Crippen blasts fire handling

Fresno woodpile owner says fire crews failed to respond to calls first day.

By Mark Grossi
The Fresno Bee

(Updated Saturday, February 8, 2003, 5:38 AM)

Archie Crippen, owner of a woodpile that has burned for a month, says Fresno's sky would not be filled with dangerous smoke if the city hadn't ignored six emergency calls, allowing a delay that turned a small fire into a huge blaze.

Crippen and his son Lee also question the Fresno Fire Department's decision earlier that day -- Jan. 11 -- to douse a smaller fire in the woodpile and leave the property. Crippen said the fire was still burning down in the pile.

"At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, they said the fire's out," said Crippen, 79. "It looked like it was. It wasn't. They said, 'You just call us if there's a problem. Don't hesitate.' We tried."

Firefighters returned to the Crippen property between 10 and 10:30 p.m. after a Fresno Bee reporter witnessed the fire and called the city Fire Department.

Fire officials concede there was confusion over the emergency calls that evening, but a few hours' delay made no difference.

"[The fire] had found a vent hole," said interim Fire Chief Joel Aranaz. "It probably had been burning for some time before that day."

That is not the only difference of opinion between Crippen and the city on what happened Jan. 11.

Crippen, who avoided the media for weeks, decided to tell his story this week after an area resident sued him over the fire.

The lawsuit alleges that Crippen was negligent for storing contaminants in a way that injured the public and damaged the environment. The lawsuit says Crippen's permit did not allow him to store many types of debris in the pile, including automobile parts.

Crippen denies the allegation. He said the pile is basically wood. Firefighters say they found twisted metal, plastic, carpet, mattresses and auto parts.

The fire continued to burn Friday, but officials said clear, dry days helped them make progress. They remain reluctant to predict when the fire will be extinguished.

Microscopic ash and soot particles suspended in stagnant weather patterns continued to cause health concerns Friday. With light winds moving the plume, local air officials warned people to limit outdoor activities if they smell smoke.

The first flames of the fire, which began by spontaneous combustion in the large pile, were seen and reported by three callers in the early-morning hours Jan. 11.

Documents show fire units were dispatched a little after 3 a.m. to Archie Crippen Excavation, a wood-recycling site near Nielsen and Marks avenues. Crews found fire in a small part of a 4.8-acre pile that was stacked two stories high.

From that point on, Crippen's view differs from the one offered by fire officials.

Aranaz said Crippen was not interested in keeping firefighters at the site that afternoon.

"He didn't want us there in the first place," Aranaz said Friday. "He thought he could take care of it himself. He was more than happy to take over when we pulled out around 5 or 5:30 that afternoon."

Crippen said he appreciated the hardworking firefighters, but he wonders why they were directed to pour 1 million gallons of water on the fire. He said water seeps into the pile and helps speed the spontaneous-combustion process and spread the fire.

Aranaz answered: "We were putting out the flames on the surface of the burn. It was visible in a small area. That's where Archie was cutting a fire line with his equipment."

Crippen, using his own equipment, tried slicing out the small section where fire was visible after firefighters left that afternoon. But, in the darkness, the equipment turned on its side, stunning Crippen.

He escaped without injury. Three hours later, Crippen's workers, waiting for the Fire Department to return, retrieved the equipment from the fire.

Aranaz said he didn't think Crippen's efforts to create the firebreak would have helped even if he had been successful.

"This fire was already burning deep in the pile," he said.

Both sides agree on one thing: There was a lapse in the evening hours Jan. 11 at the 911 dispatch center in the Fresno Police Department, which handles emergency police and fire calls.

Police officials say they plan to investigate the way the calls were handled. The mayor's fire task force also is expected to discuss the calls.

Matt Crippen, Lee's son, called 911 at 6:30 p.m. The dispatcher said the Fire Department would again be sent to Crippen's property, but no one was dispatched. The Crippens say Matt called five more times that night to no avail. They said the dispatcher eventually warned him not to call back.

The dispatch log released by city officials for the evening shows Matt Crippen called only once.

But the log shows other people called at 7:57 p.m., 9:38 p.m., 9:45 p.m., 9:59 p.m. and 10 p.m. In at least two of the calls, the dispatcher said fire crews were allowing the fire to burn.

"At 8 o'clock, I go in the house," said Crippen, who lives at the woodpile site. "I've been working 16 hours by that time. The breeze comes up, and it's taking [the fire] right up over the pile."

A dispatcher asked a later caller whether he saw smoke or flame.

"I can see fire from here," the caller replied. "Fire, flames, smoke and fire."

When firefighters arrived sometime after 10 p.m., they decided to shower it with more water to hold down flames. But they soon stopped all work until Aranaz could inspect it Monday.

The fire chief said his inspection Monday led him to start through a standard protocol for a situation that the department could not handle alone. He notified county officials, who inspected the fire Tuesday. County officials called in state and federal authorities.

The Crippens saw a different picture. They said they saw a lot of smoke, fire equipment and people, but little action.

Said Lee Crippen, "Nobody knew what to do."

The reporter can be reached

at mgrossi@fresnobee.com or 441-6316.