No one knows if Walter J. Vierling might have survived last month's carbon monoxide leak at Roanoke College if rescuers had found him earlier.

What is known now is that nearly two hours elapsed between the time Salem firefighters finished their search of the dormitory where he was staying and the time they found him dead -- and that no one involved informed the public of the gap.

Whatever mistakes the Salem Fire-EMS Department and the college might have made in the urgent confusion of that day and the days immediately after, a lack of candor and public accountability must be counted among them.

The delay in finding Vierling and two women -- who were barely breathing when they were discovered, but survived -- came to light almost by happenstance after reporter Laurence Hammack filed a Freedom of Information request to see the department's investigative report while pursuing an unrelated angle to the carbon monoxide story.

One line in the report noted that details of rescue efforts could be found in sections of the report he didn't receive. He repeatedly asked for, and finally received, those passages.

Only then did the public learn that, for hours, rescuers had overlooked two rooms in their search for victims of the gas leak because the rooms did not have doors that opened onto the dorm hallway. Firefighters did not know the rooms were there.

Rescue personnel did an internal critique of their performance, looking at what they did right and wrong. Fire-EMS Chief Pat Counts said some "were advised to take more caution when doing searches."

But the department left the public in the dark about a major, possibly fatal, error -- the sort of thing that is the public's business to know.

The public needs to know because it is in the public's vital interest to make sure any systemic problem gets fixed. For example: Progressive fire departments, we are told, identify "target hazard" buildings, such as a dorm, and do pre-fire plans that include a floor plan of the building's interior. Does Salem? Counts said Friday, "We do pre-fire plans for buildings, to a point."

Greater openness would inform Salem residents that public safety preparations are up to snuff, or not -- and in the latter case begin to build consensus to provide the resources to improve. Other localities would benefit from the lessons learned, as well.

No one should vilify rescue workers who readily put themselves at risk to protect others. Nor can the public ignore mistakes.