It was exactly as billed, a critique of the Feb. 24 fire that will cause the eventual demolition of the Masonic Temple and Liberty Square buildings in downtown Dunkirk. The Dunkirk Middle School auditorium was silent as many of the same firefighters from the 15 departments that helped fight the fire listened and watched intently as a slide presentation coordinated with radio transmissions was shown.
Dunkirk Fire Department Captain Alan Loeb was the on-site commander that night and the leader for the presentation he put together with plenty of assistance from Chautauqua County Office of Emergency Services Planning Technician Michael G. Mendez.
From the initial alarm of fire to its all-out some six days later, the fire presented opportunities for decisions to be made and it was those decisions the presentation looked to examine, along with preparations and equipment. The presentation was broken into interior and exterior segments and described what was going on during each.
"I'm as happy to see you tonight as I was three months ago," Loeb began. "Hopefully, we'll get some good things out of it, our purpose is to learn."
One thing seemed certain from the presentation, it was a very dangerous event that fortunately resulted in only two relatively minor injuries.
From the initial investigation of the alarm, the search of the building, the interior attack to the exterior attack, it was all examined. The conclusion, as one would expect, it could have been a little better - or a lot worse.
Dunkirk Professional Firefighter Hank Pencek spoke to one decision made by Loeb that likely saved the lives of several city paid and volunteer firefighters. According to Pencek, he and the others were preparing to launch an attack on the Masonic Temple from the roof of the Liberty Square building when Loeb told them to get off the roof for safety reasons. Pencek admitted to disagreeing with Loeb's call but the crew reluctantly left the roof - 15 minutes before it was crunched by tons of bricks and other building material from the Masonic Temple.
For his part Loeb said he was glad he got them off the roof but he should have never sent them up there in the first place with the Masonic building some two stories taller than Liberty Square. Listening to the various radio communications from the beginning of the fire to when it was brought under control it was clear it was a dangerous situation from the get-go.
Loeb pointed out the wind was registered as calm that night, not its usual 15-18 mile-per-hour speed that is normal for Dunkirk winters. A major concern that night was the fire spreading to surrounding blocks. Crews were on fire patrol and with good reason, as Loeb pointed out when he talked about mowing his lawn this spring.
Living in the 400 block of Eagle Street, two blocks from the fire, Loeb reported finding small chunks of burned roofing material scattered in his yard. The night of the fire city DPW Engineer Dave Manzella was on City Hall stomping out chunks of burning material from the fire.
Several speakers emphasized the training and preparation firefighters go through as playing a key role in the ability to fight a fire safely.
Dunkirk Fire Department Chief Keith Ahlstrom touched on that theme as the meeting drew to a close.
"It's been said a lot tonight, you can't replace good training. What we actually do on the scene, you can't make it up as you go along," Ahlstrom stated. "You have to have a basis. ... No two incidents are alike but what we all do on a yearly basis as far as training, it's all of us. The knowledge to be able to do it, Al (Loeb) said it earlier, the confidence to be able to do it. You don't know what we're going to face but we have the training. We have the confidence to do it. ...
"From the very beginning to the end, the communications we had that night and the ability to be able to talk to people. ... The amazing thing to me when I got there and we were starting to deal with the water issues we had (Chautauqua County Office of Emergency Services Director Julius Leone) standing there, (County Executive Greg Edwards), George Spanos, DPW for the county, (Dunkirk DPW Director Tony Gugino), (Police Chief David Ortolano), (Mayor Richard Frey), myself, Al. If we needed to do something, we had the person that was able to make the decision."
Ahlstrom said the Dunkirk department was very thankful to all who helped in any way.
"It really showed that when we have these kinds of incidents, everybody is there for everybody else. The city of Dunkirk and the Dunkirk Fire Department really appreciates what you guys did for us and to let you know we are there for whenever you need us to come help you in your neighborhood.
"Hopefully, as Al (Loeb) said, it will be 100 years before we have to go through another one of these again."
Leone commented on the evening's event before it closed.
"These kind of critiques, I think, give us the ability to build on our response together and the more we work together the better off we'll be," Leone said. " ... For firefighters safety, if nothing else, we need to continue to look to the future to improve our radio system in the county. ... We can do better."
Loeb said he and Mendez had been living with the fire for three months.
"I hope it's worth it and I think it is. Thanks everybody for coming tonight," he said to end the critique.
In early March fire investigators determined the fire to be accidental due to an electrical problem in the service disconnect in the northwest corner of the building. Both the Masonic Temple and the Liberty Square buildings are set for demolition.
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