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Between 5:45 and 8:45 this evening there have been at least 5 fire calls for smoke in various Metro stations in D.C. and Northern Virginia.
The latest is at Foggy Bottom. Metro says they all appear to be unrelated. The fire departments are more suspiscious. We’ll have details at 11:00 p.m. on 9News Now.
This Associated Press article seems to give a good summary of the problems that lead to last weekend’s fire in New York where 2 firefighters were killed.
Too many to point fingers at in deadly blaze at ground zero tower
By AMY WESTFELDT
Associated Press Writer
3:46 PM EDT, August 26, 2007
NEW YORK
The pipe taking water into the tower was broken and no one had inspected it lately. The Fire Department had no plan to fight fire in the condemned building. The contractor had racked up safety violations for accidents that sent debris hurtling from 35 stories.
The building, owned by an agency run by the governor and the mayor, is still standing.
There aren’t enough fingers to point at the collection of politicians and state, federal and city agencies that had oversight in the notorious, black-shrouded former Deutsche Bank tower that burned last week, killing two firefighters. In public statements this week, many tried to raise questions about other agencies’ conduct, while fire marshals combed the building to find out who or what set the blaze.
So far, one company _ John Galt Corp., the subcontractor that was cleaning the building of toxic debris and taking it down _ has been removed from the job for safety violations throughout the project, including one that sent a pipe falling 35 stories in May through the roof of a nearby firehouse. A Galt worker was involved in an accident at the building that hurt two more firefighters five days after the fire.
And a New York Post editorial called last week for Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta’s resignation for heading a department that failed to inspect the building as often as was required and not planning for a fire at the toxic tower.
But after a week of investigation _ and no announced cause _ few have escaped blame.
“Everyone looks bad,” political strategist Hank Sheinkopf said. “It looks like government has completely screwed up and it looks like no one’s responsible or in charge.”
It was three years ago that government put itself in charge of the abandoned skyscraper, badly damaged on Sept. 11 when the World Trade Center’s south tower collapsed into it. A 15-story gash was opened, toxic debris seeped in and the bank sued insurers and the city to pay to clean it up.
The Lower Manhattan Development Corp., a rebuilding agency with a board jointly appointed by then-Gov. George Pataki and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, bought the tower in 2004 and chose the private contractors to clean it up and take it down. The first contractors either backed out or were replaced after their plans didn’t satisfy environmental regulators, or when they raised their prices. The discovery of bones of Sept. 11 victims throughout the building, missed like hundreds of others found this year in and around ground zero, caused more controversy and slowed the tower’s removal.
Gov. Eliot Spitzer referred to the delays a day after the fire, saying that if the building had been taken down by now, “clearly this tragedy would not have occurred.”
The latest contractor, Galt was ultimately chosen over seven other companies to work under a construction manager, the LMDC and another agency that reports to the governor and mayor, the Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center.
Those agencies, as well as half a dozen environmental and labor inspectors were regularly checking the building, but none discovered before the fire that pieces of a standpipe that connects fire hoses and sends water up through the building were lying disconnected in the basement.
Firefighters Robert Beddia and Joseph Graffagnino died of cardiac arrest caused by smoke inhalation on Aug. 18 when their oxygen tanks ran out after they climbed over 14 stories.
City officials said last week that Beddia’s and Graffagnino’s department should have inspected the standpipe every 15 days, but hadn’t in over a year. The contractors, Bovis Lend Lease and Galt, also promised in a written plan to keep the standpipe in operation.
The Fire Department hadn’t written a plan for a fire in the building, which Spitzer said could have been more difficult to fight because of heavy polyurethane coverings in place on several floors still contaminated by debris.
State officials also said that environmental regulators had said that a sprinkler system should not be in place during demolition of the toxic tower, for unclear reasons. An Environmental Protection Agency spokeswoman denied such a requirement, and city officials were still trying to determine whether sprinklers were legally required in a building that is being dismantled.
Prosecutors have begun a criminal investigation and the state Attorney General is looking for answers. Bloomberg earlier in the week said of the fire, “there’s no reason for anybody to think in terms of criminal charges or anything else” and said the investigation should run its course.
At Beddia’s funeral on Friday he adopted a more critical position, calling the firefighter’s death “a tragic loss of life that probably never should have happened.”
Sheinkopf said he expected requisite investigations, hearings, reports and fingerpointing. “People are still searching for the villain,” he said. “It may the contractor, it may be Scoppetta. … Someone will be fired.”
Copyright © 2007, The Associated Press
We started the day with the discussion of two public information officers, and now, the theme continues.
One of the suggestions by Gordon Routley and his crew, in their study of the City of Charleston Fire Department, was the hiring of a PIO. I am told the job was posted today. Here are the details:
POSITION: PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER
Dept/Div: Fire Department
Position Type: Regular Full-Time
Authorized Hiring Rate: $39,262.28 – $43,000 / Year
Application Deadline: Open Until Filled
Develops, coordinates, and directs public relations activities for Charleston Fire Department by performing the following duties. Represents the Charleston Fire Department to the press and other media. Fields and directs responses to all media-related inquiries. Plans and implements organization’s public relations strategies, policies, and procedures. Researches and writes copy for promotional materials. Develops contacts and relationships with media representatives to create opportunities for keeping the Fire Department in front of public. Maintains database of public relations contacts. Develops ideas and opportunities for feature articles, interviews, presentations, and other public relations activities that promote awareness of the Charleston Fire Department. Assists and coaches Charleston Fire Department staff with public speaking engagements, presentations, and preparation of articles for publication. Advises Mayor, Fire Chief and staff on community relations projects and activities. Performs other duties as assigned.
Requires: Bachelor’s degree (BA/BS); and one to two years of related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience. Valid South Carolina Driver’s License. To perform this job successfully, an individual should have a thorough knowledge of Microsoft Windows, Outlook, Excel and Word or similar software.
CNN has the video of that burning hot-air balloon as it makes its flaming descent, Friday night, in South Surrey, British Columbia. A mother and daughter were killed and at least 10 others were injured. A recreational vehicle park caught fire. Witnesses say the fire on the ground was sparked by the falling propane tanks.
Not sure if this is what the official poster will look like, but STATter 911 has confirmed that a rally has been scheduled for next Saturday at Kentland’s fire house. The above announcement was found on thewatchdesk.com in an Allegheny County, PA forum. Kentland officials say there should be something official on its website soon.
The best we can tell, is that while the lawyers on both sides were reported to be talking to each other, there is still no resolution. That means Ambulance 339 is not in service and Kentland VFD, for the most part, remains restricted to its first due. More as we know it.
Some of you reading the comments section on Kentland may have noticed a few words I wrote about Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Chief Spokesman Mark Brady. It has nothing to do with taking sides in this battle between Kentland VFD and PGFD, or a judgement of anything Mark has said about this issue. I will leave that to others.
I was pointing out, from my perspective, Mark does a very good job. He essentially runs a one-man shop, but is able to get more information out to the news media than PIO offices at other agencies where as many as a half-dozen people are working.
