Sterling, Rock Falls confer with OSHA on Ramos report, will release results next week

STERLING – Following the release of a report citing multiple errors committed by the Sterling and Rock Falls fire departments that it said contributed to the death of Lt. Garrett Ramos – including a failure to respond to his call for help – both city managers, the state Department of Labor and members of the Ramos family met Tuesday to discuss the findings.

The results of that 4-hour meeting are being discussed and information will be released “early next week,” Sterling City Manager Scott Shumard said Thursday.

Ramos, 38, died Dec. 4 after the floor collapsed and he fell into the basement of a home on Ridge Road in Rock Falls. According to the incident report, he was found with an empty air tank, and unresponsive.

The report from the Illinois division of the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, which the DOL oversees, also says that among the factors contributing to his death were:

• Fire command didn’t realize the home had a basement.

• The fire was assessed to be under control when it was not.

• Ramos’ mayday call was not identified as coming from him and he was not immediately looked for or found.

• Once found, Ramos wasn’t given emergency air.

• The first two attempts to remove him from the basement failed.

OSHA’s conclusion: “The hazard controls and safety measures established through policy, training and supervision in [the Rock Falls and Sterling fire departments] failed to prevent a firefighter mayday incident. ... While everyone on the incident command team was responsible that day for firefighter safety, no one on the team exercised assertiveness (spoke up) to ensure that the victim was identified and rescued in a timely manner.”

As a result, the city of Sterling is being fined $24,000, the city of Rock Falls $12,000.

The incident report, which was released to Sauk Valley Media a week ago by Ramos’ widow, Brittney Ramos, and to the city 3 days earlier, was accompanied by “a hazard alert notification” letter and a “citation and notification of penalty,” one each addressed to Sterling Mayor Skip Lee, and the others to Rock Falls Mayor Rod Kleckler.

Several hours after SVM reported OSHA’s findings on Saturday, the cities of Sterling and Rock Falls released a joint statement in which they contested two findings that they said they would appeal: that the incident report, which did not identify firefighters by name, had misidentified the “accountability officer” at the scene, and that the report cited an email the city administrator sent to the Department of Labor that actually was part of an unrelated DOL inspection that had taken place earlier in the year.

“The cities have a conference on April 12 to address these matters,” the statement said.

In the meantime, “we are reviewing those citations to determine the best course of action to serve our obligations to the members of the fire departments and their families,” and will not make additional comments on the merit of the citations “as we work through the appropriate legal process,” the statement said.

Neither of those DOL errors cited in the joint statement, however, appear to be directly related to the on-scene “key contributing factors” the incident report cites, that the:

• Basement was not identified during size-up.

• Interior firefighters did not always stay together.

• The mayday call was received but the caller (Ramos) was not identified or located.

The joint statement did say that some of the report’s suggestions for the Sterling Fire Department already have been initiated, including reviews of standard operating guidelines and policies and provisions for additional training.

In addition, “prior to receiving this report, the Sterling and Rock Falls fire departments jointly reached out to the University of Illinois Fire Service Institute to update and schedule training for emergency scene accountability, rapid intervention teams, 2-in-2-out policies and mayday procedures ... Portable radios have been reprogrammed to avoid accidental changes between primary and tactical channels,” said the statement, which is signed by Shumard and Rock Falls City Manager Robbin Blackert.

The incident report also cited problems with radio transmissions with the dispatch center. The two cities requested Whiteside County adopt the report’s recommendations to improve coverage, the statement said.

“The city remains committed to undertaking a full evaluation out of respect and honor for the sacrifice of Lt. Ramos and a desire for continuous improvement,” it said.

Thursday, Lee reiterated the cities’ commitment to learn from any mistakes made.

“Steps are being taken to address any training needs we might have,” said the mayor, who did not attend Tuesday’s conference.

“When you have any kind of incident, you want to learn from it. We are committed to doing everything we need to do to ensure the safety of our community and our first responders.

“We never want this to happen again.”