Investigators probing the line-of-duty death of a Hartford, Connecticut, firefighter on Oct. 7 are taking a close look at the “mayday” call that went unanswered and the fact that fallen firefighter Kevin Bell was low on air before he went down.
Recordings of the radio transmissions reveal that firefighters with Engine 16 worked for nearly 10 minutes to access the second floor of the burning building at 598 Blue Hills Avenue, where the fire broke out.
Within minutes of entering the second floor, Bell’s lieutenant stopped responding to the incident commander’s requests.
Sources within the city of Hartford told the NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters that both Bell and Lt. John Moree received alerts indicating their air supplies were low, despite the fact the air bottles they carried are meant to last an average of 30 minutes.
Then – a faint mayday call.
Seconds later, a radio transmission directed all firefighters to evacuate the building.
“Command to all units. Command to all units. Bail out,” the commander directed. “All units come out of the building now!”
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Sources said the emergency bailout came after critically injured firefighter Jason Martinez jumped from a second-story window around the same time Moree made the mayday call.
Hartford fire investigators are asking tough questions, including why Bell and Moree ran out of air so quickly and why Martinez was forced to leap from a window to escape.
The incident commander in charge of the scene is also under the microscope, according to sources close to the investigation.
