Click here and then scroll down for the latest fire and EMS news from STATter911.com

Picture of the day: Uriah Kiser of the News & Messenger snapped this Thursday evening of the 1992 ladder truck owned by OWL VFD in Prince William County, Virginia. It was heading to Manassas as a loaner for an out of service truck. Kiser has a detailed article here.

Paper calls for chief and deputy chief to by fired: In San Bernardino County, punishment for Chief Pat Dennen is being called by some “a slap on the wrist” for helping Deputy Chief Dan Wurl use department equipment and staffing for his personal gain. A newspaper editorial says Dennen should be fired, instead of a two week suspension, for having firefighters unload a trailer purchased with federal homeland security money so Wurl could use it to move. Wurl hasn’t received his punishment. And there is concern about the pair about getting $1000 per month for a vehicle allowance despite having county cars. Geezer has the original story. Here is the editorial. Here’s a columnist’s view on the scandal.

Layoffs in Alaska: Anchorage firefighters are citing safety concerns with eight people being laid off. Click here for the story.

Woman sets self on fire in mall: A bizarre suicide attempt in front of horrified shoppers in Miami as a woman douses herself with gasoline and lights it. Click here for the story.

Response times decreases, staffing shortage increases: Fire responses have improved, EMS are a little worse and attrition is making for unprecedented staffing shortages. Here is a snapshot of Virginia’s Newport News Fire Department.

Firefighter of the year: WTOP Radio reporter Hank Silverberg alerts us to his story on Fairfax County’s firefighter of the year, Captain William Garrett. Click here to listen.

Detroit House fire: From Dennis Walus – On Wednesday August 12th 2009, Detroit 9th Battalion companies responded to a reported dwelling fire at Woodhall & Chandler Park Dr. Upon arrival Engine 58 stretched on the occupied 1.5 story dwelling, This fire was brought under control using 2 lines in approx. 15 minutes. Engines 58/52/50 Ladder 31 Squad 6 and Chief 9 responded to this box alarm. See more pictures here. Dennis has been busy and has pictures from another fire here. (The SmugMug site seems to be down temporarily – 9:00 AM.)

Click here and then scroll down for the latest fire and EMS news from STATter911.com

Since July 29 I have written an awful a lot about water mains and hydrants in the wake of the water supply problems during the fire on Chain Bridge Road, NW in our Nation’s Capital. Many of the stories mentioned the report by consultant J. Gordon Routley into the 2007 fire on Adams Mill Road where similar issues hampered firefighters. We have never gotten a good answer from anyone as to why that report was not presented before the DC City Council.

Maybe all of the talk of gpms, main size, LDH, supply lines and fire flow calculations was just too complicated for those outside the fire department. I know my small brain is beginning to burst trying to do some of the ciphering. So I offer the video above as an easy alternative to the Routley Report. Who knows, maybe the next report will have a similar video element attached. I know I could use it.

Click here and then scroll down for the latest fire and EMS news from STATter911.com

Early video of commercial building fire: This was in Lake Station, Indiana.

DC Fire wants water authority to raise its standards: In our latest chapter looking at the issues surrounding the water supply for the Nation’s Capital we learn the fire department doesn’t think the water authority’s standard is adequate. They want WASA to up the gpms and lower the distance to a structure. Also, we have the list of locations and neighborhoods needing special attention that was mentioned in the preliminary report into the fire two weeks ago on Chain Bridge Road. Check out our coverage.

Four alarms in Camden: Steve Skipton and a whole cast of Philly Fire News photographers were on the scene early this morning of a church fire that went to 4-alarms in Camden, New Jersey. Check it out.

44,000 square foot warehouse leveled: An overnight fire in Butler County, Pennsylvania. Read and watch the story.

CAF fight: A couple pictures of a different twist on the wetdown. It may be worth a look. Click here.

Serious layoff talk in Colorado: More than 20 firefighters are on the chopping block in Colorado Springs. Here’s the story.

Figuring out who to send as house burns: That’s apparently the case during a fire about a mile from a Tulsa, OK fire station, but beyond the city limits. Watch the story. Read the story.

$8.1 million payout to two firefighters: The Los Angeles City Council has approved that money to go to a pair of firefighters and their lawyers following discrimination and retaliation lawsuits. Click here.

Click here and then scroll down for the latest fire and EMS news from STATter911.com

Watch 9NEWS NOW 6:00 PM report (or here)

The DC Fire & EMS Department is asking the DC Water & Sewer Authority to upgrade the standard it uses to determine proper water flow for an area. It is an issue that surfaced at the July 29 fire that destroyed the mansion owned by former DC school board president Peggy Cooper Cafritz. At the home on Chain Bridge Road WASA technically met its standard of supplying 1000 gpm within 1000 feet of a structure. But that 1000 feet was a straight line through someone else’s yard to another street.

