managed to flee the burning home with her niece, Samarah, but the others did what the chief said was the worst thing possible: they barricaded themselves in a windowless upstairs bathroom; that's where their bodies were found.

Concurrently with the chief's presentation to the City Council's Public Safety and Education Committee, the Fire Department released dispatch tapes and documents relating to the engine that failed to pump water. Recordings of radio traffic revealed confusion over the number of people still in the burning structure and frustration with the failed engine. Frustrated yells of onlookers and screams of the mother can be heard.

"When's the water coming?" one firefighter asked.

The bodies weren't found for nearly 20 minutes after the first engines arrived.

The truck that failed was a 15-year-old engine that had been moved into the Ballard fire station while a newer truck was out for repairs. Dean said the engine was unable to engage its pump, a problem that the department had a difficult time re-creating.

An investigator concluded that the problem was likely traced to a touch-activated selector that engages the pump. That unit has been replaced on all 10 similar trucks in the department, Dean said.

Dean said the driver three times tried to start the pumps, but failed each time. Each time he had to turn off the engine of the firetruck and turn off the battery, and then turn both back on.

But what he didn't know is that he was supposed to leave everything turned off for 10 seconds to make it work.

"We're taught speed is our friend," Dean said. "This is something we learned from that."

Dean was also asked about the fact that a closer fire engine was tied up on a low-level medical call in Wallingford where an elderly man had fallen at a rest home. Dean said the department has to be flexible with its resources.

"The use of resources is always going to be an ongoing issue," Dean said. He said firefighters needed to make sure the elderly man was safe.

"We don't want to forget our responsibility to the patient who happened to fall at the same time (as the fire)."

Dean said he met with the surviving family members and was "amazed by the graciousness ... and the impact on that family and how their lives were changed forever."

His firefighters, he said, had "that look of a dream shattered. Firefighters believe they can save everybody's lives."

Mike Carter: 206-464-3706 or mcarter@seattletimes.com