Bridgeport fire officials made many mistakes while responding to a fire that killed two city firefighters in July 2010, according to a National Institute for Occupational Safety report obtained by the Connecticut Post.
Michel Baik, 49, and Steven Velasquez, 40, died, while battling a fire at three-floor home on Elmwood Avenue.
When the two men were found, their air cylinders were empty, according to the report, which said officials did not properly manage their air supply, the Post reports.
Two mayday calls were made, Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch said last year.
The report released on Wednesday said the deputy fire chief and his assistant at the scene talked about whether they heard a mayday call from the two firefighters rather than act immediately, the Post reports.
One of the firefighters made it to “relative safety,” the Post reports, but firefighters did not come to his immediate aid, the report states.
Fire Chief Brian Rooney said the city had received the report.
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"This has been a trying and difficult time for everyone involved in the deaths of our two firefighters -- their families and friends, their fellow firefighters and the entire city," Rooney said in a statement. "The investigation of this fatal fire by the CT State Fire Marshal's Office remains ongoing. Until the Fire Marshal releases his official report, it would be inappropriate for the City or the Bridgeport Fire Department to issue any public commentary as it may impede or compromise the continuing investigation."
Among the other issues that have come up since the fire are that Bridgeport officials never approved plans for an apartment in that home, according to public records.