Being a PIO can be a thankless job. They are often the messenger who gets it squarely between the eyes. Yet, most of them aren’t involved in making the policy that is making people unhappy.
Then, of course, they have to deal with the reporters. Imagine a demanding child who just bugs you until they get what they want. Then think about having a half dozen of them or more. As reporters, we want the information and want it now.
I say all of this, not for a chance to praise Mark, but to give you a little perspective as I mention the passing of another Prince George’s County PIO, who was extremely well thought of by members of the news media.
Bob Law was the PIO for the Prince George’s County Police Department from about 1974 to 1988. Bob died Monday, at the age of 74, at his home in Lilly, Pennsylvania. Lon Slepicka of firehouse.com, who was working for the Journal newspapers in those days, alerted me to the death notice in Friday’s Washington Post.
It’s obvious that Bob had the perfect last name to be a police spokesman, but he also had the perfect demeanor. It wasn’t just his warm smile and friendly nature. Bob was one of those who realized that we weren’t the enemy. He knew if the Prince George’s County Police Department was going to be able to get its side told during some very controversial years, it was important to have a good and respectful relationship with members of the press.
Bob knew how vital it was for there to be trust between a PIO and reporters. He realized that his most important commodity was his credibility. It is something that is lost on a lot of police and fire chiefs, who think the most important quality is to have someone who looks good on camera. Bob may not have won any beauty contests, but he still made his department look very good.
Here is the death notice from The Post (note that Bob was also involved in EMS):
Robert William Law (74)of Lilly, PA, died August, 20, 2007, at home. Born December 6, 1932, in Lilly, son of the late Frederick and Stella (Stevens) Law. Preceded in death by wife, the former Shirley Howell, and sister, Evelyn Delozier. Survived by children: Robert Anthony (Rebecca Troxel), Bowie, MD; Marjorie Ann Kuhn (Richard), Richardson, TX; Rebecca Ann Taylor (Earl), Pasadena, MD; John Frederick, College Park, MD and Therese Ann Feldmann (Brian), Spring Lake, NC; grandchildren, Sarah and Robert M. Law, Aaron and William Kuhn, Grace Ann Taylor, Cassandra Law, and Allen and Kyle Feldmann. Also survived by sisters, Mary Margaret Berry, Canfield, OH, and Donna McConnell, Altus, OK; brother, Joseph, Loretto, PA; and special friend, Ann McCarty, Lilly.
An Army veteran of the Korean War, Mr. Law retired on January 2, 1988 from the Prince George’s County Police Department with 25 years of service as a street officer. The last 14 of those years, he served as spokesman for the police department. Later, he was an E.M.S. director for Cresson Township and formed the Cresson Area E.M.S. Mr. Law wrote police manual for Cresson Township Police Department and served as a consultant for it. He was first president of Cresson Area Crime Watch.
A funeral Mass will be held 10 a.m. on Friday, August 24 at St. Aloysius Catholic Church, Cresson, PA with Very Rev. Father John D. Byrnes. Interment church cemetery. Arrangements by CHARLES M. KENNEDY FUNERAL HOME, Cresson, PA.
Kentland VFD provided this photo of last night’s working fire on West Forest Road. Kentland
They still were allowed to run a fire last night in Kentland. Engine 331 and Rescue Engine 33 were dispatched to the apartment fire on West Forest Road. That fire was in Kentland’s first due area.
But yesterday morning, when Kentland also had crews for both pieces, no one left the building for a deadly crash, with two trapped under a van, despite Kentland being the second closest to the scene and having the nearest extrication unit. And as STATter 911 has learned it didn’t matter that the incident commander specifically asked for Rescue Engine 33.
This is all part of the policy put in place after Kentland refused Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Chief Lawrence Sedgwick’s latest order to put a BLS unit at Station 33.
As for any move to solve this problem, all we know is that lawyers on both sides continue to talk.
Baltimore report.
It had been talked about for much of the week, now you can read the report into the investigation and the issues surrounding the training fire that killed Baltimore City Fire Department recruit Racheal Wilson.
Cold case in Phoenix.
The Arizona Republic’s cold case of the week is one near and dear to firefighters. Investigators are still looking for an arsonist in the March, 2001 supermarket fire that killed firefighter Bret Tarver.
Private fire protection in Idaho.
Firegeezer looks at how some Idaho property owners have a leg up on the neighbors when fire strikes.
Also, I neglected to point out LightRock’s column on hot topics for fire chiefs as they met this week in Atlanta. Still worth reading.
The rest of the world.
If you ever were interested in how they sell fire trucks elsewhere in the world, check out this video on the “Savior”. It is supposed to have the “power of 7 fire trucks”. Now if we can just find a firefighter with similar capabilities.
We told you earlier in the week about the death of former DCFD Chief Burton Johnson. The Washington Post has an obituary today.
These are pictures from the already much talked about fatal wreck on Route 50 in Prince George’s County, MD Wednesday morning. They come from firehouseguy who posted a series of photos on thewatchdesk.com. A fatal crash on Route 50 in Bowie, Maryland is quickly taking on meaning much beyond the tragic collision itself. Within minutes after it occurred, leaving two people trapped under a van on the side of the highway, the phones were ringing and the web was alive with chatter, putting this incident into the middle of a heated battle over how ambulance service is provided in Prince George’s County.
The significance of this crash is that it is the first working incident where, at the orders of Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Chief Lawrence Sedgwick, units from the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department were not dispatched to the scene, even though they were staffed, and closer than other fire and rescue equipment. A press release on Monday explained Chief Sedgwick’s orders that none of Kentland’s units will respond out of Station 33′s first-due response area. The only exception, according to a PGFD spokesman, will be if a Kentland unit is the closest to a call
This action was taken as the latest development in a 7-month long dispute over whether an ambulance will run out of Station 33. Here is the reasoning given in the press release for limiting Kentland’s response:
The Fire/EMS Department will reduce the amount of mutual aid responses of the Kentland Fire Department to ensure personnel are available to respond to the more than 5100 Basic Life Support (BLS) ambulance calls within their first due response area.
On Thursday morning’s call on Route 50, two rescue squads were needed to extricate the two victims under the vehicle. Tony Kelleher, who was suspended as Kentland’s acting chief by Chief Sedgwick on Monday, tells STATter 911 that there were 2 crews staffing Station 33 at the time the run was dispatched.
According to information STATter 911 has been provided, Station 33 would be second due at the location of the incident, which is considered box area 28-12:
Run Card 28-12: Stations: 28, 33, 30, 48, 38, 18, 22, 46, 8, 43
If Kentland had not been restricted to its first-due area, Rescue Engine 33, equipped for extrications, would have been dispatched on the initial call. It wasn’t sent on the run, even though the incident commander asked for two rescue companies and specifically wanted Rescue Engine 33.
