(Updated at 1:44 PM)

Even more pictures and video from OC 9-alarm fire and a blogger looks at a home response

Click the image above to take you to a dramatic series of photos by Allen Sklar as the fire flashes on the first floor, Side A of the Dough Roller on the Ocean City Boardwalk on Sunday. Sklar has some time references listed on the pictures showing how quickly the fire comes out to meet the firefighters.

Since about 25 minutes after the fire started on Sunday we have been collecting videos, images and links for the fire on the Boardwalk and posting them. We have gathered the various elements on one page, including OCVFC’s run down of the units involved in the operation. Click here to get to that page.

The blog Salisbury News has an entry by Joe Albero that is drawing some comments. Albero expressed concern as he followed a firefighter from Salisbury to OC for the fire:

Just follow this truck! This time I’m not going to claim to be an expert but my GUESS would be that this guy was hitting speeds of up to 90 mph on Rt. 50 to get to the Fire in Ocean City.

Oh, he was cool all right. He had those emergency strobe lights in the front windshield AND the back windshield, letting everyone know, GET THE F OUT OF MY WAY, I’M A FIREMAN!

No, I do not believe this was an official Fire Station Vehicle. I believe this was a personal vehicle and while we pulled away from the light at the Shorebirds Stadium, he was able to get everyone out of his way eventually with his flashy lights and take off like his Wife and Children were on the roof of the burning building and he was going to get there to save them.

Mind you, some Fire Trucks passed me along the way and I was very cool with that. However, I watched them STOP at red lights before they continued through. I will check with Sheriff Lewis today to see if in fact the lights on this vehicle are even legal? Does anyone out there know if it is or not?

There is also a still picture that the author apparently took. Was he driving when he took it (not that I haven’t done that)? Interesting topic.

Vision 20/20′s attempt to see through the smoke, part of a busy week for the fire service in and around Washington

Not as dramatic as pictures like those from Ocean City above, but extremely important to the safety of the public and firefighters is Vision 20/20. Fire prevention and safety leaders are meeting in Washington right now in an attempt to save lives and reduce fire injuries across the country. This is how Vision 20/20 describes itself:

The Institute of Fire Engineers US Branch was awarded a Fire Prevention and Safety Grant by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to develop a comprehensive national strategy for fire prevention. This is a project with the goal of helping to bring together fire prevention efforts and focus everyone’s efforts collectively to effectively address the fire problem in the United States.

Here is another description of the gathering from a press release by Pete Piringer of the Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service:

Fire safety experts from across the nation will convene in Washington, DC, on March 31 and April 1, 2008, to develop a national strategic agenda to reduce the loss of life and property from fire, which claims an average of almost 4,000 lives and $12.7 billion in property damage each year. This meeting is a key part of a year-long project and Division Chief and County Fire Marshal Mike Love, and others from the Montgomery County (MD) Fire and Rescue Service will be taking part in this landmark meeting.

“This project is unprecedented in scope and depth,” said project manager Jim Crawford, fire marshal for the city of Vancouver, Washington. “We have assembled an incredible array of experts from a diversity of fields to help craft a national plan to reduce the loss of life and property from fire. Through our collective efforts we will develop strategies that will save lives, now and for the future.”

Many of the groups involved in this project issued a press release under the headline Deadly Fires Prompt National Warning. Read the warning here.

The press release talks about some of the same issues United States Fire Administrator Greg Cade did in Emmitsburg on Friday at the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officer seminar. Chief Cade announced the USFA is officially behind residential sprinklers. Read more.

Also this week is the 20th Annual National Fire and Emergency Services Dinner and Seminars . A new event this year is the Showcase of the Fire and Emergency Services on the National Mall on Wednesday. Demonstrations, fire trucks and ambulances surrounded by cherry blossoms. Go to CFSI.org for more information.

I am planning to spend some time at each of these events.

STATter 911 — probably the only people in the stadium looking at fire engines and ambulances instead of the ball game

You may have noticed that STATter 911 is a little light this morning (unfortunately its editor isn’t). We were assigned to cover opening day at Nationals Park. DC Fire & EMS had a large contingent on hand. 9NEWS Now photographer Greg Guise snapped these pictures.

This is one of the First Aid stations. It is located at the left field gate.

The Gator assigned to the station staffed and ready to roll.

This an ATV with a DC Fire & EMS seal parked between the bullpens ready to handle an on-field emergency (from my cameraphone and obviously not a Guise photo).

The Special Events and Special Operations crews were led from the command post embedded in the outfield. One of the first emergencies of the day was a security person hit by a foul ball at batting practice.

During the game power went out on a portion of South Capitol Street near the Douglas Bridge. Some smoke filled the air from a blown transformer or circuit breaker. The DC Fire & EMS brush truck led the way, followed by a larger suppression assignment, in an effort to pin down the exact source of the smoke. It was traced to poles on Half Street Southwest.

By the way, Greg Guise has his own blog called On The Scene Now. It has some nice cherry blossom pictures that Greg snapped on Saturday.

Also, if you are interested in what I do besides fire and EMS, you can watch my stadium story here. No fire engines or ambulances included.

Click the image above to see Allen Sklar’s series of early photos as the fire flashes on Side A.

Photo courtesy Dave Coleman at fithp.net. Click here to see more pictures from Fire In The Hole Photography.

Click the image to see a video of a series of photos from the fire.

The account below from Lt. Robert Korb OCVFC. Click here to see pictures from OCVFC:

Ocean City units were alerted at 1203 PM for a report of a fire at the Dough Roller on the Boardwalk at South Division Street. First arriving units went on scene with fire showing from side D. An intense fire attack with numerous master streams took place. The fire was held to the building involved with minor extension into the arcade next door. One firefighter was transported to Atlantic General Hospital for an eye injury. The Ocean City Fire Marshal’s Office was investigating. Here is a complete list of every fire department & unit the was mobilized for the fire. Either to the scene or transferred because of… Ocean City; Chiefs: 50,51,52,53 Engines: 1,2,3,4,9,12,16 Trucks: 5,11 Rescues: 7 EMS: Paramedic 1, Paramedic 1-1, Amb. 4, 41-D Worcester County; Engines: 505, 604, 608, 803, 804, 906, 907, 1101, 1102 Trucks: 6,11 Rescues: 11 EMS: Paramedic 1100-A-1 On Scene: Berlin, Showell, Bishopville, Ocean Pines Transfers: Newark Sussex County; Engines: 701, 702, 703, 719, 732, 742, 745, 758, 761, 763, 794, 802, 832, 844, 853, 901, 905 Trucks: 70, Quint70, 77, 80, 81, 82, 83, 86, 88, 90 Rescues: 77, 84, 87 EMS: Sussex County EMS Medic 105 Sussex County On Scene: Bethany Beach, Dagsboro, Frankford, Georgetown, Lewes, Millsboro, Millville, Rehoboth Beach, Selbyville, Roxana Transfers: Blades, Delmar, Ellendale, Gumboro, Indian River, Laurel, Milton, Seaford, Medic 105 Wicomico County On Scene: Parsonsburg, Pittsville, Willards Transfers: Salisbury Final transfers for OC stations after 9th alarm was struck; Headquarters: Parsonsburg Rescue/Engine 604 & Georgetown Truck 77 Station 3: Indian River Engine 802 & Seaford Rescue 87 Bethany Beach Fenwick Island Station: Sussex County Medic 105 Totals Mobilized Engines: 38 Trucks: 15 Rescues: 5 EMS: 6 Totals on Scene: Engines: 28 Trucks: 11 Rescues: 5 EMS: 5 Unit status update provided by Chad Hudson the OC fire/ems dispatcher assigned to the incident.

Early video. Click here for Part 2.

Four minutes of raw video. The fire rolls out of the first floor about a minute into this one.

From the later stages of the fire.

This video shows a variety of angles from around the fireground.

delmarvanow.com coverage

Photography from Chuck Snyder and others on the Bethany Beach VFC website

Series of short videos from fire

WBOC-TV helicopter video

WBOC-TV report

Read full remarks from United States Fire Administrator Greg Cade

Read position of NAHB on its site Smoke Alarms Work

United States Fire Administrator Greg Cade’s opening remarks at the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officer program left little doubt on where the USFA stands on residential sprinklers. Here is the operative section:

We at USFA have carefully reviewed the data and the relevant research and it is our official position that all Americans should be protected against death, injury, and property loss resulting from fire in their residences. All homes should be equipped with smoke alarms and automatic fire sprinklers, and families should prepare and practice emergency escape plans. The Fire Administration fully supports all efforts to reduce the tragic toll of fire losses in this nation by advocating these actions, including the proposed changes to the International Residential Code that would require automatic sprinklers in all new residential construction.

Only fire sprinklers can detect fire AND automatically control it – affording families the time to make a safe escape and protect valuables and property. Please join with us in helping to save lives by supporting the installation of residential fire sprinklers in all American homes.

This is in sharp contrast to the official position of the National Association of Home Builders. Since our coverage of this issue a month ago, STATter 911 has been trying to get a representative from NAHB to sit down for an interview about sprinklers. So far that hasn’t happened and we are left with the association’s position from its website:

While they should remain an option for home owners who choose them, fire sprinklers in single-family homes are expensive to install, can be difficult to maintain and do not represent a cost-effective safety improvement over smoke alarm systems. For that reason, NAHB does not support measures to mandate their use.

The NAHB and Greg Cade interpret the available data very differently. Here is what Chief Cade has to say:

Much has been written about the reduction of residential fire deaths due to improvements in building codes and the installation of smoke alarms. Without a doubt, these have had a substantial impact on the home fire problem. The annual number of fire deaths in residential occupancies continues to decline. The trend in fire death data, however, shows that the number of residential fire deaths is declining at a slower rate over the past 10 years than it did in the period 1977 through 1995.

Full-scale fire tests in residential settings suggest one explanation for this slowing in the rate of decline in residential fire deaths. The research shows that the available time to escape a flaming fire in a home has decreased significantly from 17 minutes in 1975 to only 3 minutes in 2003. This decrease in time to escape has been attributed to the difference in fire growth rates of home furnishings. In short, a fire involving modern furnishings grows faster than a fire involving older furnishings. The practical impact of this finding is clear – smoke alarms alone may not provide a warning in time for occupants to escape a home fire.

The NAHB’s view:

In 1960, 7,645 Americans died as the result of fires. By 2001, the total had dropped 56 percent to 3,326 in 2001.

Why? Building and fire codes are effective. Technological innovations in building techniques introduced in recent decades include advanced heating and electrical systems, fire-resistant building materials and features like escape windows and interconnected smoke alarm systems. When homeowners combine these advances with proper maintenance, homes stay safer.

We will attempt again this week to have get someone from the NAHB to talk about its position.

For more than 16 minutes an unidentified woman told a 911 call taker that she needed help after becoming trapped in her burning Mt. Pleasant apartment building. Only once during the entire call did the 911 worker offer instructions on what the woman should do to protect herself from the choking smoke filling the fourth floor apartment.

Kenneth Mallory, the 911 operations director at DC’s Office of Unified Communications (OUC), says the call taker deserves credit for staying on the line the entire time and helping to direct fire crews to the woman’s apartment. Mallory admits there was little in the way of pre-arrival instructions offered to the woman, but says OUC is working to change its procedures.

The 911 center has bought software from Priority Dispatch to help call takers provide information to those in fire and other hazardous situations. The center already uses the firm’s software for EMS calls.

Until training can be done, Mallory says liaison officers for the DC Fire & EMS Department assigned to OUC will help train civilian 911 workers on what to tell callers trapped in a fire.

On the 911 call from the March 12 fire the trapped woman repeatedly asked what she should do. Only at more than 6 minutes into the call does the 911 worker suggest using towels to block the door and around her face. Later requests for instructions are not answered by the call taker.

