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Heartbreak on Schuyler Street, through a photographer\’s lens

My heartfelt sympathy goes out to the family and friends of the victims of the Utica, NY fire which occurred at a residence on Schuyler Street on Monday, May 9, 2011. A mother and three young children lost their lives in the fire.

WKTV News Channel 2, Utica, NY posted a heart wrenching video created by Mr. Tim Fisher, a WKTV-TV photojournalist about a fire that occurred on Monday, May 9, 2011 at about 9:30 am in Utica New York. The fire took the lives of a mother and her three young children. Some family and friends were critical of the Utica FD response and their actions at the fire. They did not feel the fire department tried hard enough to find and rescue the four who died.

Those who have read my blogs, articles, and administrator messages in Fireline know that fatal fires happen all too often. I have tried to highlight loss lessons to remind us that these fires are still occurring. Some builders and realtors talk about the minimal cost of adding sprinklers into the construction of a new home as being unreasonable, that this small cost to save lives will somehow interfere with their efforts to get rich. I look at the conscious efforts to prevent future losses like this from happening an unconscionable, and urge everyone to step up and send a message to their legislators that fire sprinklers save lives, property and livelihoods.

Thanks to Mr. Fisher and WKTV News 2 for creating this video. It will be a video that will live on for many years to come. http://www.wktv.com/news/local/121577954.html

Thanks to Dave Statter http://statter911.com and http://www.FireFighterCloseCalls.com for their efforts to advertise this video on their web sites and in their e-mail blasts in an effort to bring this to the fire service community.