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Lejeune fire department oversight scrutinized

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — A new barracks building with smoke alarms that don’t work, day care centers and schools with faulty fire detection systems, and a fire department inspector who was intoxicated on the job are among a list of allegations under investigation at Camp Lejeune.

The base inspector general’s office launched an inquiry June 4, roughly two weeks after a lawyer representing former and current base fire department employees sent a letter to that office alleging “gross mismanagement” of the department “that placed Camp Lejeune personnel in danger of injury by fire.”

“We’ve got to fix that situation down there,” said Washington-based attorney Joshua Bowers in a June 18 telephone interview. “It’s dangerous out there right now.”

In his May 15 complaint to the base inspector general’s office, Bowers describes years of department personnel turning a blind eye to problems with firefighting and safety equipment, as well as ignoring faulty detection systems at numerous buildings on base.

His clients initially filed complaints of a hostile environment, sexual harassment and reprisal with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. But the EEO administrative process may take years to complete, Bowers said, so his clients wanted to contact the base IG because they “do not want personnel at Camp Lejeune to be in danger of injury by fire while my clients’ charges are in the administrative procedure.”

In one instance, two of Bowers’ clients said that just one building’s fire system was fully operational out of the seven they were assigned to test.

“It was clear no one has been inspecting the buildings, but according to the inspection report, they were done and nothing was noted,” Bowers letter states.

Fire extinguishers in those same buildings had not been checked in three years, according to one of Bowers’ clients.

There are also allegations of problems with detection and water sprinkler systems in other buildings. At a new barracks at French Creek, one inspector responded to an alarm on a panel by cutting a wire to the system. That disabled smoke alarms in each barracks room, according to Bowers’ clients.

At a warehouse where Marines work, an alarm that activates the building’s sprinkler system was not working. When the problem was reported to higher-ups in the department, nothing was done, Bowers’ clients said.

“There were numerous reports submitted for fire suppression and fire detection systems that were completely nonfunctional and nothing was done,” said one of those clients, a fire inspector and 22-year veteran of the fire service, who spoke on the condition that he not be identified. “I saw firsthand that they were not doing the inspections as they should,” he said. “Inspections make up 50 percent of the position description. They weren’t being done. What they were putting on their report, I can only imagine.”

There also were problems with day care centers on base, he said, including partially blocked evacuation routes and smoke detectors being too close to air conditioning and heating vents. One inspector blew off a problem with a fire detection system that wasn’t functioning properly at one day care center because the system was still under warranty, the inspector said.

“A couple of months go by and there’s kids in a day care center without a fire protection system,” he said.

The inspector said when he was first hired for the job, part of his training required that he ride around the base with other inspectors.

“During the ride-alongs, instead of being shown how they do inspections or buildings with problems, what I was shown was good places to sleep and good places to fish. Every inspector I rode along with, with the exception of one, did that,” he said.

He said he also thinks one of the department’s panel technicians showed up to work on numerous occasions “looking as though he was still under the influence.”

“This goes all the way through management in the fire department,” he said. “It has been reported up through the chain of command within the fire department.”

The base IG’s office on June 4 assigned an investigating officer to handle the case, said Maj. Nat Fahy, a base spokesman, in an e-mail.

“In order to ensure the case receives a fair and impartial look, the officer has been afforded a reasonable period of time to complete the investigation,” Fahy said.

Fire contributes to civilian deaths

The allegations against the base fire department came to light just days after a base fire contributed to poor visibility conditions on a well-traveled highway Father’s Day weekend, resulting in the deaths of two civilian emergency workers.

As funeral proceedings were held for a local firefighter and sheriff’s deputy the week of June 16, base officials stepped up efforts to monitor a training range fire that caused dense smoke to mix with fog and blind drivers on U.S. Highway 17 early on June 14.

Gene Thomas, a firefighter with the Verona Volunteer Fire Department, and Steve Boehm, a deputy with the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office, were struck and killed by a tractor-trailer shortly after responding to the area where at least two wrecks were reported.

The fire now will be watched around the clock, said Rob Lewis, Camp Lejeune’s fire chief. That’s something that wasn’t done before because base officials monitoring the fire didn’t think it was necessary in light of other checks.

Before the accident, base officials were conducting daily monitoring of the smoldering fire — deep within the 40,000-acre Greater Sandy Run Training Area — since May 20, after high winds rekindled the blaze initially caused by small-arms training in mid-March.

Early reports that the fire was the result of a controlled burn are erroneous, base officials said. The last controlled burn on the base was April 11.

The nearly 1,000-acre fire was contained after it flared up again in May, said Dan Becker, Lejeune’s Forest Protection Program manager.

“It’s been in containment since May 20,” he said.

Trench lines prevented the fire from getting close to the highway, but the base notified the county then that smoke could cause low visibility, Becker said. Weather conditions June 13 didn’t suggest a need to re-issue the warning.

“The conditions didn’t warrant low-lying smoke,” Lewis said.

But an unpredictable wind shift early June 14 blew smoke over the four-lane highway, base officials said.

Calls from motorists to Onslow County 911 that morning prompted a dispatcher to contact the base shortly after 4:30 a.m.

Becker said that because the fire is fueled by dry peat — partially decayed vegetation found in swampy areas — firefighters can’t extinguish it.

“This fire is going to smolder until the good Lord puts it out, I’m afraid,” he said.

On June 16, two days after the fatal accident, an electronic sign warned motorists traveling the highway of possible smoky conditions. Two white crosses, memorials for the firefighter and deputy, have been staked into the ground on one side of the highway.

The wildfire problem isn’t confined to the Camp Lejeune area. An ongoing drought has created ideal conditions for wildfires throughout the state.

Firefighters in northeastern North Carolina continue to battle a 40,000-acre blaze in and around Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. As of June 16, fire officials said about 60 percent of the fire had been contained.

But the fire, sparked by a lightning strike June 1, could burn for months. Heavy smoke led the state’s air quality division to issue a Code Purple alert, the most serious alert the state has ever issued.