The woman eventually decides to go to a kitchen window herself to get air and call for help. The best information from Mallory and other sources is that the woman and the 911 worker’s efforts eventually led firefighters to the woman’s apartment.

STATter 911 and 9NEWS NOW had asked for the entire 911 and fireground recordings from the incident through a Freedom of Information Act request. So far OUC has not supplied any recordings. This call was obtained from a source who has asked to be kept anonymous.

One FF dead, one serious in L.A. explosion

KTLA-TV image

From FF/Specialist Brian Humphrey, an LAFD spokesman, on LAFD.org:

It is with great sadness that the men and women of the Los Angeles Fire Department share word of one City of Los Angeles Firefighter dying today in the line of duty.

FF Brent A. Lovrien from LAFD.org

Firefighter Brent A. Lovrien, age 35, a 10 year veteran of the LAFD assigned to the ‘A’ Platoon at Fire Station 95 since October 2005, died shortly after arrival at the Centinela Freeman Regional Medical Center, Marina Campus.

Engineer Anthony J. Guzman from LAFD.org

Engineer Anthony J. Guzman, age 48, an 18 year veteran of the LAFD assigned to the ‘A’ Platoon at Fire Station 95 since February 2002, suffered multiple fractures and facial trauma. He was transported to the UCLA Medical Center in Westwood, where he remains in serious but stable condition following surgery.

KCBS-TV Thursday morning report

KNBC-TV Wednesday evening report

KNBC-TV raw video of briefing

KNBC-TV raw helicopter video

KTTV-TV coverage

Excerpts from the L.A. Times:

The firefighters were called to Sepulveda and La Tijera boulevards at 1:57 p.m. after a report of smoke from a possible fire. After they arrived, there was a larger explosion that sent several manhole covers flying, said Ron Myers, spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department. Firefighters called in a rescue helicopter to transport the injured individuals to a nearby hospital, Myers said.

Another KTLA image

A source close to the investigation told The Times that the blast was so powerful it sent one of the firefighters through a wall and into a parking lot. The investigation into the bast is focusing on a possible electrical malfunction, the source said.

Optometrist Kent Ashcraft, who was working in a nearby office, said he heard two blasts. The second was “like a sonic boom. The walls shook,” he said.

From the AP:

When the firefighters arrived around 2 p.m., they saw smoke coming from several manholes that cover an underground electrical vault, Deputy Fire Chief Mario Rueda said.

Rueda said there was “no indication, no evidence, that natural gas was involved.”

More on Alexandria, VA high-rise fire report

Alexandria’s fire chief and union president react as we take a closer look into the report by Gordon Routley into a high-rise fire that injured 6 firefighters. The communications and staffing issues cited in the report will require money to fix at a time when governments are concerned about the economy. Read our coverage.

MD fireboat to the rescue

Anne Arundel County Fireboat 61 in action near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge on Tuesday. Click the image above to see the raw video from WBAL-TV. Below are excerpts from the TV station’s story:

Two people were rescued Tuesday evening after the boat they were using to work on a bridge in the Chesapeake Bay began sinking.

The Coast Guard dewatered the vessel and towed it to Station Annapolis. Maryland Natural Resource Police also responded to the scene.

Read entire report on the August 25, 2007 fire at 6101 Edsall Road

Alexandria Fire Chief Adam Thiel tells STATter 911 he made the request for an outside report on the August 25, 2007 3-alarm fire at 6101 Edsall Road while still on the fireground. Chief Thiel says he wanted a truly independent view, so he did not view any drafts or have input into its contents. The chief says he viewed the document only after it was delivered to Alexandria City Manager James Hartmann.

Chief Thiel was just three week on the job in Alexandria, VA when a thunderstorm rolled in providing the lightning strike that hit the 18-story high-rise. It sparked small, smokey fires on multiple floors. Six firefighters were injured during the fire.

The report by J. Gordon Routley paints a picture of a smaller than usual first-alarm assignment put behind the eight-ball by a number of factors beyond their control. They included: a delayed dispatch for the first alarm and subsequent alarms; poor communications and misunderstandings about what units were actually responding; an overtaxed fire communications center due to staffing issues and the storm; a region somewhat depleted of resources due to the storm.

Reading the report I was left with the clear impression that many of the serious problems on this fireground were the result of system and infrastructure issues rather the failure of individuals. In fact, Chief Routley writes in his closing remarks that the firefighters efforts to overcome these shortcomings likely kept this from being a much worse situation, but also contributed to their own injuries:

The firefighter injuries were a direct result of firefighters stretching their own limits of strength and endurance to perform their assigned tasks under unusually demanding circumstances. The firefighters had to operate outside the boundaries of standard operating procedures and challenge their own strength and endurance, because the circumstances undermined their ability to operate within a systematic structure. In simple terms, the system broke down because there were not enough resources available to operate according to the established plan for highrise operations and the firefighters compensated by improvising, working longer and harder, and accomplishing tasks with fewer people.

If the firefighters had not performed at that level, there is a significant possibility that the outcome could have involved additional civilian injuries or fatalities. Similarly, if the circumstances had been slightly different, the outcome could have involved more serious firefighter injuries or fatalities.

Routley points out some major issues that will cost a good deal of money to fix. These include 4 person staffing on ladder trucks and improved training and staffing in the fire communications center.

Of course this doesn’t come at a good time from an economic standpoint. Still, it is the city manager who makes note in his cover letter that, “Prince William County is considering a major budget proposal to implement four firefighters on a truck following the death of one of their firefighters in a major fire”.

Chief Thiel says, “We are going more in depth with the City Council in a budget work session on April 1.”

The chief believes the report will also be important for the department’s strategic planning process that begins on April 7. He says. “This will drive a lot of our plans and planning for the next few years”.

President John Vollmer of IAFF Local 2141 tells STATter 911 the report “is finally shifting light on some things we have been saying for a number of years”.

Vollmer says, “Hopefully the council will heed this advice and start giving us safer staffing levels and give us the equipment and resources we need to move our department forward”.

The report doesn’t just talk about the Alexandria Fire Department. It also looks at SOP concerns and serious communications issues in the groundbreaking, decades-old automatic aide arrangement with Arlington and Fairfax Counties.

Chief Thiel says the report is being provided to the neighboring jurisdictions.

(Updated at 7:45 PM)

One FF reported killed, others injured near LAX

KTTV-TV image

KNBC raw helicopter video

KTTV-TV coverage

KTLA-TV helicopter video

KTLA-TV coverage

Los Angeles Times coverage

KCBS-TV early report

KCBS-TV live stream

KCBS-TV and KTLA-TV are reporting one firefighter died this afternoon after responding to an underground explosion near Los Angeles International Airport. The firefighter and others were apparently caught in a second explosion. Below is an earlier report from KNBC-TV:

At least two firefighters were injured Wednesday in an underground explosion just northeast of LAX, fire officials said.

Ron Myers of the Los Angeles Fire Department said authorities did not have information regarding the cause of the explosions or the extent of the firefighters’ injuries.

Routley report on Alexandria, VA high-rise fire

Consultant J. Gordon Routley’s report on a 3-alarm fire at the Alexandria Knolls apartments on Edsall Road that injured 6 firefighters has been delivered to the mayor and council. The fire was caused by a lightning strike during a thunderstorm. There were numerous other emergencies throughout Alexandria during the storm.

I haven’t had a chance to read the report yet. You can click here to see it.

In his cover letter, City Manager James Hartmann summarized the issues this way:

The incident analysis of the August 25th fire at Alexandria Knolls West details a number of serious issues that negatively affect the ability of the Alexandria Fire Department to safely and effectively address emergencies in our community. Issues noted by the consultant include: a shortage of qualifiedlexperienced personnel to adequately staffloperate the Fire Communications Center; the need for additional dispatcher training to handle 9-1 -1 calls; preparation for EMS personnel to operate safely at fire incidents; the need for additional Fire-EMS incident management resources, training, and practice; a shortage of command officer support for major incidents; limitations of existing high-rise operating procedures; Fire computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system and mobile data browser (MDB) limitations; the need for enhanced regional mutual-aid coordination; the need for additional firefighters (from 3-person to 4-person minimum staffing) on engine and truck companies; the need for a fully-staffed heavy rescue company; the need for an additional battalion aide to provide support for each on-duty battalion chief; the need for a full-time lightlair unit driverloperator to ensure 24171365 availability; and the need for three shift safety officers to provide round-the-clock, safety-focused oversight for employees involved in emergency incidents.

Click and Clack. Or is it click for Clack? New Baltimore chief checks into TWD to open dialogue.

It can be a place where you need might consider donning full hazmat gear before entering. If you are a big city fire chief (or even a small time fire & EMS reporter) you better have thick skin when reading what they have to say about you on thewatchdesk.com.

There is little doubt Chief Jim Clack already knows that. But he has made his presence known with a thread titled New Chief Checking In. It can be found in the Baltimore City section of TWD.

Skeptical at first, everyone now seems confident that they are actually conversing with the man about to take over their department.

Chief Clack’s initial post is below. Click the image see a larger version. Click here to view the entire thread.

Car drives through fire scene — driver arrested

This is from a fire at a discount store in Crestwood, IL. At about :55 you will hear radio traffic about a car riding around the building as firefighters are going to work. The car travels through the fireground and then stops. Police arrive very soon and take the driver into custody.

More on the fire here (but nothing on the arrest).

Howard County, MD 2nd-alarm

This is raw video from the two-alarm fire Sunday morning at the Town & Country Apartments in Ellicott City, MD. Two firefighters were hurt by a falling air conditioning unit. Click the image above to see the video.

NJ 2nd-alarm

From Fay Avenue in Elizabeth, NJ on Tuesday around 12:30 AM. One woman suffered serious, but non-life threatening injuries.

Mississippi house fire

Here is the caption with this video: “Bruce and Chickenbone firemen worked to extinguish a fire that engulfed an old home on Hwy. 9 in Bruce Tuesday afternoon.”

More from MA 4th-alarm

Better video from the fire Monday at a granite company in Taunton.

Citizen firefighters

A truck fire somewhere.

House fire

I think I saw the Punta-Gorda Fire Department on a coat. Don’t know when.

Update: Just received (10:20 AM) this comment about the video-

You have a good eye, I took this video about a 3 weeks ago during a course for Light Technical Rescue Team Instructors. We were coming back from our luch break when two classmates and myself saw the column of smoke and the arriving units, so we followed. The incident commander on scene was a student in our class and is a Division Chief for Punta Gorda FD. You can check out more of my pictures and videos at www.myspace.com/wwesi or www.firefighternation.com/profile/wwesi

Video of the day: An EMS Storybook from the world of Steve Berry and John Dillon. See more at iamnotanambulancedriver.com.

Train wreck in MA

Since about 5:00 fire and rescue crews in Canton, MA have been on the scene of a communter train that was apparently hit by a runaway freight car. Here is what WBZ-TV is reporting so far:

Several people were injured after a single box car collided with a commuter train in Canton Tuesday evening.

WBZ-TV helicopter video

Suicide sends 13 to the hospital in DC

Picture from Alan Etter, DC Fire & EMS Department

A vial labeled cyanide was found next to a suicide victim in the 4300 block of 36th Street, NW Monday afternoon. This prompted a hazmat response and sent 13 people to the hospital as a precaution. They include 11 firefighters, a police officer and a neighbor. Read more.

Here is the press release from DC Fire & EMS:

When units responded to assist MPD for what was reported to be a suicide Monday afternoon, they could not imagine the call would evolve into a massive HazMat response that would end with 13 people hospitalized for observation.

