Three months after a massive fire at a vacant former Army hospital in Alameda, residents are demanding the resignation of City of Alameda Fire Chief David Kapler.
In the wee hours of March 29th, 2009, a massive fire began in the former Army Medical Depot on land just west of the Webster and Posey Tubes. It was part of the U.S. Navy’s Fleet Industrial Supply Center (FISC)which closed in 1998. The fire could be seen from various points in Oakland and burned for 19 hours, depositing ash and soot downwind across wide swaths of Alameda. The building had been slated for demolition by Catellus, a developer with entitlements to the land, whose plans for a mixed residential-commercial development on the site called 'Alameda Landing' are on hold due to the recession.
Cameron Platt / cameronobscura.com
Denise Lai, who lives on Pacific Avenue in Alameda, downwind of the fire, is one of a group of Alameda residents demanding answers from the City of Alameda over health concerns related to the smoke and ash and debris from the fire that landed in residential yards. The roof of the building contained asbestos, and as a result of the fire, the City of Alameda has issued a contract with FERMA Corporation to safely demolish the rest of the building and remove 50,000 square feet of friable asbestos.
In a June 26th opinion editorial article submitted to local newspapers, Lai accused Fire Chief Kapler of failing to alert "appropriate regional and state agencies that would have brought experts and fund here to protect our public and environmental health" and claims that he exhibited a "cavalier" approach to the complaints of citizens over possible contamination.
On the call for Kapler's resignation, Alameda Interim City Manager Ann Marie Gallant wrote:
Cameron Platt / cameronobscura.com
"Any action taken by the city on any of its employees is confidential due to the complexity of the personnel system under which we are legally obligated to operate. However, should I discover that any employee - in any department -has not followed any and all operating policies, safety rules and regulations, standard operating procedures etc. - that employee will be held accountable through this personnel system.
That having been said, let me state that Chief Kapler has demonstrated both professionalism and competency in executing his management responsibilities - serving both this organization, its elected officials and the public we serve. During my 90 days as Interim City Manager for this city, I have developed the utmost confidence in the Chief's ability to execute policy and management decisions made by my office. I have no doubt that the Chief will continue to do so long into the future."
On a blog set-up by residents concerned about the health impacts of the fire, and to which Lai contributes, a recent posting asserts that the Alameda Fire Department does not have adequate fire and hazmat response policies to deal with a fire such as the one on March 29th:
"I was interested in the 3 and 4-alarm fire response because firefighters from San Francisco have called the FISC fire a 3 or 4 alarm fire.
The [Alameda Fire Department's] 3 and 4-alarm response policy. There isn’t one. That’s right: No such thing as a policy for a 3 or 4-alarm fire. This goes a long way toward explaining why the response to the FISC fire was so inadequate: The AFD was utterly unprepared for a fire and hazmat event of this severity."
In her e-mail to me, InterimCity Manager Gallant expressed confidence that the City has competently met its responsibilities regarding the fire incident, although she did not respond to the question of whether or not the City or Fire Department was reviewing policies in light of the fire and reported concerns from citizens.
When told that the Interim City Manager is standing by the Fire Chief, Lai responded: "Given the current national standards for the fire fighting industry and the horribly failed response to the FISC fire earlier this year that heavily contaminated our land, air, water, and lungs, I find it entirely odd and, worse, unacceptable that the City of Alameda, her government and her leadership (mayor, city council) is not questioning and evaluating Fire Chief Kapler's performance overall. "
For more info: See the Alameda Army Medical Depot Fire blog: http://fireinalameda.wordpress.com/ For more pictures of the fire, see http://www.flickr.com/photos/cameronobscura/sets/72157615995395353/
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Alameda residents demand Fire Chief's resignation over handling of massive fire
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