CITY HIDES FIRE DEATH REPORTS: ARE CASES ACCESSED FROM EMERGENCY RESPONSE SYSTEM BEING REFERRED TO LAWYERS?

By Juan Montoya

A request for a fire marshal's investigative report on a fire where an elderly woman died has been denied by the Brownsville Fire Department's Fire Marshal citing advice from the city's "legal" advisers.

Fire Inspector Robert Harris said he would be glad to provide response times of the fire department engines and responders, but that he could not release his investigative report on the fatality because of legal concerns. He did not elaborate on what those "concerns" might be.

And clouding the city's response to the requests is the fact that there is no permanent city attorney to make that determination and that it involves one of the files that was illegally accessed by fired Fire Chief Carlos Elizondo. The Cameron County District Attorney has cited his prohibited access to that specific report as part of an 11-count indictment.

The indictment, which the grand jury issued June 27, charges Elizondo with accessing the Emergency Reporting System for the Brownsville Fire Department without the consent of the City of Brownsville on 11 occasions starting on Oct. 11 and ending on Nov. 23. At that time, current fire chief Jarrett Sheldon had been appointed as interim fire chief. (That's prankster Sheldon at left below in a Facebook posting.)

The city suspended Elizondo from the fire department on Oct. 9 and told him not the access the Emergency Reporting System.

Harris referred any other questions to the City Secreteary's office information specialist Johnny Gutierrez. El Rrun-Rrun has filed an information request with Gutierrez and is awaiting a response from that office.

On Nov. 19, the Brownsville Fire Department was called to a fire at a duplex at 18 A Avenue, on the city's southwest side. When the first FD unit arrived, it was operated by firefighter Lt. Jorge Lerma who was pulling a late shift at fire station Station 2 at 536 W St Charles, about seven blocks from the site.

Lerma just happens to be the current president of the Brownsville Fire Fighters Association. He is also listed as the complainant upon which an indictment charging Elizondo with theft from the union is based. He accused Elizondo of making improper ATM cash withdrawals totaling $8,000 from the association’s PAC while he was its president from January 2014 to 2016. Elizondo was the fire chief at that time.

A grand jury indicted Elizondo last October on one count of theft by a public servant and one count of misapplication of fiduciary property. That indictment was issued last October but was dismissed after Elizondo was re-indicted for the same charges in two different indictments.

Accounts on what happened on the Nov. 19 fire where the woman died are muddled, and with the investigative reports hidden from the public by the city, there are several versions based on emergency response personnel and other city staff. Efforts to reach Lerma, who responded first to the fire, have been unsuccessful.

Police identified the victim of the duplex fire as 73-year-old Cornelia Ruth Wright. Wright, who was bedridden, died after being transferred to the hospital from the blaze which broke out in the room in which she stayed. The husband, Harold Wright, was transported to the hospital and treated for smoke inhalation. He survived.

Most observers agree up to that point.

However, disagreement centers on what happened when Lerma got to the fire and whether firefighter efforts may have been inadequate to possibly save the woman. Some reports indicate that the way the reports came into the station led them to believe that it was only a minor blaze and posed no danger to anyone.

Others say that as a result firefighters – including Lerma – may not have been dressed in their fire gear that stymied their to attempt a rescue.

Video from the police cars' camcorders may provide an answer, but it is doubtful that the city would allow their release if it is fighting the release of the fire marshal's office investigative report. Nonetheless, El Rrun-Rrun has already filed an information request for any existing tapes or discs of events recorded at the scene.

Then-Interim Chief  Sheldon said that the victim’s husband, who used a wheelchair, alerted authorities to the fire at 10:55 p.m. Sunday night and had attempted to rescue his wife.

“He was home and called 9-1-1, and tried to rescue the female and was unable to,” Sheldon said.

On top of that, some speculate that when Elizondo accessed the Emergency Reporting System, he may have altered the reports to cast Lerma – who filed the theft complaint against him – in an unfavorable light.

"It's funny that the city administration – including Chief Sheldon – is not being forthcoming with the report of that fire," said a retired firefighter. "I heard that the family of the deceased had come in to thank the firefighters for saving their dad and making the effort to save their mother. Now it sounds as if there might be a lawsuit coming out of this. What changed their minds?"

If Lerma did violate fire department rules by appearing at a fire scene without the proper equipment to perform his duty, they are wondering why Sheldon has not disciplined the firefighter. Could it be, they wonder, that by having Lerma in a compromised position Sheldon will be able to buy off the peace with the union and implement his rule at the department without any objection from organized labor?

"If Sheldon has Lerma over a barrel and is holding his actions at that fire over his head, he is just as guilty as anyone in shielding the truth from the public," the firefighter said. "He hasn't done anything up to now, nine months after the fire."   

DA Office sources say that investigators have began a forensic investigation into the illegal access to the Emergency Reporting System computers to determine whether any alterations were made in the reports of the cases. They also said that they are investigating whether any lawsuits against the city or EMS involving the accessed files start appearing as lawsuits in the local courts.

"If you see some of these cases pop up in the courts against the city, the Fire Department or the EMS, they're going to be looking real close to determine whether it was the result of some runner urging them to contact certain lawyers to file on their behalf," said one. "Is someone referring these cases to ambulance chasers?"