Click here for a series of pictures from a German website (at least I believe that’s what these pictures are, considering my German is non-existent.)

From the International Herald Tribune:

Police say a firefighter has been killed and seven rescue workers injured when a malt silo exploded in western Germany.

I am with the family visiting the folks in Baltimore County on my way home from the in-laws in New Jersey. So, considering I was just 10 or so miles from a 3-alarm garden apartment building fire near Security Square Mall I’d like to tell you this is my video and picture of the blaze.

Unfortunately that is not true. I was on the way to dinner with everyone and couldn’t break away (really, what as become of me?). Thankfully Michael Schwartzberg, photographer with Pikesville VFC, took it in and posted the above video, the account below, and a bunch of pictures.

Baltimore County, MD firefighters responded on a 3-alarm apartment fire at the Tuscany Woods Apartments in Westview (Fire Box 13-21) over Thanksgiving weekend. Units were dispatched to 4 Westbend Court, off Rolling Bend Drive near Security Square Mall, at 6:37 p.m.on Saturday November 29 for a reported apartment fire. While en route, BC22 was notified by Fire Dispatch that 911 was receiving multiple calls for the fire. BCoFD Engine 3 (Woodlawn career) arrived with heavy fire and smoke showing and immediately requested a Working Fire Dispatch, which command upgraded to second and third alarms. Firefighters battled heavy fire on the second and third floors of a 3-story garden style building, with flames venting through the roof. The fire was brought under control after about 2 hours and the American Red Cross was on scene assisting about a dozen displaced residents.

See more pictures from Michael Schwartzberg

Image from WNYW-TV

Read a detailed run down of the fire

From the AP:

The Fire Department says some Harlem firefighters were responding to a call when a blaze was reported at a familiar address: their own firehouse.

There is no immediate estimate of the extent of the damage, but the firefighters assigned there will work elsewhere for now.

Click here for images of Engine 80/Ladder 23

I am sure any comments I make on this will just get me in trouble. So I am going to be quiet (very difficult for me to do) and let you watch this one for yourself. This is from Waukesha County, Wisconsin.

First responder response and bystander reaction

From the AP:

A worker was killed in the crush Friday after a throng of shoppers eager for post-Thanksgiving bargains burst through the doors at a suburban Wal-Mart, authorities said.

One of a series of pictures taken by shopper Nakea Augustine for the New York Daily News. Click here for more.

A police statement said shortly after the store’s 5 a.m. opening time, shoppers “physically broke down the doors, knocking (the worker) to the ground.”

A 28-year-old pregnant woman was taken to a hospital for observation, and she and the unborn baby were both reported to be OK, said Sgt. Anthony Repalone, a Nassau County police spokesman. Four or five other people suffered minor injuries, he said.

Below, a fight at a Wal-Mart over an Xbox 360

More fire and EMS news from STATter911.com

Click here for more memories of the 1958 fire

This weekend people will gather in Chicago to pray and remember the victims of a tragic fire that struck the city 50-years-ago on Monday. Ninety-two children and three nuns died in a fire that broke out in a stairwell during that last hour of classes at Our Lady of the Angels school on December 1, 1958. The impact of this fire was felt across the country and the world. It had a great influence on the building codes and safety features and procedures that we now take for granted in schools and other public assembly buildings.

Some of the many factors that contributed to this large loss of life included a delayed alarm due to nuns who didn’t have authority to pull the fire alarm after discovering the fire, open stairwells and a lack of exit capacity. The fire started in the 1910 built north wing of the school. It had been “grandfathered” due to being constructed before 1949 code changes that addressed stairwell and exit issues. For some reason, a 1953 school annex also had open stairwells.

I first became interested in the tragedy in the 1970s thanks to an article written for Argosy magazine by Hal Bruno (I hope to have that scanned for posting on Monday’s anniversary). There is a lot of other information, along with pictures and videos, available on the Internet about this fire.

Here some links worth checking out.

