Cites Firefighters Who Contributed To Delayed Response

The city of Visalia, CA is taking disciplinary action against four firefighters in the wake of a January 13 plane crash just shy of the city's airport.

As Aero-News reported, it took nearly four hours for firefighters to locate the wreckage of a Piper Twin Comanche (file photo of type, above) that went down with four onboard approximately 400 feet short of the runway. An eyewitness reported the accident between 6:30 and 6:45 pm. Bernie and Betty Sinor and their two granddaughters died in the accident.

Three of the four firefighters cited in the city report were working on the night of the accident. Fresno TV station ABC-30 says the city accuses those on duty of choosing not respond to the reported accident.

Fire engineer Shane Yoder, firefighter Thomas Jimenez, Captain John Wafford and Battalion Chief Charles Norman all contributed to the four hour delay in response time to the plane crash, according to the city's report.

"It doesn't appear that anything was done intentionally. That's not the purpose of our review," said city attorney Alex Peltzer. "Our purpose of the review is to make sure that personnel did their jobs as they were required to do."

The report says eyewitness Geoff Ludlow saw the airplane go down at approximately 6:30 that evening -- and that he immediately went to the fire station to report the accident. He spoke with Shane Yoder, who was standing outside the station.

Yoder eventually told Captain Wafford -- who then chose not to respond. It was only when emergency crews, summoned by the airport manager at 9:30 pm, arrived that firefighters discovered the wreckage.

Ludlow told ABC-30 he can't believe it took firefighters so long to respond to the scene.

"I flew like a crazy down there and they said, 'Well, we didn't have a report,' and I said, well it just happened," Ludlow said. "I said someone should check it out and they said, 'We'll send someone down to check it out.' And then I read in the paper they didn't find it until 10:30pm, until emergency crews showed up."

A lawyer for one of the firefighters says it was simply an error of judgement, adding the firefighters DID look for the accident.

"They didn't' see any smoke, they didn't see any fire, they didn't see anything that alerted them," said lawyer Richard Rumery. "For the city to say the fire captain did not uphold his duties is absurd."

Rumery added firefighters didn't believe Ludlow, because firefighters say he was acting 'strangely'.

Many of the firefighters are planning to appeal the city's disciplinary actions. Battalion Chief Norman was reprimanded, and Captain Wafford announced he will be retiring.

The NTSB Preliminary Report makes no mention of the delay in rescue crews arriving onscene. The delay in response time appears to have made no difference to the survival of the plane's occupants, however, as an autopsy report indicates all four died immediately on impact.

FMI: Read The NTSB Preliminary Report