DC Fire & EMS Department spokesman Pete Piringer says there is no national standard, but the fire department would like to see WASA make the distance 500 feet, accessible by a fire engine. The department also wants the minimum flow to be 1500 gpm for low hazard locations, 2000 gpm for medium hazards and up to 2500 for high hazard locations.

A preliminary report from Mayor Adrian Fenty’s office about the fire mentioned 34 locations identified byWASA and the fire department where special attention was needed because of water issues. STATter911.com has obtained that list.

Spokesman Piringer says a neighborhood or location can be on that list because of a variety of issues including small water mains, hydrant configuration, topography, access, and the possibility that their are private hydrants not under WASA’s control.

The list includes neighborhoods in all quadrants of the city with the exception of Southwest. It also includes institutions such as Georgetown University and Catholic University.

Piringer says the fire department has put plans in place to make sure there is an adequate water supply to fight fires. At a small number of locations on the list, including Mayfair Parkside in Northeast, the problem has been corrected by WASA’s construction of a new water main.

The department left two of the locations off the list for security reasons. But two years ago fire officials said publicly that areas around The White House complex have some of the city’s smaller water mains. It is unclear if The White House is one of the locations left off the list.

Here are the locations needing special attention:

– Mayfair Parkside, NE
– Poplar Point Pumping Station, SE
– Fort Station Reservoirs, SE
– Williamsburg Lane, NW
– Adams Morgan North of Columbia Rd, NW
– Taylor Street, NE
– Randle Circle, SE
– Queens Chapel/ South Dakota, NE
– International Drive, NW
– East Portion of Saint Elizabeth Campus, SE
– Howard University Law School, NW
– FEMS Training Facility, SE
– Mount Pleasant Area (North)
– Mount Pleasant Area (South)
– East and West Potomac Park
– National Zoo
– Metrobus Bladensburg Division
– Georgetown University
– George Washington University, Mount Vernon Campus
– Galluadet University
– Edmund Burke School
– Hillwood Museum
– Levine School of Music
– Washington International School
– Maret School
– Catholic University
– Trinity College
– 1300 Block of Upshur Street, NW
– Wyoming Ave & 23rd St, NW
– 39TH & T St, NW
– 29TH & P St, NW
– Massachusetts Ave, Between Dupont Circle and Sheridan Circle, NW
– 2600 Block of Myrtle Ave, NE

Click here and then scroll down for the latest fire and EMS news from STATter911.com

We have had a lot of discussion on STATter911.com about the tradition of wetdowns. Some get it. Some don’t. Many think it is a waste of resources and an embarrassment. Others believe it is part of a long tradition that allows firefighters to blow off steam.

As these pictures sent to STATter911.com from a June 23, 2007 wetdown put on by the Hillsborough Fire Company in New Jersey show. the firefighters were letting off a little more than steam.

Click here and then scroll down for the latest fire and EMS news from STATter911.com

A vacant house in Gary: It might be more newsworthy if there wasn’t a vacant house fire in Gary, Indiana. This one was at 5624 East 10th Avenue.

Family says Phoenix captain’s prognosis is good: Captain Crystal Rezzonico is still reported in critical condition following surgery for a head injury after being ejected from Engine 910 on Monday night. It turns it was an 11-vehicle collision. Click here to read and watch the latest story. Previous coverage is here.

Hydrant that was one of the best is now among the worst: H03553 was at the top of the heap. It used to wear blue strips of plastic indicating it flowed in excess of 1500 gpm of water, the highest rating for DC fire hydrants. It took a major fire to knock H03553 down a few pegs. Actually all the way to the bottom. Read and watch the story.

Interesting year for PGFD FF/Medic: Rachel Edney jumped into the frigid waters of the South River in February to save a man. In May she was one of a number of firefighters injured during a powerful natural gas explosion at a shopping center. Now she is the recipient of Liberty Mutual’s Firemark Award. This comes for her life saving river rescue while off-duty. Click here for the details from the PGFD PIO blog.

Change of heart over LODD benefits: In Sullivan County, firefighters rallied in support of Claudia Davidson who had been dealing with opposition by county officials to the widow’s state workers’ comp claim. Shortly after we first told you about it yesterday the county had a change of its position and Davidson will now get the benefits due her following the death of her husband George two hours after training. Read the story.

Young boy saves sister: A six-year-old boy saved his two-year-old sister from a house fire that was deliberately set on Long Island. Three people were found shot inside the same house. Here’s the story.

Torah, Torah, Torah: Because of a dispute over an unsanctioned emergency squad tensions had been a little high between the Hillcrest Fire Company and some members of the Jewish community. That didn’t stop the Hillcrest firefighters from saving three holy texts known as Torahs during a fire at a Jewish center in New City (about three miles from New Square where the dispute had flared). The firefighters are being highly praised for their efforts. Read the story from Rockland County, NY.