Watch part of a documentary on human behavior in fires that includes film of the fire, an interview with a firefighter and a survivor

Promo for WTTW-TV documentary, Angels Too Soon, has more film from the fire

List of CFD companies that responded to the fire

Coroner’s jury findings

Commissioner Robert J. Quinn’s January, 1959 article in Fire Engineering

NFPA Quarterly Report, January, 1959

Website OLA.com with links to archival material (****this site has a substanial amount of information about the fire, including diagrams, reports and pictures****)

Journey keyboardist is one of the survivors of the fire

Historical perspective on school fires from Thomas Cunningham at WithTheCommand.com

Fire and explosion in the Poconos: A strip mall caught fire on Thanksgiving in Monroe County, PA. Firefighters report an explosion shortly after their arrival. No one was hurt. Three businesses were destroyed. Watch the story.

Fort Wayne pushing video: The video from a two-alarm apartment fire in Fort Wayne, Indiana has attracted a lot of attention. Click here if you haven’t seen it.

Captain fights order to take mental exam: This is a story related to the investigation of a 5-alarm fire in Washington, DC last March. The actions of the second due engine and its captain have been under much scrutiny. That captain, Vanessa Coleman, says she has been ordered to take a psychological exam. Capt. Coleman got help from a DC whistleblower protection agency. Read more and see the press release.

Marine division grounded: An unusual safety stand-down has the Alexandria Fire Department’s three boats not taking emergency calls until January. Read our story.

Consumer report: A look at a product called The Smokestopper. Click here.

Bar with FF connections given sprinkler waiver: A Boston paper shines a light on how a bar was allowed to avoid adding a sprinkler system. Read the story.

OT issue in PA: Concerns about busting the overtime budget in Easton, PA. Vacancies and military duty fueling the problem. Read the details.

Getting lost on way to local hospital: FireGeezer Bill Schumm was not just getting OT, but also some holiday pay when he found and posted this story on Wednesday. It is about the driver of an EMS unit in Wake County who couldn’t find the hospital. Click here.

Read press release from Government Accountability Project

Within a day or two of the March, 2008 fire that destroyed an apartment building and damaged a church in DC’s Mount Pleasant neighborhood, we heard about controversy over the role of the second due engine company. A predominant theme from various sources is if Engine 21 had followed SOP and checked the basement of the large apartment building, the crew would have discovered and immediately attacked the source of the fire. Instead initial crews found themselves above the rapidly spreading fire which eventually resulted in the loss of the building and some close calls for residents and firefighters.

The person in charge of Engine 21 that night was Captain Vanessa Coleman, an 18-year veteran of the DC Fire & EMS Department. On Wednesday, while finishing up projects before leaving town for the holiday, a press release was sent to STATter 911 on Capt. Coleman’s behalf by the Government Accountability Project (GAP). GAP is a whistleblower protection organization located in Washington.

Here is a partial description of the complaint from the press release:

The retaliation against Coleman that has ensued since the filing is a laundry list of unacceptable actions which include: citations, a suspension, failure to support her authority as a captain, stripped duties, and a transfer. In July, Coleman received a notice that she was to report for a psychological evaluation, ordered by Assistant Chief Brian Lee. Upon reporting for the exam, she requested legal counsel, but was denied. Unwilling to submit to the exam under the conditions presented to her, Coleman was directed not to go back to work and to take sick leave until she was able to take a rescheduled psychological evaluation.

Capt. Coleman contends the radio traffic from the night of the fire shows her crew was ordered to take an assignment other than checking the basement. Click here to listen to audio from the fire . (NOTE: As we have pointed out on previous fires, the DC Fire Feeds version of the audio is not done in real time. Much of the dead air between transmissions is cut out in the recording process. If there are not time checks on the recording, you will not be able to tell the length of time between specific transmissions.)

We contacted officials for the DC Fire & EMS Department on Wednesday and they have declined to comment on these allegations by Capt. Coleman.

