Feds Issue Report on Fatal North Carolina Fire

A federal agency is concluding that failure to follow standard procedures for fighting a high-rise fire likely contributed to the death of an Asheville, N.C., fire captain last year.

The Asheville Citizen-Times reported that National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health wrote its conclusion about the fire in July 2011 that killed Capt. Jeff Bowen. Nine firefighters also were injured in the fire, caused by arson.

Asheville Fire Chief Scott Burnette says the department has begun considering ways to improve and has implemented some of the report’s recommendations. He says changes have been made in training, the ratio of supervisors to firefighters and deployment strategy.

The department will release its internal report to the City Council’s public safety committee Aug. 27 and to the full council on Aug. 28.