The overall situation with the San Luis Obispo City Fire Department narratives is that they seem to be an attempt to cover up gross negligence, professional malfeasance, and cowardice by the leadership of SLO City FD.

A Fire Department that won't investigate a fire in which most of the witnesses interviewed and the property owner stated was arson is apparently covering up something. The fire had flames too hot to be a simple fire and not be arson. The videos and available photos show extra high temperatures in the color of the initial fire that could not have been reached without accelerant – The window boxes were essentially empty of fuel – They could not have supported such a large fire without additional fuel from outside being added.

Narratives written many days after the fire, apparently in order to coordinate the stories, are narratives that present a troubling picture of a Fire Department with leadership that has lost its way.

For all the Fire Department leadership to show so little integrity in their willingness to "spin" the story of The Sub fire is a problem for the entire community.

Our research is showing The Sub and Square Deal Recordings & Supplies fire is not the first such "spin" job or "burndown" that has happened in San Luis Obispo – and without reform, it will not be the last.

We all count on our Fire Department to do its job – We all love firefighters and trust them to be the heroes we need.

We must be able to trust what Fire Department leadership states is the plain and accurate truth.

A Fire Department that is unwilling to take any minor risk to save major property or peoples homes is not worthy.

A Fire Department that appears to ignore standard rules of ventilation during a fire, and does the opposite of established firefighting practice and procedure, has abandoned its responsibilities to the community for its own convenience and safety.

Has the leadership of SLO City FD ever put out any fires of significance? Not that our research has found so far…

We feel a Fire Department that appears to make no plans on how to fight fires in difficult buildings is not serving its community well or professionally. (With no real plans for either local hospital or the Anderson Hotel, SLO City FD leadership is going to "fake it" if an emergency happens – We feel that people will die needlessly if there is a fire and SLO City FD leadership "fakes it" as they apparently plan to do.)

A Fire Department that keeps only data on when they arrive at the scene, and not how long after the call until first water is on the fire, appears to be a department not very concerned with actual results.

For a Fire Department that, apparently, ignores the firefighter rules of engagement – which a property like Square Deal (full of irreplaceable vinyl records, collectibles, music-related graphics, and fine art prints) deserves not only limited risk but, according to the firefighter rules of engagement, deserves an even higher level of risk because of the over 750,000 sound recordings and thousands of rare posters, prints, and graphics that deserve saving and are irreplaceable. To exert no risk is gross negligence at best and near criminal conduct at least. With over two hours to prepare, Square Deal received zero effort and SLO City FD leadership took zero risk and actions to save Square Deal.

Nowhere, in any of the narratives, does a member of SLO City FD claim to actually fight our fire. Going into The Sub to fight the fire was off limits before they even looked. No second actual evaluation was made to put out the fire after the window boxes were put out. All efforts (i.e. vents cut in roof to pull fire through structure, water through vent openings to add air to the fire, and breaking all windows before any ventilation plan could have been in place) point to no effort ever to save the structure but instead they seem to point to a burndown strategy using exaggerated fire loads in Square Deal next door as reasons and excuses not to go into The Sub where none of their reasons applied or existed.

Chief Olson first goes on television and states they couldnt fight the fire in The Sub because we had too much storage and debris in The Sub. This is a total untruth told by Chief Olson. Anyone who has ever been into The Sub knows Chief Olson is not being truthful in his description of the interior. The easy-to-view Google tour of The Sub shows how wrong Chief Olson truly is. He later claims on TV and in a press release that firemen went in and valiantly fought the fire which is also totally not true. It was not even fought defensively, as we could never get them to put water through the front door on the merchandise burning in plain sight. It was this clearly visible fire, which was easy-to-reach even from the outside defensively, that burned through the wall into Square Deal. No one ever fought the fire from inside or from the outside of The Sub or Square Deal.

If what SLO City FD leadership did was righteous, why are they all finding it necessary to put out narratives that appear to be more untrue than true when it comes to important facts? Putting a small business owner in the position of having to challenge the actions of those with sovereign immunity protection for their actions is hard enough when people are truthful. It is an even higher task when firemen appear to delay their reports and coordinate their stories for the purpose of covering up their actual actions. The Sub fire had very delayed narratives.

It seems SLO City FD has near zero actual experience in successfully fighting actual fires, especially one as large as The Sub became. Their primary practice experience is when they get to burn a building down. It would seem from our experience at The Sub that the burning down part of their training was learned but not how to actually fight a fire and save a building. When a building was recently donated for them to practice firefighting, it appears they declined to practice coordinated interior attacks to save buildings and went straight for the burndown.

SLO City FD leadership was authoritarian, arrogant, and unwilling to listen to the very people SLO City FD leadership was supposed to be helping. This was our experience when they seemed to intentionally destroy our businesses.

A Fire Department that doesn't consider anyones safety but their own is not serving the community. This was a 10-minute-to-put-out fire that they appear to have intentionally grown into a major event with no concern for others.

• All the citizens downwind with respiratory issues were not considered when SLO City FD leadership made their own job super safe at the community's expense.
• All the wasted water they put into the creek, with no wattles to protect the creek from pollution, was at the community's expense.
• The danger to the cleanup and rebuild crews is ten to 100 times greater than to the fire crews, even if they had actually fought the fire.
• There was no concern for the family's business or the employees of the business that SLO City FD leadership destroyed — only concern for SLO City FD's own well-being and the glory of having a big fire without actually taking any risk.

Please notice SLO City FD leadership's apparent complete and total lack of concern, awareness, or action regarding "how to put out a fire". It is all about getting water on the fire quickly while it is still small!

After reviewing seven years of SLO City FD reports, it is clear they put close to zero emphasis or concern on how quickly they take action. They do not even keep statistics on how quickly first water is deployed. They arrive quickly then usually waste from five to 15 minutes before they put water on the fire.

SLO City FD leadership has not saved a single structure that had any significant fire involvement in the last seven years. We suspect it goes back further than this.

Government statistics say being a firefighter in the United States is slightly more dangerous than being a retail clerk. Potential for danger is great - That's why they get all the expensive gear and equipment. It's important to keep firefighters as safe as possible. Cal Fire and their associates constantly face real risk and fire danger every season. They are included in the national statistics likely leaving firefighters in SLO City FD safer than retail clerks, statistically speaking.

It's not good when keeping firefighters from any risk completely replaces the goal and job of saving lives, property, and buildings.

SLO City FD leadership appears to have “crossed the Rubicon”, into the realm where the leadership feels that, to do the job safely, they must re-define the job to be like Fahrenheit 451 firemen, who always burn the structure down, but take 'zero' risk.

If the job is to be zero risk, then why the high pay, praise, and respect? SLO City FD firemen seem to be living off others' courage, bravery, and integrity because SLO City FD leadership showed none of these traits at The Sub fire and even less in their false narratives and misleading cover-up statements about the fire.

The Sub and Square Deal Recordings & Supplies are not the first or only properties needlessly destroyed by SLO City FD leadership's underground policy of "not going into buildings that are on fire" - unless to rescue people. A fireman cannot admit this without violating the "firefighters code of silence" and, therefore, ending his career.

SLO City FD leadership seems to think racing huge equipment around our streets, following ambulances, and inserting their paramedics ahead of the ambulance paramedics somehow serves the community and replaces their actual duties.

Putting on a firefighter uniform is not what makes a firefighter - Going into buildings and fighting fires is what makes a fireman. SLO City FD puts on firefighter uniforms but that does not make them "real" firefighters.

We pay for and deserve better Fire Department leadership, better fireground tactics, and better trained firefighters than we currently have! We have the firefighters and equipment - we just need better leadership.