Report Details Fire Failings

Communication, Equipment Malfunctions Cited in 'Near-Miss'

Communication errors, a malfunctioning hose and radio, and confusion in fighting a quickly-moving fire through a two-story colonial plagued the response to a May blaze that injured seven Loudoun County first responders, according to an investigative report released yesterday.

A discarded cigarette on a first-floor deck sparked the blaze in the Potomac Station community, east of Leesburg, about 1 p.m. May 25. Within minutes, the home at 43238 Meadowood Ct. was engulfed in flames.

The 210-page report, compiled over three months by nine fire officials from Loudoun, Arlington and Prince William counties, gives a play-by-play of what Loudoun Fire Chief Joseph E. Pozzo called a "near-miss," including:

· Arriving fire crews failed to talk to one another, and some firefighters were tuned in to the wrong radio channel.

· Firefighters wore protective clothing and helmets incorrectly, resulting in burns.

· More firefighters were needed at the scene.

· There was an eight-minute gap from the first 911 call to the first fire crew's arrival, partly caused by a dispatch delay and a false report of a fire at a Ross department store in Leesburg.

"We will learn from this incident," said Richie Bowers, a division chief with the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service and the report's lead investigator.