(Update at 10:46 AM Sunday)

From the STATter 911 Archives: A Kensington, MD fire in January of 1976. A man set his own house on fire following a domestic dispute and then threatened to shoot at firefighters. He died in the fire.

New York burning … at least Hollywood’s version is. Massive fire at Universal Studios. Video catches roof collapse.

AP photo via Los Angeles Times

Reports are that “New York Street” is among the areas that is burning at a large fire at Universal Studios in California. “New York Street” is a line of facades built to look like New York. Early reports are the pre-dawn fire started on a sound stage and spread.

Explosions have been reported and helicopters have brought in water drops as the fire spread through the back lot.

Already there are estimates that this fire, still burning three hours after it started, has caused tens of millions of dollars in damages. Firefighters were trying to protect a building housing a film vault. TV stations are reporting the King Kong exhibit has been destroyed.

A spokesperson said the theme park would open today, but that the studio tour would be affected by the fire.

Live coverage from KNBC-TV (while it lasts)

Earlier raw helicopter video from KNBC-TV (toward the end of the video, when it reads 1:50 left, the entire roof of one of the buildings collapses)

More coverage from KNBC-TV

KTTV-TV live coverage

More coverage from KTTV-TV

KABC-TV coverage with video

KCBS-TV

Los Angeles Times

FireGeezer has also been updating this story

This is a 10:00 AM (EDT) report from AP:

A massive fire engulfed a back lot filled with movie sets at Universal Studios early Sunday, officials said.

Universal City is nine miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.

Alerting the police to check out a deadly fire

That’s apparently what happened last week in Franklin, Ohio. Chief Billy Goldfeder of FirefighterCloseCalls.com spotted this one. Click here to see video. Click here to read more.

Don’t forget to help the DC Firefighter’s Burn Foundation

A reminder that Yvette Hess, one of my 9NEWS NOW colleagues, is part of a cycling team heading for a race cross country and in the process raising money for the DC Firefighter’s Burn Foundation. Don’t make me beg you. Just click here to learn more.

FireGeezer on New England fires

I am a little slower in posting this weekend due to some deadline issues on a project. If you are interested in updates on two big New England fires on Thursday and Friday, check out FireGeezer.

EMS unit shift change in DC

From the website of IAFF Local 36 (also on DCFD.com), an announcement of a change of shift for firefighters assigned to the ambulance:

Local-36 was notified today by Assistant Fire Chiefs Jeffery and Sa’Adah and Deputy Fire Chief Baker that the Department has rejected the memberships wishes and the direction for staffing EMS units will include 90-day assignments to transport units, on a 12-hour shift, with a 2-2-4 schedule. The Department hopes to implement it’s staffing plan June 22, 2008.

From the calls and emails we have received so far, this is not sitting well with many members of the DC Fire & EMS Department. Forgetting all of the other arguments for or against this schedule, I found interesting the one that points out this is not an eco-friendly plan. I guess in this case, doubling the amount of commutes to work, the “eco” could mean both “ecologically” and “economically”.

Whether you are for or against this shift, the fact is with gasoline running between four and five dollars-per-gallon, the new shift will mean a financial hit for firefighters assigned to the 90-day tours.

This move addresses issues brought up in the final report of the Task Force on Emergency Medical Services. Specifically it comes under “Recommendation 4″, and it looks like, by the time it is implemented, it will be three months behind the timetable listed in the report:

b) The Mayor and Chief shall work together to come with a recommendation to the Council to implement shorter shifts for all employees and other recommendations to ensure the goal of having alert
and awake employees who can provide competent patient care.

c) The Chief shall establish, no later than March 31, 2008, and as available staff allows, a practice for assignment to transport duty in which employees are permanently assigned to ambulance service for periods of not less than 90 days, rather than intermittently with fire apparatus duty.

d) The Chief shall report, no later than March 31, 2008, on procedures for peak load staffing of transport units, that enable an adequate number of units to meet response time targets. The Chief shall also establish by the same date a procedure for dynamic deployment of units to provide coverage when any particular area of the District experiences a shortage of available units.

We have put in a request to DC Fire & EMS for comment.

Loudoun review team picked

One Loudoun County firefighter remains in the MedStar Burn Unit at the Washington Hospital in serious, but stable condition. Loudoun County Fire, Rescue and Emergency Management officials have decided not to identify any of the firefighters injured in a house fire last Sunday, but they are making public the names of those who have been picked to review the incident.

The team leader is Division Chief Richie Bowers (Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service). Chief Bowers went to the scene to assist Loudoun County on Sunday, shortly after the fire occurred.

Chief Bowers will be joined by Battalion Chief Jennie Collins (Prince William County Department of Fire and Rescue), Battalion Chief Scott McKay (Arlington County Fire and EMS), Battalion Chief Corey Parker, (Loudoun County Fire, Rescue and Emergency Management), Captain Justin Green, (Loudoun County Fire, Rescue and Emergency Management), Lieutenant Nicole Hankin, (Loudoun County Fire, Rescue and Emergency Management), Technician Greg Moore, (Loudoun County Fire, Rescue and Emergency Management), Firefighter/Medic Denise Gay, (Loudoun County Fire, Rescue and Emergency Management), Fire Commissioner Bill McGann, (Loudoun County Fire-Rescue Commissioner and member of Hamilton Volunteer Fire Company #5).

Chiefs Bowers and Collins were part of the group that reviewed the LODD of Prince William County’s Kyle Wilson. That report was nine months in the making. This one is expected to have a much shorter turn-around time. Here are some details from the press release issued Friday morning:

The team is tasked with obtaining all available incident facts/information and communicating a detailed, validated factual incident review report to the Loudoun County Fire and Rescue system. All information contained in the report will be factual documentation of the events leading up to the incident, the incident operation(s), the firefighter mayday(s) and incident mitigation to include treatment and transport of the injured personnel. The results of the findings and recommendations will be used as lessons learned for the Loudoun County Fire and Rescue system, the region, the State, and the National Fire Service.

The process is going to take time. Although a tentative schedule has been established, the timeline is not set in stone. Things may progress sooner or may take longer than anticipated. At this time, the tentative schedule is as follows:

Draft report – 30 to 45 days
Interim report – 45 to 60 days
Final report – 60 to 90 days

Historic Boston lobster company burns in 7-alarm fire

7-alarms overnight in Boston as the James Hook and Company burned. The fire in the landmark wholesale and retail food business was reported around 3:30 AM. There have been a number of collapses, including the rear of the structure falling into the harbor. No injuries have been reported.

Early video from WBZ-TV

Raw helicopter video at daylight from WCVB-TV

WHDH-TV story

WFXT-TV coverage

It has been busy in the Boston area. Yesterday afternoon 4-alarms were needed in Peabody, MA to try and get a handle on a fire running the roof of a large apartment building. FireGeezer has been on top of that one.

“This is really a nothing call. That’s why I did it. I mean, it’d have been different if it was a box alarm or, you know, baby chokin’ or something.”

The story from Austin, Texas was bad enough for Lt. Michael Pooler. Fired for putting his food order ahead of an emergency call, IAFF Local 975 Secretary Palmer Buck said that Pooler would appeal his firing.

But now these statements, reported to be made by Pooler to investigators, put a different light on the case. Note that the statements were made, not in the heat of the situation, but three-months after the incident occurred. Here are excerpts from the latest article on statesman.com:

An Austin firefighter fired after he delayed a response for two minutes while making a food run told investigators that he did so because he thought, “This is really a nothing call,” according to documents obtained today.

Another firefighter told investigators that three other firefighters “were sitting there waiting” in the fire engine and that dispatchers tried to check their status at least once.

Inflation problem in Louisiana

In River Ridge, the fire chief has been suspended after it was determined his son had apparently been writing some fiction in official reports. Eric Kramer is the treasurer who is facing allegations that he inflated the number of firefighters responding on calls. Two weeks after that story surfaced Chief Steve Kramer has been relieved of duty. Click here for the details.

MD apartment fire

Raw video of an apartment fire in Frederick County, MD late Wednesday night is available from the Frederick News Post.

Click here to see the fire on Waverly Drive

Click here to read the story

Fundraiser for DC Firefighter’s Burn Foundation

Talking to some firefighters from Loudoun County this week, once again, I heard nothing but praise over how the DC Firefighter’s Burn Foundation has reached out to the firefighters who were burned Sunday and their families.

It’s the same story I heard from Montgomery County when three firefighter wound up in the MedStar Burn Unit at the Washington Hospital Center. It is also what I saw up close with my own eyes when four DC firefighters were injured last October.

So, with that in mind, let me tell you about one of my colleagues at the TV station, Yvette Hess . Yvette is embarking on a journey, and in the process, is raising money for the DC Firefighter’s Burn Foundation. Click here to read more.

I am very slow in getting this one out, so please, if you are so inclined, respond promptly (otherwise Yvette is going to kick my butt). Click here to make a donation.

(Updated at 1:15 PM)

From the STATter 911 Archives: The Washington Post front Metro section front page on April 24, 1978. Scroll to the bottom of today’s entry to read about this group of Fairfax County firefighters who were a self-described pain in the side of management.

Helicopter crash at MI hospital

From Grand Rapids, MI a helicopter crashed and burned on the roof top landing pad of Spectrum hospital. Reports are the tail hit a radio tower. WZZM-TV reports the pilot and passenger survived with minor injury.

The station has one of its remote cameras on the hospital roof top. It was knocked onto its side and didn’t catch the crash, but provides a close-up of the smoke.

Click here for live coverage on wusa9.com.

Fundraiser for DC Firefighter’s Burn Foundation

One of my colleagues at the TV station, Yvette Hess (get the picture now), is embarking on a journey, and in the process, is raising money for the DC Firefighter’s Burn Foundation. Click here to read more.

I am very slow in getting this one out, so please, if you are so inclined, respond promptly (otherwise Yvette is going to kick my butt). Click here to make a donation.

Cardiac arrest survival rates in the Nation’s Capital are a problem

“It’s a clear indicator that the system in the District is not performing up to the [de facto national] standard of care.”

“If you improve cardiac arrest survival rates,” then the EMS system will have been improved.

Those are the words of Gregg C. Lord, associate director of the National Emergency Medical Services Preparedness Initiative at George Washington University from a front-page story in today’s Washington Post.

Here are a few more excerpts from Elissa Silverman’s article:

Only one in eight cardiac arrest patients transported by District ambulances make it to an emergency room with a pulse. Across the river in Arlington County and Alexandria, the rate is twice as high.

Michael Williams, chief medical officer for D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services, said that the District’s rate is “too low” and that he has plans to boost the numbers, including training all D.C. government workers in CPR. But he said those plans are contingent on his department receiving supplemental funding. That money, which was approved by the D.C. Council this month but has not been disbursed, is also needed to address other shortcomings in the District’s approach to emergency care.

NJ fire captain’s home is a jail cell

When not working for the Paterson, NJ Fire Department, Captain Thomas Alala spends much of his off-duty time in jail in Pennsylvania. Here are excerpts from Newsday.com:

The 42-year-old Alala, who helped pull Sept. 11 victims out of the ruins of the World Trade Center, has been convicted of drunken driving three times.

Brown says he could be disciplined, or fired, for that

And across the pond, a somewhat similar story

In this case, a police sergeant is trying to help a fire crew chief keep his job, despite the cop having to be hospitalized following a brawl with the drunken firefighter. Excerpts from an article on NEWS.scotsman.com:

Michael Goodman, who is the crew chief at Crewe Toll Fire Station in Edinburgh, faced the sack after admitting struggling violently with four police officers following a day’s drinking at a rugby tournament. The 37-year-old was given 100 hours community service at Selkirk Sheriff Court earlier this month.