Because several Fire & EMS employees were initially exposed to the material, they were all transported for observation only. No other civilians were injured. A female civilian and a police officer were also transported for evaluation.

Lawyer doesn’t want CT FF charged or fired

New Haven Firefighter Matt Kennedy posted bail that was increased to $50,000 on Monday. Kennedy was arrested Friday night.

We first told you about Firefighter Kennedy yesterday. He is accused of jumping out of a moving ambulance to confront his wife and her divorce lawyer. Kennedy had a previous domestic violence arrest and a fight in the firehouse last year. The man he is now accused of attacking doesn’t want to press charges or see Kennedy fired. Below are some excerpts from the latest article in the New Haven Register:

A Superior Court judge dramatically increased the bail for a firefighter accused of accosting, while on duty, his estranged wife and her divorce lawyer as they walked together downtown, amid insinuations in court that their relationship went deeper than conventional attorney and client.

Kennedy jumped out of a Fire Department emergency unit Friday just before 8 p.m. when he saw Wallace and his estranged wife at Temple and Crown streets. According to police and witnesses, Kennedy was so irate police had to separate him from Wallace. He was restrained by officers and other firefighters when he lunged toward Wallace again. His wife retreated into a restaurant when she saw Kennedy coming.

5-alarm strip mall fire in MA

Overnight a fire destroyed five businesses in a stip mall in Northborough, MA.

WCVB-TV coverage

WBZ-TV coverage

PA oil tanker crash and fire

A dump truck and home heating oil truck collided in Morrisville in Bucks County Monday morning. Everyone got out. The picture is from the Yardley Police Department. More details here.

4-alarms in MA

A fire in a granite storage company in Taunton on Monday. The scene is near a recent general alarm fire. Read more.

Pittsburgh fire history

An interesting history of the fire service in Pittsburgh has been posted here.

Helmet-cam in TN

Fire in a photography studio in Smithville, TN on Friday. Click the image to see the video.

Explaining it to those who hold the purse strings

Part of the job of the fire chief. It can be tedious and time consuming, but somebody has to do it. In this case Middletown, Ohio Chief Steven Botts describes to the City Council the process he’d like to follow for replacing an old Sutphin fire engine with a new one. Click the image to hear his testimony. If you would rather just read about it rather than listen, click here.

(Updated at 6:31 PM)

Old video of the day: From June 10, 1991, a fire at the St. Peter & Paul Church in Mount Carmel, PA.

Snakes alive! Who are you going to call?

Arlington County, VA firefighters used a CO2 extinguisher this morning to take care of a rattlesnake. The snake hitched a ride in the luggage of a local high school rowing coach. The crew team had recently returned from a trip to South Carolina. When the coach opened his suitcase today a 10-inch rattlesnake bit him on the hand.

The snake is dead. The coach is in ICU for observation tonight. You can watch the story here.

MD firefighter okay after falling through floor of burning home

A Prince George’s County firefighter received a small, second-degree burn after the kitchen floor of a home in Bowie gave way Monday morning. A mayday was called during the fire in the 6400 block of Gwinnett Lane just before 10:00 AM.

Major Rudy Thomas tells STATter 911 that injured member is a career firefighter assigned to the first-due engine out of Station 839. Major Thomas says the crew arrived on the scene with smoke showing from the eaves of the home. The firefighters advanced a line on the first floor and began attacking the fire in the kitchen. It was at that point the floor gave way and the firefighter fell into the basement.

According to Thomas, when crews entered the basement from side C the firefighter was already mobile and in the process of exiting the home. Major Thomas says the firefighter had a small second degree burn on his abdomen.

Investigators have determined the fire began in the kitchen and dropped down to the ceiling area of the basement through the kitchen island. Damage is estimated at $35,000.

Large home burns in Kent Island, MD

This view from WBAL-TV is from the 11:00 hour Monday morning near Broad Creek Drive in Kent Island. The fire took out the garage and extended into the main house. Click here to see the video.

They were flying at the Flying J

Please do yourself a favor and read Fireeezer’s account of a series of events that began with someone lighting fireworks in the cab of a pickup truck. The Geeze thinks they should have been in the movie Dumb and Dumber. I think they just missed picking up a Darwin.

While you are there check out his ambulance chase video and my long lost relatives running a sports bar in Atlanta.

Major fire in Los Angeles

The image above from KNBC-TV of a fire in a 5-story condominium building under construction. The blaze was reported at 8:43 AM at the Warner Center in the San Fernando Valley. The TV station reported by 9:30 AM 200 firefighters were on the scene.

KNBC-TV images

KABC-TV coverage

KCBS-TV coverage

KTLA-TV coverage

KTTV-TV coverage

Divorce lawyer sighting prompts FF to bail out of ambulance — FF has history of anger issues

The way authorities in New Haven, CT tell it, a city firefighter jumped out of a moving ambulance when he spotted his wife and her lawyer on the street. Fire Chief Michael Grant told the New Haven Register that Firefighter Michael Kennedy is due in this office Monday after Kennedy’s court appearance. Kennedy is now on administrative leave.

According to the Register, Kennedy had an off-duty arrest last year in connection with a domestic disturbance. He received a short suspension.

Last August, records show he was involved in a firehouse fight. The New Haven Independent received the internal reports from that dispute. Read here.

There were also allegations of a double standard in the discipline from the August fight. Click here.

Below are excerpts from the Register’s coverage of the latest incident:

Grant said he still didn’t have all the details, but he provided this account as he said he understood it: Kennedy was working on an emergency unit and was returning from a medical call when he saw his estranged wife and a man together. He left the vehicle and confronted the woman and man. By the time the battalion chief arrived, police had them separated and the battalion chief and Kennedy’s partner convinced him to get back in the rig and to the firehouse. There, when Kennedy remained visibly upset, a paramedic recommended he get checked out at the hospital.

Some questions were raised when Kennedy was pushed back into his rig and driven off, instead of being arrested at the scene, although charges ultimately were filed.

I am guessing this guy doesn’t volunteer on the canteen unit for the New London FD

Through the years I have seen a lot of letters to the editor critical of various fire departments. This one may be at the top of the list for the crankiest. It was on TheDay.com under the headline New London Should Trim The Fire Companies:

The city of New London, instead of hiring more relatives of firefighters to sleep at the firehouses, should close two of the three fire stations in the city and cut the size of the fire department to about 17 people.

The city needs to get rid of all the chiefs, battalion chiefs, assistant battalion chiefs, fire inspectors, assistant fire inspectors and so on. The city should also lay off all the emergency medical technicians and privatize the ambulance services, whose main functions are to ferry drunks and drug addicts to Lawrence & Memorial Hospital.

A city like New London, which measures about seven miles by two miles, can no longer afford this fire department. Many New London firefighters are well to do. They sleep at the firehouses and work two and sometimes three other jobs. They easily make more than $100,000 per year.

The firefighter’s main duties are eating doughnuts, playing Parcheesi and watching television. They will always need a fire chief to oversee the Parcheesi tournaments, as they sometimes can get out of control.

Patrick Crowley
Quaker Hill

12 FFs hurt in Anaheim

From the Orange County Register:

A grass fire next to a commercial building at 500 E. Cerritos Ave. Sunday evening caused a chemical tank to burst, forcing the fire department to evacuate 35 businesses, shutting down a freeway off-ramp and sending 10 firefighters to the hospital, fire officials said.

Ten (now 12 who have been treated & released) Anaheim firefighters were sent to various hospitals with minor to moderate injuries, Lutz said. It was not known whether the injuries were related to the fire or the chemical, often used as a bleaching agent.

Fire officials were still fighting small patches of the fire into the night, and were investigating the cause.

Gopher hunt sparks blaze

The picture above is from CTV of a large grass fire in Calgary on Saturday. The fire is being blamed on the Rodenator.

If you are like me, you are probably asking at this point, what is a Rodenator?

A good question that I think we can answer. It is described by Canada.com as a device that “pumps propane and oxygen into a rodent hole and then ignites the mixture to create an underground shock wave or concussion that instantly kills gophers and collapses the tunnel system”.

The “The Complete Rodenator Pro™ Pest Elimination System” (below) can be bought for $1990. But the cost may be much higher in this case.

Assistant Deputy Chief Jim Pendergast of the Municipal District of Rocky View, who says he has never seen a fire sparked by a gopher hunt, believes the people who started the fire could be receiving a hefty bill. Damage to sheds, barns and vehicles is estimated at $215,000, with the firefighting effort costing around $40,000.

This TGI Friday might want to rethink its name

Friday was not a good one at TGI Friday’s in Westfield, IN. It burned. Read the story.

New view of crane collapse

Some folks were in a coffee shop down the street as a crane collapsed on March 15, killing 7 people in Manhattan.

Weekend coverage

In case you didn’t check in over the weekend, you may have missed this video from the Potomac Heights VFD in Charles County, MD. A helmet-cam was rolling when the roof came in on the second floor of a burning house with two firefighters underneath it.

Then and now

A look at rigs old and new in Springfield, MA

(Updated at 2:11 AM, Sunday)

Video of the day & CLOSE CALL ALERT: This video from the Potomac Heights VFD in Charles County, MD, just posted Saturday, is from a house fire on Tuesday. At 1:24 into the video, the roof comes in on Lt. Justin Lucas (wearing the helmet-cam) and his partner from Squad 7 while doing a primary search in Quadrant B on the second floor. Here is what Lt. Lucas wrote to STATter 911 about the incident: “He (his partner) was able to quickly escape into the kitchen, but I remained tangled in debris. When I was able to free myself I was still unable to make it to the kitchen do to heavy fire load and falling debris. I had to exit the house through a second story window via a ladder that had just been placed in service by the truck driver”. Right after his exit, Lt. Lucas advised command of the need to evacuate the home on Warren Drive in Pomfret.

Pictures of the day: From Michael Schwartzberg at Saturday morning’s 4-alarm fire on Warner Street in Baltimore City. The location is an industrial area a few blocks from the M&T Bank Stadium, home of the Ravens. Michael writes: “Arriving units found heavy fire showing from a large vacant 1-story warehouse. A 2nd alarm was called around 2 a.m., followed quickly by a 3rd and then a 4th alarm. Firefighters laid multiple large diameter hoselines, pulling water from hydrants blocks from the scene, and utilized several ladder pipes to contain the blaze.” Click here to see the rest of the pictures from FirePix1075.

I love my little calendar girl(s), but not everyone agrees

Miss February is apparently one of, I’m just guessing here, about a dozen problems for the City of Long Beach Fire Department in NY. Newsday.com has the story. Here are excerpts:

The volunteer arm of the Long Beach fire department has been taking heat over a fundraising calendar it published of barely-clothed models, some provocatively garbed in firefighter gear and posing with department equipment as props.

Theofan said that no one in the city administration knew about the calendar until he was questioned about it by a Newsday reporter. The calendar was produced by the volunteer branch of the fire department — which is separate from the paid force. However, he said the chief of the combined department, Marco Passaro, told him he had approved the fundraiser. Passaro declined to comment for this story. Theofan said he was satisfied there would not be a recurrence.

When being a firefighter just isn’t enough

Neighbors thought he was a policeman and fireman. The police quickly figured out that wasn’t the case when Terry Scott Petruzzi was stopped Thursday evening. Boynton Beach, Florida police say Petruzzi, a lieutenant and 21 year veteran of the Palm Beach Gardens Fire Rescue Department, was himself trying to stop a vehicle he caught speeding. Petruzzi apparently legally had a gun and private investigators badge, but police saying what he was trying to do wasn’t legal.

Read the story

Watch the video

Next week they will come out in favor of mom and apple pie

On Friday the IAFC board of directors came out with position statements supporting fire sprinklers in new construction and pushing a policy of mandatory seat belt use for emergency responders. The newsman in me thinks it would have been a much better story if they took a stand against either policy, but clearly that wasn’t going to happen.

