Reminder: As you see above, STATter 911 and Firehouse.com will be bringing you live coverage of the ceremonies in Emmitsburg this weekend. You can click above to check out the live coverage and please encourage other websites to link to these important events.
President Bush is scheduled to speak on Sunday at the Memorial Service and you have already been informed about the protest. Here is the latest from AP on all of this:
EMMITSBURG, Md. — President Bush plans to be in Emmitsburg on Sunday morning to participate in the 26th annual National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service.
The White House says he will make remarks, lay a wreath and greet the families of the 87 firefighters killed in the line of duty last year and four others not previously been honored.
Bush last attended in 2001, just weeks after the September terrorist attacks. He is the only president to have attended the annual ceremony.
The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation says an anti-gay activist group, the Westboro Baptist Church is planning to picket until the ceremony begins.
A Washington Post photo by Richard A. Lipski of Chief Dennis Rubin’s team at yesterday’s council hearing on Monday’s fire in Adams Morgan. See coverage below.
Mayor enraged over autopsy findings and orders Boston Fire Department review
Here are the latest stories on the scandal in Boston. From the Herald today:
A furious Mayor Thomas M. Menino is calling for a sweeping review of the Fire Department’s policies on alcohol abuse as new details emerged about a firefighter killed battling a blaze while reportedly inebriated.
Paul Cahill had been vacationing with his family in Maine before showing up late to work his scheduled night shift on Aug. 29. Cahill had arranged to have a pal cover his shift from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. when he arrived at the West Roxbury firehouse.
About an hour after he arrived, the company was sent to battle a kitchen fire at the Tai Ho restaurant that erupted into an inferno, killing Cahill, 55, and firefighter Warren Payne, 53. Payne was covering a shift for a new graduate and was slated to leave just minutes after the fire broke out.
“Cahill came in late, and the officer (in charge) did not see him,” said one high-ranking Boston Fire Department official. “They got the bell, and the officer did not have a chance to see what kind of condition he was in.”
Sources have told the Herald that toxicology reports show Cahill was legally drunk with a blood alcohol level of .27 and that Payne’s tests turned up traces of cocaine and marijuana. Union officials have refused to comment.
Yesterday, Menino ordered a “top-to-bottom review” of departmental policies.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino launched a fresh review of the Boston Fire Department yesterday amid mounting evidence of substance abuse within its ranks, including a revelation that 159 firefighters, about 10 percent of the current force, were referred to treatment programs in the last three years.
Those 159 firefighters were ordered to undergo substance abuse treatment because they appeared to their superiors to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs while on duty, said Lieutenant William Ostiguy, who runs the treatment programs for the department. Twelve of the firefighters have been fired or forced to resign or retire for subsequent abuse.
The Globe reported yesterday that firefighter Paul Cahill had a blood-alcohol level of 0.27 percent, far above the legal limit for someone to drive in Massachusetts, when he died in an August fire at a Chinese restaurant in West Roxbury. Firefighter Warren Payne, who also died in the blaze, had traces of cocaine in his system. The information was in autopsy reports that were described to the Globe by two government officials.
Yesterday, the Registry of Motor Vehicles confirmed that Cahill had been convicted of a drunken driving offense stemming from a July 2005 occurrence on the South Shore. He declined to take a breath test and lost his license for 225 days. A city official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he never reported the matter to his superiors, a violation of department rules.
While Fire Commissioner Roderick Fraser said he was surprised that any firefighters abused alcohol or drugs on the job, Menino suggested that the deaths of Cahill and Payne have added a sense of urgency to the issue of substance abuse among firefighters.
More coverage:
Union’s efforts to block TV station overturned
WCVB-TV
Adams County PA LODD
New information from Pennsylvania. 24-year-old Adam Cole of Biglerville has been identified as the Buchanan Valley Volunteer Fire Company member killed in a vehicle collision on the way to a call. This article from PublicOpinionline.com of Chambersburg says Cole was recently accepted to be a D.C. firefighter:
Members of Buchanan Valley Volunteer Fire Company mourn the loss of one of their own today as fire crews mop up a forest fire in Franklin County.