Closing the barn door after the horse?: Is this oversight by Baltimore’s City Council or an oversight? Either way the unions representing firefighters seem happy that a council member now wants to have hearings over BFD’s rotating closures. You may recall that Mayor Sheila Dixon slashed Chief Jim Clack’s budget and the same time increased police department spending. The hearing would put the fire chief in the position of defending the plan before the council. Here is the latest.

Changing of the guard in Los Angeles: A look at the departures of the fire and police chiefs. Click here for the story.

Big Dipper crash: I recall riding the Big Dipper at Baltimore’s Gwynn Oak Amusement Park. The one at Blackpool in the UK is still operating. The 1923 wooden roller coaster had two of its cars collide sending 21 people to the hospital. Here’s the story. A bad week for roller coasters, both old and new.

It doesn’t take a crystal ball to figure out this one. Or does it?: In fact it was the crystal ball that caused a former TV producer’s flat to catch fire. Click here for the story from the UK.

Click here and then scroll down for the latest fire and EMS news from STATter911.com

Watch 9NEWS NOW 6:00 PM report (or here)

When a fire engine connected to the hydrant in front of 2730 Chain Bridge Road the night of the fire at the home owned by former DC school board president Peggy Cooper Cafritz, it was marked with blue plastic. That meant the DC Water & Sewer Authority (WASA) determined the hydrant can flow more than 1500 gallons-per-minute (gpm) of water. The hydrant, about four-tenths of a mile from the burned out home, actually flows a little more than 300 gpm.

Today the hydrant is marked in red, indicating it is at the lowest tier of a scale rating city hydrants by water flow, instead of its previous designation that put it at the highest level. WASA Spokesperson Michelle Quander Collins admits this was a case of human error, but she does not believe it indicates a systemic problem in WASA’s hydrant testing program.

WASA is less than half-way through finding out the flow capabilities of the more than 10,000 hydrants across the city. The fire department uses the color codes to easily determine the best way to get a large amount of water to the scene of a fire.

A preliminary report released by Mayor Adrian Fenty on Friday indicates that a pumper hooked up to the hydrant to find a secondary water supply for firefighters struggling to combat the July 29 fire. The engine company that used the hydrant was on the second alarm.

The six-page report does not state the hydrant was wrongly coded. DC Fire & EMS Department spokesperson Pete Piringer said on Tuesday that the wrong coding did not greatly impact the fighting of the fire.

The flow testing by WASA will be used as part of a computer database for the fire department. Piringer says the fire department concurs with WASA that the error appears to be an isolated incident and not an indication of larger problems.

According to Piringer. the fire department relies “and has a very high confidence in those markings”.

Piringer says there are checks and balances already in place in the relationship between WASA and the fire department. He added, “I think we’ll be a bit more tuned into this aspect because of this.”

Click here and then scroll down for the latest fire and EMS news from STATter911.com

Little girl helps nab arsonist: In Lockland, Ohio a child spotted a man running from the basement of a two-family home as a fire broke out. That man is now under arrest. Read more.

UPDATED Captain in critical condition after engine and 6 vehicles collide on highway: A radio station is reporting the captain of the fire engine that crashed with six other vehicles on I-17 in Phoenix was ejected from her rig. The captain and the driver of the engine are hospitalized along with two other people. Nine people were treated on the scene. The captain is a 21-year veteran who also works in recruiting. We have added new raw video from the scene along with other links, pictures, maps and details.

NEW Training records issue in Denver over ISO rating: “More than 13,000 hours of training records for 85 firefighters show them doing the same training, on the same date for the same number of hours.” That’s the word from KMGH-TV which has been investigating how the Denver Fire Department turned in what the TV station is calling “faulty and fraudulent” training records as part of an ISO rating. The fire chief says it was an accident, that “There was no intent here to defraud anybody.” A state fire official said, “It didn’t just accidentally occur over and over and over and over again.” Read the story. Watch the story.

NEW Was firehouse photo shoot that has witness outraged all a misunderstanding?: A woman picking up carryout food nearby said she saw another woman dancing shirtless, in a red bra on top of a table inside a firehouse. It started out as a photo shoot for an aspiring actor when the actor and the photographer switched roles. Those on the inside say the passerby was mistaken about what she saw. Read and watch the story from Easton, Pennsylvania. (STATter911.com reader Ron Young gave us the heads up on this one and a bunch of other stories this morning).

Things are heating up in Atlantic City sex scandal: The local chapter of Al Sharpton’s National Action Network is involved in the allegations of sexual misconduct with young girls at an Atlantic City firehouse. The group is providing names and specific allegations. Click here for the story.

You can check TVs on duty, but to help out MDA you need a special resolution: It was a close vote last night in Duluth, MN. The City Council voted 5 to 4 to allow on-duty firefighters to fill the boot. Chief John Strongitharm had wanted the charity work to only be done by off-duty crews. Click here to read the story. Watch the story.

