Camas city officials will continue their appeals process against the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries’ decision to uphold violations against the city and Camas-Washougal Fire Department because they say they fear the decision could have harmful impacts on fire departments around the state.
The issue in Camas started with a Valentine’s Day fire at a house on Prune Hill.
A fire engine with two firefighters responded to a house alarm. When they arrived, they saw smoke, and one firefighter started to walk around the house. He heard a man inside an attached garage banging and yelling for help. The two firefighters had to decide whether to try to rescue the man or wait for more help. They broke through the garage door and rescued the man and his dog.
“We would not want to restrict firefighters taking minimal risk to save a savable life,” said Wayne Senter, executive director for the Washington Fire Chiefs. “This is a perfect storm that happened in Camas.”