The house fire on the 1800 block of Stevens Avenue last November may be extinguished (
LC: Wednesday before Thanksgiving), but a spark from that fire may have lit another.
Seven people rescued from the fire, many with help from neighbors Randall and Gaia Bohannon before Louisville Fire and Rescue arrived, were taken to the hospital. One victim, Benjamin Rau, 88, died two weeks later.
Mistakes may have been made.
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| "No trucks" sign on 1900 block of Steven's Av |
On their way to the fire, Louisville Fire and Rescue chose to ignore the posted "no trucks" sign on Stevens, thus scraping the right front corner of an unoccupied car parked on the corner of Stevens and Fernwood.
At least some of the ambulances responding to the fire that morning were perhaps overly intimidated by the "no trucks" sign, choosing instead to park in the Gate's Automotive parking lot, and wheeling victims of the fire an entire block.
The delay Louisville Fire and Rescue experienced by scraping the car or by the ambulances parking a block from the scene is unknown.
Also unknown, is why emergency vehicle drivers did not take advantage of access to the 1800 block where the fire was located directly from Norris Place.
While emergency vehicles they would have needed to travel down a way down a one way street for a few hundred feet, it was about 6 AM. There likely was no traffic.
No one would ever find fault with the route chosen by the driver of an emergency vehicle. Emergency responders must choose routes quickly, under unimaginable stress.
But in what happens next, this author sides with the Deer Park neighborhood.
On January 11, 2012, Ashley T. Sells, a Traffic Engineer with the Department of Public Works, sent a letter only to the 10-12 homes closest to the intersection Fernwood Avenue and Stevens Avenue. The letter starts:
"This mailing is being sent to inform you of a parking change on Stevens Avenue."
