San Francisco FD Lt's Unsuccesful Bid To Save EDP

[JM15 386]

10/20/2006

S.F. firefighter, apparently unbidden, tries to rescue alleged suicidal man from rooftop

By Jaxon Van Derbeken

The San Francisco Chronicle (California)

Copyright 2006 San Francisco Chronicle

All Rights Reserved

Questions surround the death of a man who plunged from the roof of a four-story building on San Francisco's Nob Hill after a fire lieutenant tried unsuccessfully to wrestle him away from the edge.

Nick Torrico, 26, of Seattle fell to his death shortly before noon Oct. 12 after climbing the fire escape to the top of an apartment building at 900 Powell St.

As police negotiators on the street below tried to talk him away from the building's edge, fire Lt. Victor Wyrsch — apparently without notifying anyone — clambered up a fire escape, Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White said Thursday. Wyrsch surprised Torrico and put him in a bear hug but lost his grip, and Torrico fell to the ground, she said.

Torrico's family members say San Francisco officials told them nothing of the rescue attempt until Thursday. For a week, they said, the only agency that talked to them was the medical examiner's office, which said Torrico had jumped after someone on the street below shouted something at him.

"We need the true story," said Cynthia Torrico of Seattle, one of Nick Torrico's six siblings. "If we don't have the true story, that's not justice for Nick. He would want us to know what happened."

Steve Gelman, an administrator for the medical examiner's office, would not comment on what the office had told Torrico's family. He said Torrico's death was still under investigation.

The Police Department, which takes charge when suicidal people threaten to jump, has refused to release its report on the incident to the press or the Torrico family. A spokesman referred questions to the department's legal division, which said any disclosure would "endanger the successful completion'' of the investigation, although it did not say what the department was investigating.

Police Chief Heather Fong said Thursday that several officers had been trying to negotiate with Torrico from the street when Wyrsch rushed him from behind. She said two officers had gone into the building but had not been able to get onto the roof before Torrico fell.

Fong said she could not comment on what Wyrsch had done, on the advice of the city attorney.

Authorities familiar with the incident said that after the fall, Wyrsch immediately left the roof. He was not dressed in his Fire Department uniform, and those familiar with the incident said police had not immediately known he was a firefighter.

On Thursday, after a Chronicle reporter related details of the incident to Torrico's family, Hayes-White phoned another sister, Christina Torrico, to assure her the matter would be investigated.

She told the sister that Wyrsch, 38, a 15-year veteran of the Fire Department, had saved four would-be jumpers during his career by doing what he did on top of the Powell Street building — grabbing them while they were distracted.

The chief told her that what Wyrsch had done was in accordance with department regulations but that "it is the last thing they do" to prevent a suicide, Christina Torrico said.

"This is so hard to believe, that anyone would go rush in and try to play savior," Cynthia Torrico said. "It's so insane — if someone did something wrong, you would think they would come forward."

Wyrsch, who works at Station 1 at Third and Howard streets, said Thursday that department officials had ordered him not to talk about what happened. "I wish to God I could," he said, and he referred questions to the head of the firefighters' union, John Hanley.

Hanley said Wyrsch was a hero. Although the Police Department is in charge of such incidents, firefighters sometimes have to act, Hanley said.

"There is a point where, if you deem it that the guy is going to go, you gotta grab him," Hanley said. "That is what happened here."

He said Wyrsch "is taking it terribly. It's not fair to him, all this second-guessing.

"He put his life on the line to make a save for this individual," Hanley said. "He almost went over, too."

Hayes-White said a video of the incident, taken by a bystander and given to police, showed that Torrico was "precariously perched" on the slanted tile edge of the roof. Wyrsch saw "a window of opportunity to save this man's life," she said, adding that the video shows Torrico resisting Wyrsch's efforts before he fell.

"We had a member of this department who has expertise and training in this particular area, and he made a judgment call," Hayes-White said. "In situations like these, I support what he did."

Christina Torrico said still photos she had seen showed her brother "just standing there.'' The effort to grab him "doesn't make any sense," she said.

Cynthia Torrico said her brother had long struggled with alcoholism and drug abuse, and he had argued with his father the day before his death. He went to the Seattle airport Oct. 11, supposedly for a job interview, but hopped a plane to Oakland instead. She said she did not know his connection to the Bay Area, if any.

From Oakland, Torrico went to San Francisco and to Grace Cathedral, where he talked to the Rev. Anthony Turney.

"He was in some kind of emotional distress," said Turney, who spent an hour with Torrico and gave him tea and something to eat.

"I offered to go with him to the hospital if he chose to do that," Turney said. "He thanked me very much, but said, 'No, I don't want to do that.' ''

He said he would come back, and the priest said he expected to see him the following day. But around noon Oct. 12, the church got a call from San Francisco General Hospital, which had found Turney's card in Torrico's pocket.

Turney said he went to the hospital and gave Torrico, a Roman Catholic, the last rites.

Cynthia Torrico said family members have asked the city for a copy of its police report on the incident, but no one has gotten back to them about the request.

"I can't even understand why the police would act like this," she said. "They owe Nick. They owe the family the truth."

This sounds like a law suit to me.

[danb 10]

More and more i hear FD going to EDP's.

More and more i find out that firefighters( even better a Chief) who is/was in law enforcment taking charge of a EDP call and trying to talk the EDP out of it and taking on a role as a law enforcement official. Yeah its all find and dandy that your are also a cop but leave it to those who are getting paid at the time to do it!

LIABILITY my friends and who is going to sue you if something happens is what it comes down to.

Edited October 23, 2006 by danb