{"id":181018,"date":"2026-05-01T08:32:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T08:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/181018\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T08:32:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T08:32:09","slug":"federal-report-scrutinizes-easton-fire-response-the-lafayette","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/181018\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal report scrutinizes Easton fire response \u2013 The Lafayette"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/a> <\/p>\n

Photo by Andreas Pelekis<\/a> for The Lafayette <\/p>\n

The report included recommendations for both the fire department and the planning and codes department.<\/p>\n

One day after a devastating fire tore<\/a> through the Hotel Hampton complex in Downtown Easton, Fire Chief Henry Hennings told residents at a press conference that he hoped the fire\u2019s dispatchers \u201care recognized as the true first responders\u201d in the wake of the debris.<\/p>\n

According to a federal report released Wednesday<\/a> by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, though, communication breakdowns and limited staffing may have contributed to danger at the scene. With just 15 firefighters called to the scene, per the report, a better response may have could prevented hazards and a serious injury to Wilson firefighter Bobby Lewullis.<\/p>\n

Based on recorded interviews, the report further indicated that fire inspections had not been conducted in Hotel Hampton since 2017 due to limited staffing in the code enforcement and planning office. Over 40 Hotel Hampton residents were displaced<\/a> due to the fire; a large community-wide response<\/a> ensued.<\/p>\n

Hennings deferred comment to City Administrator Luis Campos, who said the city is \u201cin the process of reviewing the report with the various departments that are involved.\u201d The city received the federal report on Tuesday, weeks after the city council announced a partnership with a third-party firm to improve fire safety compliance.<\/p>\n

In an April interview with The Lafayette<\/a>, Hennings acknowledged that the city \u201cwould have needed 49 firefighters to initially combat the fire,\u201d and that the fire department \u201cdid not meet that.\u201d The federal report recommended that 42 firefighters \u2014 including an incident commander, rapid intervention team, supervisors, incident safety officers, rescue teams and medical support \u2014 been called to a fire of Hotel Hampton\u2019s scale.<\/p>\n

The fire department, planning and codes division and possibly Easton\u2019s legal division will review the federal report in the coming months, according to Campos.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will be able to then conclude that the recommendations that were provided make sense and, or provide additional recommendations to improve how we manage emergencies,\u201d Campos said.<\/p>\n

The inspection results cited in the federal report found \u201cwindows to the fire escape nailed shut, multiple nonfunctioning smoke detectors in hallways and bedrooms, fire doors propped open, and missing stair railings and exit signs.\u201d It also called for the city to provide adequate staffing for designating dispatchers to specific emergencies.<\/p>\n

\u201cEffective fireground radio communication is important to ensure fireground command and control as well as enhance firefighter safety and health,\u201d the report reads, adding that \u201cthe radio system must be dependable, consistent, and functional,\u201d especially during emergencies.<\/p>\n

The report added that multiple radio transmissions from Lewullis warning coworkers that he was out of air were missed. Running out of air, the Wilson firefighter escaped the building before his 20-foot fall.<\/p>\n

Dwayne Tillman, the city\u2019s director of planning and codes, did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo by Andreas Pelekis for The Lafayette The report included recommendations for both the fire department and the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":181019,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":["post-181018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181018\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/181019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}