6 Firefighters Hurt, 1 Critically, as Overhang Collapses

As a veteran Los Angeles County firefighter who has been severely burned himself, Frank Tuttle knows the dangers of his job. But nothing, he said, is more frightening than the conditions early Wednesday that resulted in a longtime friend clinging to life.

It had appeared to be “a completely safe situation,” Tuttle said. “The thing that has scared me to death for nearly 24 years is that exact same situation.”

In the early minutes of a fire in a two-story mini-mall in Huntington Park, six firefighters were injured, one critically, when an overhanging roof collapsed on them as they scrambled across a second-floor balcony.

The flames had not reached the outdoor balcony and, if they acted quickly, firefighters theorized, they could stop the blaze from engulfing the building. But the roof--actually a decorative facade featuring heavy Spanish tiles--crumbled almost immediately.

Five of the firefighters injured in the collapse--and another who suffered smoke inhalation and heat stress--were treated at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood for minor to moderate injuries and released.

But James (Jimmy) Howe, a 25-year veteran described by friends as a “wonderful character,” was badly hurt. He was pinned under the collapsed roof for about 20 minutes, within a few feet of the flames, before rescue teams freed him.

Later Wednesday, several of Howe’s friends cleaned up the smoldering remains, grim reminders that seemingly routine fires can be lethal.

“It’s like warfare,” Capt. Mark Viles said. “You can train for years, but you never know when there’s going to be that guy behind that one tree.”

Tuttle, who heard about the accident on a morning television news show as he was preparing for work, was soon assigned to help clean up after the fire that injured Howe. The veteran firefighter recalled that he had talked with Howe last week about an upcoming family vacation in Colorado.

There is only one way to respond to such a tragedy, Tuttle said: “You cry. You get tears in your eyes and you get choked up.”

The men on the balcony had nearly a century of experience between them, said Tuttle, a ladder truck driver.

“Now people are talking about, ‘What could I have done?’ or ‘What should have been done?’ But the situation is completely bad luck,” he said. “I know the captain would not go into a situation that wasn’t safe.”

About 85 firefighters from 25 engine companies controlled the blaze at State and Randolph streets in about 40 minutes. Damage was estimated at more than $1 million. The fire erupted in a first-floor Laundromat, and investigators were sifting through debris Wednesday to determine if it was intentionally set.

Battalion Chief Al Bennett said many of the firefighters would go through two days of stress therapy, called defusing.

“This is a firefighter’s worst nightmare, getting called out to a fire in the middle of the night and finding one of your good friends has been injured,” Bennett said. “Everybody here is just sick.”

Other firefighters, who asked not to be identified, offered descriptions of what took place.

The men were asleep when the station alarm sounded shortly after 3 a.m. and, within two minutes, they were dressed in 60 pounds of protective “turnout” gear and clinging to a speeding fire truck.

The first to arrive saw the fire still limited to a corner of the mall and made a decision to attempt to save the building. But no matter how safe it appears, they agreed, you never get used to running into a burning building.

And then disaster struck.

“You worry about it,” Viles said. “It’s probably like a policeman feels when he chases a bad guy into a dark alley--it’s not something you want to do.

“I think sometimes the public forgets that we lay our lives on the line every day,” he added. “Here is a perfect example.”