Read the sprinkler position paper

Read the seat belt position paper

For a more serious analysis of these issues, check in here with Chief Billy Goldfeder and his post on The Secret List.

Sword swiped that honors fallen firefighter

The commemorative sword above honored a firefighter killed in the line of duty. It is now missing. The picture and the story below are from CBC News:

Last weekend, someone broke into the hall in Balzac, just north of Calgary, and took the sword from a display case, said Garth Rabel, community safety co-ordinator with the Calgary fire department.

“This cowardly act has negatively affected area residents, fellow firefighters and most important, Morley’s family and friends,” Rabel said in a news release Thursday asking for help in its return.

Video from explosion in MO

This is police dash-cam video of a natural gas explosion in Columbia, MO on March 14 that killed one man and c
ritically injured his wife. On the video the fire department arrives at about 4:09 and stretches the first line with the help of the police department. Read more on the blast.

Self service fire

Problems when filling gasoline can in back of pick up truck, somewhere.

False alarm makes news in UK

As a young teenager listening to the Baltimore City Fire Department on my Lafayette tunable radio (pre-scanner days), my day wasn’t complete until I heard Box 226 at Orleans and Forest Streets being dispatched. Like clockwork, Engine 6, coming from a little more than 2 blocks away at its quarters on Gay Street, would report a Signal 30. It was one of many fire alarm boxes in Baltimore that often had multiple false alarms in a single day. So I am little surprised that a false telephone report of a fire is newsworthy enough for the BBC. But fire crews are taking 2 such calls from a 14-year-old reporting people trapped in a Cheshire home very seriously.

See the report

Hear the call

FireGeezer also has more on this story.

Cadet dismissed over noose

The Houston Fire Department has dealt with a noose incident from last month. This is what the Houston Chronicle is reporting:

The cadet, whose identity was not released, made the noose and then tied it around a Gatorade bottle during a class in February, said HFD Executive Assistant Chief Rick Flanagan.

Flanagan declined to release further information about the incident late Thursday.

Sammy’s Pizza burns

The local paper in Hibbing, Minnesota call it a legendary pizza joint. Sammy’s burned on Thursday afternoon. Employees first tried to fight the fire discovered in the rear of the building with extinguishers and a garden hose.

PA fire

Fire on Harrison Street in Shamokin just after noon on Thursday.

Fire in Syria

Down know when this fire in Damascus occurred.

(Updated at 3:28 PM)

DC medic victim of hit and run

A DC Fire & EMS Department paramedic was struck by a van this afternoon in Georgetown. It happened in the 3300 block of Q Street, NW. Spokesman Alan Etter said the medic has potentially serious, but non-life threatening injuries.

According to Etter, the crew from Medic 29 was was with Engine 5 on a call for a patient with a diabetic emergency. The medic had returned to the driver’s side of the unit to get something when he was struck by a vehicle. It appears the medic was thrown against the side of the unit and may have hip and leg injuries. The incident occurred around 2:00 PM.

Etter said the woman driving the minivan that struck the medic briefly stopped and then quickly left the scene. The vehicle is described as a blue, Chrysler product with a sliding door.

The paramedic is described as a veteran of the department.

NC chief doesn’t know why crew was in warehouse after evacuation order

It appears the crew from Quint 4 was inside the Salisbury Millwork a half hour after an evacuation order was given and firefighters had gone to defensive operations. Salisbury Chief Bob Parnell says that’s a fact he can’t currently explain. Excerpts from the Charlotte Observer’s story:

Two firefighters from that team were killed by the March 7 blaze, when it spread from an office into a warehouse they were trying to protect.

The team’s captain, Rick Barkley, was pulled from the warehouse with first and second-degree burns.

SC sprinkler bill stalls

From SC Politics Today:

A key Senate committee could not reach agreement Wednesday on a high-profile bill designed to give state income tax credits to cover a portion of the expenses it would cost to install or improve fire protection sprinkler systems.

The bill gained momentum early in the session when firefighters and other first responders argued such a bill could prevent future tragedies like last year’s Charleston sofa store fire that claimed the lives of nine firefighters.

Another inspector out in Bridgeport

A fifth fire inspector has been fired after investigations into their used of department vehicles for private use. Read the details.

2nd fire of the morning does the job

Firefighters in Corinna, Maine were able to keep the 8:45 AM fire on Wednesday to the kitchen and small area of the attic at the farmhouse off Route 43. It apparently began in an electrical box. The fire reported at 11:00 AM is another story. That one destroyed the home and a barn. Firefighters are convinced the first fire was extinguished citing the use of a thermal imaging camera. The theory is that the second fire may have started when the electricity was turned back on. Read the story. Watch the video.

Fiery Los Angeles freeway crash

A wrong-way driver caused this crash on the Ronald Reagan Freeway late Tuesday night. The California Highway Patrol says the driver was going eastbound in the westbound lane for about four miles before crashing into a tractor-trailer head-on. The wrong-way driver was dead at the scene, the truck driver was slightly hurt and two people in a third vehicle were uninjured.

CA apartment fire

A five-alarm fire that began around 7:00 AM Wednesday morning in Sacramento. On the left raw helicopter video. On the right a TV news report from the fire scene.

Restaurant fire in SD

The image above from KTIV-TV of the fire that destroyed the China Buffet restaurant in Vermillion, South Dakota on Wednesday. Click here to see video.

UK furniture store fire

A fire late Tuesday night at a furniture store in Penryn, Cornwall. Read mo
re.

Elsewhere on the web

FireGeezer has the story of a Wilmington, NC fire captain killed off-duty in a helicopter crash.

Firefighter Spot has a bunch of new and old videos, including a look at some roof operations.

WithTheCommand.com has a lot of stories including a New Mexico dairy fire.

It has been 30 years since I drove a fire engine in DC’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade. VAFireNews.com has a look at some Virginia fire companies that had that honor just a few days ago.

SConFire.com has some fire stories from around South Carolina.

(Updated at 9:35 AM)

Recordings from Salisbury, NC

Fireground radio transmissions have been released from the March 7 fire that killed Justin Monroe and Victor Isler. Each of these reports has different excerpts from the recordings.

Report from WBTV-TV

Report from WCNC-TV

Report from News 14

The Salisbury Post has a timeline of events that you can read here. The paper went to court to get the recordings released. Read that account here.

Arson at LODD fire

In Kansas City, MO investigators say the fire where Firefighter Terrance Crockett collapsed and died was deliberately set. Details here.

Armed chief “a ticking time bomb”

That’s how the president of the Bryant, Arkansas firefighters union describes the department’s chief. Chief Randy Cox carries a city-issued gun. Chief Cox is apparently upset over two subordinates being returned to the department after being fired by Cox. Firefighters claim to fear the chief. There’s a lot more to it. Read it here.

Explosion on roof throws Denver firefighter

Read this account from the Denver Post of a gas leak on Tuesday evening:

Everything was casual when Juliana Hand got on the elevator with some firefighters at The Lofts at Wazee Wire Works, where she lives, in LoDo tonight. They were checking for a gas leak on the roof, they told her.

As the firefighter was walking by the HVAC unit, a fireball belched out with enough force to send the man flying. Investigators still don’t know what caused the flash, he said.

Escape from a fire in Moscow

It appears a lot of people got out of this building just in time. Reported to be a driving school that burned Tuesday.

Chemical fire in Germany

Check out FireGeezer for some great photos of an industrial blaze in Cologne on Monday.

While you are there look at FossilMedic Mike Ward’s interesting thoughts on how to handle the critics.

Chief given 45 days to shape up

In Austin, Texas Chief J.J. Adame has been given a deadline to make improvements. Excerpts from statesman.com:

Austin Fire Chief J.J. Adame has been given 45 days to improve his overall performance and to renew the faith of city leaders that he is “the chief to lead the fire department into the future,” according to a memo obtained Tuesday.

Adame, who has been Austin’s fire chief for two years, said Tuesday that he met with McDonald this week for counseling and has begun trying to make changes to improve the department.

NY house fire

Firefighters pulled back from an interior attack at this vacant home Tuesday morning in Middletown, NY after concerns about the structure’s stability. One firefighter was transported after feeling dizzy. Read more.

MA house fire

A fire early Tuesday morning in Springfield, MA. The fire apparently is related to an earlier shooting spree in the neighborhood. Read more.

Eastern Shore fire

Another FITHP.net production. This one is a house fire in Hebron, MD from Sunday.

Jackson, MS

Helmet camera in operation on March 5 in Jackson, Mississippi.

Hose wrasslin’

Fun with hoses

Who are you going to call?

Another episode in our continuing series where the answer to the question is always the same. This one is from Citra, Florida via the AP:

Nearly a dozen central Florida firefighters pulled a 2-month-old foal from some deep doo-doo after the little horse fell into a septic tank.

Shooter was rescued, smelly but unharmed, with only minor cuts.

Old video of the day: The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet. Ozzie Nelson becomes a volunteer fireman.

Tense council meeting at the Ocean

The latest from WBOC-TV:

It’s back to the drawing board for council members in Ocean City.

Council members voted to withdraw their original plan on Monday. They said they plan to come together within the week to work on a compromise.

Read more on delmarvanow.com

At another Atlantic resort, a different controversy continues

We have previously covered the ongoing battle in Atlantic City, NJ over a racial incident and how it was handled. Despite rulings that a captain who imitated a Ku Klux Klansman was wrongly fired, the City Council has voted not to give the captain his back pay and retirement. The Press of Atlantic City thinks this is the wrong way to deal with the problem. Its editorial explains some of the other sticky issues related to this sad episode.

Rescues in MN

Firefighters and police rescued people trapped in a basement apartment fire in Shakopee, MN early Monday morning. Click the image above to see home video by Tom Nguyen and used by KARE-TV. Click here to see a report on the fire. Details from KARE-TV below:

Shakopee Fire Department and Shakopee Police arrived at 2077 12th Avenue West early Monday morning to find several people trapped inside the burning apartment complex.

Police officers rescued a child and the firefighters rescued two adults from the burning building.

The child and one adult were taken to a local hospital for smoke inhalation. The other adult was airlifted to Hennepin County Medical Center with burns.

DC fire loss at $20 million — and a look back to a previous fire in the building

Still no cause for the fire last week in Mt. Pleasant. Damage is now estimated at $20 million to the apartment buildings and the church. Read more from The Washington Post.

We mentioned last week that there was a 3-alarm fire at the same building, 3145 Mt. Pleasant Street, in the 70s. Friendship Fire Association members Vito Maggiolo and Hal Bruno told STATter 911 how that fire burned the roof off. Hal told us the fire occurred in the middle of an FFA meeting. Vito has since pulled out the report from the FFA’s archives of the January 18, 1977 fire. Click here to see it.

See our coverage of last week’s fire, here.

4th-alarm in San Francisco’s Mission District

An apartment fire Monday evening spread to exposures. Read details from SFGate.com:

A fast-moving fire that began inside a Mission District apartment building late this afternoon and spread to three other buildings, prompting the evacuation of the entire block, has been brought under control tonight.

When the fire was put out at about 7:30 p.m., hundreds of spectators who had gathered on nearby corners erupted in cheers.

SC apartment fire

A fire Monday in Florence and the neighbor is rolling before the first engine arrives.

Vacant house in MD

I believe this is video from the vacant house that burned at Kenilworth Avenue and East West Highway in Prince George’s County early Monday morning. Apparently there have been other fires at this address.

