Niece Of Haverhill Woman Killed In Fire Lashes Out At Firefighters
HAVERHILL (CBS) - The niece of an 84-year-old woman who was killed in a fire in her home is lashing out at firefighters and the fire union. She says it is unconscionable that the union used her aunt's death as a political tool in their bargaining battle with the Mayor.
"It could have been prevented," Jeri-an Batal said Friday. She says her aunt, Phyllis Lamot, should have been saved.
Lamot was found dead on the first floor of the triple-decker on Washington Street in Haverhill.
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"Stop blaming the Mayor for your own ignorance," Batal says of the firefighters. "You own it now."
Lamot's daughter and son-in-law also live on the first floor of the building. Her son-in-law ran up to the third floor to wake up and rescue a family. They thought Phyllis had made it outside as well.
Yesterday the mayor and firefighters union reached a deal to staff the rescue truck with three firefighters again, using firefighters' punishment duty. Ten days ago, Mayor James Fiorentini had reduced the number of men on the rescue truck from three to one.
Batal says firefighters should have figured out a solution before the tragedy.
We are now learning more about what happened during the fire.
According to a fire official familiar with the operation, the lone firefighter operating the rescue truck by himself was the second to arrive on the scene. He says the firefighter got out and tried to enter the home on the right hand side of the building. He says the first two windows were too high for him to climb into by himself, but he broke them to ventilate the room.
The official says he was able to get into a window that was lower and he searched the room, and then went around the back of the house and searched that area as well.
The fire official says Lamot was found in the front room, which the firefighter was unable to enter because he was by himself. The official stands behind the statements that if the truck had been fully staffed, then Phyllis would be alive today because the firefighters could have helped each other climb into the window.
Niece Of Haverhill Woman Killed In Fire Lashes Out At Firefighters
