Pittsburgh's emergency management coordinator says he didn't make proper notifications about absence during storms
Jones told KDKA that he's sorry for the lapse, but Heisler still has concerns about the city's response to the storm.
Where was the city's emergency management coordinator?
The storms on April 29 caused more damage and havoc than any other in memory. But Jones, the person in charge of coordinating the city's response, was in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Heisler says his failure to make the required notifications raises serious questions.
"Everybody's entitled to be on vacation or tending to personal responsibilities," she said. "But this was an emergency in the city, and the emergency management coordinator was not here. Why wasn't the public notified? Why weren't city leaders notified? And who stepped in the absence of that position?"
Jones fell on his sword and accepted the blame for not notifying Heisler or the council.
"That's an error on my part," Jones said. "I've been doing this for over four years now, and I didn't realize I was supposed to notify the controller and council. So, my apologies for that."
Fire Chief Jones makes an extra $10,000 a year to also serve as the city's emergency coordinator. But he was attending a national fire chiefs conference in Myrtle Beach and decided not to come back to Pittsburgh, staying in phone contact and putting Deputy Coordinator Adam Ameel in charge.
"Adam did a fantastic job managing the incident in my absence," Jones said.
But council members say they didn't know who was in charge or who to contact.
"For a lot of people, we're the boots on the ground that residents are talking to, not necessarily going to the mayor's office," Councilman Bob Charland said. "My phone's been blowing up with calls about trees and roadways and things like that."
While Duquesne Light fielded most of the complaints about power outages, the city has been taken to task for not clearing trees that stayed down for days. Sources say prior to the storm, it had been the policy of the Public Works Department not to clear trees covered with wires. But as the week went on, firefighters with so-called "hot sticks" identified those with live wires and the others safe to be removed.
"We were not prepared to handle all of those downed trees, all of the electrical issues that happened," Heisler said. "And when you factor all of those things in with the fact that the emergency management coordinator wasn't in town, it begs the question, who was in charge?"
Chief Jones says he will learn from his mistake, and the city will conduct a thorough review of its response to the storm. Both say they will be better prepared in the future.
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