One on the ground in DE

Wayne Barrall on the scene with camera in hand Monday as Delmar goes to work on what’s left of a burning home. Here’s Wayne’s description from his Fire in the Hole Photography website:

Delmar Fire Department along with Sta.5 Hebron & Sta.81 Laurel were alerted for a structure fire at 9347 Carrolls Ave west of Delmar. As Delmar crews were responding they could see a column of smoke from 3 miles out. 74 Command, 74-15 S Johnson arrived to find a old mobile home that was fully involved back in the woods. Engine crews arrived and put 2 1 ¾ inch lines in service. Engine Tanker 74-2 arrived and supplied water to Engine 74-3. Engine 81 arrived and its man power assisted Delmar’s crew with extinguishment of the fire. Crews were on scene for about 2 ½ hours.

Lucky these things aren’t in firehouses or someone would setting them off all the time

Probably not a practical joke, just someone making a mistake. Don’t know where and don’t know when, but it appears the service station’s suppression system works well.

More on RR fire

The aftermath of the fire at the Tweetsie Railroad near Boone, NC.

FF wins another round in residency battle

In Cleveland an appeals court has agreed with a judge’s decision to overturn the firing of a city firefighter for violating residency rules that were later abolished. Safety Director Martin Flask tells the Plain Dealer that no decision has been made about appealing this latest ruling. Here are excerpts:

A three-judge panel from the 8th Ohio District Court of Appeals found Thursday that a decision by the city’s Civil Service Commission to fire Robert Ruck two years ago should be overturned.

Ruck was fired after the city determined he lived in Olmsted Township. His dismissal came several months before Ohio state law abolished local residency rules.

Ruck had been a firefighter since 1998. He had bought a house in Cleveland 10 years earlier. In 2001, he purchased a second home, in Olmsted Township.

An anonymous tipster told city officials that Ruck was living at the Olmsted Township address. The city investigated the tip and conducted video surveillance of the home before making its ruling.

Ruck appealed the commission’s ruling, and in February 2007 a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas judge reversed the commission’s decision.

However, city officials declined to give Ruck his job back, pending the appellate decision.

Video just after crane collapse

This is raw video looking down at the deadly crane collapse in Manhattan on Saturday. It appears the photographer began rolling just seconds after the collapse.

Albania blast video

Some of the blasts Saturday that killed at least 9 and injured more than 300. Excerpts from the Globe and Mail:

Rescue teams worked into the night Sunday to try to locate nine people still missing a day after a chain of massive explosions flattened an Albanian ammunition dump and hundreds of nearby houses, killing at least nine and injuring nearly 300.

Saturday’s explosions in the village of Gerdec, about 10 kilometres north of Tirana, scattered shells over 2,500 acres, Mr. Hasani said.

PA volunteers “down to the end”

There was a fundraiser Sunday as part of last minutes efforts to save the Carnegie Volunteer Fire & Rescue Bureau. Carnegie is 4 months behind on its mortgage and a repo letter has arrived for one of its fire trucks. Read the story.

4-alarms in Brookline

BostonNow.com’s report on a fire early Sunday morning:

One building burned to the ground and two others were damaged in a four-alarm fire when a fire broke out early Sunday.

Three firefighters suffered minor injuries, according to the Brookline Fire Department. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Watch the video.

Tweetsie fire

A fire destroyed the museum and gift shop of the Tweetsie Railraod near Boone, NC. The picture above and the excerpts below are from the Charlotte Observer:

The one-story wood building – believed to be an original train depot – was consumed with flames fanned by high winds, said Blowing Rock firefighter Mark Winston Lawrence.

Flames roared through the museum, burning history with it. Today there was nothing left of train timetables, old railroad lanterns and the initialized boots and leather saddle once owned by the late Fred Kirby – a gun-toting, singing cowboy who was a Charlotte television personality and hosted a kids show in the 1960s.

(Updated Saturday at 5:05 PM)

Video of the day: An arsonist caught on tape and the sprinkler system saves the day. This was at 3:00 Friday morning in Lawrence, MA. Surveillance cameras capture a man firebombing a nightclub using three 5-gallon water cooler bottles of gasoline with wicks. The sprinkler system was installed during renovations following a fire at another club at the same address. Read more on Boston.com.

Deadly Manhattan crane collapse

NOTE: Both Firefighter Spot and FireGeezer have additional coverage including raw video.

A Reuters photo from the New York Times of a crane collapse around 2:00 Saturday afternoon at 51st Street and 2nd Avenue. FDNY has at least a 4th alarm response to the incident. Besides the dead, trapped, injured and missing, there is a power outage over a large area. Here’s what they are reporting at 7:30 PM:

A large crane at a construction site on Manhattan’s East Side collapsed Saturday afternoon, killing at least four people and injuring more than 10, officials at the scene said.

Live coverage from WNYW-TV

WCBS-TV report

WABC-TV coverage

Police say FF killed FF over wife. Wife also slain.

One volunteer firefighter killed his wife and another volunteer firefighter with her as they left a restaurant in Monroeville, PA. Click here to read the details.

5 mayday calls during DC multi-alarm fire. Raw video and fireground audio.

The top image of defensive operations is from Tom Yeatman’s raw video. The bottom image, from DC Fire & EMS photographer Vito Maggiolo, is earlier in the fire as Tower 3′s crew helps Lt. Dave McLean of Rescue Squad 2 to safety. One of a number of DC firefighters who had to make a quick exit from the Mt. Pleasant apartment building and found other means of egress blocked by fire.

Interview with Chief Dennis Rubin about mayday calls

Watch Part 1 of DC Fire & EMS photographer Vito Maggiolo’s early raw video of efforts to get to trapped firefighters

Watch Part 2 of Vito Maggiolo’s raw video

Watch Part 1 of Tom Yeatman’s raw video showing exterior operations

Watch Part 2 of Tom Yeatman’s video

Watch Part 3 of Tom Yeatman’s video (church fire)

Watch raw video from reporter Armando Trull

See slideshows on DCFD.com

Audio from dcfirefeed.com

(Note: Above we have added some more links to video, pictures and audio from the Mt. Pleasant fires. We have also now have the entire video from both Vito Maggiolo and Tom Yeatman. Below is an account of the challenges that faced firefighters and command officers.)

Assistant Chief Lawrence Schultz said for a n
umber of minutes early Thursday morning he was as scared as he has been in many, many years. Over a very short period of time firefighters operating inside the 4-story apartment building at 3145 Mt. Pleasant Street, NW called in five maydays as conditions rapidly worsened.

According to Chief Schultz and DC Fire & EMS Chief Dennis Rubin, the calls for firefighters in distress came as crews made sure the last occupants were out of the building and defensive operations were about to begin. In the end, Chief Rubin and Chief Schultz believe only two of the mayday calls were actually for firefighters who needed assistance. The rest of the calls were for crew members who had become separated from their company but turned out to be safe outside the building or a second call on the same incident.

Chief Rubin tells STATter 911 that the first firefighters were confronted with fire in the basement, second and third floors in quadrant B of the large, U-shaped apartment building. As engine companies attempted to keep the fire in check, truck and rescue squad crews helped those who needed assistance getting out of the building.

Lt. David McLean of Rescue Squad 2 and another firefighter from his company removed some of the last civilians trapped in the building. Responding to information relayed from a 911 caller, the pair helped people to safety from two apartments in quadrant D on the fourth floor by using an interior stairwell. Chief Rubin said both firefighters returned to the fourth floor to finish checking separate apartments. Within minutes fire on the top floor cut Lt. McLean off from the stairwell. The lieutenant called a mayday.

Chief Schultz said there were some very tense moments as they conversed by radio with Lt. McLean guiding him to windows on side A. Tower 3 was in position and quickly moved the bucket to one of the windows as the lieutenant appeared. Chief Rubin remarked on how well Lt. McLean kept his cool and followed instructions to reach a position of safety. Lt. McLean was sent to an area hospital for shortness of breath and concerns about his CO level.

Chief Schultz said they were still listening to tapes to sort through the rest of the mayday calls. According to Schultz, it appears another group of firefighters took refuge in a stairwell to get away from the rapidly advancing fire.

On the video from DC Fire & EMS photographer Vito Maggiolo you can see and hear the efforts to communicate with the trapped firefighters and get ladders to crews on the upper floors of the four-story building.

Chief Rubin said the focus on getting the residents and firefighters to safety allowed the fire to grow and spread toward an apartment building on side B. Crews also had to evacuate that building and get hose lines on each floor and roof of the exposure. At the same time burning embers ignited the roof of the Meridian Hill Baptist Church across a fifteen foot alley on side C.

Mutual aid from Montgomery, Prince George’s Counties and Northern Virginia was sent to the fireground and to cover city fire stations.

Five-alarms were needed for the apartment building fire. A second-alarm was used on the church fire, with a third-alarm in staging.

Photographer Maggiolo recalls a winter fire in the 1970s at the very same building where this fire began, 3145 Mt. Pleasant Street. That fire burned the roof off of the apartment building.

More images from Vito Maggiolo. The rescue of a civilian at top and ladder operations to assist trapped firefighters on the bottom.

Was Baltimore City FF wearing seat belt?

That’s the question WBAL radio reporter Scott Wykoff is asking following the serious injury to Firefighter Bryan Isaacs as Engine 6 responded to a fire last week. Isaacs fell out of the engine and is currently in rehabilitation due to his head injury. According to IAFF Local 734′s website he is still having difficulty with speech and hearing.

Wykoff talks to a number of people about the seat belt issue, including Dr. Burton Clark. Click here to read the story and hear the interviews.

Guilty pleas in FDNY firehouse fire

From the AP:

Two former firefighters pleaded guilty Thursday to lesser charges in a blaze they set at a firehouse as a prank last year.

Both defendants had been assigned to Engine 35-Ladder 21 in midtown Manhattan.

Everyone is a fire chief — another town balks at replacing an old fire truck

This time it is in Hill, New Hampshire. Some think the 30-year-old one they have now is just fine and certainly spending almost $300 thousand for a new 10-wheeler seems excessive. Read the Concord Monitor’s coverage of turning down the bond to finance it:

Hill won’t have another big truck. The 10-wheel fire truck that the selectmen recommended, which would have cost $286,000, was rejected.

The last time the town financed a fire truck was in 1975, according to Hill Fire Lt. Bill Macahado Jr.

Desrochers said that a large new truck would serve the town for the next 30 years. Now, he said, the town usually runs out of water in 12 or 13 minutes – before mutual aid from Franklin or Bristol can arrive.

Voters rejected the bond, which would have cost about $15,000 for each of 15 years, by a margin of 17 votes. Sixty-five people supported the bond, while 57 did not; 82 were needed for a two-thirds majority.

OWL’s St. Baldrick’s event

Tony Carroll sent this bit of info about an event Friday night:

For the third year in a row, the Occoquan-Woodbridge-Lorton Volunteer Fire Department will be holding a charity event to help St. BALDRICK’s. St. Baldrick’s is a non-profit fundraising charity organization which raises money to help researchers find a cure for childhood cancer. Last year, 18,000 shavees raised $12,934,504. This year, St. Baldrick’s volunteers are working to raise $17 million shaving 25,000 heads. There were 50 heads shaved at Fire Station 2, last year. 2007′s OWL event raised over $10000. That’s right 10G’s. This year, we hope to raise even more. OWL’s event is held in conjunction with their 6:01 quarterly Happy Hour. It will be held at Botts Fire Hall (Station 2′s meeting room) on Friday, March 14th, beginning at 6:01 pm. The shaving will begin after 7 and last until around 11. This year’s event will feature a live band, Type A. If you were there for last year’s you will remember our solo performer, Todd Hewitt. Well, this year he is bringing the whole band. There will also be a silent auction with lots of items up for grabs. OF course no OWL event would be complete without frosty beverages and good food. We will have that also. So, even if you do not want to get your head shaved, come on out for a good time. Hope to see you there!!!

