A hearing officer recommended the reinstatement of a second DeKalb County firefighter who was fired after a fatal fire in Dunwoody earlier this year.
Jeff Greene and four others lost their jobs after they failed to detect a fire after being dispatched to a Dunwoody cul-de-sac in January, but left without checking on a report of a fire that killed a 74-year-old woman.
When asked about the possibility of an appeal, spokeswoman Shelia Edwards said Tuesday the county was “looking at its options.”
A hearing officer issued a report on Greene's appeal on Monday. In early April, another firefighter involved in the blaze, Capt. Tony Motes, was ordered reinstated. DeKalb is appealing that decision. The appeal of a third terminated fire fighter, Capt. Sell Caldwell, remains pending.
Ann Bartlett died Jan. 24 in a house fire that may have started because of a problem with an oxygen concentrator she used when she slept.
She called 911 but the call was interrupted moments after the operator answered. The dispatcher called back but could not get Bartlett.
Still several units were dispatched to her house in the 1600 block of Houghton Court North, arriving in 12 minutes, but they left moments later whene firefighters saw no signs of a blaze, according to accounts of call. A neighbor called in a report five hours later, and by the time firefighters returned the house was engulfed.
Bartlett was found beside the garage door, which ordinarily required electricity to open. Her cordless phone, which also operated using electricity, was nearby.
Consequently the chief was forced out and five firefighters were terminated.
Greene was fired for negligence and for failing to take command of the scene.
But hearing officer Robert Price said “no firefighter has ever been disciplined, much less terminated, for failure to take command of an incident or scene. This is especially true, where as here, no scene was ever established as the fire could not be found nor could the dispatch address be found….As to failure to assume command, there was nothing to command.”
Price wrote that there was confusion over the address as there was also a Houghton Court South; Price, wrote there may have been a different outcome if the suffix “north” had been provided when dispatching rescuers.
“Ms. Barrett’s death was a tragedy keenly felt by all DeKalb firefighters, and no amount of discipline nor anything done here will change that fact,” Price wrote.
“It was night and dark, there were no numbers anywhere on the dispatch address, the house next door did not have any address markings except on the house itself, some 90 [feet] from the street and also in the dark.”
Price wrote the number sequence also changed at the top of the cul-de-sac.
" It seems that there was systemic negligence, although it likely was incremental negligence, in the design of the dispatch system,” Price wrote.
Last week, Bartlett’s three daughters filed a lawsuit, accusing the county, the fire department and five individuals -- including Motes and Caldwell but not Greene -- of negligence.
The family said the fire department and county have ignored their suggestions for improvements and have shared little information with them since the days immediately following the fire.
“We basically wanted an apology from the firemen and never got it,” one of the daughters, Ruth Bartlett, said in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution last week. “The only way we can bring attention to this is through this lawsuit and let other DeKalb County and city of Dunwoody residents know it was swept under the rug. We’re fearful all of them will get their jobs back,” Ruth Bartlett said.”
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