STATter 911 has confirmed that Glenn Dale Volunteer Fire Association Chief Tony McGillin (Chief 18), who was the incident commander, posted the following message on thewatchdesk.com:
As the incident commander. I asked for the second “Rescue Squad” Not carring wether it was a Squad or Rescue Engine. They both carry the same thing. When it was told to me that Squad 8 was the Squad (6th due ?Squad I believe), I advised Bureau Chief 12 I intended to request RE33…… The rest will not be said on here I will note it in the Operations Report.
The position of the car on the hill and being on top of two patients (1 under rear axle and 1 under front axle) was the reasoning for the second squad. All in all things went well considering.
The rest that Chief McGillin did not say, according to sources familiar with the incident, is that the request for Rescue Engine 33 was denied. The two extrication units that were dispatched on the call are Rescue Engine 18 from Glenn Dale and Rescue Squad 8 from Seat Pleasant. According to the dispatch information, Station 18 is the sixth closest fire station to the scene and Station 8 is the ninth closest.
Computerized dispatch information about this call, automatically generated and from entries made by dispatchers, gives the following timeline:
Tony Kelleher tells STATter 911 that this incident is “really frustrating”. Kelleher feels Rescue Engine 33 could have gotten to the scene sooner and possibly made a difference. Kelleher said, “In our job, every second counts”.
Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Chief Spokesman Mark Brady, in an email, wrote the following about this timeline:
The numbers are taken directly off of the CAD printout and are as accurate as a CAD printout can be. I believe the crews did a tremendous job on an extremely challenging extrication by saving a viable victim in about 30 minutes after arrival. Crews knew the last extrication was a priority 4 long before.
Keep in mind – to get a realistic time frame you would need to listen to the tapes, the CAD is only as accurate as information is entered into the system.
Brady also said when it was dispatched, Rescue Squad 8 was at the fuel pumps at the Prince George’s County Police Station on Barlowe Road. Brady points out the police lot is actually closer to the scene than Station 33.
Earlier Mark Brady said that bypassing Kentland “had no impact on the outcome of this incident”. When STATter 911 asked what if it would have had an impact, Brady responded,”I’m not here to speculate”.
Tony Kelleher said it is agonizing listening to an incident on the radio knowing you were available and could possibly have made a difference. Kelleher believes it is “the citizens who are suffering”.
Mark Brady also told STATter 911, “We find it totally inappropriate for anyone to use a tragedy like this to further their cause”.
Later on Wednesday, Kentland’s fire and rescue equipment was dispatched to a working incident. In the evening, Engine 331 and Rescue Engine 33 responded to 6707 West Forest Road. The difference here is that the call was in Kentland’s first-due response area, just a half-dozen blocks from the firehouse.
Fire showing from the third floor of 6707 West Forest Road Wednesday night. Photo provided by Kentland VFD.
For the Maryland State Police press release on the Route 50 crash, click here.
FirefighterCloseCalls.com has the the final report into the death of Baltimore City Fire Department recruit Racheal Wilson. The team conducting the investigation was led by Howard County, MD Deputy Fire Chief Chris Shimer.
The Baltimore Sun’s Annie Linskey, who had a summary of the report earlier in the week, now has another exclusive. In the paper today, Linskey has an interview with one person who disputes some of the findings. Firefighter Ryan Wenger was supervising Wilson during the live burn and denies he abandoned her.
You can read the report, here.
You will find the report’s appendices, here.
A lot of buzz in our comments section about this afternoon’s wreck on Route 50 near Church Road. A van left the road and two people were ejected. Two rescue squads were called to the scene. This appears to be the first working incident that Kentland VFD would have been dispatched on, but was bypassed.
It appears that Rescue Engine 18 (Glenn Dale) and Rescue Squad 8 (Seat Pleasant) had to go a few miles further than Rescue Engine 33 to get to the scene. We are told Rescue Engine 33 would normally be dispatched on the initial assignment.
This anonymous message to our comments section is typical of the calls and emails I have been getting this afternoon.
East Bound Rt 50 at Church Rd. A van overturned with two people trapped underneath. The closest Rescue Squad (RE33) was not dispatched. RE 18 dispatched and then some time into the incident SQ8 was called for cribbing and lifting equipment. When the patients were finally free’d, one was dead. RE33 has cribbing and lifting equipment. At what point do you put your pride aside and make the right decision for the people you vow to protect.
Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Chief Spokesman Mark Brady said by phone a short time ago that bypassing Kentland “had no impact on the outcome of this incident”.
When I asked what if it would have had an impact, Mr. Brady responded,”I’m not here to speculate”.
By the way, we are working up some of the questions many of you have asked of both PGFD and Kentland about the ambulance and will see if we can get some answers.
WithTheCommand.com found coverage of this three-alarm fire in Pottstown, PA from KYW-TV. Click the picture to see the raw helicopter video.
Kentland on the offensive.
With a picture making it look as if its fire trucks are penned in, the Kentland VFD website is now a part of this story. Kentland is making the case that this is a personal vendetta by PGFD Chief Lawrence Sedgwick. You can see what Kentland is saying, here and read Chief Sedgwick’s views from Monday’s press release, here.
The comments continue to come in. Most of the latest ones are at the bottom of this page.
Firefighter who was supervising Racheal Wilson speaks out. Council member wants Chief Goodwin to resign.
The Baltimore Sun’s Annie Linskey continues to stay on top of the story. Now she has an interview with the firefighter who was with Racheal Wilson as she became trapped during the training fire. Here is an excerpt from the interview with Emergency Vehicle Driver Ryan Wenger. Wenger disputes how his actions are described in the most recent report looking into the tragedy:
“They teach you to be in control of a rescue situation,” Wenger said. “I had no means of calling for help. It was me with the recruits, knowing that in my head I had to get out so I could help them safely.”
He pulled through and then grabbed Cisneros. Once she was through, Wilson appeared in the window, yelling. Wenger reached in to get her but he could not pull her to safety.
“I gave 110 percent to help her.,” he said. “I looked up the definition of ‘abandonment.’ It is not me.”
Also, there is more pressure on Chief William Goodwin:
City Councilman Kenneth N. Harris Sr., who is running for the council presidency, called for Goodwin to resign. “At some point he has to be held accountable,” Harris said.
DCFD’s first African American fire chief is dead.
More on Chief Burton W. Johnson, here.
Report on Texas LODD.
The Texas State Fire Marshal has issued a report on the December, 2006 LODD of Firefighter Phillip Townsend of the Denison Fire Department. Firefighter Townsend died after an awning collapsed during a commercial building fire. Read the report, here. See news coverage, here.
Fire crew nearby as people are electrocuted.
Lightning, a downed power line, standing water, a bus stop, a bus and people all make a deadly combination in Madison, Wisconsin. Firefighters spotted the situation on their way to another call, but there was little they could do. Newspaper report, here. TV reports, here.
More video of plane burning.
On Monday, FireGeezer had the story of a China Airlines jet burning after landing in Okinawa. Here is a link to what appears to be a longer version of raw tape as the foam trucks put the fire out.
