Pocono News Section

Federal report on fire fighters death

Federal report on fire fighters death - Wednesday, March 18, 2009 at 4:45PM EST

Wednesday, Mar 18, 2009 @ 04:45pm EST

The federal report about Scranton fire fighter James Robeson's death is done.

It suggests changes in Scranton 's fire department, suggestions the fire fighters union says have fallen on deaf ears.

David Gervasi is a Scranton fire fighters union member and says, "There's extreme frustration. Over and over again our safety committee members have made these recommendations. We studied this, we've researched all of these things and we brought them to the city."

The report was written after Captain Robeson died on Ash Street in January, 2008.

He was electrocuted when he came in contact with an energized power line.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety, or NIOSH, recommends 8 changes to the Scranton fire department.

One includes certain fire fighting equipment to be at least 10 feet away from energized power lines.

Other recommendations include writing standard operating guidelines, and assigning an incident safety officer.

Scranton mayor Chris Doherty says the city is willing to make changes.

“It's a learning experience. It's a tragic situation losing Captain Robeson. But you have to look at yourself and say what can we do in the future hopefully to prevent something like this? Every time you learn," says Mayor Doherty.

Captain Robeson's mother and father told us it was too hard to talk about the report on camera.

But they tell us, they're in favor of anything that will help make fire fighters safe.