I believe the last time we mentioned Chief Strongitharm was about the DTV transition and how his firefighters were helping the technically challenged. The chief had a grant to make TV reception part of the duties of an all-hazards department (Duluth was among the first, but not alone in this public service for seniors). Here is what we reported in January.

They are all wet in New Jersey and multiple cameras were rolling: Another wet down video has the comments rolling in. This one is from New Milford, NJ. Since we first posted it, 20 more minutes of wet down action have arrived. Check it out.

I am not sure why, but after watching the videos I am getting flashbacks to about twenty-years-ago of participating in the dunk tank at IAFF Local 1619′s annual softball tournament for MDA in Prince George’s County. The late Ron Milor convinced me to join Chief Jim Estepp as people took shots at us. People still take shots at me, but at least I am dry now.

LAFD union shines light on brownouts: IAFF Local 112 is posting the rotating closure list on its website and posting signs in front of fire stations. We also have a breakdown of the impact of the daily shut downs. Click here for all of the links.

NEW Attempt to block benefits: MidHudsonNews.com reports Sullivan County, New York is attempting to block state workers’ comp benefits for the widow of a firefighter who died of a heart attack two hours after a drill. Read the story.

Firefighters accuse councilmember of using web forum to undercut union: In Warren, Michigan the drama between Councilmember Patrick Green and IAFF Local 1383 is playing out on the message board of MLive.com. Here’s the story. Here’s the web forum.

Fatal crash in PA: This picture is from Fame EMS (Lewistown) Captain Alan Sunderland of a head-on collision on Saturday with 7 victims. Two were dead and four were critical. Two helicopters were used. You can read a bit more here.

Click here and then scroll down for the latest fire and EMS news from STATter911.com

Watch the video from KPNX-TV

Watch report from the hospital

Raw video from the scene

Eyewitness interview

Slideshow from crash scene

The Secret List

A captain was apparently ejected from her fire engine while responding on a call around 6:00 PM on Monday. The engine and 6 other vehicles collided on I-17. Thirteen people were hurt. Nine were treated at the scene. The captain and another firefighter are hospitalized along with two civilians. A TV station reported the captain, a 21-year veteran who also works in recruiting, underwent surgery Monday night.

Here is what KTAR.com got from witnesses:

“She was just like lying right there face down with no shoes on,” said the witness. “She just had on like white socks. I don’t know if it knocked her out of her shoes or what.”

Another witness said she was nearly struck by the run-away fire truck.

More details in an article by Nicole Ethier at AZCentral.com:

A vehicle collision involving a Phoenix Fire Department engine and six other vehicles sent four people to a hospital Monday night. Two of them, including a firefighter, were listed in critical condition, according to the Phoenix Fire Department.

This is the Google Map of what appears to be a rather complex interchange where the collision occurred. The red X shows where the fire engine and most of the vehicles wound up. Click the image for more, including the view from the street.

Jackson said the fire engine had its emergency lights and sirens on while it was heading east on Dunlap Ave.

Around 6 p.m., just as the fire engine was passing over Interstate 17, on Dunlap Ave., a small passenger car heading northbound on the frontage road east of Interstate 17 struck the emergency vehicle. The impact sent the fire engine across a median and head-on into a group of vehicles waiting at the light, Jackson said.

Image from KNXV-TV.

He said nine people were treated and released on-scene. Four others were sent to nearby hospitals for treatment.

Phoenix police and fire officials are continuing to investigate the incident to determine exactly what happened.

Click here and then scroll down for the latest fire and EMS news from STATter911.com

Robert J. Lopez of the Los Angeles Times shot this sign at Station 63 in Venice.

Signs began appearing over the weekend at LAFD stations where rotating closures are occurring. At the same time, IAFF Local 112 is posting the closure list on its website with the associated council districts and ways to contact the councilmember.

Click the image for the full list at the website for Local 112.

The Los Angeles Times has more details, here.

“FossilMedic” Mike Ward has a detailed breakdown of the “Modified Coverage Plan”. Check it out at Firegeezer.com.

Click here and then scroll down for the latest fire and EMS news from STATter911.com

It has been two weeks since we brought you a wet down. Judging by the comments it is still a concept that puzzles and even disturbs some of our readers. The last one was in Milford, Pennsylvania. This one is in New Milford, New Jersey. This one looks about the same but with more heavy duty devices and no appearance by that almost naked fellow.

The video below gives a little more close up action and clearly some people narrowed down their fog patterns a bit. Part Two is here.

Click here and then scroll down for the latest fire and EMS news from STATter911.com

Two-alarm house fire in Pennsylvania: From Catasauqua in Lehigh County, a fire late Sunday afternoon at 722 Race Street. The video above is from NewsWorking.org where you can find more details. Here is another video from the same fire.