The District of Columbia is going after the contractor working on the Georgetown Library when it caught fire. Click the picture to see the details and how much money the city wants.The Kentland Volunteer Fire Department has now put its official response on its website, Kentland33.com. Much as we ran the press release from Prince County Fire/EMS with the views of Chief Lawrence Sedgwick, we now share Kentland’s version, dated Monday, August 20, 2007:
Today, at approx. 1330 hours the Prince George’s County Fire Department’s upper “management”, under the direction of PGFD Chief Lawrence Sedgwick, Jr. requested a meeting with Kentland Acting Fire Chief Anthony Kelleher and one other Line Officer from Station 33. In short, the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department was verbaly offered eight (8) career personnel for the purpose of dedicated BLS transport unit staffing. Chief Kelleher stated that this was a very valid offer and he would need the offer in writing. He also requested to be given 24 hours to recieve approval from the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department, Inc.’s Board of Directors and governing membership body. Both of these requests were denied and Chief Kelleher was given approx. five minutes to give a decision. With this “set-up” style meeting there was no possible way to give a yes or no answer. Due to this fact the PGFD “management” presented Chief Kelleher with an already printed suspension letter and statement of charges. As Chief Kelleher and his line officer left the meeting they were also informed that as of 1900 hours, Fire Station 33 of the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department would be restricted to running emergency responses in the first due. Even if a Company from twice or three times the distance had to be dispatched to pass Company 33.
All of the fore mentioned events of course sparked a huge media interest and rightfully so. The Prince George’s County Fire Department and its “Chief” Lawrence Sedgwick, Jr. are willing to place the lives and property of the surrounding citizens in danger. Depriving them of fully staffed Engine Companies, Rescue Companies and a Ladder Company. For example, if an emergency were to occur in the Kettering/Largo area of the County at the intersection of Central Avenue and Campus Way North and Station 33 had its normal multiple crews the assignment would be:
NORMALLY:
Engine Companies
46 – 0.67 MILES
37 – 3.93 MILES
33 – 4.57 MILES
8 – 4.89 MILES
Ladder Companies
33 – 4.57 MILES
5 – 5.04 MILES
R.I.T. Third Special Service
33 – 4.57 MILES
WITHOUT COMPANY 33
Engine Companies
46 – 0.67 MILES
37 – 3.93 MILES
8 – 4.89 MILES
23 – 6.22 MILES
Ladder Companies
5 – 5.04 MILES
26 – 8.03 MILES
R.I.T. Third Special Service
28 – 7.46 MILES
As of right now this means an Engine Company will have to travel approximately two miles further, a Ladder Company will have to travel approximately four miles (twice the distance) and a Rescue Company or Rapid Intervention Team (firefighter safety and survival) will have to travel approximately three miles (just shy of twice the distance) to provide help. All while the volunteers at Company 33 sit in station and are receiving a punishment.
The Officers and the Membership of the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. ask just who is being punished here? Its not the volunteers at Kentland its the citizens of Seat Pleasant, Chapel Oaks, Fairmont Heights, Glenn Dale, Bowie, Bladensburg East, Cheverly, Lanham, Kettering, Largo, Ritchie and other various areas.
Not only are the citizens lives in jeopardy from a reduction in services, but the firefighters that Company 33 responds with on a daily basis may have to wait extra time for relief, back-up or Rapid Intervention Efforts.
We ask “Fire Chief” Lawrence Sedgwick, Jr. this simple question: Is a personal vendetta and agenda really worth risking the lives of the citizens you took an oath to protect?
The citizens of this area need to know just one thing: Although the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. is consistently intimidated, abused and unfairly treated by the Prince George’s County Fire Department, the volunteers of this great organization will continue to provide the community with excellent service no matter how hard times get. We have been dedicated, loyal and proud of who and what we are since the founding of this Company and vow to keep this same spirit alive. We are here for you!
Arrangements:
The viewing will be held at St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church, 3601 Alabama Avenue, S.E. on Saturday, August 25, 2007, from 9:00 – 10:45 a.m., with the service to follow. The burial will take place at Fort Lincoln Cemetery, 3401 Bladenburg Road, Brentwood, Maryland.
FireNews.net has more on this NC lumber yard fire. They are also taking another look at the numbers game and have a revamped Carolinas Fire Page.
NOTE: Google had an outage for a while this morning preventing comments from being added. That should now be fixed.
Kentland comments.
Officially, there is no change in the situation between Kentland VFD and PGFD. Also, there have been no working fires where a fully-staffed fire truck has been bypassed (as of 11:04 a.m.).
What has happened, so far, is being dissected by many on this and a number of other forums. I have a look at some of the possible reasons behind the great interest in this battle.
If you want to see our coverage of the story and/or leave your own thoughts, click here.
Mayor Dixon: Confidence level in chief “is very questionable”. Chief Goodwin: Doubts key part of report.
As we told you yesterday afternoon, Baltimore’s mayor has some of her strongest criticism yet of her fire chief. This comes after The Baltimore Sun’s Annie Linskey comes up with the details from the latest report into the training death of recruit Racheal Wilson.
According to The Sun today, Chief William Goodwin believes the report “was ‘thorough’ but he disagreed with the finding that Wilson wasn’t properly prepared to fight a live fire”.
The report’s release and Mayor Sheila Dixon’s official comments weren’t scheduled until tomorrow, but reporter Linskey’s scoop has everyone talking a little sooner than planned.
Charleston mayor has a different take on his fire chief.
“He is the fire chief, the excellent fire chief, and I support him unequivocally”. The words of Mayor Joe Riley in today’s The Post & Courier. This comes as the department officially bans the use of booster lines for interior firefighting.
Investigators were back in the Sofa Super Store on Tuesday looking for evidence related to doors being padlocked.
As usual you can find the latest from Charleston on SConFire.com and Firefighter Hourly.
FDNY tactics, pre-plan and inspections questioned.
As they prepare to bury two firefighters, a lot of questions are being asked about FDNY’s lack of pre-planning and inspections, the failed standpipe system, and firefighting tactics. Investigations are underway into what FDNY, the building’s owners and the contractors did or didn’t do. Here is an excerpt from the latest out of the The New York Times:
… at one point, more than 100 firefighters were inside the building even though the fire was out of control and wildly unpredictable — and that those men had to be called out. And they were inside even though, unlike the situation in the twin towers, no workers were trapped.
“Clearly firefighters were sent into a deathtrap,” said Stephen J. Cassidy, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association. “I think the Fire Department’s position is they didn’t know how bad it was. We certainly need to find out why they didn’t know.”
Yesterday, Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta directed his investigators to determine why the department did not have a plan in place to fight a fire in the building.
Here is a new video from Saturday’s fire. It is a bit of a tribute to the fallen firefighters, but has a few shots that you may not have seen. It is a longer version of one we linked to earlier.
FireGeezer is again talking about this topic and has also been keeping up on the reporting out of New York.
A mayday at this fire, Tuesday afternoon, in Prince William County. Everyone’s okay. Manassas VFC has the details at its site.
Raw video from D.C. rescue.
We finally put up DCFD’s raw video of Saturday’s rescue from the 8th floor of a burning apartment building. Not quite as dramatic as the version on YouTube, but the quality is better.
