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High Point volunteer force under fire

As the investigation into a fatal fire continues, a county firefighter says when residents are in danger, "these guys are not going to save them."

By RICK GERSHMAN
Published September 7, 2005

HIGH POINT - In the wake of a mobile home fire in which a woman died, a 20-year veteran Hernando County firefighter spoke out Tuesday about concerns with the High Point Volunteer Fire Rescue Department.

"It's just a debacle every time we go in there," said Hernando County Fire Rescue Lt. Robert Rae. "They can't even do the job. (When people) there are in danger, these guys are not going to save them."

Rae's comments followed a predawn fire Sunday at a double-wide mobile home at 12243 Fairway Ave.

Hernando County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Deputy Donna Black said Tuesday her agency could not release the identity of the body found in the home since next of kin had not been notified.

County property records show the home was owned by Marie Janet James, 54. Neighbors who called 911, Dicran and Marylou Klavanian, told a Times reporter James lived there alone for the past several years. The state fire marshal is investigating the blaze.

A community made up mostly of retirees, High Point has more than 1,500 mobile homes.

Rae, whose mother lives in High Point, claimed several issues with the volunteer fire department caused problems Sunday that could further endanger residents in the future.

One is an agreement with the county that prohibited his Station 12 fire engine from entering High Point and responding to the fully involved fire until its help was requested by the volunteer department.

Due to the agreement, Rae said, he and his fellow firefighters had to wait at the gate and watch while his station's ambulance and Hernando sheriff's deputies went inside the neighborhood.

"We sat out at the front gate for six minutes before the High Point chief called us in, and then it takes two minutes to get (to the house) so it was like eight minutes total," Rae said.

Once his engine got the go-ahead to enter from High Point fire Chief Will Grenier, Rae said, his team's efforts were only hindered by the unpaid volunteer firefighters.

"They have no clue how to fight fires," Rae said. "They were pushing the fire back on top of us as we (were) trying to put it out."

Rae said he discussed his concerns with a Hernando County commissioner and he anticipates county officials will be meeting to discuss the issue later this week.

Grenier, who took over as High Point fire chief in January, said the agreement in which county firefighters stand by until called has been in effect as long as he can recall.

"The standard procedure is the county truck waits outside until they're called - what they're doing, they're coming in here to watch us," he said. "They can't say that they can get to a fire in here quicker than we can."

Grenier said he tried to call in the county engine several times, but his go-ahead got lost in the radio traffic: "I called a couple times and they didn't hear me."

Both Grenier and High Point assistant fire Chief Jim Pilipchuk acknowledged that the volunteer crew was understaffed because several members remain up north for the summer, while others were gone for the Labor Day weekend.

"On that particular occasion, we were very undermanned," Pilipchuk said. "Our biggest problem is a lack of personnel. This was not a real opportune time for us to respond."

Grenier was asked whether it would make more sense for High Point residents to have a primary fire response agency that was mandated to have adequate levels at all times, including holidays. He said he did not wish to comment on that.

One of Rae's complaints is that none of the volunteers was able to enter the home to work the fire, while he and his personnel exhausted themselves doing so.

"The chief told me, and this is his exact answer, "I only have one guy who can go in, but he's too tired and the rest of us are too old,"' Rae said.

Pilipchuk said he believed only one of his volunteers is state-certified to fight fires. He said he has been dealing with a lung infection that likely is becoming pneumonia, so "I wasn't able to go on air apparatus."

Because they rely on the volunteer fire company, High Point residents are not part of the Hernando County Fire district and don't pay the county's fire district fee. For a single-family home, that fee is about $104, though county commissioners recently authorized raising that to about $128. Instead, High Point residents pay a flat $45 fee.

"See, the county wants to come in and take us over," Grenier said. "They're going to come in and want us to pay $128."

Spring Hill Fire Rescue, which handles dispatch needs for Hernando County Fire Rescue, provided the Times the dispatch recordings related to the fire. On one call, a paramedic on scene can be heard lamenting that no High Point fire engine had responded yet:

Paramedic: "Rescue 12 on scene - We have a fully involved fire at this time venting through the roof. Um, I want to have Engine 12 respond; we have no engine on scene yet."

Dispatcher: "Copy. Engine 12 cannot respond until High Point requests it."

Rae contends that High Point residents should not feel protected until such complications are cleared up.

"Every structure fire that I've been on there, it's been the same situation," he said. "It's time for them to find a new hobby."

Times staff writer Abhi Raghunathan contributed to this report. Rick Gershman can be reached at 352 754-6117 or rgershman@sptimes.com

[Last modified September 7, 2005, 01:01:15]