Fired trainer: Brass knew of ‘live burn’

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Former Baltimore City Fire training director Kenneth Hyde spoke out for the first time Tuesday, alleging he informed Fire Department Chief William Goodwin of the details of his “live burn” exercises prior to the death of fire recruit Racheal Wilson.

Hyde said he gave a PowerPoint presentation on the progress of Wilson’s class Feb. 1 to top fire officials that contained a section on his use of live burns, including the Feb. 9 fire that would prove fatal — a claim fire officials deny.

“We discussed live burns, and the chief safety officer questioned me about them, including the dates of the burns,” Hyde said.

But Rick Binetti, the communications director for Baltimore City Fire Department, said Hyde made no such presentation at that meeting.

“At the meeting based on the minutes, and my recollection having been there, the discussion of live burns never came up,” he said.

At issue is how much top fire officials knew of Hyde’s activities in conducting live burn training exercises. Mayor Sheila Dixon fired Hyde after Wilson died Feb. 9 when a live burn training session got out of control.

Binetti said minutes of the meeting, which do not mention the Feb. 9 live burn, back up his memory.

According to the department’s report into the investigation, several major errors in the training exercise contributed to Wilson’s death.

Dixon has requested a panel of independent experts to review the department’s training practices and safety procedures. The panel will issue recommendations by March 30.

But firefighters union President Stephen Fugate said top fire officials cannot be trusted, because they lied to him during a recent meeting with Dixon.

Fugate said that during a meeting with Dixon, Goodwin told Fugate the department’s Chief Safety Officer Bill Jones ordered Hyde not to conduct the live burn training exercise that killed Wilson, but Hyde did it anyway.

But later, Fugate said, Jones and Goodwin denied an e-mail was sent.

“First [Jones] said he didn’t know what I was talking about,” Fugate said.

sjanis@baltimoreexaminer.com

lbroadwater@baltimoreexaminer.com

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