Fire Chief Walks Through Decisions Made at Scene of Laurel Gardens Fire

The night , the chief of the arrived to see them just before the homeowner. 

The fire, , had been burning inside the home for at least three hours before firefighters were dispatched at 8:10 p.m. that March night. 

At that moment, though, the chief didn't know how it started or how long it had been burning. Working through Allegheny County's 911 Dispatch center, he began to call for the volunteers and equipment he needed to help fight the blaze. 

His official report of what happened that night is not yet complete, Ray Hillenbrand said. But in an interview, he walked through the decisions he made, .

"I will defend everyone on that fire call that night," he said. "There were no mistakes made. Could we have done things differently? Maybe. The results would have been the same." 

The chiefs of the Perrysville and Quaill Volunteer Fire Companies and the township fire marshal, who all responded that night, say the same. 

Eric Wissner, the Perrysville Fire Chief said, without hesitation, that he was "absolutely" comfortable with Hillenbrand's calls that night. 

"There are many different ways to do do things," he said. As long as it's done safely, he added, there is no complaint. 

The fire chief of the , Brad McLean, said it's easy to second guess after the fact and away from the scene. 

But when you're in the middle of it, "All you can do is the best you can. Did Ray do that? Without question. I was there. Would I have done anything different? Probably not. Nobody knows Laurel Gardens more than he does." 

Ross Township Fire Marshal John Reubi, who was second on scene after Hillenbrand, said he also couldn't find fault. 

The house, he said, "wasn't going to be saved." 

According to the detailed history for the fire event provided by the county dispatch center, neighbors began to call 911 at 8:08 p.m. March 26, noting that flames were seen coming out of the house. 

Using a pre-determined call sheet known as a run card that each fire chief submits to the county to use for different types of call, the county immediately dispatched engines from both the Laurel Gardens and Perrysville Fire Companies, as well as the Ross Township Fire Police (to control traffic) and the fire marshal. 

Around the township, as volunteer firefighters listened to the call go out, many not dispatched eagerly offered their help, the fire officials said, making it difficult for the county dispatcher, the units dispatched and Hillenbrand to communicate.

"I was having an issue trying to talk to people," Hillenbrand said. "That was part of the issue." 

Eventually, they switched to a different channel for their communications. And Hillenbrand also began speaking off the radio directly to the dispatcher, requesting additional help from the Quaill Volunteer Fire Company. 

Criticisms later followed that the companies called were farther away than others that could have responded faster. 

"Laurel Gardens is the closest company to this call. The next closest is Berkeley Hills, 1.1 miles according to Google maps. ... Perrysville is 2.0 miles away, West View is 1.4 miles away, Quaill is 2.0 miles away," .

"I did not hear the call, but I am reading some comments here about a company offering assistance and being refused. ... refusing help from a closer, staffed company because of ego problems sounds like negligence to me."

Hillenbrand said that unlike many of the other districts, Laurel Gardens has options for who it relies on for mutual aid.

"We are smack dab in the middle of the township," Hillenbrand said.

He said he also takes into account the geography of the area in Laurel Gardens: narrow streets on hilly land and utility lines that are close to the road. Only so much equipment and only equipment of a certain type will fit at one time, he said.

"I know my fire district," he said. 

And, because of the location of the district, he said he has some flexibility in choosing who he wants to work with. 

"We work with certain companies. We work well with them, and that's who we use," he said, adding that the men in the companies have to feel good about working with each other. "They have to read each others' minds. They've got to be in tune. What they're doing can be life threatening." 

Hillenbrand also faced criticism about the initial dispatch and the set up of his run card, which called for two engines to a confirmed structure fire. 

But, while that was the call that went out, Hillenbrand said that in practice the departments were dispatched by company, rather than by unit, as most fire departments in the county operate.

"I never adjusted my cards properly," he said. "The way I'm set up here, companies come up and automatically bring everything they need." 

Dispatching by unit is preferred by the county because it is more efficient, allowing the chiefs to be more specific to the needs of a type of incident, said Rebecca Frazier, the 911 assistant communications manager.

It can also help the dispatchers, who then know exactly what apparatus is needed on scene. 

But there is no requirement that the chiefs dispatch by unit, Frazier said. 

"It's not forced on them," she said. 

Of the 209 fire companies in Allegheny County, about 10 still do company dispatching, she said. 

Wissner, the Perrysville fire chief, said unit dispatch is often adopted by companies with paid staff in order to not drain all their resources at once.

But volunteer fire companies don't usually have enough resources to keep some in reserve—it's all hands on deck. 

"In my thinking, it doesn't work as well in our township," Wissner said. 

As Hillenbrand was evaluating the scene and Perrysville and Quaill were being dispatched, calls began to come into the 911 center that people may still be trapped inside the house, according to the county's log. 

As with the companies dispatched, Hillenbrand has been criticized for not calling in additional help as a result.

"West View and Berkeley both offered staffed apparatus only after a report was broadcast that people were possibly still inside the burning building," . "Chief Hillenbrand chose to ignore offers of help from immediately available resources and hence delay firefighting and rescue operations. ... Bad and dangerous decision making at its best." 

Hillenbrand said he knew the building was vacant. The calls, he said, came because the distraught homeowner attempted to run into the house to rescue his dog, Sweat Pea, the Newfoundland who it is believed caused the fire. 

"He was yelling about the dog, and people misunderstood," he said. "I saw what was going on with the homeowner. I knew it wasn't a person inside the building." 

Sweet Pea died in the fire, and his body was found later in the dining room. The cause of death is believed to be smoke inhalation.

Reubi, the fire marshal, also later said that the fire had been burning a minimum of three hours before firefighters arrived and said a decision by Hillenbrand to pull the firefighters out of the house as flames reached the roof was a good decision. 

Given the interior damage already sustained during the long burn of the fire, he said the firefighters would have risked harm had they continued fighting it from the inside.

"I don't make rash decisions," Hillenbrand said, about the responses to his decisions that night. "I have a pretty good idea of what I'm doing. Anybody can get on a computer and use a ficticious name and be a legend in their own mind."