THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 26, 1996 TAG: 9605250148
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: 50 lines
From that awful moment when Chesapeake firefighters John Hudgins Jr. and Frank Young went to their deaths in a burning auto parts store March 18, Chief Michael L. Bolac must have realized that an intense review of the policies and procedures of his department would be necessary. The only intelligent response to such a tragedy is to learn all that can be learned from it, to make sure it never happens again, at least not in the same way.
Under Chief Bolac's supervision, the fire department's review of the circumstances leading up to the fatalities has consistently pointed away from his administration. The building has been blamed for being too flimsy. The radios have been blamed for being too old. The victims - if not directly, then by innuendo - have been blamed for being too brave, brave to the point of being foolhardy.
The administration's assessment of the tragedy seems to be that the deaths of the firefighters were the result of an unfortunate collection of circumstances beyond anyone's control. It was nobody's fault. It just happened.
The demand this week by the Virginia Professional Firefighters Association that Chief Bolac accept responsibility for the tragedy by resigning, if nothing else, should turn the thrust of the debate back where it belongs: Who is responsible for making sure things don't go wrong?
If it's the chief, then Chief Bolac owes the firefighters and the people of Chesapeake better answers that he has given so far.
Did firefighters Young and Hudgins do the right thing by rushing into the burning building without waiting for backup? Chief Bolac, through some misguided sense of loyalty to the brotherhood of firefighters or out of respect for the Young and Hudgins families, has refused to say. ``I'm not going to second-guess them,'' he repeated last week. ``I'd have done the same thing they did exactly.''
So, what does the chief expect of the men and women in his command who find themselves under similar circumstances? Does he expect them to do as they are taught in training, to maintain discipline and to follow policy? Or does he expect them to emulate the example of the two dead heros? The chief can't have it both ways.
Suppose, at some time in the future, two members of the firefighters union do what firefighters Young and Hudgins did but are lucky enough to get out alive? Will the chief put them in for commendation medals or will he call them up before a disciplinary board?
It's the inescapable responsibility of his position that he must choose and he must make that choice clear and unequivocal. The result of not choosing is that other good men and women will die. And then there won't be any question whose fault it is. by CNB