Ocean City mayor rejects offer by OCVFC to restrict career side to EMS

From delmarvanow.com’s Laura D’Alessandro the response to the story below it:

In a statement issued Thursday, Mayor Rick Meehan rejected Ocean City Volunteer Fire Chief Chris Larmore’s counterproposal to give all firefighting responsibility to volunteer firefighters.

Jester and members of the council still expect to go through the plan in detail on Monday during the council meeting.

OCVFC offers to go solo on fire side

The latest development in the battle down the ocean has Ocean City VFC Chief Chris Larmore suggesting the career force stick solely to EMS. Click here to read delmarvanow.com’s story. Below is the story filed last night by WBOC-TV (see story above for mayor’s response):

Ocean City Volunteer Fire Chief Chris Larmore responded to the town council’s offer for him to take over all fire services with a major request that would eliminate the paid fire-fighting department from the career services.

The mayor and town council will have a final vote on whether to accept or decline the proposal from the OCVFD.

3-alarm school fire

Image above from KTLA-TV. Click here to see video.

A pre-dawn fire guts a school under renovation in Anaheim, CA on Wednesday. Click here to see the video from KCBS-TV. KNBC-TV’s story.

WV captain more than doubles his salary with OT

In Huntington, WV, Captain Bret Masters’ made $97,000 last year and that is fast becoming a big issue. Masters is the city’s highest paid employee. The mayor is upset that $52,000 of the pay was in overtime. The captain apparently worked an average of 105 hours-per-week. Here are excerpts from herald-dispatch.com:

Mayor David Felinton and Fire Chief Greg Fuller said Masters’ case exposes the need to limit how many overtime hours per week firefighters should be working.

The case also raises the question of how Huntington can afford to pay a firefighter almost $100,000 when city officials have struggled to find money to pave streets and hire more police officers.

“But I know the overwhelming perception is that people are scratching their heads wondering how a firefighter made $100,000 when it’s well known that the city is not exactly rolling in money here.”

Pizza, politics, firefighters and a song add up to a mess in Ohio

Not sure I fully understand this one, but a firefighter who is also the union president in Union Township, Ohio lost his job Tuesday because he wrote a rap song that mocked his boss and the cops. There is more. Better let WLWT.com explain it:

Township trustees voted to dismiss firefighter Jamie Osborne, who also serves as union president, after Fire Chief Stan Deimling said he disobeyed an order and distributed political materials with pizza deliveries to township fire departments.

Trustees said Osborne’s dismissal had nothing to do with his political views, but the former firefighter said he intended to appeal their decision.

Old video of the day: Fire at the Dighton Middle School in Dighton, MA in February, 1991.

FFs demand replacement for 17-year-old engine, but the town fathers aren’t so sure

“How many of you would rely on a 17-year-old car to get to work every day?”

That’s the question Lt. Michael Camperlengo of the Stratford, CT Fire Department asked Monday night about Engine 2. Here are excerpts from ConnPost.com:

Fire Chief John Cybart and Kevin Lantowsky, president of the local firefighters’ union, were backed by about 50 firefighters and their families as they urged the council Monday night to approve an “emergency” authorization of $450,000 for a new truck to replace a 17-year-old vehicle with more than 113,000 miles.

Fire officials said the truck recently broke down on its way to a fire, requiring a 29-year-old back-up truck to be used. They said water leaks from the truck, and that doors and seatbelts are rusting. “Every day, as firefighters, we risk our lives to help protect the public in Stratford,” Fire Lt. Michael Camperlengo told the council. “But we have a real crisis with our firetrucks, especially Engine No. 2, which has been patched up numerous times and must be replaced.

Despite Camperlengo’s appeal to the council, both Mayor James R. Miron and council Chairman Michael Henrick, usually on opposite sides of issues, agreed the town should not rush into spending nearly one-half million dollars on a new truck that won’t be available for more than a year.

They also agreed that the matter was not handled correctly, saying fire officials and some council members, particularly Councilwoman Amy Wanamaker, D-6, should not have brought firefighters to appear before the council.

After lengthy discussion Monday, Miron and the council directed Cybart to look into finding a newer, used firetruck that would be far less costly, and then plan to present a long-term, capital-needs proposal to replace outdated equipment on an ongoing basis.

Miron pointed out, however, that he included a new firetruck as part of his capital-improvement budget the last two years, only to have the council take it out.

Vallejo update

A TV reporter explains how high fire and police salaries are behind the financial troubles in the California town. Read more here. Previous coverage from FireGeezer.

33 volunteers quit

Turmoil in Banks County, GA as a large group of volunteers take a hike over problems with Chief Gary Pollard. The County Commissioners have, so far, backed the chief. Read more.

Fire in historic building burns Jesse James’ dry cleaner

Not exactly, but the building in Richmond, MO was, until it burned yesterday, a dry cleaning business. 140 years ago it housed a bank where a robbery occurred that left the mayor and two others dead. It was thought the killings were the work of Jesse and Frank James. Watch the video here.

Rochester house fire

From Saturday on Garson Avenue.

(Updated at 4:10 PM)

Old video of the day: The 1993 Laguna Beach fire storm.

Returning to quarters

The Charlotte Observer has some wonderful photography from the procession that carried the remains of firefighters Victor Isler and Justin Monroe on Monday. Click here to see the slideshow. Watch the video. Read the story.

More coverage and funeral arrangements from The Salisbury Post.

A look back 67 years

A WBZ radio reporter visits the Brockton, MA City Hall yesterday on the 67th anniversary of The Strand Theater fire that killed 13 firefighters. He talks with a former chief and the granddaughter of one of those killed as they all look over an effort to honor the fallen firefighters. Read more about the fire. See an artists view of a monument to be unveiled on May 10.

Firefighters find 7 bodies in fire, but no fatalities

Jim Croce said the South Side of Chicago was the baddest part of town, but that doesn’t really explain this story from the Windy City. You are going to have to check out FireGeezer for the details and please blame him and not me.

Comments, we’ve got comments

Our update on the dispute between the Ritchie VFD and PGFD over a FF/arsonist has generated more than a few comments. Read them for yourself.

Speaking of comments and PGFD, STATter 911 has some heat directed its way on thewatchdesk.com. Click here to see it (the best, or worst stuff, is from page 5 forward). We provide this as a public service and a chance to read the views of those who would like STATter 911 to turn out the lights.

Close call at warehouse fire

Sean Segerblom in Virginian-Pilot. See paper’s coverage.

Everyone got out okay at a fire Monday in Virginia Beach, VA. According to local news coverage there were a few tense moments when firefighters had to find another exit after doors collapsed. At the same time, the fire that started in pallets erupted in the ceiling area. Watch WTKR-TV ‘s coverage. Watch WAVY-TV’s coverage. Article from WAVY-TV.

Also in Virginia Beach, is it hazing or racism or both? One fired, one demoted.

The firefighter who was hazed is a recent recruit who is pictured on a department brochure. The same firefighter had a knife thrown at him when he didn’t react “properly” to racially charged hazing. According to the story, the firefighter isn’t the one who blew the whistle. But in the end the knife thrower is gone and the station captain, who says he was on medical leave when the incident happened, has been demoted. Read and watch the story.

Apartment fire in Birmingham

Here is the description with this video:

Birmingham Fire & Rescue responded to a reported apartment fire on 5th Avenue S.W. late Friday. Upon arrival, Rescue 6 didn’t initially see anything until smoke started to emerge from the rear or the building. Seeing this, Rescue 6 reported a working fire and requested the next company bring in a line.

Firefighters turn green

No, this isn’t about some fire engine painted green or a St. Patrick’s Day story. This is the effort of IAFF Local 3796 in Robbinsville, NJ to address global warming and climate change. According to the union website, “The Robbinsville Professional Fire Fighters Local 3786 have purchased two TerraPass carbon offsets for our front line emergency response vehicles, Engine 40 and Ambulance 140-10″. They even have a video (above). Click here to read more.

Wind driven fire

In Solano County, CA a fire yesterday in a large windmill.

(Updated at 11:30 AM)

MD VFD says letter proves it wasn’t told about arsonist

We have the latest in the dispute over the convicted arsonist STATter 911 discovered living at a Maryland firehouse and repsonding on calls. Ritchie VFD has said all along that the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department failed to notify them of Napoleon Queen’s past. Now Ritchie produces the letter it believes proves its claim. Click here to see the story.

2nd annual golf tournament

My old friend Tom Wolfe tells me the 2nd Annual DC Metro Area National Fallen Firefighters Golf Tournament is scheduled for June 9 at the Dominion Valley Country Club in Haymarket, VA. Last year $11,000 was raised. Click here to learn all of the details.

NJ LODD

Chief Billy Goldfeder of The Secret List has details of the collpase of a NJ firefighter:

Veteran West Milford (NJ) Firefighter collapsed while battling a fire today….Raymond Barrett, 62, was on the scene of a house fire when he collapsed inside the building, No one else was injured in the blaze, which appeared to start in the home’s attic and was called in by a neighbor at 2:49 p.m., police said. The home’s residents were not there when the fire started. Former Chief Barrett had been a volunteer firefighter for several decades.

Refineries not so fine

Everyone seems to want a piece of the oil companies these days and so does OSHA. Inspectors have conducted an unprecedented nationwide look at safety issues. Here are excerpts of a detailed report in the Houston Chronicle:

Even though only 17 of 81 targeted U.S. refineries have been reviewed so far, those preliminary results are disturbing, Rich Fairfax, OSHA’s director of enforcement, told the Houston Chronicle.

So far, they have uncovered 11 proposed violations at Total Petrochemicals USA’s refinery in Port Arthur; 45 at a refinery in Canton, Ohio; and 19 at a Kansas refinery, among others. In eight months, inspectors have proposed $896,300 in penalties, according to information OSHA, or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, compiled for this report.

PT story of the century

As I sit here writing this while on my exercise bike I am laughing at FireGeezer Bill Schumm’s great look at Buster Martin’s PT and lifestyle. This is a man who lives on a diet of cigarettes and beer and is expected to run the London Marathon. He asked for his beer as soon as he crossed the finish line of the half-marathon in Essex in a little over 5 hours. You are probably asking what’s so great about that? Well, Mr. Martin and his unusual diet have been on this earth for 101 years. Please read the story. I am wondering what Bill had in his hand when he wrote it?

Homeowners and fire official have words

This video on YouTube appears to show some kind of dispute between a member of the Monessen Fire Department in Westmoreland Co., PA and a homeowner. The person taking the video seems to have an idea what it’s about.

Animal kingdom: 14 animals killed in house fire — 28 others rescued

From Suffolk County on Long Island. Read the details as firefighters confront a bouse fire with more than 40 animals inside. It happened on Saturday in Nesconset. Besides cats and dogs, the critters included rats, crows, doves and raccoons. One firefighter was bitten by a raccoon. Another firefighter suffered chest pains. Watch the video.

Read September 13, 2007 letter from Chief Lawrence Sedgwick ordering Napoleon Queen’s dismissal

Read February 19, 2008 suspension letter

See STATter 911′s initial coverage of this story

Napoleon Queen photo by Wayne Barrall at FITHP.net

The Ritchie Volunteer Fire Department (PGFD Station 837) says a letter last year from Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Chief Lawrence Sedgwick proves Ritchie’s leadership was not notified a convicted arsonist was living at the Ritchie firehouse and responding on emergency calls. The letter, dated September 13, 2007 and addressed to Napoleon Queen, tells Queen that this is “official notification that based on your criminal history of arson, you are dismissed from operations within the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department, effective immediately upon receipt of this notice”.

Ritchie Vice President Larry Lee tells STATter 911 the document shows, despite PGFD claims to the contrary, Ritchie’s leadership was not on the list of those who received a copy of the letter.