A spokeswoman said: “He’s still employed with us at the moment and an inquiry is going on to discover what actually happened on the night in question.”

I am not sure the officer will be speaking on this chief’s behalf

And now comes the story from Memorial Day of a New Jersey fire chief arrested after a confrontation with a police corporal during a fire call. The officer didn’t like how Penns Grove Chief Joseph Grasso was interacting with residents of a senior citizen high-rise during an alarm bells call.

Click here to read the story.

Council member wants to reverse Charleston chief’s parting promotions & transfers

Some are suspiscious that promotions and transfers a month before he leaves, is a way for Chief Rusty Thomas to reward supporters and punish others. Excerpts from the Po
st & Courier:

A member of Charleston City Council plans to call an emergency meeting in an attempt to rescind a flurry of last-minute promotions and transfers made Wednesday by Fire Chief Rusty Thomas in his waning days in office.

Gallant said such important decisions should have been left to the incoming chief, and that doing them now reeks of retribution. “It looks like (Thomas) is getting even. That is dead wrong. It is totally out of order.”

Going topless, once again, in Durham

You may recall from last week a truck that didn’t make it under the Gregson Street railroad overpass in Durham, NC. That happened on May 19.

The one above occurred on May 24. And if you click here you can see one from April 14.

The same thing has happened more than 30 times since 2000. As this video shows, and I didn’t see last time, there are warning lights and a sign. But obviously that just isn’t working.

What was Albert Einstein’s famous definition of insanity? Oh yes, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

That said, I am sure no matter how many bells, lights and whistles they put out there, some idiot will miss them.

“Chief in training” hopes to shape up Colorado department

David Anderson doesn’t have much experience in being a chief. But he admits, at the moment, the Gateway Fire Department isn’t much of a fire department. More from the Grand Junction Sentinel:

The Gateway Fire Department’s bunker gear and breathing apparatus are hand-me-downs from fire departments across the state.

“When I first got here, I scrounged parts off everything to put one good truck together,” he said while giving a tour of the department’s one station, which shares space with Gateway’s post office, community center and public library.

Mini-pumpers have volunteers taking issue to the max

As we reported earlier this month, volunteer firefighters in Prince George’s County are in a big battle over some small fire engines. County Chief Lawrence Sedgwick told them the county will no longer maintain and provide fuel and insurance for mini-pumpers and some other vehicles.

In a meeting Tuesday night, the volunteers voted to ignore Chief Sedgwick’s cost-cutting moves (as we previously reported some other cost-saving methods were dropped after protests by the volunteers and the municipal governments in the county).

According to sources we talked to yesterday, while the plan is to run the mini-pumpers anyway, using money controlled by the county fire commission, it is tempered by concerns that they avoid operational suspensions that could come for defying Chief Sedgwick’s orders.

left”>Here is more in excerpts from gazette.net:

‘‘We want to bring this to a head and take it to the county executive,” Donald Strine, president of the county’s fire commission, which oversees volunteer firefighters, told volunteers who voted Tuesday to ignore the plans.

Volunteers did not cite any specific risks posed by the loss of so-called mini-pumpers, which they say require less manpower and can be more efficient.

Fire service spokesman Mark E. Brady said the matter is under review and involves ‘‘policy that will be handled ‘internally’ and not played out in a public forum.”

‘‘The chief would not issue an order that would impact public safety,” Herron said. ‘‘Our volunteers provide a very valuable service, just as our paid members do.”

By the way, when we reported this on May 5, we told you about the strong public protest by the Accokeek VFD (PGFD Station 824) on its website. The station was concerned because of its need for the mini-pumper at a large area of federal property along the Potomac River with narrow access. What we failed to notice is the county’s response a few days later that acknowledges these special circumstances and seems to have addressed part of Accokeek’s issue. ory.php?65

396″>Click here for more.

Find out how many calls are run by mini-pumpers in PGFD annual report .com/news/columnist/blogs/uploaded_images/PGFD-Annual-report-783046.jpg”>You know, on STATter 911 I have talked abo
ut the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department in at least 213 different entries over the last year. You would think I would even get one mention in the department’s 2007 Annual Report.

While I haven’t had a chance to look closely at the content, it’s a pretty slick looking, eye-catching product, designed by Jeff Callaway. If they won’t mention me in their report, maybe they will let be borrow Jeff for a redesign of STATter 911.

One of the things you will find in the report are run statistics for 2007.

By the way, I do have a 1977 PGFD Annual Report that I will someday soon get around to scanning.

In the meantime, click here to see the latest effort.

If my ciphering is correct, there were 4018 responses by mini-pumpers last year. Accokeek had the least with 88 and, of course, Kentland (PGFD Station 833) had the most with 3255.

ign=”left”>rong>WV concerned about fewer volunteers

It may be almost heaven, but it has the same problem recruiting volunteer firefighters as you will find most everywhere else. Click here to read the concerns of the West Virginia State Fire Marshal.

Airport fire and EMS in the Czech Repulic

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This video shows off airport fire and EMS equipment in Prague.

STATter 911 Archives: A look back at staffing issues in Fairfax County 30-years-ago

You may recall last November we took a look back at labor issues in Fairfax County in 1978 that centered around staffing and training. The headline read “The members of this organization are totally fed up”.

Now, we have found this April 24, 1978 article written by Jody Beck that is a companion piece involving many of the same players from the 1978 TV stories.

Double click the images for a larger size and click here to watch the videos from May 9 and August 10, 1978.

(Updated at 7:28 PM)

A STATter 911 Archives quiz: Who are these men and why aren’t they smiling? For the answer, scroll to the bottom of this entry.

Breaking news: Commuter trains collide in MA

The top one is from NECN. Click to play. At the bottom is a WHDH-TV image

It’s a bad day for Green Lines. First, there was a derailment this morning on the CTA Green Line in Chicago (scroll down).

Now, from Newton, MA, two commuter trains have collided on the MBTA Green Line. At 7:30 PM, looking at a live feed from my desk at WBZ-TV’s helicopter shots, it appears there is still extrication going on at the head end of one of the trains. The crash apparently occurred just before 6:00 PM.

One train ran into the rear of another. They were both west bound, heading away from Boston. There has been at least one person flown on a medevac helicopter.

Watch live chopper from WFXT-TV

Early video from WHDH-TV

Click here for WBZ-TV’s coverage

Excerpts below from Boston.com:

A trolley car on the D branch of the Green Line smashed into another car from behind this afternoon, injuring multiple people. The operator of one the trolleys is still trapped, the MBTA said.

Aerial pictures of the scene shown by local TV stations showed smashed trolley cars, rescue vehicles clustering at the scene, Medflight helicopters landing on a nearby golf course, and injured people being placed on stretchers.

Loudoun update

The only new information from Loudoun County officials is the firefighter still in the burn unit remains in serious, but stable condition.

Click here to see our previous coverage of Sunday’s fire.

CTA derailment with injuries

There are reports of 24 people injured when a Chicago Transit Authority train derail this morning on the Green Line. The injuries are reported to be minor.

WBBM-TV

Chicago Sun-Times

Lieutenant out to lunch is now out of a job

When every second counts, two-minutes can be a long time. That’s how long Austin, Texas officials say the delay was when Lieutenant Michael Pooler picked up his food from a restaurant on January 4 instead of immediately responding to a woman suffering respiratory distress at a local clinic. Here are excerpts from an article at statesman.com:

Before jumping onto an Austin firetruck and rushing to a woman in respiratory distress earlier this year, officials say, firefighter Michael Pooler decided to make a quick stop.

Pooler, a 12-year veteran of the Fire Department, declined through a union representative to comment on the firing, which happened after a hearing Friday. He does not have an attorney, said Palmer Buck, secretary for the Austin Association of Professional Firefighters.

Buck said Pooler plans to appeal the firing.

Raided PA fire company voted out

The latest on the Colwyn Fire Department, whose riding members walked out after the social club side was raided by state officials. Tuesday night, the Colwyn Boro Council voted to get rid of its own fire department. The department has been around for 105 years.

Click here to read the story and watch video of the tense meeting.

Another version o
f the story is here.

The great escape

A family in California’s Santa Cruz Mountains decides it’s time to go. While it’s easy to be judgmental, sitting in safety on the other side of the country, it appears this family really doesn’t have a clue. Here, we tell people to have an escape plan from your house. There, they need an escape plan from the community. The young boy seems to have it most together, urging his parents to quit fooling around and just leave.

FireGeezer has been following the fires.

Worst fires ever in Prince George, B.C. and a close call for FFs

Click here for Vancouver Sun article

Click here for video of still images

A fire in a plywood plant Monday evening sent embers that burned at least two other buildings in Prince George, B.C. There was also a close call for firefighters who made the initial attack. Excerpts from the Prince George Citizen:

Prince George Fire Chief Jeff Rowland said conditions were just right for the largest fire in Prince George history at Canfor’s North Central Plywoods mill in the BCR Site.

“It’s a huge building and there’s a lot of sawdust, and it’s just right for a fire to take off,” Rowland said Tuesday. “We thought we had the fire controlled. I was in the building about a minute before it took off. It was clear, we knew where the fire was, and the guys that were on the roof said a minute later the fire rolled out both ends of the building. In two minutes we had to get nine people off that roof.

“Captain Mark Hill, noting the roof was comprised of different layers of various materials, said the situation was “a bit scary,” both for the Canfor employees who started fighting the fire, and for the 16 Prince George firefighters in attendance.

Hill and the crew thought they contained the blaze after cutting a trench in the roof, a procedure he said stops fires nine times out of 10. This time, however, the flames got behind them. “As the roof fell in in front of us it also started to fall in behind us,” said Hill, who likened the noise to a “jet engine taking off.”

We lost some gear, we just dropped everything and ran. The assistant chief was the last guy, I was the second last guy. We made sure everybody was off and safe. We were lucky we had an escape route.

“The 16-year firefighting veteran credits the crew for working hard, long hours. “It’s what we train for. I know it’s (matter of life and death) probably in the back of the mind of every firefighter. It’s just one of those things you really don’t have time to think about. You make sure what you’ve trained for all these years is put into practice and you make sure everybody goes home safe at the end of the day.

City clean-up crew does the job and lets the FFs clean-up

From TampaBay.com

That isn’t your standard issue fire hose. And these Tampa employees aren’t members of the fire department. They are part of the Clean City Department.

The two were driving around in their 2500-gallon tanker and heard a woman screaming on Tuesday morning. She was screaming because the Alamo Hotel was on fire. The men grabbed the line and went to work. They are credited with keeping the fire from spreading through the single-story building.

The answer to the STATter 911 Archives quiz

The answer as to why those men weren’t smiling is that they had been offered jobs with the Prince George’s County Fire Department and then were told never mind. The article is from January 26, 1978. It is interesting reading.

The problem was the racial make-up of the class. Twenty-two white males in a county that was then 25% black. In the end, they got their jobs.

The good news is that Prince George’s County learned its lesson and never again made the mistake of offering jobs to a class of recruits and then rescinding the offers. In fact, if you read this article by Eugene L. Meyer, you will see that County Executive Winfield Kelly said, “This will never happen again in Prince George’s County”. Wrong!

Well, at least they waited 22-years before another county executive gave a similar order. At that point, if my memory is correct, one of the members of the 1978 class had become fire chief.

To read more about the 2000-2001 case, click here and here. In each, you will have to scroll down to the article heading Fire Department. They are in alphabetical order.

(Updated at 5:00 PM)

Picture of the day: Actually from quite a few days ago (May 19). A Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority engine burns during a pump test. Click here for a series of pictures and the details.

Loudoun update

As of 4:30 PM, Loudoun County Fire, Rescue & Emergency Management spokesperson Mary Maguire says only one firefighter remains hospitalized. That firefighter is in serious, but stable condition with “significant burns” at the MedStar Burn Unit at the Washington Hospital Center.

