City Releases FAO Daryl Gordon Line of Duty Death Report

CINCINNATI – On March 26, 2015, Cincinnati Firefighter Daryl Gordon paid the ultimate sacrifice while searching the fire scene at 6020 Dahlgren St. looking for people to rescue. His family, the City family and the Cincinnati Fire Department family felt a tremendous loss.

Daryl was a true public servant and a hero in every sense of the word and he remains greatly missed.

The Fire Department has worked for many months to develop a detailed Line of Duty Death Report. The purpose of the report is to honor Daryl’s memory and sacrifice by understanding everything that happened that fateful morning and learning as much from the incident as possible.

• DOWNLOAD THE REPORT

“Every injury or death prevented as a result of what has been learned through this report is a tribute to Daryl Gordon,” wrote City Manager Harry Black in an informational memo to the Mayor and members of City Council.

At the direction of Chief Richard Braun, the Fire Department formed a committee to independently investigate the events surrounding the incident. The committee was led by former Assistant Chief Ed Dadosky and District Chief Greg Potter, and made up of personnel from each Cincinnati Fire Department Bureau and representatives of Fire Fighters IAFF Local 48 Safety Committee. They coordinated with NIOSH, who will release their own independent report, and the Cincinnati Police Department investigators as necessary.

The stated mission is as follows:

“The focus of this investigation shall be to identify the facts pertaining to the Line of Duty Death of Daryl Gordon and to recommend actions to reduce the risk of similar events.”

The investigation was thorough and included a complete recreation of the Dahlgen fire scene. The report details 22 lessons learned categories and eight separate recommendation areas.

Many of the recommendations have already been implemented or are in progress. It is our intent to continue to support the Fire Department, fiscally and otherwise, in implementing all of the recommendations through a phased approach as outlined in the report.

“While we cannot change the tragic events of March 26 I am extremely impressed and grateful for the methodical approach the Cincinnati Fire Department has taken with this exercise,” continued City Manager Black. “Extremely valuable information has been extracted and will be used to save the lives of firefighters and civilians in the future.”

"We will keep you updated on implementation progress," he added.