A bad few days in Southern Maryland for chief officers: In Charles County on Saturday the chief of the Newburg Volunteer Rescue Squad & Fire Department was the most seriously injured of three firefighters when a deluge gun dislodged during live fire training. Click here.

In St. Mary’s County on Thursday night the assistant chief of the Leonardtown Volunteer Fire Department was face to face with a knife wielding man who didn’t want the firefighters to fight the fire in his home. Click here.

Water, water, everywhere: Well, maybe just not enough of it everywhere in the Nation’s Capital. The preliminary report into the water issues at the July 29 fire on Chain Bridge Road, for the first time, publicly quantifies the scopte of the problem. It says there are 34 locations in the District of Columbia that the fire department and the water authority are pre-planning because of water concerns. Despite our requests since the middle of last week, neither the DC Fire & EMS Department or the DC Water & Sewer Authority (WASA) are letting the public in on the specifics of these locations. Is that a homeland security secret as one person writing a comment to STATter911.com suggested? Interesting point and one I have heard others mention. I’d like to learn more on the arguments of both sides of this issue. (For the record, no one in city government or WASA has officially indicated that homeland security is the reason the information hasn’t been released.)

Also, WASA has a deadline of 22 days from now to finally let the fire department in on which fire hydrants are connected to which mains. That problem was first made public after the 2007 fire in Adams Morgan and was part of the report into that blaze. Click here.

Police chief says assistant fire chief didn’t get special treatment: They are not releasing the department’s internal affairs report, but Montgomery County (MD) Police Chief Tom Manger is defending the actions of his officers who handled the crash of former MCFRS Assistant Chief Greg DeHaven. Even though fire department testing showed DeHaven had a blood alcohol level almost twice the legal limit, Manger says a sergeant and a captain were unable to detect that DeHaven was drunk. A rookie cop said he smelled alcohol on DeHaven’s breath after the assistant chief crashed his fire department vehicle into a police car and other vehicles parked on the shoulder of I-270. The Washington Post article by Miranda S. Spivack and Dan Morse does not say if any remedial training will be provided to the police officers on spotting drivers who have been drinking. Read the story.

Read NIOSH report into Colerain, Ohio LODDs: Captain Robin Broxterman and Firefighter Brian Shira died in a house fire on April 4, 2008. The NIOSH report into their deaths is now out. Click here to read it.

Women firefighters still a theoretical discussion: That’s the story in Norwalk, Ohio, where they have yet to hire a female firefighter but expect someday they will. The discussion is over facilities for the present and the future. Read the story.

Runaway: A fire engine on a medical call rolled down a hill into a neighbor’s home. This happened Saturday afternoon in Mount Holly, NC. FireNews.net has the story and links to the video.

Still haunted by used fire engine deal: Back in November 2007 Firegeezer Bill Schumm ran a couple of stories (here and here) about fire departments having problems with Firehouse 66, an online broker of used fire equipment. One department in North Carolina paid $176,000 for two used fire engines that had significant mechanical problems and title issues. The Westerlea VFD in Cumberland County won a judgment against the Georgia based Firehouse 66 (reimbursement, plus court costs), but has been unable to collect the money. The department is still having serious financial problems because of the fallout over the bad deal. One of our regular readers sent us this link that is probably important reading for anyone buying a used fire engine.

Remember kids, only you can prevent Dave Statter from providing you with useless trivia: Also from the Geezer. Bill is getting all nostalgic about Smokey Bear’s 65th birthday, but he failed to mention who did the voice of Smokey (the late Jackson Weaver of WMAL radio fame). Click here for Bill’s coverage.

All fall down: Dramatic video as a six story hotel comes tumbling down due to a typhoon that hit Taiwan. Click here.

Early video from Baltimore rowhouse fire: The fire was a month ago in East Baltimore. A camera is rolling as the first units arrive. Check it out.

Window washer week: Maybe not as exciting as Shark Week, but last week window washers found themselves in some big trouble both in California and Massachusetts. Click here for a recap with video.

Exposure problem … not really: Someone thought this SUV fire in Fisherville, Virginia was about to catch the Hampton Inn on fire, so they sent the world.

Click here and then scroll down for the latest fire and EMS news from STATter911.com

Below is a press release sent out early Saturday evening from the Newburg Volunteer Rescue Squad and Fire Department about an incident that occurred earlier in the day during a live fire training exercise:

The Newburg Volunteer Rescue Squad and Fire Department, Inc. was conducting a live fire training exercise on August 8, 2009 at Banks “O” Dee Road in Newburg, Charles County, Maryland when three volunteer firefighters were injured. The firefighters received injuries from a masterstream deluge gun that became dislodged from its staged location and struck them.

One neighboring volunteer firefighter was transported to a local hospital, where he was treated and released. Two volunteer firefighters were flown to Prince George’s Hospital Center. One of them is being held overnight for observation, with minor injuries. The last victim was Newburg’s Volunteer Fire Chief, Steve Shifflett, who remains in stable condition with what is described as non-life threatening injuries.