If you missed it yesterday, we have the first, detailed official accounting of what happened, along with the cause of the fire and more on the construction of the home. Click here to see it.

Loudoun County has so far decided against releasing the names or photographs of the injured firefighters. The only station assignment they have listed are for the two volunteers (Sterling VFC and Loudoun Rescue). IAFF Local 3756 reported the four career firefighters hurt were operating on Tower 606 and Reserve Engine 6.

Donna returns …. actually he leaves

Remember Frederick Cross, AKA Donna Clark, the self-appointed chief of one of the stranger fire departments you are ever likely to encounter. Well Bill Schumm does.

Bill has been on Donna’s trail since last year. That trail seems to now have Donna riding off into the sunset and away from Seligman, AZ. FireGeezer has stories on Donna’s departure and on a fire engine with a hell of a story to tell, now for sale on eBay.

Memorial in CO vandalized

About $10,000 damage was done by vandals to the IAFF Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial in Colorado Springs. The images are from KOAA.com. Above, a memorial plaque had to be removed after someone attempted to pry it from the wall. Below, one of a number of lights that had been smashed.

Click here to watch the story.

VA fire engine crash kills two

Two people in a pick-truck were killed in a collision with a fire engine in Botetourt County on Monday. The image above is from WSLS.com. FireGeezer is on top of this one.

Other links:

VAFireNews.com

FirefighterCloseCalls.com

Where’s the fire?

No location where this one occurred. Here’s the caption:

Police Cruiser hits deer at high speed on way to fire. Police dash cam:The fire department had received a call about a possible structure fire. The police Sgt. was on his way to assist them.The fire did not lead to any fatalities, however, the Dodge Charger did. This video was taken from the dash cam in the Police Charger.

Lawrence burning

A house fire early Monday morning in Lawrence, MA. Click the image above to watch the story. There were collapse and hydrant issues.

House fire in Detroit

This is another Steve Redick production. From May 18 at Seneca and Edsel Ford Service Drive.

Old video of the day

This is an Unsolved Mysteries look at the November 29, 1988 blast that killed six Kansas City, MO firefighters handling an overnight blaze at a construction site. This originally aired in 1996 and new leads brought indictments in 1997. Here is an article about the case.

Last September FireGeezer wrote about this tragedy and fighting fires involving explosives after an ANFO blast in Mexico.

From the STATter 911 Archives

This is the reverse of the July 1, 1971 recruitment flier listing the requirements and qualifications necessary to become a fireman in Baltimore City. Double click it to enlarge. The flier clearly says the test is open only to men between 18 and 30. I also have a notice from Baltimore County from about the same time period. It shows the starting salary as $414 less in the county, but you can apply up until age 35. The city required you to live within 30-road miles of the city limits. The county allowed “any reasonable distance that will permit the member to report for duty at the designated report time”.

Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) Engine 327 had a bad day on May 19. It was undergoing a pump test behind Fairfax County Station 415 (Chantilly) when it failed spectacularly. But it wasn’t the pump that failed.

The rig is a 1990 Pierce Arrow that was stationed at Reagan National Airport. Sources familiar with the fire say it began due to a break in a high pressure transmission fluid line. The fluid then sprayed on the engine or exhaust and ignited.

The sources say fire extinguishers were originally put on the fire, but the crew from Engine 415 had to gear up and pull a line to put it out.

MWAA Fire Chief Gary Mesaris tells STATter 911 that the incident is “Unfortunate, but that a replacement for the fire engine had already been on order”.

(Updated at 8:30 PM)

Video of the day: A coin laundry on fire at 2:50 this morning in South Bound Brook, NJ

Six firefighters hurt in Loudoun County fire. Two remain at burn unit. Cause of fire, sequence of events, and construction details have been released. Press release provides hospital status on all and details on volunteers hurt.

For more pictures, video, copy of press release and other details, click here

Smoking materials left on the back deck caused Sunday’s fire in Loudoun County, VA that injured six firefighters.

Chief Fire Marshal Keith Brower says the best information on the sequence of events is that the fire rapidly expanded as crews were working on the second floor. Brower tells STATter 911 there was possibly a flashover, followed by a mayday call. It appears, at this point, the roof collapsed after the firefighters got out.

Click the link above for more details from Keith Brower, including confirmation of details on the home’s construction.

Two firefighters remain at the MedStar Burn Unit of the Washington Hospital Center. All other firefighters are out of the hospital.

A press release issued just short of 24-hours after the incident occurred, confirms that all four of the firefighters who spent Sunday night in the hospital are career firefighters. There is no information as to their assignments (IAFF Local 3756 reports two from Tower 606 and two from Reserve Engine 6).

The release does say that a volunteer firefighter from Sterling VFC was the one treated and released yesterday. Also, a volunteer from Loudoun Rescue was the person treated at the scene.

At 10:30 this morning, my conversation with the spokesperson for Loudoun County Fire, Rescue and Emergency Management indicates that they will not be releasing the identities of the firefighters, the companies they were assigned to, or any specifics about injuries. Again, it wasn’t until 9:00 Sunday night that we were able to get them to confirm there were firefighters in the burn unit.

From sources familiar with the conditions of the firefighters, while there are significant burn injuries to the firefighter seen exiting the second floor in flames (the one in serious condition), there are a lot of indications the PPE did its job and the injuries are somewhat less than initially thought.

Here is a bit of a chilling statistic. In less than seven-months, there have been at least ten firefighters from the Washington area sent to the Medstar Burn Unit with significant injuries. While I know Dr. Jordan and Dr. Jeng like to describe their unit as a mom and pop operation, I have complete confidence they will be able to make their house payments without the additional business from firefighters. Please keep safe.

We should also note it was on the Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend in 1999 that DC Firefighters Louis Matthews and Anthony Phillips were killed at 3146 Cherry Road, NE. That fire almost killed Firefighter Joe Morgan. It was following Joe’s story that I first got to meet some of the wonderful staff working at the Medstar Burn Unit.

Friday is the 9th anniversary of that tragic fire. Here is the link to the executive summary of the reconstruction report from Cherry Road.

Also, it turns out the person who took the video of the Loudoun County fire is an old acquaintance of mine. Tony Gil is a jazz singer. His 7-year-old daughter Annabelle had the quote of the day:

I really feel sad for them. I never seen firefighter be injured before. I always think they’d be okay.

Kentland: The trailer

No, not the kind of trailer they once talked about using to house the career EMS crew. This one is like the trailer you see in the movie theater. You know, the coming attractions.

Yes, Kentland is coming to a little screen near you. Later this year it will be part of the series The Battalion that you can view on the web.

I can only guess that the producers figured out what I quickly figured out after launching STATter 911. If you mention Kentland it attracts eyeballs. The eyeballs of those who love them and those hate them. There are a lot on both sides

Kentland VFD reports it is celebrating 13 years as an all-volunteer organization today.

Click here to see the video.

I am curious how the crew from The Battalion got around the new Prince George’s County ride-along rules that came out of the burning incident at Riverdale (PGFD Station 807) to spend the time necessary to shoot the webisodes.

Pentagon book is featured

This new book on the 9-11 firefighting efforts at the Pentagon is being featured by Michael Doyle of McClatchy Newspapers. Click here to read his article and see a video that includes radio communications and interviews with Arlington County firefighters. Here’s how the article begins:

Remember the Pentagon.

In “Firefight: Inside the Battle to Save the Pentagon on 9/11,” authors Patrick Creed and Rick Newman
detail what happen- ed after American Airlines Flight 77 flew into the nation’s military command center at 530 mph, killing 189 people, including the 64 people aboard the jet.

Fire prevention in Singapore

An interesting lesson on fire safety at the work place.

(Click here for more fire & EMS news from STATter 911)

This picture and the others on this page are from neighbor Diana Stumm

Above is the early morning 9NEWS NOW report by Scott Broom. Click here for the 11:00 PM report from Brittany Morehouse.

Wednesday, June 4

While the Loudoun County Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Management has not officially identified any of its firefighters injured on May 25, the most seriously injured has been named as part of fundraising efforts.

Firefighter John Earley is a career firefighter and is also a member of the Leesburg VFC. Leesburg Chief Ian Buchanan has asked STATter 911 to help get the word out about the John Earley Relief Fund. It is an effort to help FF Earley and his family during the long recovery that’s ahead.

Checks can be mailed to:

The John Earley Relief Fund
c/o Leesburg Volunteer Fire Company
P.O. Box 23
Leesburg, VA 20178

If you go to the Leesburgfire.org you will find a way to pay by credit card.

On the site you will find details about a June 28 dance where the proceeds will go to the fund.

Also, there is a June 21 blood drive at Station 1 from 9:00 AM until 2:00 PM.

4:30 PM, Tuesday

Only one firefighter remains hospitalized at the MedStar Burn Unit of the Washington Hospital Center. The remaining firefighter is the one who suffered significant burns and at last word was in serious, but stable condition.

8:00 PM

Only two firefighters remain in the hospital. The firefighter who was at Lansdowne and one of the three firefighters at the burn unit have been allowed to go home.

One of the remaining firefighters at the burn unit is in serious, but stable condition with significant burns. The other is listed in stable condition.

Excerpts from a press release issued just before 5:00 PM:

“The road ahead is going to be challenging for our firefighters,” stated Loudoun County Fire-Rescue Chief Joseph Pozzo. “On behalf of the Loudoun County Fire-Rescue system, we wish to thank all who have extended their support and well wishes. Something of this magnitude has a far reaching impact on all of us within fire-rescue. It is comforting and reassuring to know that there are many out there who are standing by us during this time.”

Around 1:00 PM, Sunday, May 25, 2008, Loudoun County Fire, Rescue and Emergency Management received a 9-1-1 call for a structure fire in the 43000 Block of Meadowood Court in Leesburg.

Fire and rescue personnel arrived on the scene to find heavy fire coming from the attic of the two-story single-family home and the fire was quickly spreading. Firefighters went to work to quickly to perform a search of the home and to initiate fire attack. However, with the fire spreading and conditions deteriorating rapidly, the firefighters were forced to escape from the home through a second-story window. In the process of escaping, four firefighters were injured.

The rest of the release has information from the previous release that you will find below, including the address for the DC Firefighter’s Burn Foundation.

3:30 PM:

According to Loudoun County Fire Marshal Keith Brower, Sunday’s fire that injured six firefighters was accidental. Brower said Monday afternoon it was caused by smoking materials left on the back deck.

According to Brower, once the wooded deck began to burn it spread “upward and inward”. Damage to the home is estimated at $600,000.

Brower tells STATter 911 they are still working on the exact sequence of events leading to the firefighters being injured. At this point, Brower says the best information is that there was a sudden increase in the fire, possibly a flashover. The firefighters called a mayday and rapidly exited the home. It appears after they were out, the roof collapsed.

Brower confirms our earlier report the roof structure was a lightweight truss with gusset plates and the floors were help up by dimensional lumber (possibly 2 X 10s or 2 X 12s).

Brower believes the more substantial floor assembly may have prevented a more serious problem for the firefighters. He says, with no second floor collapse, it also made investigator’s jobs easier in searching for the cause.

2:15 PM:

A press release was issued this afternoon by Loudoun County Fire, Rescue and Emergency Management with an update on the conditions of the firefighters. As warned by the department’s spokesperson earlier in the day, the identities of the firefighters are not being officialy released, nor are the station assignments (the release does say where two injured volunteers are members). Here is a copy of the release:

Press Release
3 Firefighters Injured in Two-Alarm Fire Remain in Hospital

www.dcffburnfoundation.org

Previous coverage:

A house fire in Loudoun County, VA has injured six firefighters. Two of the firefighters were flown by helicopter to the MedStar Burn Unit at the Washington Hospital Center. A third was later taken by ground to the Burn Unit after initially being transported to Loudoun Hospital Center at Landsdowne. At 9:05 PM on Sunday, all three were reported in serious, but stable condition.

