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On Monday, December 19th, at 09:04 a 2-alarm fire broke out at Box 920 on the third floor of a brownstone in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, critically injuring Firefighter James Gersbeck, (R2) a 25-year FDNY veteran, and Firefighter Robert Wiedmann (R2), a 14-year FDNY veteran. Firefighter Wiedmann sustained 3rd-degree burns on 50 percent of his body.
A video of the blaze, taken by a civilian from in front of the building, shows the front room on the 3rd floor pushing heavy smoke and then flashing over. Both Firefighters Gersbeck and Wiedmann were trapped, however, Firefighter Gersbeck was able to escape to the hallway where he was assisted down the stairs and out of the building. Firefighter Wiedmann became engulfed in flames and the video shows him appearing at the window on fire! Miraculously, he was able to climb out the window onto the Ladder 132's aerial where another firefighter had to literally pat down his bunker gear to extinguish the flames. Less than five seconds after Firefighter Wiedmann came out of the window, the video shows a line being opened on the fire from the interior (Engine 234) and begin to extinguish the fire. In a matter of a few seconds, the fire in the front room was knocked down. This dramatic footage highlights what we all know: Seconds count! (We have posted this video and news coverage of the fire, on our HOMEPAGE.
Firefighters Gersbeck and Wiedmann were taken immediately to the Burn Center at New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. Firefighter Gersbeck, though seriously injured, seems likely to recover. Firefighter Wiedmann's life hangs in the balance. Inexplicably, an FDNY spokesperson at the scene said to the media that "the good news here today is the protective equipment they were wearing really helped them not sustain what could have been true life-threatening injuries." In response to my assertion that staffing cuts had a negative impact on the fire, another spokesperson is quoted as saying "We don't see any operational or response issues." The truth is, the Department is defending its decision to eliminate the 5th man on 60 engine companies which is directly responsible for the injuries that both firefighters suffered. Engine 234, the first engine to arrive on the scene, was a 5-man engine until February 1, 2011. Since then, Engine 234 and 59 other engines have been forced to operate understaffed. Time and again, these staffing reductions have negatively impacted our ability to quickly get water on a fire, however, none have had the disastrous consequences as this fire and, none have been caught on video tape. If Engine 234 had been fully staffed they would have been able to get a charged hose line in place at least one minute earlier. If water was flowing just 15 seconds earlier, neither firefighter would have been trapped; 30 seconds earlier, and the front room would not have flashed over; one minute earlier and the fire would have been quickly knocked down and confined to the back room where it started.
In the wake of this tragic fire, the leadership of the FDNY has decided to defend a decision that they had to know would compromise the safety of firefighters and the public. I'm sure they hoped that the staffing reductions would not lead to the kind of serious injuries that Firefighters Gersbeck and Wiedmann sustained. I'm pretty damn sure that FDNY brass never imagined that such a dramatic fire would be caught on video. This video conclusively shows how a delay in getting water on a fire can have devastating consequences for firefighters and the public.
The leadership of the FDNY boldly claimed in their affidavit in opposition to the UFA Roster Staffing case that they are "not aware of any evidence or data... indicating that four-firefighter FDNY companies are any less effective or less safe than their five firefighter FDNY counterparts." You only need to look at the dramatic videos of this fire to see that such an assertion is nonsense. Again, every second counts! Now is the time for Commissioner Cassano to acknowledge that the decision to reduce staffing was a mistake and to immediately reverse this policy before more tragedies unfold.
Let's keep Firefighter Gersbeck and Firefighter Wiedmann, and their families, in our prayers. I wish each you a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year.
As always, stay safe!
Stephen J. Cassidy,
President