Firefighter can’t sue.
A federal judge has told an Annapolis, Maryland firefighter that he can’t sue for reverse discrimination.
Talk to me.
A little clarification after a state report about communications during the May 10th wreck on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge that killed 3 and tied up traffic for hours. Fire and EMS from both sides of the water say they talked to each other that day and do so every day. The fire chief in Anne Arundel County was not too happy about the report.
You will have to read the article to find out who actually was on a different page, or frequency.
Fire safety on campus.
CPSC held a press conference yesterday on college fire safety. No, they are not recalling your college-aged child, but they are talking about how to keep him or her safe. 9News Now reporter Cindy Pena visits the University of Maryland for a closer look.
Jimmy Justice to the rescue.
Check out this one. New York ticket writers blocking fire hydrants. Jimmy Justice gets a bit personal, but he makes his point.
Click on the picture to take you to WithTheCommand.com and more on this fire in 6 homes under construction in Texas.Love them or hate them, people sure seem to be interested in the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department. In a little more than 24 hours, there have been about 50 comments on this one topic (here and here). In our 3 months of operation that’s the most we have received in just one day.
It looks like thewatchdesk.com had close to the same number of postings about Kentland and nearly 4,000 views. At firehouse.com, the thread on Kentland was at about 70 entries over the same period.
When I wrote the first article about Kentland’s ambulance battle on May 13th, it sparked a thread on thewatchdesk.com that had something like 20,000 views in the first week or so (that thread now has more than 100,000 views). Whether it is out of respect or disdain, what happens on Landover Road draws the attention of those in fire and EMS.
Why is that the case? The obvious answer it is it has a lot to with the publicity Kentland has received as being one of the busiest fire companies in the United States. Its all-volunteer status, since 1995, likely adds to the interest.
I also think it is bigger than that. My colleague Gary Reals, who is much more of a police guy than a fire guy, was assigned to do the first TV story on the ambulance dispute. No matter the expertise, a good reporter is a good reporter. I mentioned this before, but Gary took this complicated story, with a lot of nuances the general public probably doesn’t get, and summed it up very neatly this way:
This is the convergence of not one, but two cultural clashes in the firefighting community: volunteer versus career and firefighting versus EMS.
When you look at all of the comments over the last three months, you will see these themes again and again. Two conflicts that firefighters and EMS providers all over the country can relate to.
Its seems clear, that for some, these two conflicts apparently translate into good versus evil, with little common ground.
Its a cliche, but I have learned from these type of stories that the truth may not be in the extremes, but somewhere in the middle. I can honestly say, from the very start of this until now, I have heard some very good arguments and some very bad arguments from each side. But it is not my role to judge, just to get the information out there for you to judge.
There are two facts in this battle not in dispute. The first is, there needs to be an ambulance assigned to the Kentland area. Maybe even two ambulances and a medic unit. The second fact is, after seven months of bickering, no ambulance is on the street.
I don’t think you can argue with these two facts, but looking at the passions that have been raised by all of this, its likely someone will try.
If you haven’t done so, you should read some of the comments on the various forums. I think I have read them all. Here are four sent to STATter 911 that caught my attention:
1st comment:
The Chief of the PGFD should have done what was right without bringing a degree of shame and an unprofessional spin on the PGFD.
As a fire chief, if a member of my staff conducts an EMS Response- Based Needs Assessment, which identified that there is an immediate need for an EMS Unit in a certain response area within Prince Georges County, then there should be no time wasted in placing it in service.
If the need was so urgent for a unit in that region, then place it in service by whatever means necesarry. The time to deal with the volunteer department, wheather they’re right or wrong, should have come after the fact or as a side-bar.
Having a power struggle that has proliferated throughout the fire service, both in the media on a national scale, is very sad. It brings unwanted attention to those who are still trying to do their jobs, whether they’re career or volunteer employees.
While many of us with any tenure in the fire service have probably witnessed how ridiculous fire department politics can be, there is simply no room for this type of conduct as a career fire chief in the 21st century.
2nd comment:
It sounds like it is time to let the PGFD chief run his department the way he sees fit. It is a joke that this is how the fire service is run in 2007. By reading these articles, it is not even clear who is in charge in PG county. Just like many other places in this country, no one wants to give up his little kingdom, even if it means having a more efficient and more effective fire department. It is places like Kentland, and there are many more, that are destroying the fire service by doing their own thing, regardless of what is the right thing.
3rd comment:
How do you explain to some citizen’s family that the closest special service was not aloud to run this call and if they were the outcome could have been different? Even worse yet a firefighter’s family. What about the liability placed on Public Safety Communications for not dispatching the closest unit? I guess its going to take a life to prove a point.
4th comment:
How do you explain to some citizen’s family that their father died of a heart attack because when they called 911 pleading for an ambulance, the Kentland VFD decided it was in their own best interest to send a fire truck instead? How do you explain to some citizen’s family that their father died of a heart attack because Kentland VFD refused to place an ambulance in service to protect their own community? An average of one citizen dies every sixty days from fire in Prince George’s County. Thats about SIX each year. About 15 prince george’s county residents die EACH DAY from medical emergencies…that’s almost SIX THOUSAND people…YOU do the math.
Baltimore City Fire Department Photo A little more than 6 weeks ago I wrote some words on Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon’s comments about her fire chief, William Goodwin. I wondered how much longer Chief Goodwin could survive when a mayor was making rather pointed comments about the leadership of the Baltimore City Fire Department.
This afternoon, The Baltimore Sun’s Annie Linskey tells us Mayor Dixon has some even tougher talk. Here is the opening of her online report:
Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon said this morning that her “confidence level is very questionable” with regard to the fire chief and his command staff and with the decisions that were made by instructors during a live burn training exercise that killed a cadet in February.
It was the first time Dixon commented on the 121-page report that she commissioned about the deadly blaze on South Calverton Road. The details were reported in The Sun today and showed that the fire department failed to prepare recruit Racheal M. Wilson for the conditions that she would face in a live fire, and failed to outfit her with proper gear.
Of Fire Chief William J. Goodwin Jr., the mayor said: “I have real strong questions at every level. I’ll need to digest the report.”
The mayor has said all along she was waiting for the report from Howard County Deputy Fire Chief Chris Shimer before making decisions about fire department leadership. I had asked in my July 8th column, what did Mayor Dixon need to know about how bad the situation surrounding Racheal Wilson’s was, that wasn’t already made clear in earlier reports?
Now, apparently we have the answer. The new report indicates things were even worse than what had already been made public.
DCFD photo of this morning’s rescue at a construction site. Click the photo for more.
PGFD Chief Spokesman Mark Brady says McCoy is sill on the job and that there was apparently a misunderstanding on the part of the reporter. It was Lt. Col. McCoy who led the meeting with Chief Kelleher yesterday and gave him the bad news. Baltimore report into recruit death obtained by newspaper. It wasn’t supposed to be released until Thursday, but Baltimore Sun reporter Annie Linskey, who has been doing the digging into the death of recruit Racheal Wilson, has a copy of the report. Howard County Deputy Fire Chief Chris Shimer led the investigation. As you can imagine, it doesn’t paint a pretty picture and Linskey tells us it adds to the problems already known about the tragic live burn.