Two other firefighters with lesser injuries were also taken to the Landsdowne facility. One was being held overnight for observation. The other has been released.

Another f
irefighter was treated at the scene.

The injured are a mix of career and volunteer firefighters. Loudoun County officials did not release names of the firefighters, identify their companies, or provide any details on the injuries Sunday night. At 10:30 AM on Monday, Mary Maguire, a spokesperson for Loudoun County Fire, Rescue and Emergency Management said this information was not likely to be released today.

It wasn’t until about 8 hours after the incident occurred before Maguire could acknowledge the firefighters were being treated in the burn unit.

On its website, IAFF Local 3756 has a report from Secretary Nicole Hankin that two of the injured were on Tower 606 and the other two from Reserve Engine 6.

Mary Maguire said the house fire assignment was dispatched around 1:00 PM on Sunday to 43,238 Meadowood Court. The neighborhood is located east of the Town of Leesburg and north of Route 7.

Maguire said the first units went on the scene with fire in the attic and discovered a rapidly spreading fire on the second floor. No residents were home at the time of the fire.

Other than to say that the four who are currently hospitalized were all involved in interior firefighting when they were hurt and were forced to rapidly leave the structure, Loudoun County officials are declining to talk about what is known, so far, about the circumstances of the injuries.

The other two who were hurt were apparently injured later in the operation.

Sources familiar with the incident tell STATter 911 there was early word the roof came in as initial crews were operating on the second floor. Sources added on Monday that the exact timeline of when the roof collapsed is not yet clear. What is certain in all accounts is that conditions rapidly worsened forcing firefighters to retreat.

The most seriously injured firefighter was seen suddenly exiting a second floor window with flames all around him. Reports are his gear and facepiece suffered significant heat damage. According to sources the firefighter was able to talk with crews who treated him until the medevac helicopter arrived.

According to sources, the firefighter has significant burns, but the PPE seems to have worked well and the injuries are not quite as severe as originally thought.

Maguire did confirm while there was a mayday call, all firefighters made it out on their own and did not have to be rescued.

A second-alarm was dispatched.

While we initially reported the home is of lightweight construction, that is only partially correct. According to sources, the attic is a lightweight truss with gusset plates and failed pretty quickly. But the second floor is held up by solid beam, dimensional lumber.

The IAFF Local 3756 website has this statement from Chief Joseph Pozzo:

I ask that each of you keep our brothers and sisters in your thoughts and prayers during this time. This is going to be a long process for all of us and it is important that we work together to not only provide support to the families, but to support one another. We will provide updates on the events as they unfold through the Loudoun Career Firefighters Association website http://www.iaff3756.com/ and through the County’s Email system. Updates will also be provided via the Tandberg System Monday, May 26 @ 9:00 AM. It is imperative that each of you stay focused on your own safety, too. Should you need any assistance, you may contact CISM at either 703-737-4110 or 703-777-0320.

Click here for more fire & EMS news from STATter 911

We are hoping to bring you a new look to STATter 911 in the next week or so. Most of the blogs at wusa9.com were switched over to the new format with the debut today (Friday) of the new wusa9.com. Being the prima donna that I am, I wanted to make sure my hair and make-up are just right before we go live. Actually I just like being a pain to our webmaster and want to ensure everything works the way it is supposed to.

As with any change, there are good things and bad things. The absolute best part about the new look is that it will finally get rid of the wrap-around ads that have made you use frame in the middle to see STATter 911. That has been the biggest complaint about this site (with the exception that I am either anti-volunteer or anti-career firefighters … people please make up your minds).

The web gurus (notice I avoided the word geeks … I think it’s like calling an EMT an ambulance driver) tell me there will be easy ways to comment, upload pictures and video and all of the other things you expect from a web site.

There are a couple of things I am not crazy about. For my taste the headline is way too small, the link section doesn’t have enough spaces and so far, I can’t embed the nice new video player wusa9.com debuted today (scroll down to the Getting the word out story on today’s entry on Blogger). I will still be able to embed YouTube videos, but so far, none from LiveLeak. I am sure all of those issues will be worked out in the coming weeks.

Before we switch over I want you to have a preview and hear your input. Click here to see what today’s entry looks like in the new blog (really not that much different). I realize if y0u are currently looking at us with the frames you won’t see much difference. If that’s the case just copy and paste this unbelievably long link into your browser: http://www.wusa9.com/life/community/persona.aspx?U=6afdb8aa45b444389a4c83c18383b609&plckController=PersonaBlog&plckScript=personaScript&plckElementId=personaDest&plckPersonaPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%3a6afdb8aa45b444389a4c83c18383b609Post%3a2f3c7276-4b60-49d0-a9fe-cdf5faf75d15&plckCommentSortOrder=TimeStampAscending&sid=sitelife.wusa9.com

Feel free to comment below or send me an email at dstatter@wusa9.com.

Right now I am not as much interested in design and color as I am in making it easier for you to use.

One thing I am thinking about, with the frames gone, is possibly making everything a separate entry (like my man the FireGeezer does) and just do an occasional news digest reminding you what’s below (in addition to the recent entry list on the right side). Let me know your thoughts on that idea, too.

My ultimate goal is to make STATter 911 more of a web site and less of a blog.

Thanks for reading.

Click here to see video of Arlington County Fire Department Station 2

STATter 911 has learned an internal investigation is underway after an unusual series of events at an Arlington County, VA fire station last week. To one witness, who claims to have seen the incident from a park behind Station 2, it appeared a firefighter set a dumpster on fire and was arrested.

It turns out this was all part of a drill thought up by a station captain as a way to train rookie firefighters. Now the captain, and at least two other members of the department, have some explaining to do.

Battalion Chief Carol Saulnier, a department spokesperson, confirms what the witness saw was a “training exercise where possibly poor judgment was used”. According to Chief Saulnier, “There was no malicious intent”.

Chief Saulnier said the details are now part of a personnel matter that is being investigated by the department.

According to three sources familiar with the events, a captain at the firehouse on Wilson Boulevard at George Mason Drive decided on his own to set a dumpster on fire in the station’s parking lot as a drill for rookie firefighters. The captain started the fire while the crews were finishing up a meal inside the firehouse.

An Arlington County fire investigator was eating dinner with the firefighters. According to the sources, as a way to make the drill realistic, the captain urged the investigator to arrest the person who set the fire. The captain was put in handcuffs.

Chief Saulnier said while no criminal charges are being considered for the dumpster fire, the internal probe is continuing.

According to the sources, the fire investigator has had his police powers suspended at least until this matter is resolved. A second station captain is facing scrutiny over how the incident was reported.

President Mike Staples of IAFF Local 2800 points out “no civilians were put at risk and services were not compromised” during the incident. Chief Saulnier agrees and said this appears to have been a misguided attempt to do something positive.

The only evidence of the fire are some singed, dead leaves on a tree above the dumpster. The burned dumpster has been replaced. Sources say the issue of restitution to the trash company is also being dealt with.

Vermont chief resigns after after son and 5 other FFs charged in arson ring

Excerpts from the Rutland Herald:

Wallingford Fire Chief Warren Allen resigned early this evening and six of his firefighters — including the chief’s sons, who were ranking officers in the department — are facing arson and related charges for allegedly setting fires around town, Vermont State Police said today.

One structure fire is attributed to the suspects, police said — the school bus shelter on Hartsboro Road.

DC chief still wants to ban fireworks sales in DC

When he fist told me this last July 3, I knew Chief Dennis Rubin was going to have an uphill battle banning the red, white and blue stands that start to crop up this time of year. Now Chief Rubin and Mayor Adrian Fenty are up for a second round with the City Council in their effort to ban fireworks sales in the District of Columbia. Click here to see the story.

Video from 2-alarm house fire in MD

Click here to see some chopper shots of the large house fire in Potomac, MD Wednesday morning. Montgomery County firefighters called a second-alarm for a fire that started on a rear deck. The video is from about an hour and ten minutes into the fire.

No Oscar for his acting role, but he gets the prize

For three years Richard Borden has been the acting chief of the Haverhill, MA Fire Department. Now he gets the gig for real. Read why it took so long.

FF retires at 80

Most people will probably tell you Timothy Travers looks 10-years younger than his 80-years-of-age. Still Travers believes firefighting is a “young man’s game” and that’s why he is giving up and retiring as an on-call firefighter in Whitman, MA. Read the story.

FM demoted over threats and more

From Madison, WI, the attorney general has demoted a state fire marshal who led a mass murder investigation. Excerpts from the Chicago Tribune:

Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen demoted state fire marshal and senior homicide investigator Carolyn Kelly on Wednesday, saying she threatened the lives of his executive staff, slowed the release of records in a mass murder in Crandon and obstructed an investigation into her conduct.

Van Hollen said she referred to his staff in another e-mail as “weasels.” In another, she told Warren she was sick and hoped her germs would spread to eighth floor of the Risser Justice Center, where Van Hollen and his staff work.

Watch the story

(Updated at 12:06 PM)

Video of the day: What, and give up show business? The glamour and excitement of firefighting. The thrill of victory. The agony of defeat. Or in this case, the smell of the feet. Look at the runoff. Yes, if you are wondering, it’s a slow day.

Old video of the day

If you are like me and enjoy looking a bit at the past, check this one out from Wheeling, WV. It is film described as being from “The Good Old Days”. It starts with a fire in an American Service Station (remember those) and goes on to a series of dwelling fires and what looks like a training fire. Watch the garage door being opened on the first fire. Click here.

Fire in IN

Reported to be from Delaware & 20th in Indianapolis on Wednesday night.

Second-alarm in Montgomery County, MD

In pricey Potomac, MD this morning, a fire has taken off the roof of a home that appears to be quite a bit larger than a garden-apartment building. Click here for more details and pictures.

By the way, due to some Blogger technical difficulties, I have been unable to post pictures the last two days. Didn’t want you to think I was lazy.

Some links to some good visuals (since I don’t have any)

Since I can’t currently post images, check these out that our unofficial New England editor Jimmy Daly sent my way.

The first is from Ken LaBelle at NRIFirePhotos.com of a rip-roaring fire on Sunday at Pond and East School Streets in Woonsocket. It went to a third-alarm. Click here.

The second is some fabulous night time photography by Rick Nohl of a house fire last Thursday in Lawrence, MA. Click here.

They may talk funny up there, but they sure know how to use their cameras.

Thieves break into EMS vehicles during memorial ride

We first told you about this story early on Tuesday. The riders with the National EMS Memorial Bicycle Ride are on their way to Roanoke, VA thanks to some help from the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department.

Two of the support vehicles, SUV’s from EMS providers in Virginia and Maine, were broken into while the group stayed overnight in an Annapolis, MD hotel. GPS equipment and cell phones vanished. Windows were smashed.

Regrouping at PGFD’s Station 805 in Capitol Heights, a glass repair crew was summoned and the riders moved on to Capitol Hill.

Click here to see our story.

Don’t try this at home, he’s a professional

I made the prediction not too long ago that there are so many cameras out there we will soon see pictures and video of a rescue from the points-of-view of both the rescuer and the rescuee. Now, please check out FireGeezer’s story with the picture taken by Ryan McGeeney as McGeeney was being treated by EMS.

This is a little different than I predicted because McGenney is a professional photography working a sporting event for a newspaper.

The toughest photographer I ever worked with is a guy name Kline Mengle. Kline once fell out of a moving car (he was sitting in the window) that I was driving and kept the camera rolling all the way down. All you heard on the tape was Kline saying a four letter word, worried that he broke the camera. As for me, I about soiled my pants thinking I killed the station’s best photographer.