Click here and then scroll down for the latest fire and EMS news from STATter911.com

Click here for the raw video

This hotel was in Taitung, in southeastern Taiwan. Reports are the hotel had been evacuated before the collapse. The region is dealing with the impact of Typhoon Morakot, with reports of death and injury and obviously enormous property loss. Click here to read more.

Click here and then scroll down for the latest fire and EMS news from STATter911.com

This fire was from a month ago in the 800 block of East 22nd Street. There is some interesting narration and a couple captions from the photographer.

LANGUAGE ALERT: YOU ARE WARNED THAT THE WORDS SPOKEN ON THIS CLIP MAY NOT BE FOR CHILDREN AND THOSE WHO ARE EASILY OFFENDED.

Below is the account of the fire from the website of Engine 33 ,Truck 5, Medic 16, and EMS 3:

7/10/09 Box Alarm 33-10 800 E. 22nd St
E33, E6, E23, E51, E21, T5, T1, M16, BC2, BC6 (WF E31, T15, AF2, EMS3, SO2, M7)

At 1631 hrs units were dispatched to the above address for a dwelling fire. E33 and T5 went onscene with a 2 story eog row, with heavy fire showing from the second floor. BC2 arrived and immediately called for a working fire. Truck 5 threw ladders, ventilated and conducted a search, while Engine 33 knocked down a bulk of the fire on second floor. Good job by all companies preventing the fire from extending into exposures. Medic 16 transported one civilian patient suffering from smoke inhalation. After investigation and overhaul. All units returned to service in 2 hrs.

Click here and then scroll down for the latest fire and EMS news from STATter911.com

Video above has pictures of the collision.

Raw video from Mayor Bloomberg’s press conference

Listen live to FDNY Manhattan

Watch CNN live coverage

Watch WCBS TV live video

WABC TV

WNBC TV

New York 1

New York Times

UPDATED at 6:30 PM:

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg says two bodies have been recovered and seven are missing in the collision between a helicopter and plane just before noon.

The location of the crash is just north of Pier 40 in the area of West Street and Christopher Street. A 10-60 (major emergency) second-alarm was transmitted.

The incident was reported at about 11:56 AM. Firefighters are assisting police as they continue to look for victims.

Here is the latest from the AP:

A tour helicopter carrying five Italian tourists collided with a small plane Saturday over the Hudson River, and authorities believed all nine people aboard were killed.

In 1997, a rotor on one of its sightseeing helicopters clipped a Manhattan building, forcing an emergency landing. No one was hurt.

A WNYW-TV producer says she witnessed the collision and that to her it looked like two small planes. Here is the account from Kathy Carvajal:

“I was looking over the river from my apartment building in Union City (New Jersey) when I saw what looked like two small planes- one possibly carrying a banner trailing behind- crash into another small plane. “

Both planes came apart. I saw one spiral into the water. From my vantage point, I couldn’t see where the other planed landed.”

WNBC TV reports the following about the plane:

The helicopter was from Liberty Tours. Five passengers and a pilot were on board. The small plane — a fixed wing single-engine aircraft — originally left from Pennsylvania. It stopped at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey to pick up one more person and then departed, police sources said.

Click here and then scroll down for the latest fire and EMS news from STATter911.com

Watch stories on Boston rescue here and here

For the second time this week firefighters made news rescuing window washers dangling from scaffolds that gave way high above the street. On Wednesday it was in Boston as firefighters dealt with two men on the 37th floor in the Financial District.

Yesterday morning the focus was on the West Coast in Long Beach, California. This time it was two men on the 14th floor of an office building. There was live coverage on local TV and CNN (on the video above) of the rescue. Below is a different angle of the operation.

Click here and then scroll down for the latest fire and EMS news from STATter911.com

Leonardtown VFD Assistant Chief Tom Mattingly Jr.

Leonardtown VFD website

Watch Scott Broom’s report

Written by 9NEWS NOW’s Scott Broom:

A 22-year-old man armed with a knife held firefighters at bay while his house burned, according to fire investigators.

The incident happened in the 40000 block of Hawk Court outside Leonardtown in St. Mary’s County at about 10 p.m. Thursday.

Leonardtown VFD Assistant Chief Tom Mattingly Jr. was the first to arrive at the split-level home. While checking for fire, Mattingly said he came upon a man in the smoky darkness outside the home wielding a large filet knife. The man appeared to have been injuring himself with the blade.

“It put a jolt into me,” Mattingly said.

He noted volunteers are trained to fight fire, not people, and he ordered arriving volunteers to stay back until law enforcement officers could subdue the man with a taser.

During the delay, fire continued to sweep through the house. The structure was a total loss.

From Blake Oppelt’s Facebook page.

Investigators identified the knife-wielding man as 22-year-old Blake Oppelt, who lived in the home with his mother.