You also may recall that this is the report Mayor Sheila Dixon said she has been waiting for as she plots the future of the Baltimore City Fire Department. FDNY LODDs. You will find funeral information here for Firefighters Graffagnino and Beddia. The New York Daily News has fireground audio and transcripts as firefighters became trapped on the 14th floor of 130 Liberty Street. There have been a lot of videos showing up on YouTube. Here’s one we hadn’t linked to before. For other videos and dispatch audio, click here. SC LODD. Grant Mishoe of SConFire.com tells us about the death of Firefighter Jeff Swartz, of the Wagener Fire Department. Swartz died in a fiery crash while driving to a call as a medical first responder. SConFire.com has more details and funeral arrangements. New appointments in Charleston. Details on who filled two new posts recommended by the task force reviewing the June 18th Sofa Super Store fire. The IAFF Local president doesn’t like the picks and neither do some readers of Firefighter Hourly. Paramedic supervisor wants his job back. From SConFire.com, for more than 3 years, a paramedic supervisor has been trying to get back on the street after a night of bad decision making in Lexington County, South Carolina. FossilMedic clues us in on just how old he is. Mike Ward didn’t fill out his run reports on stone tablets, but looking back at how he used to communicate with the beach patrol while working as a seasonal EMT in Ocean City, you might think that was the case. FireGeezer has Ward’s column focusing on a recent save and some of the advances of the Ocean City Beach Patrol. Around the world with FireGeezer. We have been giving the Geeze a lot of play this morning, but Bill Schumm searches much further and much wider than I do for fire and EMS stories. That’s why he comes up with gems like this one from Malaysia. I agree with the FireGeezer that this could help improve response times. A little international news of my own. A firefighter in Scotland wants his job back after being fired over a college dorm evacuation. Warning: this story talks about a naked coed. Yeah, that should keep people from clicking here.
We have the details, plus reader comments, here. There are also a lot more comments at the bottom of this story from Monday afternoon.
9News Now reporter Brittany Morehouse covered the story Monday night. You can see that story, here.
Also, if any of you have seen this on gazette.net and wondering how Dave Statter blew this part of the story, apparently I didn’t (not that it couldn’t happen):
The Prince George’s County Fire Chief Lawrence H. Sedgwick has recommended to remove the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department chief for failure to comply with changes to the station. Sedgwick has also fired his deputy fire chief of emergency operations, Lt. Col. Robert McCoy, for not enforcing his demands.
BTW, FireGeezer delves deeper into the pictures we first showed you over the weekend of the Deutshe Bank building undergoing demolition.
Not to be completely outdone by the Geeze.
VaFireNews.com has a series of photos from this fire in Pittsylvania County. Click on the picture for more.
Click on the photo above to see more of FireFightingNews.com’s pictures from a North Carolina apartment fire.>
These are pictures from D.C. Fire & EMS spokesman Alan Etter from a rescue this morning at a construction site at 900 11th Street, NW. Here is what Alan wrote about the operation:
DC Fire & EMS responded at 7:58 AM for what was initially described as a confined space rescue. When units arrived, they found two construction workers who had been injured by a falling steel beam. The beam was being lowered by a crane into the open construction pit when it broke free and fell a short distance, striking one man in the head and the other across the back. Both men then fell off a ladder on which they were working and fell 10 feet onto other construction materials. Utilizing two rescue squads, the special operations division coordinated a crane and stokes rescue of both patients. Both men were secured in a stokes basket – then, using an on-scene crane, raised up to the street level, where they were treated and then transported to GW Hospital. Their injuries were thought to be serious but not life-threatening. OSHA was investigating the accident.
Baltimore Sun diagram of the training fire where recruit Racheal Wilson died.DEADLY NEGLECT AT FIRE ACADEMY
New report details ‘unacceptable’ practices that led to the death of Racheal M. Wilson in a February training exercise
Here are a few excerpts from today’s paper as reporter Annie Linskey briefs us on the investigation led by Howard County Deputy Fire Chief Chris Shimer:
A Baltimore fire recruit who was killed in a February training exercise was not ready to be sent into a burning dwelling, had failed agility tests and had been given old protective gear that frayed and failed to protect her from the intense heat, according to a report prepared for the mayor.
The 121-page report by an independent investigator, obtained yesterday by The Sun, adds new details to the death of Racheal M. Wilson and places much of the blame on her instructor, who investigators say abandoned her in the burning rowhouse, and on other mid-level fire commanders, three of whom have already been fired.
It describes a chaotic scene conducted by instructors who acted with little oversight and concludes that 50 national safety standards were violated during the exercise, more than the 36 previously acknowledged by the city and the department.
Fire Chief William J. Goodwin Jr., who has been criticized for allowing lax standards at the training academy he once headed, is mentioned once in the detailed report, in a paragraph in which investigators note that he was unaware that the live-fire exercises would take place.
Shimer concludes that the fire academy is governed by an “unacceptable” view that “recruits must be exposed to heavy fire conditions in order to be adequately prepared for the field.
“These practices are unacceptable and may lead to serious injury and in this case death,” the report says.
You can see 9News Now reporter Brittany Morehouse’s interviews with suspended Kentland Chief Tony Kelleher and PGFD’s Mark Brady, here.
As of 1900 hours Monday, the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department will not be straying far from home. Responses by the all-volunteer, Maryland fire company have been drastically limited by Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Chief Lawrence Sedgwick. Chief Sedgwick has given this order because of Kentland’s refusal to allow a basic-life-support ambulance to run out of Station 33.
While this battle has been going on for seven months, Monday’s developments are the most significant since Chief Michael Mattison was suspended on May 14th. Like Mattison, Kentland Acting Chief Tony Kelleher has been “removed from emergency operations” for refusing Chief Sedgwick’s order to accept Ambulance 339.
In addition, Sedgwick has restricted Kentland, one of the busiest fire companies in the United States, from responding to emergency calls that are outside its first-due area. The only exception is if a neighboring station is unavailable and Kentland’s engine company is the closest to the emergency.
Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Chief Spokesman Mark Brady said the response restrictions would be in effect until Kentland follows Chief Sedgwick’s order and allows Ambulance 339 to be placed in service. Chief Tony Kelleher said Monday evening, “The citizens will be the ones who suffer from this action”.
In a press release, Brady wrote, “Continuity of service to the citizens shall not be reduced, as the same amount of Fire/EMS units will be dispatched in accordance with standard procedures”.
Jim Collins, president of the Prince George’s County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association, calls the response policy “totally ridiculous”. Collins said it will “jeopardize the safety of our citizens” by increasing response times when “time has to be on our side in order to make rescues”.
The press release says the new dispatch procedure for Station 33 is “to ensure personnel are available to respond to the more than 5100 Basic Life Support ambulance calls within their first due response area”.
