Fire official: Engine that failed to pump water at fatal Seattle fire was reserve truck
By APTuesday, June 15, 2010
Problem engine at fatal Seattle fire was backup
SEATTLE — A Seattle Fire Department spokeswoman says the first engine on the scene of a blaze that killed five people was an older model in use while the crew’s first-line engine received routine maintenance.
Spokeswoman Dana Vander Houwen said Monday that an independent expert and an expert from the company that makes the model will look at the engine.
The reserve engine was the first to respond, but had a problem with a pump that prevented it from spraying water on Saturday’s fast-moving fire, which killed an Ethiopian immigrant and her two nieces and two nephews.
A second unit arrived two minutes later and was able to fight the fire. Fire Chief Gregory Dean says it’s too soon to say whether the equipment problem kept crews from reaching the victims in time.
