Seven months after two firefighters died fighting a fire on Independence Boulevard, the Kansas City Fire Department produced a report on the deaths and a set of recommendations to improve firefighter safety.
Kansas City firefighters John Mesh and Larry Leggio died when a brick wall collapsed and fell on them during the Oct. 12 fire.
The report is the first official explanation of why Mesh, 39, and Leggio, 43, were in the alley on the building’s east side when the collapse occurred.
Produced by a team of senior fire officials and union representatives, the report includes 14 recommendations, calling first for a policy on how firefighters should work around building collapse zones. The report goes on to suggest more than a dozen new policies on emergency decision-making, training and communication, among other topics.
The report recommended these steps:
1. Develop a collapse zone policy using industry standards to require visual markers of collapse zones with lighted beacons or colored incident scene tape.
2. Update communication policies for emergencies, critical information exchanges and radio calls.