Officials to investigate 2 Kansas City firefighter deaths

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City Fire Department said it will begin its investigation early next year into the building collapse that killed two firefighters.

Chief Paul Berardi said there will be a review of other safety issues in the wake of the Oct. 12 deaths of 39-year-old John Mesh and 43-year-old Larry Leggio, the Kansas City Star reported.

"We're going to look at all of our policies," Berardi said, "from wearing seat belts to the collapse zone, which is (at the) forefront of our mind now."

The firefighters died when a wall collapsed on them while they were in an alley, battling the fire to stop it from spreading to a nearby grocery store.

The newspaper's analysis based on interviews and an analysis of radio traffic recordings indicates the alley where the two firefighters had been declared a "collapse zone" by a commander on the scene.

Berardi told the newspaper last week Leggio and Mesh were positioned within the collapse zone at least 2 1/2 minutes after the declaration and may have been in the alley as long as 11 minutes.

Berardi also said he delayed an investigation because emotions were still too "raw," and he wanted firefighters and commanders to have time before formal interviews were conducted.

The owner of a nail salon on the first floor of the building has been charged with arson and two counts of second-degree murder.