SALT LAKE CITY — Four Salt Lake firefighters who were asleep in their own station when it caught fire a year ago have announced they may sue the city.

The four men — Steve Hoffman, Kyle Marston, Jim Williams and Gregory Holmes — were among the seven firefighters and two Gold Cross ambulance employees who were asleep at Fire Station No. 2, 270 W. 300 North, when oily rags set the floor below them ablaze about 1:30 a.m. on March 3, 2015.

Those on the upper floor escaped using the building's fire poles, then turned to fight the flames, which caused extensive damage to the second floor. The station remains closed.

Now the four firefighters claim the fire occurred because Salt Lake City was violating fire codes in its own fire stations, according to separate notices of claim sent to the city last month. According to the claims, the Salt Lake City Fire Department did not bring Station No. 2 up to code following 2011 renovations, which Hoffman claims were "improper" and "the largest contributing factor in the extent of the fire."

Hoffman also alleges the fire was one of four caused by oily rags at Salt Lake fire stations since 2011, and that he had requested secure storage bins for the rags at the station but was denied.

"This fire caused injuries to the crews there," Hoffman wrote of the March 2015 blaze. "The city and fire department's reckless, illegal and egregious actions allowed four fires to happen."

On all four claims, provided by the Salt Lake City Attorney's Office following a request under Utah's Government Records Access and Management Act, responses under the heading "injuries incurred so far as they are known" have been redacted.

Salt Lake City Fire Capt. Mark Bednarik said Monday that a few of the firefighters in the station on the night of the fire experienced smoke inhalation, and all were transported to an area hospital for precautionary evaluation. No workers' compensation claims have been filed, and no complaints of injury have been made to administrators, he said.

"The city is not aware of any claims for medical problems that have been received by the fire department or by the city in relation to this incident. The only evaluations we're aware of is what occurred the night of the incident, and that was precautionary, requested by our administration," Bednarik said.

While a new HVAC system was installed, plumbing was updated and new carpet and paint done in the station in 2011, Bednarik said the work was not extensive enough to mandate updating the fire system to meet that year's fire code requirements.

"The station was up to fire code based on the year of its construction," he said.

Bednarik said there is no record any oily rag cans were requested prior to the blaze. In a written statement, Chief Brian Dale said the containers were provided to all fire stations after the Station No. 2 incident.

Matthew Rojas, spokesman for Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski, said the city attorney is questioning the accuracy of some of the claims being made, but he couldn’t elaborate due to the potential litigation.

"But more importantly, Mayor Biskupski is willing to listen to concerns," Rojas said, adding that Biskupski's administration is looking to make sure city facilities and smoke detectors meet code requirements.

Hoffman claims Fire Station No. 2 and other Salt Lake fire houses didn't have enough installed or working smoke alarms, and that there were no alarms at all on the third floor where the crew was sleeping. Most crew members learned of the fire by their colleagues waking them, not from alarms, Hoffman said. A proper system, he claims, would have sounded when the rags first began smoldering, not when they were already ablaze.

After the fire, some firefighters in other stations even took it upon themselves to install some of the free alarms on hand for residents in their buildings, he said. He went on to allege that the city misrepresented the efficacy of its fire detection systems to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration after the blaze.

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Firefighters wake up to smoke in station, then battle blaze

Firefighters are used to alarms in the middle of the night, but the smoke doesn't usually come to their front door. When a group of Salt Lake City firefighters cracked open the door of their upstairs dorm room early Tuesday, they found smoke from a fire that erupted at their own station.

Dale said Fire Station No. 2's smoke alarms met the required fire code standards, but he could not specify how many alarms were in the building or where they were installed.

"The department cannot currently identify the location of each detector within the facility as of the date of the incident or verify whether all of said devices were properly supplied with electrical power at that time. The investigative report of the incident did indicate that several firefighters heard an activated smoke alarm," Dale wrote.

He also confirmed that four oily rag fires did occur "related to the improper use, storage, or disposal of oily rags."

"Our review of each incident revealed various stages of combustion (i.e. incipient, growth, development) and variable causes for each event. Counseling of the parties involved was conducted as appropriate for each incident," Dale wrote.

Bednarik highlighted the ongoing efforts that began in the hours following the Station No. 2 fire to protect firefighters. In the first 24 hours after the blaze, fire marshals inspected all 14 firehouses in Salt Lake City, he said.

"They wanted to inspect the smoke detector situation and the adequacy of fire suppression systems," Bednarik said. "They found all fire stations were compliant to the codes of when they were built."

Fire marshals recommended some immediate upgrades to smoke detectors, which were made, Bednarik said. Salt Lake firehouses are also switching to an integrated fire detection system, which is monitored by a third party that can immediately notify dispatchers as soon as a fire is detected.

Upgrades have been completed in half of the stations, and the rest are expected to be finished by the end of the year, Bednarik said.

"Those requirements are beyond what most of the fire stations are required by the fire code, but again, it's an action that we feel is necessary to keep our firefighters safe," he said.

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