9 Investigates: Review of Orlando firefighters' Pulse response shows breakdown in communication

ORLANDO, Fla. — Leadership issues may have sparked a major breakdown in communication for Orlando firefighters responding to the Pulse attack.

The Orlando Fire Department requested an independent review of its response.

The findings were released Wednesday.

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The National Police Foundation interviewed more than 60 Orlando Fire Department employees and other city staff. The team reviewed 911 calls and department policies and procedures.

The report reveals the fire response may have been different if the fire chief had been on scene and if different policies and procedures were in place.

It was 2:02 a.m. when gunman Omar Mateen walked into the Pulse nightclub in June 2016.

Fourteen minutes later, an assistant Orlando fire chief was dispatched to the call.

According to the review, it was two hours later when 911 dispatchers sent a page that went to the fire chief and three deputy chiefs.

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Orlando firefighters were left to take direction from a deputy chief and commanders with Orange County Fire Rescue, but the report indicates that, if senior-level leadership had been present during the initial stages and throughout the shooting, it would have facilitated better decision-making and operations.

The report noted other incidents that highlighted a lack of oversight.

Shortly after the shooting started, Orlando police moved the unified command center, but the Orlando Fire Department didn't follow suit, and that was against department policy.

It also meant no one from the department was present in that command center, so some firefighters may not have known how the situation was evolving.

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When it came time to breach a nightclub wall to take out the shooter, the Orlando Fire Department initially thought an improvised explosive device had gone off.

The lack of communication and coordination also temporarily stalled the process of having firefighters take more victims to the hospital, forcing some police officers to rely more on their own patrol units, instead of using the ambulances.

Sometime between 5:30 a.m. and 6:00 a.m., the Orlando Fire Department executive staff, including the chief, started to arrive at the scene.

By then, Mateen had been killed by police.

Cox Media Group