Boston Herald photo by Mike Adaskaveg

A firefighter run American Legion Post bar is the focus of a Boston Herald story. The paper is trying to learn if the South Boston establishment received special treatment in being able to avoid installing a sprinkler system. Neighbors were already upset the bar received a liquor license and had been the subject of police raids. Here are excerpts from the story by Jessica Van Sack:

The order to put in sprinklers was part of a new state law to combat fire hazards at high-capacity nightclubs and bars.

Records show the Perkins Post was cited in October 2005 for a spate of fire code violations that have since been corrected. The drop-down fire escape blocked an exit to the basement bar. There was no fire-detection system in the building. Extinguishers had long been neglected.

Enjoy the holiday and be safe.

Image from WANE-TV

These days when you are having a bad day there is always seems to be someone with a camera. So far no one has explained what prompted a Fort Wayne firefighter to start pushing and shoving his fellow firefighters outside of a burning apartment building Wednesday morning. Here is what WANE-TV is reporting:

A Fort Wayne firefighter has been placed on medical leave after he became involved in a shoving match with another firefighter at the scene of a fire at the Willows of Coventry Apartments. NewsChannel 15 camera caught the incident on tape. Fire Chief Pete Kelly told NewsChannel 15 that the firefighter’s actions can be linked to stress. The firefighter does not face any disciplinary action.

FirefighterSpot.com and FirefighterCloseCalls.com are among those who alerted us to the video below.

The fire itself was a repeat performance. The second fire in five weeks at The Willows of Coventry apartment complex. The two-alarm fire destroyed 16 units.

Read about and see video of the fire.

More video of the fire.

Watch 9NEWS NOW story on The Smokestopper

A month or so ago I was sent some samples of a product called The Smokestopper. It attaches to the bottom of a door and claims to be a way to slow down the spread of smoke during a fire.

It looked interesting, but to find out if it really worked would require research. So I did what I always do and found someone else to do the heavy lifting. I turned to my left where Stephanie Wilson a producer for our Living Well consumer unit sits and told her of this great idea I had.

Stephanie bit and set up a test of The Smokestopper. Stephanie, anchor Leslie Foster and the Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service put the product to the test. Did it work? Click above and you tell me.

City of Alexandria picture of Boat 201

Watch 9NEWS NOW 6:00 PM report

Watch Boat 201 in action from January, 2005 chopper crash in the Potomac

STATter 911 has learned the entire Marine Division of the Alexandria City Fire Department has been shut down due to safety concerns. The order came yesterday from Chief Adam Thiel. Department spokesman Captain Luis Santana says they expect the division to be operational again in early January, 2009.

According to Santana, there is no specific incident causing what he calls a “safety stand down”. Captain Santana says the action is as a result of a reevaluation of the division prompted by the recent drowning of a Fairfax County police officer during a training exercise on the Potomac River. Alexandria was not involved in the training, but did assist in search operations.

Santana says the unusual move comes on the recommendation of recently appointed Assistant Chief Denise Pouget. Chief Pouget says, “We are not to the level we want to be right now. So, we are going to ensure that we get there”.

Pouget cites the example of the military and believes safety stand downs are a good thing. The department expects to focus on training, operations and equipment over the next month.

According to Chief Pouget it is not out of the question that similar stand downs will be done with other specialized units of the department.

The department uses land-based firefighters to operate Boat 201, a 30 foot Metalcraft Marine Rescue Boat that has twin jet drive and a 1500 gpm pump. Boat 201 is berthed on the city’s waterfront and is the primary responsibility of Station 201 on nearby Prince Street.

Station 204, at the department’s headquarters on Second Street, operates two Zodiacs.

Captain Santana says the department will rely on mutual aid marine resources for any emergencies until the stand down is complete. Across the Potomac, Prince George’s County recently added a fire boat on the waterfront of the National Harbor complex.

Richard “Chip” Laugen, on the left, in a picture by Warren Dillaway of The Star Beacon.

