Fire Station Brownouts Continue: Philadelphia Loses Two More Children

Yesterday two children from the Olney section of Philadelphia were killed when their home caught fire. Four others were injured. Philly.com is reporting that investigators are looking into "overloaded electrical outlets" as the cause of the fire and also point to a lack of smoke detectors in the home. The report makes no mention of the city's most recent brown-out policy that has thinned out fire service throughout the city as part of this fatal equation.

Engine 61 at Rising Sun and Summerville was closed as part of the city's Brownout policy, an attempt to save money by closing fire stations for periods of time throughout Philadelphia. Tim McShea, Vice President of Local 22 Philadelphia's Firefighters' Union and one of the first firefighters on the scene, told MMP that "had Engine 61 been open they could have saved up to 3 minutes of time to fight this fire because of its more direct route to the fire location. In those three minutes the fire grew 6 times in size. Every 30 seconds a fire doubles in size". Local 22 has been fighting these policies since last Fall and assert that they undermine the safety of the people of Philadelphia. McShea and Local 22 send their condolences to the family.

This tragedy is reminiscent of the preventable loss of life in West Philadelphia this past Fall when a 13 year old boy died in a fire in his home. The fire station one block from his home was closed as part of the brown-out policy.

This report from MMP TV shows community members and firefighters speaking to the impact of this policy: http://mediamobilizing.org/watch-city-playing-russian-roulette-peoples-l...

Photo from Philly.com