Kansas City Fire Chief Says Changes Made Since 2 Deaths

Kansas City Fire Chief Paul Berardi says the fire department has implemented several of the recommendations listed in a report focusing on the deaths of two firefighters killed last year in a building collapse.

The 68-page report released this week focuses on the events of Oct. 12, when two firefighters were killed when a wall collapsed as firefighters tried to extinguish an arson fire.

The report, which was researched and written by an 11-member Kansas City Fire Department team, said commanders allowed the two firefighters to continue to fight the fire from an alley that was in a declared collapse zone.

Berardi told The Kansas City Star he supports all 14 recommendations in the report and that the department has adopted or made progress on most of them.