In an earlier argument, investigators said the mother had confronted her son about missing medication and decided to leave the house for her own safety.

Shortly thereafter, an alarm company alerted firefighters to come to the home.

Oppelt had threatened to burn the house down, according to investigators at the scene.

Arson charges are pending while Oppelt is treated for his injuries and receives an emergency evaluation, according to a statement from the State Fire Marshal’s office.

Click here and then scroll down for the latest fire and EMS news from STATter911.com

Considering lots of options in DC: Trying to make sure the water supply issues at last week’s fire on Chain Bridge Road don’t happen again, the DC Fire & EMS Department says it is looking at a lot of options. Tankers are even being considered. As we first reported on Wednesday evening the city is now staffing two water supply companies and running them on first alarm building fires in certain parts of the city. Yesterday we talked to DC Fire & EMS Department spokesman Pete Piringer about the changes. Click here to watch the story (or here). Mayor Adrian Fenty held a press conference on this in 9:00 hour this morning. More later.

Sex charge for Montgomery County, MD lieutenant: A STATter911.com reader tipped us to this shortly after it happened, and MCFRS confirmed Lt. Wayne Mothershead was on administrative leave with pay, but the details didn’t come out until a police press release yesterday. According to police, Lt. Mothershead is accused of using his county email address to solicit what he thought was a 16-year-old girl online. At the meeting place it wasn’t a teenager there to greet him. According to the Washington Post, Mothershead’s lawyer says there is not sufficient evidence to sustain the charges.

First TV show on PGFD explosion: The video of the blast at Penn Mar has been requested by a number of cable TV shows that specialize in real video. The first to hit the tube, according to PGFD’s Mark Brady, is TRU TV. It will air August 19 at 9:00 PM.

Tracking the pranksters who have convinced people to set off fire alarms, suppression systems and to destroy property: I am sure you recall the story we ran about the hotel workers who had been convinced to break windows and do other damage by a person on the phone posing as an alarm company worker. The Smoking Gun thinks its tracked down a culprit. Check it out here.

Grand jury says no to attempted murder charge for firefighter who gave bike safety lesson: Instead. the Asheville firefighter accused of firing his weapon at a man he had just scolded about having his young son on a bike ride, gets a lesser charge. Read the update.

A look at LAFD’s “modified coverage plan”: That’s the term for the “brownouts” that started in Los Angeles yesterday. The plan shuts down one battalion command team, three emergency battalion offices, 15 fire trucks and nine ambulances each day for a year. A TV station looks at the first day and what it all means. The chief continues to call the closings “devastating” and points out response times will increase. Read and watch the story.

Stimulus money to be used to rehire firefighters: Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick is using $20 million in federal stimulus money to help fire departments bring back laid off firefighters. Read the story.

Third fire in apartment complex: Another fire at the Waterman’s Crossing apartment’s in Tampa. Third arson in less than a month. Click here.

Woman becomes hero after starting fire: Do you remember the story from Australia we ran in January about the woman whose husband died and their house destroyed after she set his genitals on fire? We had also found a pattern developing with a few similar stories. Now the Greek woman who took the same approach to a man exposing himself to her in a bar is becoming a bit of a cult figure. Read the story.

Click here and then scroll down for the latest fire and EMS news from STATter911.com

RIP Sam the Koala: You may recall this video that we ran in February of the firefighter who found the young Koala in the middle of the wildfires in Australia. The four-year-old had burns to her paws. But that’s not what killed Sam. According to CNN, “Her paws healed but soon she developed ovarian cysts associated with chlamydia, an ailment that affects 50 percent of Australia’s koala population”. Read the story.

DC staffs two water supply companies: Three days after the fire that destroyed the mansion belonging to the former school board president, the DC Fire & EMS Department changes how two of its six water supply companies will be staffed. The two companies will now respond on all box alarms in certain sections of the city and in some cases will operate as part of a two-piece engine company. Check out the details.

Also, a local newspaper columnist believes that Peggy Cooper Cafritz should sue WASA and the DC governments over her house burning down. Jonetta Rose Barras believes that may be the only way to get answers and action, similar to what the Rosenbaum family did with EMS. Here’s the column.

Capitol Heights chief makes case similar to suspended Boulevard Heights assistant chief: Capitol Heights VFD Chief Jim McClelland (PGFD Station 805) has some things to say about staffing that are very similar to the thoughts of Boulevard Heights VFD (Station 817) Assistant Chief Antwan Jordan. Jordan remains suspended as an investigation continues into how he handled a fire at his station involving a pumper. Jordan told reporters covering the incident that PGFD’s new staffing plan impacted how the fire was handled and that the removal of career firefighters from two adjoining stations is not serving the citizens very well. PGFD disagrees. Read Gazette.net’s version of the story here.

