Posted on 02/15/2005 10:05:01 AM PST by Dan from Michigan
Heroism may cost the county
Deputies running into fire could be a safety violation
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
BY AMALIE NASH
News Staff Reporter
A state agency is investigating whether workplace safety regulations were violated when three Washtenaw County Sheriff's deputies rushed into a burning apartment building last fall and pulled residents to safety.
Sheriff Daniel Minzey said he was shocked to learn that someone had filed an anonymous complaint with the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration after his three deputies received two awards for efforts labeled as heroic and life-saving.
"I'm proud of them," Minzey said. "They faced a dangerous situation and had to make a decision. They decided to do something to try to save a life. Now they're being investigated as if they did something wrong."
The Sheriff's Department could face sanctions, including fines, if MIOSHA finds the deputies' actions violated safety rules.
The complaint, which was served to the Sheriff's Department on Jan. 11, alleges that the department allowed and suggested that its employees enter a fire without protective equipment and breathing apparatuses. The complaint also says "this has happened several times at the department."
Sheriff's Cmdr. Dave Egeler said he has strong reason to believe the complaint was filed by someone associated with the Ypsilanti Township Fire Department. A captain and union official at the Fire Department denied it was anyone within that department.
John Brennan, division director for general industry and safety and health at MIOSHA, confirmed that an investigation was occurring but said he could not release further details until the probe is complete. He said he did not know who filed the complaint.
MIOSHA could levy citations or fines if officials determine that state workplace safety rules were violated, Brennan said.
The fire being investigated occurred Nov. 17 at Golfside Apartments in Ypsilanti Township. When Deputies Eugene Rush, Doug Ballou and Derek Wiese arrived several minutes ahead of the fire department, they ran into the burning building and helped a 68-year-old woman out before going back in a second time and pulling a despondent man out.
The deputies were treated at a local hospital for smoke inhalation. Wiese also suffered a back injury from carrying the man out, officials said. They were wearing their sheriff's uniforms, and deputies do not have firefighting gear, officials said.
The deputies were publicly recognized by the Ypsilanti Township Board of Trustees and the Law Enforcement and Industrial Security Association of Washtenaw County, Minzey said.
MIOSHA investigators have interviewed the deputies and others at the scene, but they do not sanction individuals - just employers, officials said.
Rush said Monday that he would do the same thing if faced with a similar situation today. He strongly disputed the allegation that the Sheriff's Department suggested or encouraged any employees to go into burning buildings.
"Everyone has a job that they have to do, and MIOSHA is no different," Rush said. "No one told me or suggested to me that I go into a burning building without the proper equipment, and that allegation is in poor taste. There was not much time, and we had to react, and the outcome was great. We make judgment calls each time we step into the uniform."
Minzey said his department does not have a policy concerning when or whether deputies can enter fires or other hazardous situations. He said it would be impossible to cover every circumstance with a written policy.
"I don't want a policy to stand in the way of saving a life," Minzey said. "We're trusting that they are the only ones who can make those split-second decisions. (MIOSHA) is welcome to come in and review what they did."
Although the Golfside incident is the only one currently being looked at, MIOSHA investigators also have brought up past incidents where sheriff's deputies entered burning buildings and a collapsed trench, Egeler said.
Deputies kicked in doors and windows of a mobile home in an attempt to save two people inside an Ypsilanti Township mobile home a year ago, but both residents died. A deputy jumped into a trench in December after a construction worker became trapped under a mound of dirt in Ypsilanti Township.
Ypsilanti Township Fire Capt. Brad Johnson, a union trustee, said the union did not file the MIOSHA complaint, and there had not been any talk of anyone within the department filing a complaint. He said he had no idea who would have filed a complaint.
"We don't set the policy of how they react in an emergency," Johnson said. "Anytime anyone goes into a smoky building, it's dangerous, but they did what they thought they had to do to save lives. It's not for us to second-guess."
WTF is wrong with people, the person filing this complaint obviously has a beef with the fire department, I say hunt him down and set his house on fire - no one move, let it burn to the ground, what a loser.
I'd say the green-eyed monster - Envy - is the culprit, and may be in the department or someone who personally knows the deputies.
Inmates running the asylum...
"A captain and union official at the Fire Department denied it was anyone within that department."
Sure...
It seem to me that there's also a remote possibility that the "despondent man" the deputies rescued may have been trying to kill himself, and is angry that he was rescued.
When common sense is outlawed, only outlaws will have common sense.
I want a bumper sticker and a T-shirt with that line on it.
And the deputies would've been sued had they NOT gone in.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.