hangs in the Brian Carey Training Center. The portrait was created
by local artist Bart Jerner. (Eric Crump/H-F Chronicle)
Along a wall outside the classroom in the Brian Carey Training Center there are framed reminders of the loss Homewood Fire Department experienced on March 30, 2010, when young firefighter/paramedic Brian Carey was killed in a fire.
There is a letter of condolence from the Chicago Fire Department, one from the International Association of Firefighters, one from the New York City Fire Department.
“When a fellow firefighter/paramedic gives the ultimate sacrifice, we all feel the loss,” said Robert S. Hoff, in the letter from the Chicago Fire Department.
Carey’s death, the only loss in the department’s history, is still felt by the HFD community.
Homewood Deputy Chief Steve DeJong was at the fire where Carey perished, although he was not inside the dwelling but was working the pumper. He said Carey’s death was difficult for everyone.
“You know, it’s no different than the grieving process. You saw the guys go through different stages,” he said.
The shared grief eventually brought the HFD staff together as a close-knit team, DeJong said.
“I think our shifts are very cohesive. Events like that, sometimes they bring the department a little bit closer,” he said. “You have a focus. We went through this tragedy. We’re gonna make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
What went wrong
A National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health report on the incident noted that crews arriving on the scene found a home with the rear portion fully involved in fire.
Firefighters entered the building in an attempt to rescue a wheelchair-bound resident.
Thick, black smoke filled the space to knee level. The rescue crew noticed fire rolling across the ceiling within the smoke, a sign of a potential flashover.
Someone yelled “Get out” and several firefighters were able to escape, but Carey, a part-time firefighter and the resident did not make it out. Carey and the resident suffered fatal injuries. The part-time firefighter was injured but survived.
The report cited four factors that contributed to the tragedy:
- Incomplete 360 degree situational size-up.
- Inadequate risk-versus-gain analysis.
- Ineffective fire control tactics.
- Failure to recognize, understand and react to deteriorating conditions.
Fire Chief Bob Grabowski said the incident was less a mistake by any one in particular and more a systemic lack of preparation and training. He had been with the department for nine months when the tragedy occurred.
“It was just some bad decisions that were made due to lack of training,” he said.
Department changes
“I got here in 2009, I could see that there was already a lack of training, so we had already started making changes.”
One change was the transition from a mostly paid-on-call staff to a professional firefighter/paramedic team.
With full-time staff, training can be more intense and more consistent. Grabowski said Homewood crews train every single day.
Homewood also trains regularly with other departments that belong to MABAS 24 (mutual aid box alarm system), so when one department helps another, crews are working from the same playbook.
Working a fire is much more efficient and specialized. The tasks each firefighter assumes responsibility for are determined by order of arrival on scene. Safety features are built into the protocol, with firefighters inside and outside a building responsible for monitoring conditions and communicating with those who are battling the fire and with scene commanders.
The science of fire fighting has changed, too. Grabowski said a great deal of attention is paid to learning about building construction and materials, fire behavior and equipment.
Building construction is high priority, because different materials behave differently in a fire. Modern materials often burn fast and generate toxic smoke.
“These are different things that we didn’t think about in the old days, we’d always just rush in,” he said.
Carey’s legacy
Grabowski said he got involved with the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and attends the organization’s annual event every year in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Grabowski is part of the Chief to Chief Network, which brings together fire chiefs from around the nation to review incidents in recent years.
Families of fallen firefighters attend for various activities, vigils and memorial services, he said.
This year, the event in Maryland will be May 1-3. Homewood will be participating in the NFFF’s Light the Night for Fallen Firefighters observance April 27 to May 4.
“We’re going to light up the station that weekend in complete red,” he said. “Anybody in Homewood that wants to do that, can do it. It’s a memorial for Brian.”
Grabowski said he maintains contact with Carey’s family and hopes the community will keep them in their thoughts.
Keeping his memory alive not only honors his sacrifice but helps the department keep its focus on rigorous training.
With the priority on training since his death, naming the village’s training center after Carey is a fitting tribute, the chief said.
“I think it’s critical that the guys coming on today who never met him understand what went wrong and how we’ve changed and what to do to be safe every day,” Grabowski said.
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