I say all of this, because my buddy Kline may be a wimp compared to Ryan McGeeney. As you will see on the Geezer’s site, McGeeney snapped the picture while there was a javelin impaled through his knee.

Just a little off the top, please

This Norfolk Southern bridge in Durham, NC has a history of putting the squeeze on trucks. Apparently there have been 46 wrecks at the bridge since 2000, with 30 of them caused by vehicles that don’t duck.

A few observations after looking at the video. Watch the pedestrian get a little pep in his step on the far sidewalk.

If there are that many crashed because of the height thing, how about putting up some big flash lights and other warnings?

Also, shouldn’t someone in charge do at least a quick structural inspection before letting traffic flow?

More Pillow talk

We told you a few days ago about Greg Pillow who claims he once was a Nashville firefighter. Now the TV station that has been on the Pillow case reports the man has other claims to fame. Click here for the story.

Arson at the roadhouse or Firwood tonight

The Fabulous Firwood Roadhouse isn’t so fabulous at the moment. The Fife, Washington landmark burned on Friday. The ATF says its arson.

The business has been around for 85-year-old hangout was noted for its old time rock and roll, dancing and probably a few other things along the way.

Click here to see the story.

Now for those who have a more refined taste when it comes to music hall fires, click here.

Firefighting in Poland

Just a recently posted video with no details.

(Updated at 10:45 AM)

EMS memorial bike team hit by theft and vandalism

The schedule for the National EMS Memorial Bicycle Ride today has been significantly altered because of a problem overnight. According to Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Chief Spokesman Mark Brady two vehicles parked at the Sheraton Annapolis Hotel were targeted by thieves.

Windows in the support vehicles were broken and GPS and other equipment was stolen. One of the vehicles belongs to the Blacksburg, VA Rescue Squad and the second is from NorthStar EMS in Maine.

Brady reports that as of 9:15 AM, the group is at Station 805 in Capitol Heights and are waiting to have windows repaired. The group lost thousands of dollars in equipment because of the theft. Anyone who can help is asked to check into the website muddyangels.org.

Brady says that because of this incident all escorts should cancel and the Six Flags event has been canceled.

Here is what Mark Brady wrote about the event in an earlier press release:

The National EMS Memorial Bicycle Ride (NEMSMBR) is a non-profit organization that started as a grassroots effort in Boston, MA in 2002 as a “ride to remember” to the Annual National EMS Memorial Service in Roanoke, VA. This year the event includes riders from 24 states and Ireland. From May 17 – May 23, 2008, 110 participants will bike from New York City or Lexington, KY to Roanoke, VA, the location of the National EMS Memorial. On Tuesday, May 20, 2008, the NEMSMBR will pass through Anne Arundel County into Prince George’s County and eventually into the District of Columbia.

The rest stop at Station 805 serves another purpose:

While there, they will pay tribute to one of our own fallen heroes; Nadar A. Hammett. The riders will enter the District of Columbia about 10:30 AM and travel on East Capitol Street to a 12 Noon Press Conference on Capitol Hill.

DC awardees actions caught on video

The firefighters in two of the videos we brought you over the last year of rescues in the District of Columbia are getting awards this morning. One of those being honored is the guy in the water in the above image, FF Rich Schaffer.

Assigned to the Fireboat, FF Schaffer was alone on the dock 11-months-ago when a woman jumped into the Washington Channel. (I don’t believe the video stream is currently active on this one.)

The video below (foul language alert) is from the rescue made by Firefighters Brian McAllister and Harry Saval of Tower 3 during a fire at 9th Street and Rhode Island Avenue, NW in August. For PIO Alan Etter’s version of this rescue (no foul language alert), click here.

Here is Etter’s press release about today’s event at 11:00 AM at the National Building museum (along with a link to our coverage of another rescue):

Two young children rescued from a burning and collapsing apartment building on Alabama Avenue, Southeast, a badly injured man plucked from his eighth floor apartment on Rhode Island Avenue, Northwest as flames and smoke billowed from the window, and a woman rescued from a murky Washington Channel by a Fireboat crewmember who jumped in to get her. These are just some of the life-saving stories that will be told Tuesday, May 20th – as the DC Fire & EMS Department presents its annual Conspicuous Service Awards for 2007.

“The District of Columbia Fire & EMS Department is lucky to have these fine firefighters and EMS providers,” said Chief Dennis L. Rubin. “I’m honored to be able to tell each one ‘great job’, and ‘congratulations’.”

MD captain released from the hospital

It took more than two weeks, but all three firefighters injured when a floor collapsed at a Rockville, MD garden-apartment fire are now home. Montgomery County Fire Rescue Service Captain R. Dwayne Dutrow went home from the MedStar Burn Unit of the Washington Hospital Center Monday evening.

Click here to see previous coverage of the fire.

Injured Alabama FF tells his story

Firefighter Tommy Bishop tells of his close call while fighting a fire on a towing vessel last Thursday in Mobile, AL.

Former senator stands up for Charleston chief

The column starts out this way:

After reading your headline, “Completely unprepared,” I must write of when Chief Rusty Thomas and the Charleston Fire Department were prepared above and beyond the call of duty.

Former U.S. Senator Fritz Hollings describes his dealings with Chief Thomas during a fast spreading fire that took out Hollings beach home and three others on the Isle of Palms. Hollings writes that Thomas and the Charleston Fire Department saved the day.

This comes in reaction to last week’s devastating report about the leadership of Chief Thomas and the systemic problems within his department that resulted in 9 firefighters losing their lives on June 18, 2007.

Read the entire column

(Updated at 7:45 PM)

Old pictures of the day: December 7, 1978 and 12,600,000 feet of nitro-cellulose film burns at the Washington National Records Center in Suitland. These are three of a larger series of photos I shot that day. A number firefigters were hurt (If I am not mistaken one of those injured would later become the PGFD chief). This was the second and larger of two fires at the film bunkers. The first one was in the evening of August 29, 1977. The National Archives caught a good deal of grief during congressional hearings about lax storage methods of the unstable, but historically significant film. Click here to see film of a nitrate fire. This one, that we ran previously, was from Little Ferry, NJ in 1937. It killed a 13-year-old boy trying to shield his mother from the fire across the street.

Broward County Fire Rescue Lt. Dean Meadows meets the press after using a fire engine to chase and help catch two men now charged with armed robbery. The latest from the Siun-Sentinel.com:

Broward Sheriff’s officials said the incident unfolded when their firefighters, returning from a canceled fire call, saw two men exiting a MetroPCS store in the 900 block of South State Road 7. The men had hoods and clothes covering their faces and one man slipped what appeared to be a gun into his waistband before hopping into a white SUV.

The SUV eventually got off the highway on Stirling Road but didn’t get very far — it crashed into a fence a mile west of I-95, said Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue spokesman Mike Jachles.

GPS almost $10 million later … never mind

FireGeezer Bill Schumm has the story of the $9.5 million spent to equip all 460 vehicles in the Scottish Ambulance Service with GPS. In case you can’t figure out what happened next from the hint above, click here and Bill will tell you.

By the way, I ran across this video which appears to be a re-creation of firefighting back in the Geezer’s day. Click here.

Pillow talk

His name is Greg Pillow. He claims to be a former Nashville, TN firefighter. The department claims there is no record that is true. Pillow is now going on the offensive after media reports that he was impersonating a firefighter during safety talks at local daycare centers. Watch the story.

The video above is of a tour of a 1972 Oren pumper that apparently was from Mamaroneck, NY. Click here for more videos of this fire engine, including a few on the move.

The chief complaint in Fall River

They have been battling it out in Fall River, MA as the mayor moves the council to give him power to appoint the fire chief. Up until now it has been a civil service position. Mayor Robert Correia got his wish in a vote on Friday. The union has been fighting this issue. Read more.

Chiefs meet

And finally … some forcible entry

Not sure it has any relevance to firefighting, but it sure is neat video.

These days I often don’t know what it is I have done 30-minutes-ago, so like most of you, I normally wouldn’t have a clue what I was doing 30-years-ago on a specific date. But on May 17, 18 and 19, 1978, I can tell you I took a trip each morning across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge into Virginia with a few friends from the Oxon Hill VFD.

Other than running a 9I on the WWB and then turning around at Route 1 in Alexandria, my trips to Northern Virginia were very infrequent. Unless there was a woman involved, or a trip to the Dixie Pig, many of us often thought of Virginia as a different world. Now, having lived here for 27 years, I still hear complaints from pure-bred Marylanders how they hate coming to Virginia (usually it’s the roads and the drivers they complain about).

These trips had a very specific purpose. We were attending a Program of Northern Virginia Fire Services Institute at the Thomas Jefferson Community Center in Arlington.

While this training seminar always stuck in my mind, for reasons I am about to tell you, the only way I recall the exact dates and its title is that I recently came across the program for the event. Click on each page below and you will get a close-up view. For those who have been around a while, you will likely recognize some of the names.

While I learned a lot from each of the speakers, two people on the program made the biggest impression, both for what they were saying and for how they were saying it.

The first was Emmanuel Fried. Chief Fried, after a career at FDNY and with the Chicago Heights, IL Fire Department, was then listed in the program as a “Fire Protection Consultant” out of his home in Hallandale, Florida. Most everyone in attendance, of course, knew him as the author of the 1972 book Fireground Tactics. We were quite thrilled to have a whole day with him.

His very blunt and common sense talk was a good companion to the book. If I remember correctly, he closed by telling us of a fire in Chicago Heights that he did not attend. Chief Fried explained the tactics were counter to a lot of what he espoused in his book, but he humbly pointed out the fire went out anyway.

The other one who left a lasting impression was Frank Brannigan, who took over for the afternoon of the last day. I was mesmerized by this guy, also speaking bluntly, but at warp speed, as he clearly explained exactly why and how all of these garden apartment buildings were burning. Very relevant stuff.

I heard Frank speak a number of other times in later years. I also considered myself very lucky that he would always answer my phone calls and make himself available for radio and TV interviews whenever I needed him for a story.

While he didn’t physically go in and drag out firefighters in trouble, I still contend Frank Brannigan is a hero who saved the lives of countless firefighters. Until the day he died, Frank clearly sounded the alarm, making sure everyone knew about the various things about buildings that were likely to kill you on the fireground.

(Updated at 3:35 PM, Saturday. Scroll down for new videos.)

EMS image of the day: The transfer of Senator Edward Kennedy to a medevac helicopter on Cape Cod. A statement from his office says the senator suffered a seizure. A source told Boston.com he had a second seizure while on the chopper. More details about the transport from Boston.com: Hyannis fire officials were called to the storied Kennedy compound at about 8:19 a.m. The senator, who was stricken by what officials first believed were stroke-like symptoms, was rushed to Cape Cod Hospital. From there, he was taken to the Barnstable Municipal Airport, where he was placed on a MedFlight helicopter and flown to a landing pad at Mass General, according to local fire department Lieutenant Bill Rex. The Cape Cod Times published a photograph of Kennedy, strapped to a gurney, being carried onto the chopper by paramedics.

Video of the day: Click the image above to hear Chief Rusty Thomas speak in the Charleston City Council chambers Thursday. The Charleston Post & Courier writes about the chief’s appearance: Thomas sat stone-faced with arms crossed during the city-appointed panel’s presentation to City Council. He attended the briefing with his wife, Carol, who sat by his side.After the presentation, Thomas said he had not had a chance to study the report in detail, but he’s not sure any document could fully capture what occurred at the fire. “No one, no expert in this country, will ever know what took place in that building that night,” he said. Still, Thomas said he accepts responsibility for what happened as the chief commander at the fire. “I’m so sorry that myself or somebody could not have done something different that night to bring back those nine guys.”

