Etna Township Fire Department Responds To Concerns With Fatal Fire
By Liz Shepherd
InkFreeNews
ETNA GREEN — The Etna Township Fire Department addressed concerns and questions related to a fatal mobile home fire in a meeting on Tuesday, April 20, with family members and neighbors of the man who lost his life.
At 11:11 p.m. Sunday, April 11, emergency personnel from Etna Township and Atwood fire departments responded to a mobile home fire on South Etna Street in the Etna Green Mobile Home Park.
Neighbors reportedly observed the fire and attempted to make contact with any potential occupants. Once firefighters were able to extinguish the flames and search the residence, they found the body of Arthur J. Peterson, 42.
Several people at a town council meeting on April 13 expressed concerns, alleging that the fire department’s response time was slow and preparedness was poor.
Officials who were on scene at the fire attended the April 20 meeting to provide further information and facts on the April 11 fire. Those who spoke included Etna Township Fire Department Chief Randall Byrer, Indiana State Fire Marshal Mike Vogely, Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office Senior Detective Sgt. Joshua Spangle, Deputy Coroner Larry Ladd, and the county’s Critical Incident Stress Management team.
Dispatch Times
Byrer presented dispatch reports that listed call times, as well as when every responding unit arrived at the scene of the fire.
The first call made to 911 reporting the fire happened at 11:11 p.m. Sunday, April 11. Once further details were obtained by dispatch, the Etna Township Fire Department was toned to respond at 11:14 p.m. An engine from Etna Township was en route from the fire station by 11:20 p.m. and arrived at the scene within one minute of leaving the station. Atwood Fire Department was called to assist Etna Township at the scene and arrived at 11:33 p.m.
“From the time of call to when the (Etna Township) truck left the station was five minutes and 28 seconds,” said Byrer. “From the time of the call (when the department was toned by dispatch) to when the truck arrived on scene was seven minutes and one second.”
Hydrant Hookup
The first Etna Township fire engine that responded left with three firemen on board and used a large-diameter hose to hook up to a hydrant while on the way to the scene.
“Two of the firemen jumped off, grabbed that line, put it around the hydrant and the truck drove off,” said Byrer. “Those two firemen, in full gear, ran a block to catch up to the engine to start pulling hose off to start extinguishing the blaze.”
Byrer said it was Etna Township, not Atwood, that did not have a large-diameter hose fitting to hook up to a hydrant near the home. He said the next day he ordered more than $1,000 worth of fittings.
He also addressed social media comments that described firefighters at the scene as “running around like chickens with their heads cut off.”
“To some folks, that might look funny,” said Byrer. “To us that are trained, no, it didn’t. It looked funny because we were running around doing what we’re trained to do. None of our firemen did anything wrong.”
Fire, Fatality Protocol
Byrer elaborated on the firemen’s approach to extinguishing the April 11 fire.
“The first fireman opened the door, sprayed the whole ceiling, he cooled it all down, stepped in … he went through the floor,” said Byrer. “When that happens, they’re not allowed to go in because we don’t want to have a second fatality. We don’t want to have to go in and save a second person when we’re already working on one. So we went to a defensive mode and did everything we could to extinguish the fire.”
He said that when discovering a body in a house fire, firemen have specific protocol to follow.
“We cannot disturb debris or anything around them because the state fire marshal and sheriff’s office, they must investigate,” said Byrer. “We had to go with our protocol and follow all the steps. He was removed in a graceful manner. Nobody saw him but the firemen. He was not brought out of the trailer in visible public. We’ve got a whole lot more respect than that.”
Next Steps
There are currently plans for the fire department and town council to work together on the installation of large, reflective numbers on each trailer at the Etna Green Mobile Home Park. One meeting attendee said she planned to create a map of the mobile home park for emergency personnel to use.
Etna Township Fire Department also has free smoke detectors that are available for anyone to get. Contact the fire department for further details.
“It’s time to see what we can do in the future to have everyone come together and make everything safer so this don’t happen again,” said a relative of Peterson’s.