According to the letter, copies were sent by Chief Sedwick to PGFD’s four lieutenant colonels, a battalion chief, the department’s legal counsel, a volunteer major and the chairman of the Prince George’s County Fire Commission. There is no indication on the letter that a copy was given to Ritchie’s president or chief.

On February 5, 2008, STATter 911 informed PGFD and Ritchie officials that Queen was currently riding at Station 837 despite his arrest in 1990 as part of an arson ring involving volunteer firefighters. Queen, then 21 and a member of the Boulevard Heights VFD (PGFD Station 817), was later convicted and served time in prison.

After conferring with officials about our discovery, PGFD Chief Spokesman Mark Brady informed STATter 911 that Ritchie’s leaders had been sent a letter in September ordering Napoleon Queen’s dismissal. Brady said at the time, “We notified the individual himself, the corporation, the Ritchie Volunteers, as well as the volunteer fire service association and commission that we were not going to allow this to happen”.

“I won’t say that he lied”, Larry Lee said by phone on Sunday. “The usual tactic from Prince George’s County is to answer the question without first investigating and in this case they answered it the wrong way”.

The Prince George’s County Fire/Rescue Department handles the background checks for both the career and volunteer staff in the county.

The letter was provided to STATter 911 by Ritchie officials. Larry Lee said it was included in the package of information detailing the charges behind the operational suspensions of Ritchie’s chief and president. According to Lee, “It backs up what we said all along that our leadership did not know about Mr. Queen’s past”.

STATter 911 has independently verified the authenticity of the letter with both career and volunteer sources.

President Dave Crigger and Chief William Cunningham were suspended on February 19 as a result of a county investigation into the handling of the Napoleon Queen situation. In a letter ordering the suspension of Crigger, Lt. Col. Tyrone Wells wrote, “… you have failed to ensure Mr. Queen’s compliance with proper procedures, and allowed him to operate as a member”. Crigger and Cunningham are expected to appear before a trial board on the charges.

Contacted about this latest development, Mark Brady said he would be unable to comment due to the ongoing disciplinary procedures.

(Updated at 9:27 AM, Sunday)

Old video of the day: From Allentown, PA around 1990. This is a video by Bil Rohrer of a fire in a thrift shop 1601 Union Blvd.

“Mayday, mayday, this is Quint Four. We’ve lost pressure and we have high heat.”

That’s what one fire chief remembers hearing as a firefighting crew from Salisbury, NC got into trouble just before Friday’s fire turned deadly. Firefighters Victor Isler and Justin Monroe were killed in the 5-alarm fire at the Salisbury Millwork. Three other firefighters were injured.

Read new details from Sunday’s Charlotte Observer.

Here is the latest from the Salisbury Post.

Firefighter Victor Isler at top. Firefighter Justin Monroe at bottom. Read more about both men from the Salisbury Post.

Here is earlier coverage with excerpts from WSOC-TV’s early Saturday story:

Fire Chief Bob Parnell identified the men as 40-year-old Victor Isler and 19-year-old Justin Monroe. He said both were Salisbury city firefighters who were part of the hose team that was first to respond to the blaze along with five other crews.

The five-alarm fire destroyed the Salisbury Millwork building at the intersection of Julian Road and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. More than 100 firefighters, with the help of a steady rain, reduced the inferno to smoldering rubble. Firefighters are still putting water on hot spots.

The fire burned uncontrollably for hours after it began around 7 a.m. Workers at the woodworking business said they arrived, saw the flames and called 911.

Flames burst through the roof shortly after 9 a.m. and the firefighters inside were evacuated. Explosions and walls tumbling could be heard outside around 10 a.m.

Surrounding towns and the city of Charlotte sent in fire crews to help pour water on the fire. Charlotte’s chapter of the Red Cross also sent support to the scene. Salisbury, a town of about 27,000 people, is about 40 miles north of Charlotte.

More from WSOC-TV including a series of videos

Salisbury Post article

Salisbury Post early pictures

Early video from WBTV-TV

Fire dispatch center may have to take flight

A great deal of disappointment in Rapid City, SD after the FAA told the The Northern Great Plains Interagency Dispatch Center it may have to move. The center is currently at the old Rapid City Regional Airport terminal. The state of South Dakota spent almost $2 million to put a variety of state and federal firefighting agencies under one roof seven years ago. But now the FAA says it needs the room. Read details from the Rapid City Journal.

More on Baltimore FF hurt falling out of engine

WBAL radio seems to be the only news organization covering the injury to FF Bryan Isaacs who fell out of Engine 6 on the way to a fire early Thursday morning. Isaacs remains in the trauma center with serious head injuries. Here are excerpts from WBAL’s story:

Cartwright says Isaacs, 34, was inside the rear compartment of the truck, where two firefighters sit, and a door swung open and Isaacs fell off the engine. He says an investigation is underway to find out why the door to the compartment opened while the engine was responding to a dwelling fire.

He says Isaacs fell from the engine just after it left the station and made a left turn.

Reporter Scott Wykoff interviews department spokesman

Reporter Scott Wykoff interviews union president

London hotel fire

A fire Friday night on the fifth floor and roof of the Custom House Hotel. No injuries reported. Read more.

(Updated at 5:37 PM)

Two FFs killed and others injured in five-alarm millwork fire in Salisbury, NC. USAR and task force sent from Charlotte.

WSOC-TV images at top and bottom. Middle image from WCNC-TV.

The Charlotte Observer and TV stations which reported a third firefighter died in this morning’s fire in Salisbury, NC, have now backed away from that report. So far, two firefighters are confirmed dead. The paper says the misinformation came from a police officer on the scene.

The deaths and injuries to at least 3 other firefighters occurred during the five-alarm fire at a millwork. Salisbury is in Rowan County, NC.

At 11:30 AM the fire was still burning out of control and help, including USAR, was sent from Charlotte, about 45 miles away. From the Charlotte Observer:

The Charlotte Fire Department sent about 25 rescue workers to help fight the fire. According to CFD spokesperson Mark Basnight, the aid includes three engine companies, one ladder company, one heavy rescue company, a USAR/Structural Collapse company and several chief officers.

Here is the latest from the Salisbury Post:

Two firefighters, Justin Monroe, 19, and Victor Isler, 40, died as the result of a huge fire at Salisbury Millwork.

The fire started in the office at Salisbury Millwork on South Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and spread after firefighters initially thought they had it under control. The plant is a total loss.

Live stream from WXII-TV

Watch live report from WSOC-TV

Slideshow from WSOC-TV

Watch raw video from WCNC-TV

Slideshow from WCNC-TV

Story from WCNC-TV

Baltimore FF in trauma center after falling off engine

As we first reported yesterday a Baltimore City firefighter fell out of Engine 6 early Thursday morning while enroute to a building fire in the 1200 Block of E. Lafayette Avenue. There is a brief mention in The Baltimore Sun. Here is what Chief Billy Goldfeder of FirefighterCloseCalls.com has:

A Baltimore City Firefighter was seriously injured in a fall from a responding fire apparatus yesterday. FF/PM Bryan Isaacs was taken to Shock Trauma and is in very serious condition. Initial reports are that he was standing up getting geared up in the back of the rig …and when the engine made a turn, he fell out.

Keep him and his family in your thoughts while making sure this doesn’t happen at your FD.

Notice from IAFF Local 734:

March 6, 2008 11:00 hrsFF/PM Bryan Isaacs E-6 C-shift was involved in a serious incident last night while responding to a box alarm. He is in Shock Trauma with multiple head injuries with some carotid bleeding. Visitors are limited to the immediate family so please honor the families’ privacy. Please keep Bryan and his family in your thoughts and prayers and we will update you of any change.

The department and the union have offered the family any assistance they might require.

Rick Schluderberg,President

Also in Baltimore, ammonia leak contained

Firefighters began dealing with an ammonia leak around 8:30 last night and are still on the scene this morning. It is the old American Ice Company plant in the 2100 block of West Franklin Street. It has closed Route 40, two schools and a commuter rail station. Watch the story from WJZ-TV. Read the story from The Baltimore Sun.

Arlington, VA has first fatal fire in two years — FF also injured

The fire was at 5:30 this morning in the 5500 block of South 4th Street. Arlington County Fire reports its first units went on the scene with heavy smoke and fire conditions. As firefighters entered the home they discovered an elderly female who was unable to escape the blaze. She was pronounced dead on the scene. Two other occupants managed to escape, but were injured. A firefighter was also hurt as he fell from the 2nd f
loor to the 1st floor. According to fire officials the injuries appear to be non-life threatening. The cause of the fire is undetermined at this time.

Wife of slain FL FF speaks

A composed Michele Vasquez talked eloquently about her firefighter husband Rafael on Thursday, three days after he was shot and killed as they picked up lunch in West Palm Beach. Click her to watch the video.

Times Square explosion video

This is surveillance video of the explosion at Times Square early Thursday morning. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly describes it as a “low-order explosive” contained in a military-style ammunition box. Letters that have been received by members of Congress apparently aren’t connected to the blast. Read more.

The story behind the phrase

A history lesson from Bill Carey and his Charge the Line! site as he looks at the original Collyer Mansion. It is in two parts: Part 1; Part 2.

I could write something like that, but my mind and desk are as cluttered as a Collyer’s Mansion. I would never be able to get my thoughts together or find my notes.

Raw video from FL plane crash

This is from the crash Saturday in Titusville that killed three men after a plane landing struck a plane on the ground. Read more.

Closing fire stations to avoid bankruptcy

That’s what is happening in Vallejo, CA starting this morning. Here is the story from the San Jose Mercury News:

The city of Vallejo faces a $13.2 million 2007-2008 general fund operating deficit and a negative funding balance of $9 million on June 30. The City Council approved an emergency plan early Tuesday morning to help prevent the city from filing bankruptcy by the end of the month.

Stations 22 and 27 will close at 8 a.m. today until further notice, according to the Fire Department.

See FireGeezer’s previous coverage of this story.

House fire in Birmingham

This is from Tuesday in Birmingham, AL.

Cargo plane burns

In Indonesia this plane caught fire while landing at Wamena airport in Papua. All eight of the passengers and crew are reported to have escaped the blaze unharmed. The plane ran off the runway after landing. Click here for more pictures from Telegraph.co.uk, along with details.

Baltimore City FF falls off engine

A Baltimore City firefighter was injured around 2:30 this morning after falling out of a fire engine enroute to a fire. We haven’t yet seen news coverage from Baltimore, but here is what IAFF Local 734 has on its website:

March 6, 2008 11:00 hrs
FF/PM Bryan Isaacs E-6 C-shift was involved in a serious incident last night while responding to a box alarm. He is in Shock Trauma with multiple head injuries with some carotid bleeding. Visitors are limited to the immediate family so please honor the families’ privacy. Please keep Bryan and his family in your thoughts and prayers and we will update you of any change.

The department and the union have offered the family any assistance they might require.

Rick Schluderberg,
President

Improvised explosive device in Times Square

New York Times photo

Some traffic is flowing again through Times Square after a small explosive device was detonated at the Armed Forces Recruiting Center in the traffic island bounded by 43rd and 44th Streets, Seventh Avenue and Broadway. It is the third recruiting station at that location since the end of WW II. It has been the scene of numerous antiwar protests since the Iraq war began in 2003. No one was injured.

Traffic in the area was shut down for a while as police and firefighters were being concerned about the possibility of a secondary device. None was found.

New York Times

Newsday

WNBC TV

WCBS TV

PA LODDs

Lt. Nicholas Picozzi Jr.

