Wednesday, August 25, 1999
Chief: Fire response was earlier
First unit didn't check in, he says
BY TOM O'NEILL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MONROE TOWNSHIP — Clermont County dispatch records do not accurately reflect the arrival of the first fire unit to a fatal weekend blaze here, township Fire Chief Jeff Lanham said Tuesday.
The reason: The first Monroe pumper to arrive at Teresa Lang's mobile home on Ohio 125 did not inform the communication center, normal fire department procedure.
The second truck, about four minutes later, did report its 4:22 a.m. Sunday arrival and was thus reflected in county records as first on the scene, he said.
That minimizes the issue of the 17-minute response time that some residents have raised because a closer fire station was not called in by Monroe to assist, Chief Lanham said.
The private BMOP fire station is about 11/4 miles from the fire site, and BMOP Fire Chief Paul Tieman said his unit — had it been called for mutual assistance — could have arrived within eight minutes.
But Monroe's Chief Lanham said he would “never” have called for assistance from an outside station because it wasn't necessary. He said his department had on scene all the equipment (three vehicles), manpower (19 firefighters) and water (a nearby hydrant) needed.
Clermont County fire investigators said that Ms. Lang died of smoke inhalation and that there was no evidence of foul play. The fire might have resulted from smoking, the county sheriff's office said.
“Even if we had asked (for BMOP assistance), you take the 4:12 (first Monroe pumper to leave station) and take his eight minutes, and that makes it still behind the first truck,” Chief Lanham said.
The issue was of particular concern for some residents because BMOP once covered the northern area of Monroe, including the Holly Town mobile home park where the fire occurred. In December 1993, Monroe trustees declined to renew the contract, partly for financial reasons and partly because it had just built a station on Ohio 222, in BMOP's coverage area.
BMOP stands for Batavia, Monroe, Ohio and Pierce townships, and it originally covered portions of each.
“We worked for almost two years to get a tax levy,” Chief Lanham said. “If you're looking for someone to blame, you could go back to the public that took that off the ballot.”
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