Insufficient training. Inadequate staffing. Obsolete equipment. Outdated tactics. Lack of accountability. Failed to apply basic firefighter safety practices. Failed to provide adequate direction, supervision, and coordination.

All of the above are phrases from the Executive Summary of the City of Charleston Post Incident Assessment and Review Team Phase II Report.

Made public Thursday, it tells the story of a tragedy and makes it very clear it was one that didn’t have to happen.

Click here to read the entire report.

Routley and Mayor have different view on tragic fire

In Saturday’s Post & Courier Mayor Joseph Riley places blame for the tragedy on the owner of the Sofa Super Store owner Herb Goldstein and leans aways from the major failures of the fire department’s leadership brought out in the report.

Gordon Routley, as you can imagine, doesn’t necessarily see it that way. Here is an interesting excerpt from the article:

Riley initially insisted that Thomas’ abrupt retirement announcement Wednesday was unrelated to the planned release of the fire report the next day.

Through a spokesman, Thomas declined to comment Friday. But he told the newspaper after the sofa store blaze that Charleston had its own time-tested ways of fighting fires that suited the city better than anything that could come out of a book.

Links to other news coverage:

Charleston Post & Courier

SConFire.com

Watch WCIV-TV report

Fire engine and personal injury lawyer’s car collide

Watch story on Dallas crash

“When you’re hurt in a car wreck, you need someone on your side.” That’s the slogan of Brian Loncar, one of the most prominent personal injury lawyers in Texas. Loncar is reported in critical condition after his Bentley was hit by a fire engine from Dallas Fire-Rescue. Excerpts from DallasNews.com:

Police say a fire truck with lights and sirens blaring passed through a red light at the intersection and slammed into the driver’s side of Mr. Loncar’s 2008 Bentley.

Dallas Fire-Rescue spokeswoman Sherrie Lopez said the fire engine contained 500 gallons of water and also suffered damage to the right side of the vehicle. Ms. Lopez did not have an estimate of the damage but said the truck would have to be returned to the manufacturer for repair.

They went that away

I always get a smile at those combined police and fire awards programs when often the cops get medals for doing the work of firefighters and firefighters get one for doing police work. Here’s a case in Florida that might fit this cross discipline award category. Here is the story from the AP:

A group of Florida firefighters found themselves fighting crime instead of fire.

“Fire trucks aren’t made for chases,” said Lt. Dean Meadows, the fire truck’s officer.

Catastrophic collapse of University architecture building during fire. No one hurt.

This video has been around since Tuesday and if you haven’t seen it, you should. It is from the Netherlands. A fire caused by a short circuit in a coffee pot in the architecture faculty at Delft University. Watch what happens at 45 seconds into this video. This could have been a close call but news accounts indicate firefighters had pulled back from the building:

Tony Fretton, a visiting professor at the department, said the fire — which broke out on a mid-level floor around 9am local time and rapidly spread upwards – is believed to have been started by a short circuit in a coffee machine caused by a faulty water pipe.

“The faculty building caught alight, then spread to the library and the historic chair collection – which includes Rietveld’s Red and Blue chair,” Fretton said. “The fire brigade couldn’t get close to it and decided to stand back and let the fire burn itself out. The whole building is gutted. The effect will be enormous – there are 3,000 students. It’s a complete calamity.”

Indiana house fire

A single-family home with a detached garage burning Thursday in Gary, Indiana. Listen at 2:45 into the video as the crews on the roof are ordered off.

Another Indiana fire

This one is from last Saturday in Peru. It destroyed a furniture store and threatened a circus. Read more.

Levittown fire burns twice

The fire was reported Thursday around 8:30 PM at this home Levittown, NY. The homeowner and three firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation. Firefighters say they were hampered by a large amount of debris and garbage.

Firefighters were back for a rekindle on Friday just before 7:00 AM. Read more.

FireGeezer on MN fire and rescues

A fire early Friday morning in Burnsville, MN had firefighters making a half-dozen rescues. FireGeezer has video (including the AP report where the frame above was grabbed) and details.

Rescues at Baltimore fire on Live TV

Click the image above to see WBAL-TV live coverage from Wednesday as Baltimore City firefighters made multiple rescues from a garden-apartment fire. The 6:45 AM fire on Challedon Road went to three-alarms.

Four people were rescued by firefighters and a fifth person who jumped had to be hospitalized with burns

Watch additional live coverage of fire

Father says firefighter son had fire setting past

The father of a volunteer from the Gaithersburg-Washington Grove VFD tells STATter 911 his son set fires when he was younger. Click here to see the video of our coverage of the Montgomery County arson arrest.

Paper claims firefighter is serial plug blocker

William Carey has this New York Daily News picture and story on his ChargeTheLine! blog. It shows how one FDNY member is a repeat offender at a certain fire hydrant.

Read entire report

Charleston Post & Courier coverage

SConFire.com coverage

Charleston blogger is part of the report

The Associated Press appears to be among the first out of the gate with a leak of the Charleston report. Here is the AP summary:

A new analysis of the furniture store fire that killed nine Charleston firefighters last year says the department inadequately trained and supervised its personnel and exposed the men to excessive risks the night they fought the fire.

The fire at the Sofa Super Store last year was the greatest loss of firefighters since the terror attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001.

There are much more important things about the Charleston report than the trivia I am about to share with you. To my knowledge it is not a significant piece of information, just something that may interesting to those who read the fire blogs.

If you scroll to page 256 of the pdf (Page G-3 of the report) you will find the document showing the last known fire inspection of the Sofa Super Store. It occurred in 1998. Here is what the panel wrote about that inspection on page 37:

A fire inspection that was conducted in 1998 identified several fire code violations which the owner was notified to correct. The violations that were noted included obstructed paths to exits and exit signs in need of repair.

The inspection report did not identify any non-permitted additions to the buildings and did not refer to spray finishing operations or improper use and/or storage of flammable liquids. It could not be determined if the additions had been constructed or if the non-permitted activities were occurring at the time of the inspection.

Now look closely at the signature on the bottom of the page. It is signed by Jay Lowry, then a Charleston fire inspector. Mr. Lowry now writes Firefighter Hourly, a blog that found its voice in the days immediately following the tragic fire.

There is probably no one on the Internet who has written more words about the Sofa Super Store than Lowry. Certainly few have written so passionately about the tragedy.

It turns that Jay Lowry actually wrote his first words about the store about 9 years before his blog appeared.

A sad and important day in Charleston

Later today a report that has been much anticipated and much talked about will be available for everyone to see. Many words have been written about what the report on the Sofa Super Store fire should look like and what it should and shouldn’t include.

The panel behind the report, lead by J. Gordon Routley, has been both lauded and blasted by people who haven’t seen word one of this phase of the report.

The panel members qualifications and their relationship to the city and its mayor have been examined by reporters and by bloggers.

But today the words everyone else, including me, have written won’t matter. The words that will mean something will be in what is expected to be a lengthy, detailed look at what went wrong on June 18 that caused nine men to lose their lives.

Nothing in the report will bring any one of those firefighters back home to their families. Instead its impact will be determined by how clear the message is and what those in the fire service come away with that can help, in some way, prevent similar tragedies.

My one guess about this report, having no real insight into its contents, is that most every mistake that was made has been written about before in some other report about a firefighter’s demise.

Maybe the long, drawn out controversy surrounding this tragedy, with its bad publicity and ill feelings will, in the end, serve a positive purpose. Could it be, because of it, more people will now know about and read the report and learn some important lessons?

The other news out of Charleston came just after 10:00 AM Wednesday with the retirement announcement of Chief Rusty Thomas.

In case you missed the coverage, there are links below to various stories and video.

One thing you should definitely read is Dr. Harry Carter’s commentary at Firehouse.com. Harry says Chief Thomas is doing the right thing and shows sympathy for this tragic figure. But he assigns blame for exactly what I talked about a few paragraphs back, “Mayor Joe Riley has allowed this entire issue to remain on the front pages of our media for far longer than was necessary”.

Read Dr. Harry Carter’s column

SConFire.com

Charleston Post & Courier report

Column by Brian Hicks in Post & Courier

WCSC-TV report

WCIV-TV report

Raw video of the statement by Chief Thomas

Raw video from Mayor Riley’s press conference

Montgomery County firefighter puts out fire and is arrested

Picture of Thomas Walter from Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service

When the call was dispatched for a townhouse fire at 19,674 Club Lake Road Tuesday night, Montgomery County fire investigators knew exactly where they were going. The address is a few doors away from a man who was their suspect in a series of set fires in the Gaithersburg area since at least March.

The investigators didn’t have to knock on Thomas Walter’s door at 19,625. That’s because Walter met the first fire truck and told the crew the fire was under the deck and he already had it under control.

Walter, a volunteer firefighter with the Gaithersburg-Washington Grove VFD, chatted with investigators who found inconsistencies with the 19-year-old’s story. In the end, investigators claim Thomas confessed to Tuesday’s fire and one at golf course utility shed on March 24.

DC chief raises the idea of closing firehouses or not fully funding EMS initiatives

STATter 911 caught up with DC Fire & EMS Chief Dennis Rubin on Wednesday, a day after the DC Council’s Public Safety and Judiciary Committee Chairman Phil Mendelson slashed almost $3 million out of the budget plans for the next fiscal year. Here’s what the chief said that we aired last night on 9NEWS NOW at 11:00 PM:

“It’ll come down to some pretty hard choices. Either slow down implementing the emergency medical services plan, or perhaps closing fire stations. We’ll see what time brings. But it is a significant cut.”

Chief Rubin’s department will still be getting a more than 4% increase. This is a lot better than what I am hearing from other chiefs throughout the region, who may have to make due with less because of the slower economy.

But DC’s chief makes the point that the mayor’s budget plan allowed for the department to move forward in an area that has been neglected for decades.

Specifically, the EMS task force formed by Mayor Fenty in the wake of the investigation into the death of former New York Times reporter David Rosenbaum laid out about 50 recommendations that Chief Rubin has been charged with implementing. The chief says it is likely the cuts will mean, among other things, the plan to have a battalion chief in charge of EMS around-the-clock will be delayed.

When pressed further about the idea of fire station closings, Chief Rubin said it will depend on how this all plays out. But he made it clear the reduced budget will mean either a cut in current services or a delay in important and promised new services in EMS.

Allison Klein is also reporting on this story in today’s Washington Post. She caught up with Phil Mendelson:

“They have a very weak case,” he said of the Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services. “We have added to that department year after year.”

Mendelson said the cuts to the fire budget are based on the theory that money can be saved because of the vacancies the department will have during the year. The department has about 2,400 employees and 100 vacancies, with 150 more in the pipeline, Mendelson said.

(Updated at 7:45 PM)

Montgomery County, MD firefighter charged with arson

Picture of Thomas Walter from Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service

STATter 911 has learned a volunteer firefighter with the Gaithersburg-Washington Grove VFD (Montgomery County Station 708) has been charged with arson. 19-year-old Thomas Walter was arrested following a fire under the rear deck of his neighbor’s townhome on Club Lake Road around 10:00 PM on Tuesday night. A spokesperson for the Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service says when the first engine arrived, Walter told the crew he had put out the fire.

Fire investigators already had Walter on their radar screen after he was on the scene of a March 24 fire that destroyed a utility shed at the Montgomery Village Golf Course. That fire also occurred around 10:00 PM and caused $50,000 in damage.

From their previous contact with Walter, investigators responded to Tuesday’s fire already knowing that Walter lived on the same street. According to a press release issued Wednesday evening, Thomas Walter initially gave fire investigators inconsistent statements, but eventually confessed to both fires.

