As part of the observance of the fifth anniversary of the Canby Park fire which killed three Wilmington firefighters, a symposium was held on Sunday, September 27, 2021, to educate others about the lessons learned from the tragedy.
"I challenge all of you to take something away from this, it's very important" said Wilmington Fire Chief John Looney opening the symposium, which was broadcast live on YouTube. "We want to educate others."
The presentation included a mix of cell phone video taken by an area resident, 911 and fireground audio, and first-hand accounts from several firefighters who were at the scene.
The most dramatic of those testimonials came from Lt. Eric Haley, who was the officer on Engine 1 when the first floor began to collapse under him and his nozzleman firefighter Brad Speakman.
"We were turning to leave all at the same time, Brad has a hold of me, we're going to go out, and I feel like I'm walking uphill," said Haley. "We bump into Ardy [Hope] and I'm trying to grab Ardy's shoulder strap and push her out the door in front of me, and we're going backwards.
"Brad made a conscious decision that he didn't want to pull me in the hole," said Haley haltingly, his voice choked with emotion. "So he let go, and when he let go I got a jerk forward."
Haley ended up getting pushed through the front door with other firefighters scrambling to avoid the collapse, but lost in the rush were Speakman, Hope and Ladder 2 officer Chris Leach.
It was Haley's transmission on the fire radio that announced they had firefighters trapped.
"I can't find my nozzleman fireman Speakman he went through the floor just inside the front door. We also can't find the nozzleman for 5 [Hope] and I can't find Truck 2's officer [Leach].
Speakman was rescued within 10 minutes but suffered significant burns which resulted in his ultimate retirement from the fire department. He spoke during the presentation as well.
Hope was found about 30 minutes later and was taken to Crozer Burn Center, where she died several weeks later.
Leach was in the process of being pulled out of the rear of the structure when a secondary collapse occurred burying him under a pile of debris and killing firefighter Jerry Fickes.
Firefighter James Grieco was initially at the front of the house, but eventually moved to the rear where rescue efforts were underway despite heavy fire conditions.
"When I tell people about this I tell them it's a tale of two fires," said Grieco. "There was an incident in the front, and there was an incident in the back."
The symposium included the long list of recommendations made in a federal report on the incident, and the changes the Wilmington Fire Department has instituted as a result of those recommendations, and internal reviews.
Critics of the fire department focused on the city's then rolling bypass procedure where an engine company was placed out of service as a cost cutting measure.
Engine 6, the first due engine for Canby Park, was on bypass that night.
The rolling bypass was not listed as a contributing factor in the report from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
"As we go forth I hope everyone took something from this presentation, and what you take, pass it along to your troops," said Looney. "We want this information out there. It's important information. It's all about honoring those that made that ultimate sacrifice."
