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Report Calls For Changes After Firefighter Death

DENVER (CBS4) - A Denver Fire Department report following the July death of firefighter John Whelan calls for numerous changes including a dedicated safety officer, better internal information flow, and a variety of warnings to firefighters about the kind of lightweight skylight Whelan fell through on June 28.

The veteran firefighter stepped through a fiberglass skylight on a warehouse roof in North Denver as he helped deal with a dumpster fire. Whelan died in July due to the injuries received in that 25-foot fall.

John Whelan
John Whelan (credit: Denver Fire Department)

Late Monday the Denver Fire Department issued a 25-page Post Incident Analysis and outlined numerous steps the department has taken, and will continue to take, to prevent a reoccurrence of the kind of incident that cost Whelan his life.

Fire Chief Eric Tade was not available Monday evening to comment on the report, according to his public information officer, Melissa Taylor.

Much of the report covers a related 2012 Denver fire department incident that was recently revealed in a CBS4 investigation. In that case, a Denver firefighter fell through a fiberglass skylight on a similar metal warehouse in North Denver. Lt. Joseph Duran survived and was not hurt but the incident was characterized as a "close call." But CBS4 found critical safety information about that near miss was never shared with other department members.

John Whelan
John Whelan (credit: CBS)

The new DFD report reaches the same conclusion : "This information was not disseminated throughout the department." The report calls for improvements in how safety concerns from members about "near misses" are passed to their chain of command.

Starting Tuesday the report calls for all DFD incident reports to have a new mandatory reporting field requiring members to indicate whether any safety concerns were present at the incident. That information will be reviewed on a daily basis by the assistant chief of operations and the assistant chief of safety and training.

The fire department is now asking for new fire codes calling for "fluorescent signage and guard rails" around those lightweight skylights.

As CBS4 reported last week, the department confirmed it has begun identifying buildings with similar skylights around Denver "that may pose a similar potential risk to firefighters." That information is now being entered into department computers and will appear as a "caution note" alerting crews to the hazardous skylights.

The report also noted the fire department does not have a dedicated safety officer on duty around the clock. The department now says it is in the process of developing a proposal for a dedicated incident safety officer.

The report also notes that after Whelan fell his colleagues had difficulty cutting off his bunker gear with equipment they had on hand. Now the department has bought a Leatherman tool for every company in the city to more easily cut off bunker gear in an emergency situation.

Denver Fire Chief Eric Tade
Denver Fire Chief Eric Tade (credit: CBS)

In a memo from Chief Tade to all department members, he notes "concerns have been raised for a similar incident that occurred back in 2012. An internal affairs investigation has been initiated to look into the facts of the earlier incident."

When CBS4 interviewed Tade in mid-October, he indicated the 2012 incident would be addressed in the Post Incident Analysis, but that's not the case. The firefighter who fell through the roof in 2012 authored a two-page "lessons learned" report about what happened to him that was apparently intended for department-wide dissemination. It's unclear who exactly received that report and who failed to share the information.

Assistant Chief Dave McGrail
Assistant Chief Dave McGrail (credit: LinkedIn)

The just-released Denver Fire report does not fault the tactics of Assistant Fire Chief Dave McGrail, who was the incident commander the night of Whelan's death, and was also the incident commander in 2012 when Duran fell through a skylight. Current and retired Denver firefighters have been sharply critical of McGrail for placing Whelan on the roof during an incident when no lives were at risk. McGrail has declined to comment on those criticisms.

LINKS: PIA Release And Initial Response | Chief Tade's Memo

CBS4 Investigator Brian Maass has been with the station more than 30 years uncovering waste, fraud and corruption. Follow him on Twitter @Briancbs4.

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