In Kingsville Township, Ohio the trustees voted Tuesday night to can Fire Chief Richard “Chip” Laugen. This comes after a weeks long probe of allegations of misconduct and unprofessional behavior.

Laugen was suspended in September after more than 14 allegations surfaced. The board found in its probe, like most fire chiefs, Laugen wasn’t guilty of every sin he was accused of. But they did find enough to support his removal.

Among those are putting a hidden camera in the office and having two officers who lacked state certification. Read the story from The Star Beacon.

STATter911.com

Five-alarm fire in Cambridge: Neighbor Julia Shia provided this picture to MetroBostonNews.com of the fire early Tuesday morning that damaged two triple-deckers. The flames were fanned by 40-mph winds. An elderly couple was rescued and two firefighters were injured. Video here, here and here.

Council again sides with volunteers: In Montgomery County, MD an update on the budget battle between the volunteer and the career forces. Click here.

Milwaukee firefighters win one: They have convinced the council to override the mayor and keep five person staffing on most truck companies. Read more. You may recall we ran a report from the union that was produced to help sway the politicians and the public and combat a consultant’s study.

Junior fire inspectors and firefighters: When I came home from work last night my son Sam (turns nine on Sunday) had a sheet to fill out from a visit to his school by a member of the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department. Sam dutifully followed the instructions to go through the house on a safety inspection with his parents. I received my only demerits for failing to check each smoke alarm monthly. I tell you this because, if you haven’t figured out by now, you do make impressions on our youth. To further prove this point, read and watch this story from North Carolina.

Chopper panel meets in MD: A panel of national experts already has suggestions for Maryland officials. This comes after the crash of Trooper 2. Read the article.

House explodes in PA: Pretty amazing that two men walked out of what’s left of a house in Allentown. Injuries are minor. Watch helicopter video and read the story.

Arrest in Georgia arsons: Click here for an update on the Stone Mountain arson spree.

Utah trucks crash and burn: Good pictures from a fire on I-15. Click here.

Phoenix buys Pierce: Nine Pierce Quantum pumpers to Phoenix. Read details.

Missouri firefighters want chief back: Controversy in Osage Beach over lack of money for fire equipment, the firing of the chief and the resignation of a member of the fire protection district’s board of directors. Watch and read the story.

Tensions expected to flare again in Topeka: I know we are all shocked by this statement. But December 16 is when the City Council is planning to take up the issue of promotions, one of the hot button issues between Chief Howard Giles and the union. Read more.

Woman dies in Shreveport fire: Chief Brian Crawford says six people have died this year in fires in the city. There were no deaths in 2006 and 2007. Smoking on a couch is blamed for this blaze. Watch the story.

A movie about a Boston firefighter hooked on pain killers?: Yes. That is being discussed with Samuel L. Jackson who could possibly be playing a fire chief. Read the details.

Coming to an agreement in NJ: If you want to know some of the details of firefighting in Southern New Jersey, click here for a lengthy article on an agreement on fire protection for West Cape May.

What goes up: But coming down may not be easy for this fire engine in the UK. You have to see the picture at FireGeezer.

Utah Department of Public Safety photos via KSL-TV. See photo gallery.

Read story and see video from KSL-TV

Two tractor trailers collided in Millard County, Utah on Tuesday afternoon, shutting down I-15 after the rigs burst into flames. One of the trucks rear-ended the other as they were heading up a hill.

One of the rigs carried heavy machinery. The only injury was to a passenger who was not restrained while resting in the sleeper cabin on one of the trucks. That man received only minor injuries despite being thrown through the windshield.

We first told you this morning about the series of arsons in Stone Mountain, Georgia. An arrest has now been made. Details from Cal Callaway at our sister station WXIA-TV:

11Alive News has learned DeKalb County Police have made an arrest in connection with a series of arsons in the county.

