ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — An Orange County fire lieutenant was reprimanded for choosing to sleep instead of dealing with a serious issue at the fire station, Channel 9 learned.
A disciplinary report said the lieutenant and his engineer failed to tell their boss when the only fire truck at the station broke down.
The report said it was a leak in the engine, and the lieutenant mentioned it to maintenance, but chose not to stay awake to show them the problem.
Lt. Erik Quarterman and the engineer, Robert Battle, received written reprimands.
Records show that on May 13, Quarterman reported a leak on engine 43, but he went to bed before finding out the status of the truck.
Battle’s disciplinary form shows he too went to bed instead of waiting on maintenance to finish checking out the truck.
Maintenance eventually reported the truck as “out of service” to dispatch.
But a 911 call came in several hours later, dispatching crews from station 43.
Paramedics were able to go to the call but because the engine was out of service, it didn't go.
It took Quarterman 24 minutes to tell dispatch the truck was out of service, and an additional 20 minutes to tell the chief, which is what he was supposed to do right away.
The document claims that the lack of communication resulted in the engine being out of service for more than eight hours and missing the woman's call.
County officials said they had to call an engine from another station 10 minutes away, but patient care wasn't affected, and the backup truck was only one minute behind paramedics.
OCFR release this statement: “The Orange County Fire Rescue system is designed to dispatch the closest available unit in proximity to the call. While the decision made was not in accordance with policy, there was no delay in patient care, nor was the patient adversely affected.”
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