Chief Kelleher said he was “blindsided” during a meeting with PGFD officials Monday afternoon. According to Kelleher, he was given “five minutes to make a decision” after being presented a new proposal from Chief Sedgwick’s staff.
All sides agree that the new proposal would have PGFD staff the ambulance, around-the-clock, with a dedicated career crew. A previous requirement that the volunteers take over the staffing by September 19th is no longer on the table.
According to Kelleher, this is an arrangement Kentland would likely accept, but claims PGFD officials refused to put it in writing or agree to a memorandum of understanding. Kelleher is concerned how long the county will actually provide the career staffing. When he asked that question, Kelleher said he was told “as long as it was financially affordable”.
Chief Kelleher said without more specific information, he couldn’t make a decision until first conferring with other Kentland officials. Kelleher said his request for another 24-hours was denied.
Kentland’s Station 33 is one of only three of Prince George’s County’s forty-six fire/EMS stations that does not have an ambulance. The station provides first-responder EMS with its fleet of fire trucks. It was in February that Chief Sedgwick first ordered the Kentland volunteers to staff the county-owned ambulance. Sedgwick has long contended that, with its large and active membership, Kentland should be able to staff the unit.
In May, Tony Kelleher was originally given one week to accept the ambulance after the suspension of Chief Michael Mattison. Kelleher was able to extend the deadline numerous times, as he offered his own plans to provide EMS service. On July 25th, Kentland went public with a proposal to start an EMS division and announced a nationwide recruiting effort for volunteers.
In an open letter that Kentland VFD sent to political leaders and the news media on August 10th, Kentland wrote, “After two and a half weeks of steady looking, only a small handful had come forward—once again leading the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department to believe that the burnout effect on volunteers would be tremendous”.
In that same letter Kentland said: “The Kentland Volunteer Fire Department has NEVER been against placing an EMS unit in service on the property of fire station 33. It has always been a matter of getting the Prince George’s County Fire Department to provide staffing for it, just as forty-two of the County’s forty-three Basic Life Support transport units receive every day.”
At the time, PGFD declined to respond to Kentland’s claim in that letter that the department was “attempting to crush the volunteers”.
If a career-staffed ambulance is assigned to Station 33, it will be the first time career firefighter/EMTs will run out of that fire company in more than a decade. In May of 1995, PGFD removed the career crew from Kentland and assigned it to stations that did not have as large a volunteer force as Kentland’s.
Tony Kelleher has not only been removed as chief, but like Michael Mattison, is operationally suspended. This means neither man can respond on fire or EMS calls in Prince George’s County. Kentland VFD has gone to court in an effort to address Mattison’s suspension. Hearings scheduled this summer have been postponed.
In its press release, PGFD said Chief Sedgwick has taken the actions against Kelleher and Mattison for “failure to comply with direct orders”.
Chief Sedgwick’s staff will now deal with the next Kentland official in the chain-of-command. The press release says, “The volunteer leadership at Kentland Station 33 will be granted a limited amount of time to comply with orders to place the ambulance into service or face additional sanctions.”
For a detailed history of the Kentland/PGFD issue, and of EMS in Prince George’s County, I suggest this paper by Michael J. Ward Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at George Washington University.
(UPDATED at 7:40 p.m. with Kelleher conversation)
Word from Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Chief Spokesman Mark Brady that Acting Kentland Chief Tony Kelleher has been stripped of his operational authority. Brady says PGFD officials met with Chief Kelleher this afternoon and offered to begin running a career-staffed ambulance out of Station 33 beginning Tuesday morning. Brady says the county backed off of a hard deadline for the ambulance to be staffed by volunteers.
According to Brady, Chief Kelleher said he did not have the authority to give them an answer. That’s when action was taken against Kelleher and Kentland VFD. Brady says they will now make the same offer to the next person in Kentland’s chain of command.
Most interesting are the new dispatching procedures that Brady says are in effect as of 1900 hours. According to Brady, Kentland will only make first-due responses. This means it can dump the house in its first due area. Outside of the first-due area, Kentland VFD will not be dispatched unless they are the closest fire station to the call (for example, a neighboring fire station was already on a call).
In a phone conversation, Tony Kelleher tells STATter 911 he was “blindsided” by PGFD officials. Kelleher says that was given 5 minutes to make a decision on an arrangement that had not previously been presented. According to Kelleher, while the county offered a dedicated career crew around-the-clock, they would not put the details in writing or agree to a memorandum of understanding.
Kelleher says he was only told the career staffing would be available as long as it was “financially affordable”. Kelleher says he asked for 24-hours to confer with Kentland officials about this new information. That request was denied.
Tony Kelleher says Kentland VFD would likely agree to the county’s arrangement, and allow Ambulance 339 to be put in-service, if the specific details were made clear.
Kelleher believes the citizens will suffer when Prince George’s County bypasses fully-staffed fire trucks and sends units to emergency scenes that are coming from a further distance.
Here is a press release from PGFD:
Fire Chief Compelled To Address
Non-Compliant Volunteer Fire Department
Prince George ’s County Fire Chief Lawrence H. Sedgwick, Jr. has been compelled to address the issue of the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department, Station 33, and their failure to comply with direct orders. In February, 2007, Fire Chief Sedgwick ordered the Kentland Fire Station 33 to place a County owned and supplied, basic life support (BLS), transport unit (ambulance) into service, to be housed and staffed by the existing volunteer membership who currently respond to EMS calls on pieces of fire apparatus. Since that time, the volunteer chief was removed from emergency operations for failure to obey direct orders and other disciplinary actions not germane to this issue. The current volunteer chief has offered several alternate plans at the direction of his membership, however, none have met the initial orders of the Fire Chief.
On Monday, August 20, 2007, The Fire/EMS Department advised the Kentland volunteer leadership that eight career Firefighters/Paramedics would be made available to staff the ambulance 24 hours a day – 7 days a week. The County owned and staffed ambulance would be housed and respond out of Kentland Station 33. Kentland volunteer leadership did not accept this proposal. While this plan is being considered by the Kentland membership, appropriate action has been directed to be taken. As a result of failing to meet the current deadline, Fire Chief Sedgwick has directed the Deputy Fire Chief of Emergency Operations, Lieutenant Colonel Robert McCoy, to implement the following actions for Kentland’s non-compliance.
The Fire/Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Department will now confer with the next volunteer chief in the chain-of-command.
The Fire/EMS Department will reduce the amount of mutual aid responses of the Kentland Fire Department to ensure personnel are available to respond to the more than 5100 Basic Life Support (BLS) ambulance calls within their first due response area. The Fire/EMS Department will evaluate Kentland’s ability to maintain adequate response to all calls in their first due prior to any adjustments. Continuity of service to the citizens shall not be reduced as the same amount of Fire/EMS units will be dispatched in accordance with standard procedures.
The volunteer leadership at Kentland Station 33 will be granted a limited amount of time to comply with orders to place the ambulance into service or face additional sanctions.