The press release says Walter was also considered a suspect in a series of nuisance fires in the same area over the past six weeks.

Thomas Walter is charged with one count of 1st degree arson, one count of 2nd degree arson and one count of reckless endangerment. He is currently in the Montgomery County Detention Center.

Walter had been a volunteer firefighter for less than a year. STATter 911 has requested comment from the Gaithersburg-Washington Grove VFD.

Charleston Chief Rusty Thomas retires

Chief Rusty Thomas from Firehouse.com

A day before a report is to be released looking at the tragic June 18 Sofa Super Store fire, Chief Rusty Thomas has announced his retirement effective June 27.

Mayor Joseph Riley has scheduled a 3:00 PM news conference. Brad Franko tells me that WCBD-TV will stream it live. You will be able to click here to watch it.

Here are excerpts from the Charleston Post & Courier:

Embattled Charleston Fire Chief Rusty Thomas announced his retirement Wednesday, saying that last year’s Sofa Super Store fire had changed him forever and that stepping down is the best way to help the department move forward.

“It was a total shock to me. I’ve never had anything against the chief personally. We just wish him and his family the best. We feel like it was something that needed to be done to help this fire department move forward.”

More here

Read letter from Chief Thomas

Read letter from Mayor Riley

FF memorial vandalized

In Toronto, a memorial honoring fallen firefighters was damaged by vandals on Monday evening. One part was spray-painted with political statements and another section was painted black. More details and reaction in The Guardian:

The memorial’s defacement drew criticism from Toronto Fire Chief William Stewart, who said in a statement that the vandalism was “a despicable act and a disgrace to the memory of firefighters across Ontario that have paid the supreme sacrifice in protecting the citizens of our province.”

Community safety and correctional services minister Rick Bartolucci echoed those statements. “Only the most degenerate could seek to destroy (the memorial) in such a callous manner,” he said.

The siren’s important call

News reports indicate a volunteer firefighter spotted the deadly EF 4 tornado that hit Picher, OK and helped sound the alarm on Saturday about six-minutes before a warning from the National Weather Service and 19-minutes before it hit the town. Six people died, but the belief is the earlier sounding of the sirens helped save lives. Read more.

About 15 miles southeast of Picher, across the Missouri border, another volunteer firefighter/storm spotter, Tyler Casey, was killed after warning others in Newton County about the approaching tornado. Read details at FirefighterCloseCalls.com.

On Thursday, a fairly new STATter 911 reader, Chief Kirk Trekell of the Alva, OK Fire Department will be sounding the sirens. It is an effort to get his community to stop and think about storm preparedness. Click here for the story.

Alva is just 45 miles west of Wakita. Wakita, OK is the home of the Twis
ter Museum and where the movie Twister was filmed. This year, the real thing has taken its toll in lives and property. Even here on the East Coast, far from Tornado Alley.

Last Friday night, 9NEWS NOW’s Nancy Yamada reported on the lack of sirens in our area to alert residents to Thursday’s Stafford County, VA tornado and other emergencies in the region. Are the text alerts provided by local jurisdictions adequate for the middle of the night?

What Nancy may not have known is that many of the old Civil Defense sirens from this area were sent to the Midwest years ago to be used for storm warnings.

Arlington County began experimenting last year with a more modern “siren” system combining horns with loudspeaker warnings.

Nancy interviewed 9NEWS NOW photographer Greg Guise who has spent many years storm chasing (I joined Greg for a number of those chases).

In some of the comments in reaction to the story, there is a debate over how much responsibility the government should have in providing the alert versus what role citizens should take for their own safety (for example, having a weather radio and the ability to receive text alerts).

Watch the story

The first person I recall bringing up the idea of reviving CD sirens was former DC Emergency Management Agency head Peter LaPorte. It wasn’t long after 9-11 that I did a story on Peter’s proposal to go back in time for a low tech warning system.

Fire during finals

A fire late Monday night heavily damaged the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house at the University of Wisconsin. No one was injured and a cause has not been listed. The fire was discovered by a Madison police officer who warned the residents. Read more. Watch TV coverage.

Match point – twin, doubles partners team up for a pair of saves

An AP report from Bordeaux, France:

Twin brothers who play professional tennis as a doubles team helped the wife and son of another doubles player escape from a hotel fire.

“I think we were the last to get out of the building,” Sanchai said.

The high price of lower response times

That’s what they are debating in Savage, MN south of Minneapolis. In tight budget times can they really afford the $1.25 million needed per new station. And the may need more than one because of warnings there are “significant areas of service deficiency”. Read the story.

Or, on the EMS side, maybe ALS response times really don’t matter

As usual FossilMedic Mike Ward is stirring the pot with another study. He gives us a little trip down memory lane while looking at whether timely ALS intervention is really needed in cardiac arrest cases.

In a sense, Ward bringing this up, would be like me saying reporters and a free press aren’t really needed.

If you need something to wash all this down with, check out FireGeezer’s look at Pizza Beer. Tastes great, but not less filling?

Let’s see pizza and beer go together like … fire and EMS …oh, never mind.

Update: Mike Ward thinks I am not likely to get beyond the learner’s permit stage with my literary license. He writes this morning -

“In a sense, Ward bringing this up, would be like me saying reporters and a free press aren’t really needed.” Not really (grin)

In the other five clinical scenarios, provision of ALS care early does make a difference. THAT is the approach we need to take to influence staffing and deployment decisions … and can justify paramedic staffed fire companies as first responders.

Despite what you say Mike, following in the footsteps of many a political pundit on the landscape today, I am just not likely to let the facts get in the way of a good line.

What’s the frequency, Kenneth? Ask NIST.

“Electronics Engineer Dennis Camell (foreground) aligns antennas in an old California silica mine for a NIST study identifying optimal frequencies for radio signal transmissions in tunnels”. G. Koepke/NIST.

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) say they have found the “sweet spot” that could help underground radio communications in subways and mines. From the May 13 NIST Tech Beat:

The optimal frequency depends on the dimensions of the tunnel. For a typical subway-sized tunnel, the sweet spot is found in the frequency range 400 megahertz (MHz) to 1 gigahertz (GHz).

NIST researchers were surprised by how much farther signals at the optimal frequency traveled in above-ground building corridors, as well as underground. Tunnels can channel radio signals in the right frequency range beca
use they act like giant waveguides, the pipelike channels that confine and direct microwaves on integrated circuit wafers, and in antenna feed systems and optical fibers. The channel shape reduces the losses caused when signals are absorbed or scattered by structural features. The waveguide effect depends on a tunnel’s width, height, surface material and roughness, and the flatness of the floor as well as the signal frequency. NIST authors found good agreement between their measured data and theoretical models, leading to the conclusion that the waveguide effect plays a significant role in radio transmissions in tunnels.

The bombs bursting in air

It must have seen like that for the victims of this tragedy that occurred eight-years-ago, yesterday. May 13, 2000: A fire and explosions at the SE Fireworks Depot in Enschede, The Netherlands. The fireworks warehouse was in a former textile factory. Four firefighters and a reporter were among the 21 people killed. About 950 others were injured. Four to five hundred homes were destroyed. Click here to read a report looking at the medical response to the disaster.

Beltway baby – you just have to listen to this 911 call

“The head of the baby is already out”. Words of a very excited father in the middle of a rain storm on the Capital Beltway near New Hampshire Avenue, as his baby girl is born right next to him on Monday morning. Moments later he is screaming at the 911 call taker, “The baby is out”.

The new father yells those words over and over again. At least 25 times during a 35 second span.

Click here to listen to that section of the call.

Still, Firefighter Matt Markett, on the other end of the 911 call, expertly takes control of the situation. Firefighter Markett calms the father down, gives him instructions and stays on the line until Montgomery County, Maryland fire and rescue crews arrive on the scene. All are now doing well.

Hear entire 911 call, courtesy Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service

Download radio traffic, courtesy Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service

Coast guard video of deadly research boat accident during nor’easter

Click here to watch Coast Guard chopper video of research boat, along with a sail boat in trouble at Ocean City, MD

The picture above is from John King on delmarvanow.com. It shows the RV Russell Peterson aground in front of the Bethany Beach Boardwalk. The ship apparently got into trouble and started to break apart as it was 14 miles east of Rehoboth. Here are the details:

A crew member of a research vessel that broke up in heavy seas off Rehoboth Beach died of his injuries as residents throughout Delmarva and the Mid-Atlantic battled rain and high winds brought by a late spring nor’easter Monday.

The second part of the video is of a sailboat that got into trouble off of 10th street in Ocean City, MD. It was the fifth rescue of the day for the helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City. Read more.

Probe to begin in MN fire

Since the end of last month we have been telling you of the problems in the Oak Grove, MN fire department that surfaced after internal criticism over tactics at a fatal house fire. When we last looked at the situation (click here and scroll down) firefighters were ordered not to make any further public utterances about the fire or their other complaints.

Now a retired chief from the area has been hired to lead an investigation into the March 5 fire. Read more.

Why Dave Statter will always hate this man

I first met the man in this picture in about 1975. His name is Charlie Wilson. Charlie and his late brother Mark were volunteers with me at the Oxon Hill VFD, Station 21. I am not one to hold a grudge, but in Charlie’s case I will make an exception.

Charlie was a good firefighter. He was well thought of by most everyone at OHVFD. Generally, he was an absolute joy to be around. Few people can make me laugh as hard as Charlie Wilson used to. While it seems I only run into him about every five years or so, I consider Charlie a friend.

You are probably saying to yourself right now that Dave isn’t making much sense. Well, as that guy on the radio says, “now, for the rest of the story”.

Charlie made us all look bad. To this day I have never seen anything like it. He is the only guy I have ever met who could walk out of a fire with every hair in place, his shirt tucked in and not a bit of dirt on him. Ask anyone who was with us in Oxon Hill at the time. I swear it’s true.

You would be in the same burning building as Charlie. He would be right behind you, next to you, or in front of you. When you walked outside you would have snot running down your nose, soot on your face and looking like you had been through hell. But not Charlie. He would take off his helmet and/or face piece and look like he just stepped out of Southern Maryland’s version of GQ.

As you can imagine the women loved it and loved Charlie.

What brought back this flood of painful memories is, in fact, a flood. The image above was taken Monday during 9NEWS NOW reporter Bruce Leshan’s coverage of a sink hole that damaged homes in Camp Springs, MD.

Good old Charlie, now Charles W. Wilson, the Director of the Department of Environmental Resources for Prince George’s County, is standing in the middle of a nor’easter. And of course, not one hair is out of place and there isn’t a drop of water on him. That sink hole could eat him up and spit him out and Charlie would still look like that.

I hate you Charlie Wilson.

Thank you. I feel better now. Who needs a shrink when you ha
ve a blog?

A picture of Truck 21, a 1965 Pirsch, that was in service during Charlie Wilson’s era. This image was posted on thewatchdesk.com. If anyone knows who took it, and how to get in touch with that person, please contact me at dstatter@wusa9.com.

Power to the people is fine … but to the candidate may be another story

San Diego Fire Chief Tracy Jarman got the complaint that a city fire truck was being used to promote the candidacy of a retired firefighter running for city council.

It turns out the fire truck with the banner supporting George George (is there an echo in here?) does not belong to the city. It was rented from a private firm by IAFF Local 145. But, it was parked and on charge at a city fire station for 16 hours.

Chief Jarman and the city’s Ethics Commission must now decide if anyone is in trouble over the current situation. Read details.

Fire Department needs help with antique

The picture above, from MercuryNews.com, is of a 1928 Ford Model A. The Saratoga Fire District in California is looking for help in restoring the antique fire truck.

According to the fire district, Saratoga bought the firetruck in 1928 and kept it in service until May 1955. After 27 years of service the truck was decommissioned and sold to Henry Clark, a volunteer firefighter and future commissioner, who painted it green and used it for his plumbing business.

