COULD FOUR-YEAR-0LD BOY WHO DIED IN FIRE HAVE BEEN SAVED?

By Juan Montoya

As a grand jury begins looking into the death of a man killed by police in a standoff, some are wondering if a review process should be initiated to probe into the death of a child in an apartment complex fire less than a month ago.
Nearly a year after a Brownsville man was shot and killed in a standoff with Brownsville police, it has yet to be determined if the officers involved in the shooting will face criminal charges.
The case to determine if Brownsville Police Department officers were justified in shooting Ricardo Moreno last November was turned over to the Cameron County District Attorney’s Office and the local daily reported that a federal court docket indicates that it is the process of being investigated by a Cameron County grand jury.
Moreno’s family filed a federal lawsuit against the Brownsville Police Department to determine if the death was "caused by negligence or use of excessive force."
Meanwhile, many are wondering if such a process should be initiated to review the facts surrounding the fire death of four-year-old Osvaldo "Gotti" Moreno who was rescued out of a burning apartment on the city’s northeast side, but died three days later from brain and lung damage caused by the fumes and smoke caused by the blaze.
The fire occurred on Oct. 10 at the Macias Apartments at 3663 Coffeeport Road.
Eyewitnesses to the blaze have said that the response time by the firefighters was unusually long and that mismanagement of fire companies may have contributed to the tragic turn of events.
"I was there before the fire engines got there," said an eyewitness at the scene. "I saw smoke coming out of the window of an upstairs apartment and wondered why the firefighters were taking so long. There is fire station (6) just around the corner near the Treviño Funeral Home. It wouldn't have taken them but a minute to get there. It's less than a mile away."
A review of the preliminary report indicates that the crew of Fire Engine 6 did not answer the call because it had been assigned by Fire Department administrators to make a Fire Prevention Week presentation at Paredes Elementary School, miles away from the fire.
Instead, Fire Engine 8, located on Old Alice Road across the street from Martin Elementary was assigned to cover for Fire Engine 6. In their report, they said they got the call to go to the blaze at 9:13 a.m. from dispatch that indicated that a child was trapped inside.
The report states that dispatch got the call from the scene at 9:12.
Fire Engine 8 reported that they covered the 7.5 miles from Old Alice to the apartments in about nine minutes, arriving there at 9:21 a.m.
The eyewitness said he stopped to see if he could help just about the time that at least nine units of the Brownsville Police Department.
"Then police went to the door and tried to go in, but they were walking and couldn't get in because of the smoke and fumes," he said. "I was a firefighter in the Navy and they train you that you don't go walking in, but are supposed to crawl instead."
When a Fire Department inspector arrived first, she did not immediately go in, but opened the trunk to her car and started to put on her firefighting equipment. However, she did not attempt to go in the building, he said.
"She never actually go to the apartment," he said. "She waited until the fire engine crew got there and let them go in. She just kind of hung out by her car putting on her stuff."
The report states that by the time Fire Engine 8 firefighters arrived, the police had broken out the windows in the front and a construction crew had broken out the windows of the rear of the apartment "causing the fire to be fanned."
When rescue crews went in the apartment, they found the four-year-old wrapped in a comforter and lying down in the corner of a bedroom, Fire Marshal Ben Nuñez reported.
Moreno was resuscitated by emergency personnel on the way to a Brownsville hospital and he and his mother were later flown by helicopter to Texas Methodist Hospital in San Antonio.
"It only takes three minutes for someone to be overcome by smoke and fumes in a fire," a firefighter said. "If someone had gone in after him, he might have lived."
Many are wondering whether the polices set forth by FD Chief Lenny Perez should be reassessed to see whether changes are needed so tragedies such as the one that resulted in the death of the child can be prevented.
"Why weren't inspectors sent to the schools instead of the entire fire crew?" asked a former firefighter. "And why did the crew from Old Alice (Engine 8) have to cut across the expressway and all the way across town to answer this call?"
"Every time I pass by the apartments I feel sad about this," said one eyewitness. "I have grand kids of my own and I can still see them pulling out that boy and his little arms dangling out the sides of the stretcher. I've had nightmares about this. We were all wondering why it was taking so long for the firefighters to respond."
Incidentally, the preliminary report indicates that Fire Engine 6, giving the school presentation, was not on the scene at any time during the incident.
"The chief is on the radio listening at all the times unless he's sleeping or something," said a firefighter from one of the city's stations. "We always respond to a structure fire unless he tells us not to."