These are what we believe to be factual corrections to San Luis Obispo City Fire Department Chief Garret Olson's press release on "Commercial Structure Fire" that occurred at 10:46am on December 26, 2015 at 295 Higuera Street at retail store, "The Sub," and two hours later at 303 Higuera Street and 150 Pismo Street at Square Deal Recordings & Supplies.

Chief Olson has a serious and important job in defending the City of San Luis Obispo against fires. We count on the Chief for a high level of competency and integrity in leading the City's Fire Department. In his press release about the fire at The Sub, Chief Olson makes clear to us he is not worthy of the job, nor our trust in his competency or his integrity.

The Sub fire was an especially easy fire to have put out. Started by an arsonist (who identified himself as an off-duty firefighter), it was only burning in a front window box and nowhere in the actual store when SLO City FD arrived. We had five employees and four customers in the store when the unknown incendiary device was put through the front window of The Sub.

Chief Olson states in his first paragraph:
"The first SLO City Fire Department unit arrived within 3 minutes of being dispatched and found a rapidly spreading fire involving the front and interior of the business known as The Sub as well as a connecting business, Square Deal Recordings & Supplies. The building houses retail space as well as a warehouse that stores vinyl records, cassette tapes, comic books, and many other combustible collectibles."

According to firefighter rules of engagement, Square Deal Recordings & Supplies' structure should require more risk than structures without the irreplaceable collectibles and rarities, which Chief Olson acknowledges – Yet, with over two hours to prepare, he refused to give even basic levels of fire service to stop or slow down the fire from burning into Square Deal.

Chief Olson's first paragraph totally misstates: the following:

1. The condition of the fire when they first arrived – The fire was only in the window box of The Sub (not in the store itself), it was not rapidly spreading, nor was it next door in Square Deal at all for over two hours.
2. Where it was burning – Chief Olson's second paragraph confuses a fire confined only to front window boxes with one that is consuming the store. (The plywood wall behind the window box is still mostly intact to see.) – There was no fire damage on the inside of the plywood wall. This was his excuse to not fight the small fire that was initially confined to a window box and then, in only the space above it.
3. Which building/business it was in
   a) The fire was originally only in the window box in the front of The Sub. It did not burn into Square Deal for over two hours.
   b) Square Deal was a totally separate building next door to The Sub – It was not part of The Sub's building at all.

Chief Olson's third paragraph claims crews immediately attacked the fire from the interior – this is totally false. At no time during the 12-hour plus fire did ANY crew do an interior attack. It was almost 30 minutes into the fire before Captain Vasquez even opened the front door to The Sub – (He did not go in or even seriously look at what was going on inside). Vasquez' narrative claims thick black smoke and intense heat but the videos of Vasquez opening The Sub's front door show only white/gray smoke and easy visibility into The Sub.

Callahan and the T-1 ladder crew were sent immediately, upon arrival at the scene, onto the roof to break open the roof access hatch and cut an 8-foot by 8-foot draft hole 40 feet from the fire on the opposite side of The Sub roof which created a huge draft and spread the fire. They cut three other huge drafting holes far from the fire, and ample videos taken clearly show (not only zero interior crews) that their defensive strategy acts more like a "burndown" strategy and was in place from the moment they arrived. The two huge 8'x8'chimney drafting hole was cut within 14 minutes of arrival without even once looking at the condition of the fire or attempting to go inside and put out what remained burning. Before they were done, they cut three more drafting holes in The Sub roof which spread and increased the intensity of the fire

SLO City FD leadership never for one moment considered fighting the fire or going inside for an interior attack! They did not ever assign an R.I.C./F.A.S.T. crew that would allow for interior operations.

Cutting holes in roofs to remove smoke and "extreme heat" are only valid firefighting operations when part of a coordinated interior attack – When no attack is planned or considered, such actions are no more than arson under color of authority, not firefighting. It's a burndown!

There were no interior fire crews ever in The Sub, so they could not have been met by a heavy volume of fire. All the videos taken show there was no heavy volume of smoke inside the store at this point and also show no firefighter ever staged or entered The Sub.

Chief Olson describes and exaggerates the middle 32 feet of Square Deal next door as if it were in The Sub. He uses an exaggeration of Square Deal next door as his reason for not fighting the fire in The Sub where none of those reasons exist. His statement regarding the interior of The Sub is completely false – Take the Google tour and see.