Photo above from nydailynews.com. Click on the picture to read the latest information from The Daily News on efforts to save the trapped firefighters. Overheard chatter from command post: “… The firemen on the 14th floor, they’re screaming for help. They can’t get to them …”
Second voice from 14th floor: “It’s starting to get bad up here. We gotta force our way. We gotta break through some of this plywood to get the hell outta here. It’s bad. Very low visibility …”
Third voice from 14th floor: “All the staircases, all the landings are plywooded up. … It would take us a week to get through and check each one …”
Command Post: “Command to Battalion 2 … I want a roll call. Do we have a roll call finished up there? I don’t give a s–t about the building. I give a s–t about the guys …”
Voice from the 15th floor: “Ladder 8 to the command post. We’re all running low on air and we’re really taking a beating up here on 15 …”
Command Post: “Command to Battalion 2. Can we start pulling guys down and get down to the 14th floor? What’s the current conditions up there?”
Voice from inside: “We got heavy fire.”
Command Post: “Command to Battalion 2 … Who are we missing? Ask the officers who we’re missing? … Command to Ladder 10. Do you have everybody with you? …”
Command Post: “… Let’s get everybody down below this fire and we’ll start all over again. I wanna make sure we have everybody accounted for.”
Voice from 13th floor: “I’m on floor 13, but there is no access via the stairway. The stairways are blocked off. Everybody that’s coming down has to come down the elevator to 13 and then take the stairway down. …
Voice from inside: “Charlie, Charlie, where are ya? Get your ass down here, Let’s go. We’re out of here …
Firefighter 1: “Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! Engine 24 standing by. … I’m lost. I’m trying to make it on the charged hose line … running out of air.”
Voice from Command: “Command to the rescue battalion … Jack, do we have a good accounting of everybody? I’m getting conflicting messages.”
Jack: “Rescue 1 is accounted for.”
Command: “What about the squad?”
George: “I’m missing one man.”
Command: “Who’s reporting they’re missing one man?”
George: “Rescue 2.”
Command: “Okay, Rescue 2, George, where are you?”
George: “Floor 14.”
Command: “Which guy are you missing?”
George: “Can Man [firefighter carrying fire extinguisher].”
Command: “George, do you know his name?”
George: “Charlie.”
Command: “What floor was he on last?”
George: “14 …”
Firefighter: “Division 1 to Engine 24 … Get the elevator down to one … [unintelligible] …”
Voice from 14th floor: “On the 14th floor, we have a line but I’m not really sure where it’s going. We have a lot of activity going on up here.”
Command Post: “Engine 24?”
A voice from inside: “I can’t account for my men …”
Command Post: “Command, Engine 24? … [Unintelligible crosstalk].”
Command Post: “… He says the rest of the company is missing. Are they accounted for …?”
Voice from inside: “That’s what we’re trying to find out. … Engine 24? …”
We have more links to audio recordings, early video and news coverage of Saturday’s fire, here.
Unless there was some last minute negotiating, today is the day Kentland VFD is expected to put Ambulance 339 in service. According to Kentland officials, Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Chief Lawrence Sedgwick wrote them that the ambulance would come staffed for the first month and would be volunteer-run by September 19th. I have more, here.
New York LODDs.
We have links to fireground audio, early video and news coverage on the deaths of two FDNY members at Saturday’s 7-alarm fire at ground zero. Billy Goldfeder wrote the following on The Secret List this weekend:
Firefighters faced nasty conditions with plywood sheets propped up against walls, areas altered, confusing access and boxes of equipment and crap all around. Because the building was under demolition, there was also the issue of asbestos with the asbestos removal going on. The building is also covered in scaffolding and black construction webbing. The building standpipes were not usable as code requires and all lines had to be manually stretched-adding to the complications. FF’s Graffagnino and Beddia were found on the 14th and 15th floors.
To get a better idea what Chief Goldfeder is talking about, take a look at these pictures taken by the New York Times from inside 130 Liberty Street in the days leading up to the fire.
Inside 130 Liberty Street before the fire. Click on the New York Times picture to see more of the conditions firefighters faced.
Also, for more on the standpipe issue, both firehouse.com and WithTheCommand.com are linking to articles with details about Gov. Elliot Spitzer’s comments.
Charleston timeline.
Tied up with the New York tragedy, I didn’t get to see the latest work by Ron Menchaca and Glenn Smith in The Post & Courier until late Sunday. But having been alerted to the article by SConFire.com and Firefighter Hourly, I already knew this was something I had to read.
It is the most complete account, so far, of what happened in the moments leading up to the deaths of 9 Charleston firefighters. It also, with the help of the recently released audio recordings, adds about 15 minutes to the timeline originally given of when the flashover occurred, and the collapse, about 4 minutes later.
I have said this before, but I hope that Menchaca and Smith will eventually turn all of their great work into a book.
Video of D.C. rescue.
There is now video on YouTube of Saturday’s rescue by Tower 3 at 9th & Rhode Island, NW. We should warn you there is some strong language and some might find it graphic. For the rest if the coverage of the 2-alarm fire click here. We hope to have some more video later today, or tomorrow.
Also, don’t forget Engine 16/Tower 3 has its own website.
Links to some other stories from a very busy weekend.
3 young people dead in a fire on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
FireGeezer on the international beat.
Bill Schumm today is looking at how staffing issues played a role at a deadly hotel fire in Cornwall, England. Also, the closest aerial platform was 90 minutes away.
Bill also has details of a China Airways plane that burned upon landing in Okinawa. Click on the picture below.
I put the question mark up there because we have seen deadlines come and go before in the ongoing battle between PGFD and Kentland VFD over ambulance service. I am out of town, but as of the middle of last week, Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Chief Lawrence Sedgwick was still poised to take action today if Ambulance 339 isn’t put in service.
In the letter, Kentland Acting Chief Tony Kelleher shared with us on August 10th, Kentland was expecting Chief Sedgwick to remove Kelleher much the way he did Chief Mike Mattison in May. In fact, the original do or die deadline for Tony Kelleher was 3 months ago. But it kept getting moved and moved, until the last official word, on July 26th, was that PGFD would no longer discuss the timetable with STATter 911. Actually, the last official word was “no comment”. That happened 10 days ago when I asked about the Kentland letter.
In its letter, Kentland also thought it possible that Company 33 could be restricted to its first due area. That’s a punishment PGFD has used in the past. From talking to people who have been in top PGFD positions when that option was previously used, we have learned it is something that can give ulcers to those in charge. They have worried about bad publicity in the event of a major, or even fatal fire, where a fully staffed fire truck is sitting nearby and isn’t deployed.
Last week, a number of sources told STATter 911 that some restriction on what Kentland fire trucks will go where, and when, is still being considered. The sources, all of whom have dealt with the Kentland situation, asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to speak officially for the department on this matter.
So, according to the Kentland letter of August 10th, the last final offer from Chief Sedgwick is for Ambulance 339 to be put in service by today, staffed with career personnel around the clock, and for Kentland to be ready to have the volunteers run it by September 19th.
We will keep you informed.
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