The state offered a $10,000 reward Monday for information leading to an arrest in the string of fires, which also included Indian Creek Baptist Church and a daycare.

It appears to be another victory for the Montgomery County Volunteer Fire & Rescue Association (MCVFRA) in front of the County Council. Besides officially tabling the MCVFRA opposed ambulance fee bill, council members rejected a key element of Montgomery County Fire Rescue Service (MFRS) Acting Fire Chief Richie Bowers’ budget reduction proposal and accepted an idea from MCVFRA.

According to an article on gazette.net, Chief Bowers proposed reducing hours of four basic life support ambulances for a savings of $740,000. The plan, presented to the council by County Executive Isiah Leggett, was rejected.

Council members decided to eliminate two EMS duty-officer positions. This idea was presented last week in a proposal by MCVFRA.

Possibly the positive note for MCFRS officials is the ambulance transport fee bill was just tabled and not voted down. In his statement about the events of the day, County Executive Leggett predicts victory on this issue down the road.

Click here to read the cost saving proposals and responses from both MCFRS and MCVFRA.

Read statement by Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett on County Council actions.

Read Montgomery County Council press release on FY 2009 budget savings plan.

Click here to watch story

More information at AJC.com

From our sister station WXIA-TV:

DeKalb County fire officials want to find the person responsible for setting 11 fires in about 12 hours. One of the blazes damaged a Stone Mountain church. The arsonist is striking businesses mostly along Memorial Drive and Main Street in Stone Mountain.

Fortunately, there are no reports of injuries.

Page Morton Black

Click here to watch commercial with Page Morton Black and Pinnochio

If you are so young that this jingle means nothing to you — “Chock full o’Nuts is that heavenly coffee, better coffee a millionaire’s money can’t buy”, than you might want to skip this next story from Mamaroneck, NY by Leslie Korngold of The Journal News:

Authorities confirmed yesterday that the woman carried from a burning Premium Point home Saturday was Page Morton Black, the voice behind the Chock full o’Nuts coffee jingle and widow of William Black, founder of Chock full o’Nuts coffee.

Both the Premium Point fire and Friday’s Harmon Drive fire were electrical, Commender said. Saturday’s Myrtle Boulevard fire, which left five in need of shelter, started in a gas dryer.

6-alarms in York: A WGAL-TV reporter Ed Weinstock’s cell phone picture from the Monday afternoon fire in York, PA, that went through a row of homes. Click here for a series of videos from the scene and more details.

Volunteers call for cut back of four-person staffing: That is one of the proposals the volunteer association has made to cut costs in Montgomery County. Proposals and counter-proposals have been flying back and forth since last week, as the volunteers and Acting Fire Chief Richard Bowers work to sway the County Council on the best way to reduce costs. In the meantime, the career firefighters local has withdrawn from these talks, outraged out the County Council’s refusal to implement ambulance billing.

By the way, this is supposed to be the quiet Maryland county in the Washington suburbs when it comes to volunteer – career relations. Read our coverage and check out the documents.

He’s out, he’s in, he’s out again: Poor Cory Johnston, the second firefigher burned at Friday’s fire in Riverdale Heights, Maryland. He was treated and released on Friday for his burns. Johnston visited FF Blazek, who was out of ICU, on Saturday. While at the Medstar Burn Unit of the Washington Hospital Center, a nurse didn’t like the look of Johnston’s burn. He was held for some antibiotic treatment. Now, here’s the latest from Riverdale VFD’s website on Monday evening:

F/F Johnston was once again released from the Washington Burn Center. They have done some minor “cutting” of dead tissue around the burn and the fear of infection has subsided. He is back at the station with limited mobility of his right arm. He will remain out of service for and extended period of time to enable the healing process to complete properly.

Chopper crash survivor speaks on release from the hospital: The only survivor of the crash of Maryland State Police Trooper 2 spoke to reporters. At the same time statistics are way down on the number of people being transported by Maryland’s medevac system. Read The Washington Post story. Watch the WJZ-TV story. Watch the entire interview with survivor Jordan Wells.

