Who's the idiot?

I take exception with Richard Anderson's My Turn column deriding the efforts of my fellow firefighter's during the recent downtown fire. As an adviser Mr. Anderson deals with theory, not the realities that face those in the field. The initial interior attack team could feel the heat of the fire through their boots because it was already racing through the voids between the first and second floors, not just behind the building faade, as Anderson implies. Our firefighters are experienced and trained enough to know that one doesn't take a chainsaw to the wall of a building that hasn't had the power supply cut off; an immediate request was made by the incident commander and AEL&P responded as quickly as possible.

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The fire was fought from five sides so there were numerous revelations related to the impervious nature of the structure that came to light during an extensive debriefing. If there were any "idiots" on the street that day it would have been a cordoned-off bystander making uninformed conclusions that apparently bolstered his ego. Mr. Anderson's remarks have the odor of an "expert witness" on a fishing expedition. Our community isn't quite as litigious as he's probably used to and if that's his best shot it's no wonder that he's looking for clients.

George Reifenstein Jr.

Captain, Capital City Fire and Rescue Special Teams

Juneau