Chief Olson's narrative then jumps forward a couple hours and falsely claims, "Additional crews, armed with hoselines and tools, then entered the warehouse area to the rear of the retail area in an effort to stop the forward progress of the fire." This is, again, totally not true. Other than the original "softening" of Square Deal at the very beginning of the fire and removing the servers through the front door at 12:50pm, NO crews ever went into Square Deal and fought the fire inside the structure. One fireman with a garden hose could have stopped the fire from coming into Square Deal if anyone had been in the building concerned with saving it when the fire first slowly burned through the wall from The Sub. Square Deal is not the warehouse area to the rear of The Sub but a separate structure and business with 12-hour masonry firewalls separating it from The Sub.

In the entire Square Deal building, there are only two openings in the 13"-thick masonry firewall. Both were pointed out to BC-1 Neal Berryman within 12 minutes of the fire starting and at NEITHER opening did SLO City FD leadership make any effort at defending.

There are no openings in any firewall near the middle portion of Square Deal that Chief Olson repeatedly refers to as his excuse to not go into Square Deal. This portion is dead center of Square Deal's main building and nowhere near The Sub.

Chief Olson then virtually repeats his comments about The Sub now referring to Square Deal. He describes a scene that could not have happened (totally mischaracterized the merchandise) and did not happen (no crews were ever in the building).

There were no fire crews inside Square Deal fighting the fire so they could not have been cut off or pulled out – Only one 32' part of Square Deal (dead center in the main building) even resembles this description.

BC-1 Berryman apparently declared a defensive-only strategy upon arriving. Captain Vasquez declares 30 minutes into the fire that he is continuing the defensive posture, and Chief Olson makes the Pismo Street side defensive WELL BEFORE any fire is even in the Square Deal building – This denies Square Deal any actual fire service.

"Defensive" means no one goes into the building. All the videos show firemen staying well away from the building and no charged hoses going into any building. Defensive means trying to fight the fire from outside through doors and windows. SLO City FD refused to put defensive water from outside onto any actual burning fire.

Chief Olson's story has a lot of fabrication claiming false glory and false credit for work not done, and to cover up for what was, at best, gross negligence and appears more like arson and a burndown than firefighting.

Claiming a team of investigators inspected the area is true as long as you realize they did not inspect the fire or arson scene, just the area.

Chief Olson concluded his deceptive narration by claiming the fire in The Sub spread quickly because of dense storage in Square Deal next door – Totally not true. A big, open cavernous retail store with little storage, nothing in The Sub was unusually flammable and the products in the front room (behind the window boxes on fire) were all glass and ceramic and were totally non-flammable.

Chief Olson claimed, without actually looking, a lack of fireblocking caused vertical spread of the fire. The front wall of The Sub had appropriate fireblocking and only the refusal of SLO City FD to promptly put water on the fire from truck T-1 or go inside and put water on the fire caused the slow-spreading fire to continue to burn. The two 8-foot by 8-foot holes that SLO City FD had cut opposite the original fire caused it to spread to the large (mostly empty) roof over the retail display area. The air blown for over 45 minutes by the fire hose that was only aimed to the left of The Sub front door, (where nothing was burning), could have only aided in burning the roof through and had no legitimate firefighting function. Another three large vent holes that SLO City FD had cut in The Sub roof moved the fire into and through The Sub. It was over two hours later that the fire reached the rear of the Square Deal warehouse/storage area. Fireblocking was not a factor in the fire at The Sub – It was there as it should have been!

The Sub has no attic. It has a mezzanine in the front portion and as for the rest of The Sub – The bottom of the roof is the ceiling.

Fireblocking was not a factor in the fire spreading to Square Deal through the 13"-thick masonry wall. Draft holes cut to increase the fire and a failure to apply offensive or defensive water was the only factor.

Had truck T-1 hooked up its hose and used its 300 gallons of water as quickly as it could, the fire would have ended right there. Instead, T-1 started getting out ladders to go and cut holes in the roof without any interior attack planned!

Chief Olson's statements show that he feels he is under little obligation to be candid or truthful. The example he sets appears to have spread through the entire leadership of SLO City FD to the point where they cannot be counted on to be truthful on any subject they even think might reflect poorly on them or affect their jobs or their prestige.

The cover-up of the arson crime appears to have begun on 12/27/15 with this press release. The cover-up was made official and was part of the reason Chief Olson returned the property to the owners after only one day of non-investigation. Facts at the scene, and testimony from staff and eyewitnesses all support that it was an arson fire – Yet, there was no investigation. SLO City FD did not secure the crime scene, and most of the witness or other statements which supported arson were not mentioned in any of the final reports. Few potential witnesses are interviewed – (just staff members and one other person).

The cover-up continued on 12/28/15 when SLO City FD abandoned the crime scene and turned the property over to the owners to ensure no arson investigation ever happened.

SLO City FD appears to serve itself first, public officials second, and the community last. We all pay for and deserve better.