Ebenezer spurs fire strategy changes
Share with others:
Three hours into their response to the Ebenezer Baptist Church fire on March 13, fire officials believed they had the blaze under control, if not entirely extinguished.
They also believed they had a chance of salvaging the historic church, which had meant so much to the parishioners and Hill District neighbors during the 130 years it had reigned over the corner of Wylie Avenue and Devilliers Street.
Shortly before noon, Deputy Chief David Manfredo, who was in charge of the scene, met with the chiefs and company officers, and they decided it was time to re-enter the church to find any smoldering problem areas.
During the ensuing 25 minutes, the top-ranking fire officials on the scene -- including Pittsburgh Fire Chief Peter Micheli -- walked through the church vestibule, in the shadow of the 115-foot bell tower.
"There was no indication that there was any danger," Deputy Chief John Gourley said yesterday at a press briefing to discuss the findings of a seven-member board of inquiry chaired by Gourley. No falling bricks or mortar, no major cracks, nothing.
Then the tower fell, killing Battalion Chief Charles Brace and Master Firefighter Richard Stefanakis, both 30-year veterans. Manfredo, who had just left the vestibule, also was hit with debris that cracked his helmet and inflicted injuries to his head and face that may end his career. Two months later, he is one of 10 firefighters at Ebenezer who remain on disability leave.
The board's report, released Thursday, placed no blame for the deaths but did recommend upgrades in equipment and training.
Yesterday, Capt. Francis Deleonibus also said the fire's cause remains undetermined. He knows it started in a concealed area between the basement and first floor, where there were wires and pipes. But the fire destroyed anything that might have conclusively pointed to a cause, Deleonibus said, adding that "we don't have any reason to believe this was an intentional fire."
Among the unanswered questions, though, the biggest is whether Brace, Stefanakis and the others should have been in the building once the fire was under control.
Micheli, while announcing that the Ebenezer fire will bring "a cultural change in the way we attack fires," also said "I don't believe I should say there were any mistakes made" in fighting that fire.
Micheli said that in the future, fire officials will be willing to take risks if lives are involved, less risk if only property is in danger, and little or no risk for contained, vacant buildings. And they will be less trusting of the stability of towers or other tall structures.
Gourley, a 39-year veteran firefighter, knows fires rarely fall into three neat categories, though. "Every fire will have to be judged on its own merits."
However it started, the fire at Ebenezer apparently spread slowly, horizontally at first, then vertically through ventilator shafts into the balcony and through the roof. The flames eventually broke through the roof, not far from the bell tower, possibly exposing the tower to temperatures of 1,200 degrees or hotter.
Still, Gourley said, until the tower collapsed, "this had been an excellently fought fire." Manfredo had made the notably cautious decision to twice order "accountability checks" that morning to verify the whereabouts of every firefighter, he said.
"At some point, you have to go in that building to put the fire out," Gourley said.
First Published May 15, 2004 12:00 am