Hydrogen generators on the move: The DC Fire & EMS Department has a bulletin out on vehicles with homemade hydrogen generators. Click here.

Another jurisdiction worries about daytime volutneer responses: Yesterday it was Bath County, Virginia. Today it is Erath, Louisiana. Read more.

Get your video: It is being handled by the Loudoun County Public Library, but you don’t need a library card. Loudoun County Department of Fire, Rescue & Emergency Management now has a way for you to download a copy of the video that accompanies the report on last May’s house fire that forced four firefighter to bail out of the second floor. Click here for details.

Watch video 2 from The York Daily Record

Watch video 3 from The York Daily Record

WGAL-TV 6:00 PM report

WGAL TV 11:00 PM report

Fire broke out Monday afternoon in a row of homes in the 300 block of E. King Street in York, PA. Six-alarms were sounded to get the fire under control. Seven homes were damaged.

One person suffered smoke inhalation. The fire is believed to be accidental.

The fire brought in off-duty firefighters and crews from throughout York County.

Read more in The York Daily Record.

Photo from The York Daily Record

Read DC safety bulletin on mobile hydrogen generators

Read bulletin from the Woodlands, Texas incident

Take a look at the picture below. Imagine someone in your community has found this vehicle in the parking lot of a major hotel near the town’s convention center, with an event in progress.

Washington, DC officials didn’t have to imagine it. This is what they saw after a citizen called 911 on September 8 to report this pick-up truck was parked at a Marriott Hotel across the street from the DC Convention Center.

Just as the caller described, the first responders found five bottles secured to the grill with wires, along with a sign reading, “Explosive, do not touch!”. EOD crews began their work.

First they found the owner of the vehicle in the hotel, an elderly male traveling with his wife. Then came the explanation. The contraption was used to produce hydrogen to increase the fuel efficiency of the vehicle.

Electric current was sent through the coil inside the fluid. The fluid was one teaspoon of bicarb, mixed with a quart of water.

The vehicle owner says he put the “explosive” sign up to prevent theft.

All of this information comes from an informational bulletin distributed by the DC Fire & EMS Department. The bulletin discusses a similar incident with another vehicle’s hydrogen generator after a crash in Woodlands, Texas.

Here are some of the warnings in the bulletin:

Concerns about system being powered up for an extended period, could the generator could have permeated the air in the engine’s intake with hydrogen sufficiently to burn in an explosive nature upon startup. At the Woodlands, Texas accident occurred in a parking lot and witnesses stated the vehicle was “revved up” near full throttle before, during, and after the crash

Keep in mind that hydrogen is a flammable gas, so prevent sources of ignition in the area of these generators just as if dealing with gasoline or other flammable hazards.

Secure / remove power to the vehicle as early as possible to power down any active chemical process.

Maybe with the cost of fuel down dramatically, you won’t see many more of these vehicles.

Image from KATC-TV. Click here to watch story

Last Wednesday Shoot’s Lounge next to City Hall in Erath, Lousiana burned down. Only eight of the 23 volunteers from the town’s volunteer fire department were available for the mid-day fire.

Chief Wayne Mouton, who doubles as the shop teacher at the local high school, says day time response it a problem. Others in the area are suffering similar shortages.

Of course this issue extends well beyond Louisiana. Earlier today we told you that Bath County wants Virginia’s governor to allow state employees to leave their jobs to answer day time fire calls.

Click the image above to watch the video

Click here to download the Meadowood Court video

You may call we had recently told you about the Loudoun County Department of Fire, Rescue & Emergency Management being swamped with requests for the video that accompanies the report looking at the May 25 fire at 43238 Meadowood Court. That fire critically burned Lt. John Earley and injured six others.

Since the department doesn’t have the mechanism for duplicating the large number of videos they have set up a way for you to download it from the Loudoun County Public Library website.

Click here to read the report.