New questions were raised Monday in the death of a city fire cadet during training when it was revealed that a briefing made to the fire chief and other top department officials a week earlier included details on the fatal exercise.
The PowerPoint presentation ? on the progress of Wilson?s class given Feb. 1 by Training Academy Chief Kenneth Hyde to top fire commanders ? includes a section titled “Live Burn Training,” that appeared to sharply contradict assertions by Fire Chief William Goodwin that he knew little about the details of the burn exercise.
Wilson died Feb. 9 during a “live burn” exercise when she was trapped in a third-floor window of an abandoned house with an intentionally set fire burning below.
Fire officials released a preliminary investigation Feb. 23 citing 36 violations of national guidelines for conducting live-burn exercises. Mayor Sheila Dixon fired Hyde on the previous day and suspended without pay two other instructors.
Goodwin, when asked at news conference, said he knew little about the burn before it occurred.
But the 18-slide PowerPoint presentation on Baltimore Fire Academy training procedures allegedly presented to both administration officials during a Citistat meeting on Jan. 31 – and the top fire chiefs on Feb. 1 – included a section on “Live Burn Training.” The slides indicates that top fire commanders and city officials discussed the status of the live burns, casting doubt on allegations by the department that Hyde was acting without oversight.
According to sources who attended the Feb. 1 meeting, the presentation was made in Goodwin?s conference room, and was attended by all top fire officials ? including Goodwin.
The presentation included facts and figures on Class Nineteen, the 60 cadets who trained together and included Wilson. Class Nineteen had the highest number of women in the history of the fire academy.
Anthony McCarthy, a spokesman for Dixon, said Dixon?s administration was awaiting the results of the independent investigation.
“Questions about what people knew and when they knew it are being asked, and Mayor Dixon is reserving judgment until she receives the results of the independent investigation,” McCarthy said.
Baltimore Fire Department spokesman Chief Kevin Cartwright said he needed to talk with Goodwin before he could respond to what occurred at the briefing. But he said that Goodwin gave Hyde a lot of leeway in how to train recruits.
“He was delegated the authority for the training at the academy,” Cartwright said of Hyde. “He was responsible for giving the recruits the training they needed.”
Examiner Staff Writer Luke Broadwater contributed to this story.