“We hope this will be around for another 100 years so people can enjoy it,” he said.

Video of the day: From Putney, VT on Saturday night, the Putney General Store burns. Read more. The owner says he will rebuild one of the oldest general stores in Vermont.

Rain makes for a busy night

DC Fire & EMS crews had another long mutual aid run Sunday night. They joined other mutual aid companies in sending technical rescue support to a collapse of a home in Chesapeake Beach, MD (Calvert County) with at least one person trapped. That’s a 34-mile run. DC also sent crews to help out in the aftermath of Thursday’s tornado in Stafford County, VA.

There were a lot of trees down in the Washington area. We watched crews from Alexandria Station 203 deal with one that took out part of the top floor of a home on Old Dominion Boulevard.

Between 10 and 11:00 PM, Fauquier County was dealing with multiple trees down in the Orlean area.

By midnight more than three inches of rain had fallen in Alexandria and portions of Fairfax County. Once again too much for Cameron Run at Huntington. I had been on Fenwick Street and along Arlington Terrace around 8:30 PM and there was no flooding. Two hours later Fairfax County had a command post set up and was working on evacuations.

Remembering in Brockton

Photo by Jimmy Daly, Daly Images

We mentioned back in March, on the 67th anniversary of the tragic Strand Theater fire in Brockton, MA, a new memorial was planned to honor the 13 firefighters who died in that fire. The dedication of the monument was Saturday. Click here to read more about the ceremony.

The picture above is of 93-year-old Edward Burrell, retired Brockton chief, and the only surviving member of the crew that fought the fire. The statue was made in the likeness of Chief Burrell.

The picture above is by Jimmy Daly who is always on top of things from Massachusetts (and beyond) for STATter 911. Jimmy expects to soon have a series of pictures from the dedication on his Daly Images site.

Jimmy also alerted us, but we failed to provide a link, to pictures from a fire a week ago in Union City, NJ. Some excellent, very early photos shot of a 2nd-alarm in a commercial building.

The wheel of misfortune in Detroit

We have mentioned before that Detroit has been going through a round of “firehouse roulette”. This rotating closing of fire stations is something we saw in Washington, DC in the 1970s, 80s and 90s. Just like in Washington, Detroit is dealing with fatal fires near where stations are closed. FireGeezer has the latest example.

A pair of fires in SC

Pat Walsh is an old friend, long retired from DC. Pat has been in South Carolina for 14 years where he has been a volunteer at Murrells Inlet/Garden City Fire & Rescue. The department is about 12 miles south of Myrtle Beach with 38 career firefighters and approximately 20 volunteers.

Pat sent these pictures from two fires. The first was on Saturday, May 3 and the second one the next day. If I have it right, the pictures above are from the first fire, in a single-family home. The second fire, in the pictures below, was in multiple single-family homes. It destroyed two of them and left the other two with heat damage.

For more news from someone who specializes in South Carolina coverage, check out Grant Mishoe’s SConFire.com.

(Updated at 9:12 PM)

NIOSH issues Charleston report

Click here to read 55 page report from NIOSH on June 18 Sofa Super Store fire that killed 9 Charleston firefighters.

Read the story behind this surprise release of the draft report from NIOSH.

NIOSH warning on aerial ladders with locking waterways

NIOSH issued a safety advisory on Thursday in connection with April 8 LODD of Deputy Chief Michael Crotty. Chief Crotty with the Lawrence Park VFD in Erie County, PA was killed during a fire at Port Erie Plastics when he was “struck by a motorized water monitor and 30 feet of aluminum pipe that was ‘launched’ off an elevated aerial ladder”. Excerpts from the safety advisory:

NIOSH recommends that all fire departments utilizing aerial ladder trucks with locking (pin-anchored, lever actuated, clamped) waterways immediately take the following actions to reduce the risk of fire fighters being struck by unsecured waterways or parts of the waterway:

Ensure that Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and/or Guidelines (SOGs) on setting up multi-position waterways include steps to properly position the waterway and to inspectand verify that the locking mechanism (anchoring pin(s), lever, clamps, etc.) are properly installed and functioning as designed before pressurizing the waterway.

Properly train and practice the correct method of securing waterways and verifying they are secured (per manufacturer’s recommendations).

Preliminary findings in this investigation suggest that some equipment designs do not provide secondary stops for the waterway on aerial ladders. Thus, failure to properly secure the waterway in the proper position can lead to catastrophic waterway failure and possible serious or fatal injury to fire fighters working in the area.

Monitor and pipe that “launched” killing Chief Crotty

Click here to see the entire safety advisory with more details and illustrations

Two home, one still in the burn unit. The latest from Montgomery County collapse. Family concerned how victim’s smoking has been portrayed.

Firefighter James Heikka went home on Wednesday. Firefighter Mark Mechlin left the hospital on Monday. That leaves Captain Dwayne Dutrow stills in the MedStar Burn Unit at the Washington Hospital Center. He is listed in fair condition.

If you missed out latest compilation of video, audio, still pictures from Saturday’s fire in Rockville, click here.

Paying the price

Anthony Cox did, but so far the City of Topeka hasn’t. You may recall that Captain Cox collapsed at died at a fire last August 13. It turns out the city still owes $3,000 on a $15,000 funeral bill. Read the details.

Fire Explorer struck and killed

This is a picture of 14-year-old Ralph Russo who was struck and killed on his bicycle Monday in West Haven, CT. There is more to this story. We get it from Chief Billy Goldfeder on The Secret List this morning:

While naturally, no one can yet determine if it will be declared federally as an official LODD, we have been advised that a Fire Explorer in West Haven (CT) was killed after he was struck by an SUV, as he was going to a car crash run on Monday. The Fire Explorer was 14 year old Ralph Russo of West Haven.

This appears to be a very tragic accident involving a fine and wonderful community minded teenager who loved many things-including his role at the WHFD. And while the issue of LODD/non-LODD is an emotional one, you will remember the case of Junior Firefighter Chris Kangas from Brookhaven, Pennsylvania, who lost his life in what appears to be a similar fashion, just a few years ago. That claim as an LODD was denied by PSOB…but has been challenged and is now in the hands of the Courts. Here are some details.

There are many “Junior” members who play an important role in providing service much the same as there are many very “Senior” members, who as active members of their FD, also play critical roles locally….all whose services are very important. All good people wanting to help.

Watch WFSB-TV’s story

CT bill would stop ban on two-hatters

From the Hartford Courant:

The General Assembly has passed bill that stops cities and towns from banning their paid firefighters from serving as volunteer firefighters in their home towns.

The bill applies to paid firefighters who voluntee
r during their personal time.

FF brings 4 to safety

One of a series of images from WNBC-TV of a fire on Church Street in Lower Manhattan Wednesday. Fire was on the second floor of a five-story building. FF Thomas Maresca is credited with getting two women and two children out of the burning building. Not much more detail. Click here to see the rest of the images.

Lacking confidence

Safety is what federal firefighters say is behind a no confidence vote in Naval District Washington (NDW) Regional Fire Chief Edward Stillwell. Here is some of what IAFF Local F121 wrote in a press release earlier in the week:

Chief Stillwell allows new and experienced fire fighters to answer emergency calls without the necessary up-to-date training;

The chief has not ensured that all fire fighters have proper protective gear for dangerous incidents such as bomb searches;

Chief Stillwell has failed to provide adequate communications equipment. Specifically, the radios NCPFFF fire fighters use are not interoperable among military installations. If a victim becomes trapped or injured in an emergency, radio unreliability puts the lives of fire fighters and citizens at risk;

The chief has not taken steps to follow applicable National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards.

Troubled bridge over waters

From Louisville, KY on Wednesday. An old railroad bridge burns over the Ohio River. Click here for more details and more video. Raw helicopter video is here.

More video from San Antonio

Another view of Tuesday night’s fire at Our Lady of the Lake University. FireGeezer also has a good compilation and more details about the fire.

Jersey City fire

No date or location on this apartment fire.

Second West Lanham video

Another video from PGFD’s Station 828. There are more. Click here for the complete set.

(Updated at 6:50 PM)

Update: Second FF goes home. Panel to look at MD fire. New pictures, raw video of Rockville fire. Interview with incident commander.

The Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service reports Firefighter James Heikka was released from the hospital on Wednesday. Captain Dwayne Dutrow is more seriously injured and is expected to be in the Burn Unit at the Washington Hospital Center at least through the week. Capt. Dutrow remains in fair condition. Firefighter Mark Mechlin was released on Monday.

Chief Tom Carr announced Tuesday a panel will review Saturday’s fire in Rockville that killed a resident and sent the three firefighters tumbling into the middle of the burning apartment after the floor above collapsed.

We have new pictures showing the collapse area, new raw video of the fire and interviews with Chief Carr and incident commander, Volunteer Division Chief Alan Hinde.

Click here for our coverage.

Riley will release report. Gets praise from Schaitberger.

Above is the video of the live announcement and press conference from noon on Tuesday when Charleston Mayor Joseph Riley said he will release the Routley report. The video is from WCBD-TV’s noon report with Brad Franko and Dee Dee Sharp.

The mayor’s decision is 180 degrees from his announcement late Friday that the report would not be made public until federal reviews of the tragic Sofa Super Store fire were completed. On Monday the mayor denied our report that his earlier decision was based on advice by lawyers concerned about liability.

The IAFF, which has been very critical of Mayor Riley since the June 18 fire, had high praise for the mayor’s latest decision.

The report is now scheduled to be released on May 15.

Read more in the Post and Courier

The Franko Blog

The Colbert report

From Barton, AL in Colbert County a restaurant fire early this morning. From TimesDaily.com:

Firefighters from Barton, Cherokee, Locust Shores and Highway 247 departments were dispatched to the Kuntry Kafe at 12:56 a.m.

No one was inside the building at the time and no injuries were reported.

Texas school fire

Click the image above to see raw helicopter video of a fire Tuesday night in San Antonio. Details from Chron.com:

Smoke smoldered from the roof of the Main Building on the campus of Our Lady of the Lake University Tuesday night hours after crews put out a fire.

The Sisters of the Congregation of Divine Providence founded the university in 1895, according to the school’s history on its Web site. The school has offered classes since 1911, initially only for women.

Texas crash and burn

Click the image above to see raw traffic camera video From Dallas yesterday as a tractor-trailer went partially over the guard rail on I-35E and burned. The driver was not seriously injured. Read more from he Dallas Morning News.

Ohio crash video

This video is from the fire truck crash in Massillon, Ohio that killed two civilians and injured four firefighters. Read more at:

GA fire

Early video and radio traffic as first crews arrive on Dover Bluff Road in Camden County, GA on Monday.

Jackson’s first black firefighter and chief dies. Took over department after 1996 shooting rampage.

A firefighter who can claim a number of historical firsts in Jackson, MS has died. Joseph Graham took over the Jackson Fire Department after one of its most tragic moments. From FortMillTimes.com:

Joseph Graham, who broke the color barrier at the Jackson Fire Department in the early 1970s and became the city’s first black fire chief in 1996, has died.

Graham retired in 1998 after 26 years with the Fire Department.

Geezer on Wednesday

A day after he let Mike Ward shake things up by questioning whether 50 is too old to hold a hose, FireGeezer is back to somewhat less controversial topics (as if there is any topic you couldn’t get a couple of firefighters to argue about). Bill Schumm has a look at FDNY’s growing dispatch experiment and a fire that spread through the open-cockloft of a Michigan shopping center.

PGFD video

From West Lanham Hills VFD (Station 828). As always, with any videos we post from YouTube and LiveLeak, the language may not be suitable for the easily offended (in this case it is from a movie and not the firefighters).