FF Brad Holmes

Two firefighters in PA died on Wednesday. Here is the story from the AP:

Two Pennsylvania firefighters died Wednesday of injuries suffered on-the-job and both came from families devoted to their local volunteer fire departments.

Grove City fire from KDKA-TV

Holmes worked among family at the all-volunteer fire department in Pine Township. His brother, Chris, serves as fire chief and their father, Joe, also volunteers.

The parents of Lt. Nicholas Picozzi were on the scene when their son was pulled from the home. Philly.com profiles Lt. Picozzi and his family.

Lower Chichester Fire Department

Pine Township Engine Company

KYW-TV

WPVI-TV

KDKA-TV

Tampa tiller troubles

That’s retired Captain Chuck Kremin looking over Tampa’s first tillered ladder truck in 15 years. It wasn’t Kremin, but retired Chief Pete Botto handling tiller duties when the truck jackknifed shortly after this Tampa Tribune picture was taken. Read the story here.

Fatal house explosion

Raw helicopter video after a
house exploded in Plum, a suburb of Pittsburgh. It killed a grandfather and injured his grandchild. The fire chief says they are looking at the possibility of natural gas as a source for the blast. Read more.

Union rejects final offer

In Omaha firefighters have rejected the mayor’s final offer on a new contract. The union says it is a step backwards. Mayor Mike Fahey calls the offer fair to both firefighters and the taxpayers. Read the story KPTM-TV. Watch the story.

Close call described

Battalion Chief Terry Pinheiro and Firefighter David Velasco from the Escalon Fire Protection District in California take us step-by-step through fire and roof collapse that briefly trapped FF Velasco.

LI house fire

A Bill Bennett production. As usual good, raw video. This house fire was on February 29 in Island Park, NY and injured two senior citizens. Read more.

Fire destroys NC business

From Sunday night an industrial building in Charlotte. One man seen leaving the scene has been arrested in charged with arson.

Ukraine firefighting

No date in this early video from a house fire from Chernivtsi, Ukraine.

(Updated at 7:20 PM)

Another PA LODD

A fire this morning in Delaware County, PA has killed Lt. Nicholas Picozzi Jr. and injured three others. It happened at a house fire in Upper Chichester. The picture above is from KYW-TV.

Here is what Philly.com is reporting:

A firefighter battling a house fire in Upper Chichester has died, officials said.

Charred windows upstairs and downstairs suggested that the fire had spread to both floors.

The image below from WCAU-TV.

Earlier PA LODD — Chief writes about his brother

From Chief Billy Goldfeder and The Secret List:

We deeply regret to inform you that 21 year old Pine Township (PA) Firefighter Brad Holmes has died in the Line of Duty, passing away this morning after being burned over 75 percent of his body in a house fire last Friday that also took the life of a civilian.

FF Holmes (who is also the President of the FC) is the brother of the Pine Township’s Fire Chief, Chris Holmes and the son of their Assistant Chief, Joe Holmes.

FF Holmes and Firefighter Scott King were doing a search and attempted rescue into the burning duplex. Conditions in the building rapidly deteriorated and the Firefighters became trapped on the second floor….and they were rescued by a rapid intervention team. FF King has been discharged from the hospital.

On the Pine Township Engine Company website Chief Chris Holmes wrote this about his brother:

This morning my brave little brother lost his fight against his burns he sustatined last Friday trying to rescue a woman from her apartment, he was 21. Brad is and will always be my HERO. And to all the supporters out there I send you my deepest appreciation and love. Your support has helped myself and my family deal with this tragic event. I cannot tell you how much this means to myself, my family and my department, there is a lost for words. There are so many brothers and sisters out there that we never knew we had.

Brad, Rest in Peace Little Brother, I LOVE YOU FOREVER…

Your Admirer and Loving Brother. Chris….

Tiller come back in Tampa has a rough start

For the first time in 15 years the city of Tampa has need for a tillerman. Read this article from TBO.com to find out what happened when they tried to show off the new truck to some old timers. Here are excerpts:

The coming out party for a brand new Tampa Fire Rescue tiller truck was spoiled this week when a couple of retired firefighters — including former fire Chief Pete Botto — hopped into the $886,000 truck and jackknifed it, causing about $5,800 damage.

“The city of Tampa has not had a tiller truck for more than 15 years,” Wade said.

Bucks County 911 director gone, workers suspended after delayed call

You may recall the story of Brenda Orr the disabled Doylestown, PA woman who died in her burning room on January 29th. Within days of her death it was revealed that Bucks County 911 workers took 27 seconds to answer her call and then put her on hold for another 27 seconds before handling the emergency. It turned out there were plenty of people on duty to deal with the call.

On February 13 Bucks County officials held a press conference admitting the call was mishandled. They said letters were placed in the files of 911 call takers and supervisors. Now Bucks County Director of Emergency Communications Brent Wiggins is retiring. Also, three supervisors and six dispatchers have been suspended. Fou
r others have had disciplinary letters removed from their files after it was determined they were handling other calls when Orr dialed 911.

Read Christina Kristofic’s latest story in the Bucks County Courier Times.

In this case it is kind of hard to use the one bad apple excuse

That’s because the entire Irwinville, GA VFD has been charged with arson. All 6 members and two non-members, including Chief Rusty Thomas’ (that’s his name) ex-girlfriend. According to news reports the firefighters did it because they wanted to ride fast in their new fire engine. Sheriff’s deputies says the crew even burned a vacant house where the owner had denied them permission to use the structure for training. They were caught because on many of the calls it was the firefighters calling 911.

FireGeezer is on top of this one. Check out the video in the upper right corner of his page.

EDITOR’S NOTE: It took all of the willpower I have to take the high road on this and not run a headline in the biggest, boldfaced type saying: CHIEF RUSTY THOMAS CHARGED WITH ARSON! Now that would have made it everyone keep reading.

The “gravy train” in Los Angeles

Los Angeles Times columnist Sandy Banks says join the Los Angeles City Fire Department and stand in line for the “‘victim of discrimination’ gravy train”. Reacting to the most recent million dollar loss from the dog food incident, Banks looks at a long line of big payouts. Read the column.

Armed fire chief creates problem

In Hillsborough County, Florida the fire chief may be in violation of county policy because of a loaded gun in the chief’s car. Chief Bill Nesmith ended up in handcuffs Saturday after a domestic squabble. Here are excerpts from TBO.com’s story:

Nesmith, 59, was arrested Saturday night at his Indian Rocks Beach condo after his wife, Beverly, told Pinellas County deputies he threatened to kill her and then himself, an arrest report said.

“I will make certain someone talks to him,” she said. “We go from there. He will be treated the same as any other county employee.”

Wendy’s 911 audio

This is a story on the 911 calls made during Monday’s shooting in West Palm Beach, FL that took the life of Lt. Ray Vasquez.

Fire marshal no-show leads to FF arson charges being dropped

A volunteer firefighter may soon get her job back at the Mason County, WV 911 center after arson charges were dropped on Monday. Here is the story from WSAZ-TV:

A representative from the WV State Fire Marshal’s Office did not show up to a preliminary hearing Monday for volunteer firefighter and 911 operator Kim Blake, forcing prosecutors to drop an arson charge against her.

Blake and two other firefighters faced a charge of arson for a fire earlier this year in Mason. She has been on leave pending charges from her job as a 911 dispatcher.

Monday, the state fire marshal’s office representative did not show up to Blake’s hearing and the charge was dropped. State Fire Marshal Sterling Lewis told WSAZ his office never got a notice for the hearing.

Mason County Commissioner Rick Handley told WSAZ the county commission may meet as early as Monday to reinstate Blake. He says as long as there are no charges against her, the county commission would have to put her back to work. It was unclear Tuesday night if the prosecutor’s office will try to charge Blake again.

The two other firefighters involved in this case continue to face charges.

House fire in NY

From Tuesday morning on Stewart Avenue in Newburgh.

(Updated at 12:02 PM)

Quebec LODD

From Chief Billy Goldfeder’s The Secret List:

A Quebec Firefighter is missing and presumed as a Line of Duty Death this morning after operating at a dwelling fire in Varennes, about 30 minutes drive north of Montreal.

The fire started around 2300 hours last night in the basement of the dwelling. The man and woman who lived in the home got out. As Firefighters were working, 3 members were trapped in the dwelling for a yet to be disclosed reason. Reports are that 2 were able to escape, but the 3rd was unable to get out or be rescued. There also may have been a collapse inside the house.

We just received unofficial word that the missing Firefighter remains have been located and removed. Additional info will be posted. Our condolences to all affected.

CTV

CBC

Firehouse.com

Lt. shot to death during lunch break with family

Palm Beach County Fire Rescue Lt. Ray Vasquez was on lunch break from the training academy having a meal at the local Wendy’s with his wife and young child. After picking up lunch he went back inside to get a toy for his daughter that had been left out of the bag. That’s when a man opened fire killing Vasquez and wounding others. Click here to learn more.

More from ELF fire

This is raw helicopter video from the fire we told you about yesterday near Woodinville, WA that burned three multi-million dollar show homes and damaged a fourth. It is being called a case of “domestic terrorism”. Damage is estimated at $7 million. Here are excerpts from The Seattle Times:

Early reports indicated that explosive devices were found inside the homes. And nearby, a spray-painted sign bearing the initials of the Earth Liberation Front, challenged builders’ assertion that the homes featured environmentally responsible construction methods.

No injuries were reported in the three-alarm fire. A terrorism task force which includes police, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is investigating. Investigators stopped short of blaming the ELF for today’s fires, but acknowledged finding the sign with the group’s initials.

Another $1.6 million in the Los Angeles dog food case

Two white captains who claimed they were made scapegoats after the black firefighter they supervised had his meal laced with dog food have won their case. A jury awarded them $1.6 million. This puts the price tag for this ugly chapter of the Los Angeles City Fire Department at $4.5 million. Read the latest.

Demoted Orlando chief speaks out claiming cover-up

Demoted after being accused of cheating on a promotional exam, Rudy Johnson is speaking out. Johnson, who had been a deputy chief, is also using the word “scapegoat” in describing what happened to him. Johnson claims there is a cover-up. Read the story from the Orlando Sentinel. Watch the story from WFTV-TV. Here are excerpts from the station’s website:

The promotions test was a simulation where firefighters used two-way radios to talk. Johnson and the other firefighters are accused of eavesdropping. He said it was on a channel anyone could listen in on. He said they didn’t cheat and now alleges it is a cover-up.

Clelland says Johnson was considered a good firefighter with a promising future before the cheating allegations and says no one was out to get him and there is no cover-up. Now the State Attorney’s Office is investigating possible criminal charges.

Lightweight ideas

On FireGeezer today, FossilMedic Mike Ward looks at how building construction has changed how firefighters die. He also looks at some of Chicago’s practices in dealing with lightweight truss component buildings. Click here for the column.

Class action in Ohio against chief

A group of firefighters have
filed a complaint saying they have been harassed by Clearcreek Township Fire Chief Bernie Becker.

Foaming the runway

A wheels up landing in Hayward, California Sunday along with fire department operations after the plane came to a stop.

Block party fallout

You may recall the controversy involving the Oceanside Fire Department and the crashing of a block party. Here is the latest on the episode from Newsday.com:

The chief of the Oceanside Fire Department failed to supervise eight firefighters who crashed a block party in a fire truck and then attempted to cover it up, a report by a four-member disciplinary board of firefighters said.

“A broken hand is not a defensive wound, it’s an offensive wound,” said attorney Christopher Devane of Mineola. “McKee sucker-punched a 35-year member of the department, pushed another member to the ground and a third member was pushed through a fence by other party guests.”

More movie explosions

Yesterday we showed you firefighters who handle explosions and fires on movie sets. This is said to be an explosion on Sunday of a car for a movie being made in London. One big blast.