By Natalie Caula
ncaula@abcnews4.com
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) – John Bolton says he's anything but disgruntled. The North Charleston firefighter, who was injured in a 2010 blaze, claims the city is using him as a scapegoat to divert from what he calls the failures of the department during the fire that injured three.
On July 7, 2010 Bolton says he barely made it out alive. He says he was upstairs the Hollow Oaks neighborhood home with two other firefighters when he walked into a fireball.
"My left hand, bunker gear glove came off and I looked down and my hand was on fire," Bolton said.
After calling for ‘mayday' on his radio, Bolton says he remembered the location of an upstairs window and jumped out.
"I dove out the second floor window and landed on the little roof below," Bolton said.
Bolton ended up in the Augusta Burn Center for several days before returning to duty. Captain William Odum and Firefighter Antwon Green were also injured and have since returned to duty.
Following the fire and an investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), citations were filed against the department.
OSHA claims the department failed to properly monitor its firefighters during the fire. They also claim the department didn't have enough personnel prepared to help in the event of an emergency. The citations carry a fine of $1,000 each.
Sandy Senn, attorney representing the city, says OSHA is pushing a regulation that would require department leaders to fill out a two-page form even before firefighters began battling a blaze.
"We feel like we cannot. We don't want a situation where paperwork is more important than life safety issues," Chief Gregory Bulanow said.
Firefighter Bolton says this issue is the least of the department's worries. He claims his superiors had no idea he was even inside the burning home.
"Nobody knew we were even in there until we jumped out the window," Bolton said. "How can you lose people inside a simple house fire and not know they're in there?"
Chief Bulanow claims department leaders knew there was a crew inside the home but didn't know that crew included Bolton.
"Of course we didn't know Firefighter Bolton was in there because he was given another assignment and he abandoned his assignment," Chief Bulanow said.
The chief claims not only did Bolton abandon his assignment, but claims he was assigned to the Rapid Intervention Team (RIT), a crew meant to rescue or assist a firefighter in distress.
Bolton says the department didn't assign firefighters to the RIT team, but according to a transcript of the radio transmissions, provided by the city attorney, "the truck company will be RIT team back up."
Chief Bulanow and Firefighter Bolton both say Bolton was written up for the violation of abandoning his assignment. But Bolton says the problem goes way beyond his alleged violation.
"It just doesn't make sense why the little guys are being blamed, when nothing happened to the command staff," Bolton said. "Why aren't they being re-trained or reprimanded? I'll take my write-up but just don't blame me and the little fireman. There's a whole picture."
What did go wrong?
Chief Gregory Bulanow admits there were problems with procedure, which he says they've since addressed.
"Crews arrived simultaneously at this fire and that created a communication issue because our actions are dictated by order of arrival. So, we've since changed our policy to address that need and that's taken place at the highest level. Its taken place at my level," Chief Bulanow said.
Why hasn't an independent review been completed following a fire that injured three firefighters? Chief Bulanow says the department began an investigation which included two external team members, who belong to nearby jurisdictions.
"We began an investigation into our response to the fire. OSHA came in and essentially duplicating our efforts, at a much more detailed drawn out process, which has taken more than a year and a half," Chief Bulanow said. "Once this is completed and we're hopeful the trial will come soon and we'll be able to put that behind us and let the dust settle, we will complete our critical incident review."
Chief Bulanow says the hearing against OSHA has not been scheduled yet.
Meanwhile, Firefighter Bolton says he worries about what his outcry will mean to his job with the North Charleston Fire Department.
"I could lose my job and all that," Bolton said. "I'd rather lose my job than a fireman being killed in North Charleston."
Chief Bulanow says he feels Bolton has not learned anything from the incident and called it a concern, but claims he cannot be reprimanded for publicly criticizing the department.
"He has rights and we respect his rights to free speech," Chief Bulanow said.
Firefighter John Bolton claims North Charleston Fire Department made mistakes during the 2010 blaze that left him injured. (Dave MacQueen/WCIV)
The home on Purity Drive caught fire on July 7, 2010. (File photo)
