Sun coverage: City fire recruit dies

Sun Follow-Up

City fire safety officer moved

The Baltimore Fire Department, in part to cut overtime expenses, has removed the independent safety officer who had been assigned to the training academy in the wake of an exercise last year that killed a recruit and violated 50 safety standards.

City's fire chief resigns

Baltimore Fire Chief William J. Goodwin Jr., hailed for his early leadership but increasingly under pressure after a fatal training accident this year, has resigned, Mayor Sheila Dixon announced yesterday.

Poor planning led city fire recruits into lethal inferno

Lt. Samuel Darby sat on the roof of the burning building with a power saw.

Cadet's death seen as a crime

Relatives and friends of the Baltimore fire cadet killed in a training exercise called her death an avoidable tragedy yesterday after reviewing an independent report that outlines 50 safety violations from the February fire in a vacant house.

Sun exclusive

'I had to listen to her screams'

The supervisor of the Baltimore fire recruit killed in a training exercise rejected yesterday the findings of an independent report that concluded he had abandoned the cadet inside a burning rowhouse, saying his wrists are scarred from his efforts to pull her out of a window.

Sun follow-up

Chief backs fire dept.

Baltimore's fire chief defended his beleaguered department yesterday after an independent investigation concluded that a recruit who was killed in a training exercise had been poorly trained and outfitted. But Mayor Sheila Dixon said her "confidence level" in the chief's leadership "is very questionable."

Deadly neglect at fire academy

A Baltimore fire recruit who was killed in a February training exercise was not ready to be sent into a burning dwelling, had failed agility tests and had been given old protective gear that frayed and failed to protect her from the intense heat, according to a report prepared for the mayor.

Fire officials outline safety plan

After initially disputing labor department charges that the Baltimore Fire Department knowingly violated safety rules during a fatal live-burn training exercise in February, the city has withdrawn its objections and outlined plans to prevent future violations, according to documents obtained by The Sun.

Sun follow-up

City dismisses two more fire officials

The Baltimore City Fire Department has dismissed two more commanders for being "negligent" and "incompetent" in their roles at a live-burn training exercise in which instructors violated dozens of safety rules and a 29-year-old recruit died.

Firings urged in death of recruit

A Fire Department panel has recommended that two more city firefighters be dismissed from their jobs because of their roles in the Feb. 9 training burn in a Southwest Baltimore rowhouse that killed a recruit and injured two others.

Fire unions fault department, new safety plan

The Baltimore Fire Department's two unions filed a complaint with the city's labor commissioner yesterday, alleging that the department's new safety initiative ignores contractual agreements and that management has retaliated against union members critical of the fire chief.

Legacy of Class 19

Formal fire training for Class 19 is over.

Sun follow-up

New era sought for fire agency

Responding to safety violations that led to the death of a recruit, Baltimore fire officials called yesterday for a cultural overhaul that would encourage firefighters to focus on safety, even if it meant challenging supervisors, something they are taught early in their careers not to do.

Firefighter recruit dies

A 29-year-old recruit with the city Fire Department died during a training exercise yesterday as she tried to extinguish a blaze set by instructors in a vacant rowhouse in Southwest Baltimore, according to fire officials.

Amid loss comes a search for answers

As relatives and friends mourned the death of a devoted mother who loved to sing, officials revealed details yesterday about the last minutes of a city Fire Department recruit who died during a training exercise Friday.