Adam Cole, 24, of Biglerville was killed responding to a 7:55 p.m. alarm for a Buchanan Valley tanker to fight a forest fire in Michaux State Forest. His car crossed the center line on a curve of Buchanan Valley Road (Pa. 234) and collided with an oncoming pickup truck, according to Pennsylvania State Police, Gettysburg.
The fire company is planning a firefighter’s funeral for Cole, a three-year firefighter who was recently accepted to train for the Washington, D.C., Fire Department, according to Buchanan Valley Deputy Fire Chief John Parr.
Charles Amick, the 66-year-old driver of the pickup truck, of Roaring Spring suffered moderate injuries, according to police. He was treated at Gettysburg Hospital and released, according to a hospital spokeswoman.
The forest fire burned about three acres at Sandy Sod on Ridge Road, according to Michaux District Forester Michael Kusko. He estimated that the fire started around 4 p.m.
The initial alarm for Fayetteville Fire Department came at 5:51 p.m.
Here is the latest from Chief Billy Goldfeder at firefighterclosecalls.com:
24 year old Firefighter Adam Cole of the Buchanan Valley VFD (Adams County, PA) was tragically killed in the Line of Duty last night while responding to the firehouse for a wildland fire call. Firefighter Cole’s personal vehicle crossed over the centerline on a curve and struck an oncoming vehicle. Firefighter Cole was extricated and transported but did not survive the crash. FF Cole was reported as to have not been wearing his seat belt and his vehicle speed was a contributing factor. The civilian in the second vehicle was not seriously injured.
The BVFC
is planning a firefighter’s funeral for Cole, a three-year firefighter who was recently accepted to train for the DCFD according to BVVFD sources.
Take Care-BE CAREFUL. SLOW DOWN. SEAT BELTS…..again.
Electrical fire is apparently arson
According to the affidavit supporting the arrest of Jeremiah Jones, for the fires at the Springhill Lake Apartment complex, he is admitting to a fire on March 25th at 9150 Edmonston Road. The document says he ignited a sheet behind a washer and dryer to start the blaze. That was one of the fires originally listed as being caused by an electrical problem. Read the criminal complaint and affidavit here.
WASA claims two hydrants 600 feet from Adams Morgan building could supply needed flow, something fire chief disputes
D.C. Fire & EMS Chief Dennis Rubin and WASA General Manager Jerry Johnson sat feet from each other, but remain far apart. Chief Rubin questioned Johnson’s leadership and the water departments response to the 4-alarm fire on Monday. Here’s my story from the D.C. Council hearing yesterday.
The Post was able to stay longer at the hearing than I could and have the differing views on whether or not there was an adequate water supply close to the fire:
… WASA’s chief engineer, John T. Dunn, testified that the agency had determined this week that two hydrants at Columbia Road and 18th Street NW, 600 feet from the building, were connected to 12- and 16-inch water mains. When tested Wednesday, the hydrants pumped 3,500 gallons per minute — the amount that fire officials said they needed to put out the fire, he said.
“The response that all we had to do was connect to two different hydrants I find perplexing and, frankly, not true,” Rubin said. “All the facilities we used did not suppress the fire in the manner they should have.”
Local 36 testified along with Tom Tippett, former union president and fire chief. You can find some of the testimony here.
Hazing or just firehouse fun … you be the judge
A STATter 911 reader in responding to a discussion of fire department hazing points out this video posted on YouTube in June. It is from Southern Maryland.
And finally … a look back in PA
I have been so busy preparing for Emmitsburg this weekend that I failed to provide a new video of some old area fire department action. But, I thought I would pass this video along with some nice old pictures from the Neffsville Fire Company in PA. I particularly liked the open.
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It certainly comes nowhere near the level of lighting someone on fire. I vote firehouse fun.