Mayor’s press conference delayed by emergency: Drama at a busy DC intersection is caught on video by multiple cameras. Reporters and photographers were gathered for a press conference by Mayor Adrian Fenty when a serious traffic accident occurred in front of them. Watch the video as bystanders and eventually firefighters work to rescue the trapped victims. Click here.

Life’s a beach: Since we have shown some recent nice work by Maryland’s Ocean City Beach Patrol, we have put our little toe in the water on this topic. So, that makes this story from the New York Post relevant. The Post has been all over New York’s Orchard Beach lifeguard station. Finding one of the guys in his stand wearing headphones and a bit of a fraternity house atmosphere at the HQ. Check it out.

Houston firefighter gives handwriting sample: Jane Draycott has now given her handwriting sample to investigators looking into the racial and sexual graffiti at HFD’s Station 54. She also talked to reporters. Watch the story here and here.

New York mayor to get grilling by lawyers: A judge says Mayor Michael Bloomberg will have to attend a deposition in the discrimination case brought by black and Hispanic firefighters. Read the story.

Second firefighter sentenced for bilking department out of pay claiming military service: The two friends were firefighters in neighboring Illinois departments and claimed military service even though they were actually working as private contractors. Read the latest.

New leadership in Caroline County, Virginia: Newport News Assistant Chief David Layman gets the job as chief in Caroline County. Check out the story in the Free Lance – Star.

Click here and then scroll down for the latest fire and EMS news from STATter911.com

This is raw video from a traffic accident that occurred on Wednesday afternoon at the intersection of Alabama Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue in Southeast Washington. Photographer Paul Lester started rolling moments after a white Toyota SUV collided with a gold Cadillac.

Lester, who is a 9NEWS NOW photographer assigned to LNS (Local News Service), was one of a number of people with cameras rolling before police and firefighters arrived. They had all been waiting in front of a nearby barber shop for DC Mayor Adrian Fenty to arrive and begin a press conference to talk about HIV initiatives.

Among the city officials already at the scene was DC Health Director Dr. Pierre Vigilance. Dr. Vigilance offered assistance along with many other people on the street at the time.

In total five people were hurt, including one who was flown to a trauma center by the US Park Police Eagle helicopter.

Mayor Adrian Fenty soon arrived at the scene and watched as DC firefighters worked on extricating some of the victims from the vehicles.

Click here and then scroll down for the latest fire and EMS news from STATter911.com

Fallout from fire engine fire and staffing controversy: The man who was in charge when this fire engine caught fire early Monday morning has been operationally suspended by the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department. While it is clear PGFD’s chief and other officials are not happy with what Boulevard Heights Assistant Chief Antwan Jordan told reporters about the county’s new staffing plan, the paper work Chief Jordan says he received indicates they are looking into how the fire was handled. Click here for the story.

Report called DC water system infrastructure “questionable”, but the DC City Council didn’t question it: City officials are calling for new reports and hearings after the mansion fire last week where water was a scarce commodity. But a 2007 report by consultant Gordon Routley that outlined many of the same problems that occurred at the July 29 fire, went largely ignored by the DC City Council. Read and watch the story.

This should be the lead story and is a must read: A very blunt former firefighter isn’t shy about what caused the fire that destroyed his apartment. Either is his wife. All I can say is that I am sure Firegeezer wishes he found this one first. Click here for the details.

Geezer doesn’t need those sex stories when he writes them like this: Bill has a review of a pamphlet called Wood I-Joists and Firefighter Safety. Well worth checking out. Click here.

Citizens may have saved Columbus firefighters’ jobs: A tax increase was voted in yesterday that is expected to avoid layoffs. Read the details.

Reaching for axe, firefighter gets lightning bolt instead: A close call in Raymore, Missouri. Read and watch the story as a firefighter survives a lightning strike.

More on Los Angeles closures: LAFD will be closing as many as 15 fire trucks and six ambulance each day. Read the latest.

Explosion in South St. Louis: A house blew up just before noon on Monday. An elderly woman escaped the home. Click here for the details.

Click here and then scroll down for the latest fire and EMS news from STATter911.com

Watch the story (or here)

As a former firefighter Larry Lowell knew exactly what started the fire in his bedroom and he wasn’t the least bit shy about telling investigators or anyone else who would listen. The fire began as the 63-year-old Lowell and his wife were about to make love. She dropped a lighter catching the bed on fire.

A Miami Fire Rescue spokesman described it politely and with a noticeable chuckle as a couple “spending some quality time with each other”. Joli Lowell wasn’t so politically correct. She told a reporter, “We were getting ready to do the nasty, so that’s why we didn’t have clothes on”.

Larry Lowell was able to grab his wife’s hand and lead her to safety. She uses a walker and wheel chair to get around. Neighbors were able to help them cover up.

The Lowell’s apartment was destroyed and four others damaged. Lowell is a retired military firefighter. Members of IAFF Local 587 brought the couple clothes and gift cards. Both Lowell’s suffer from various ailments.

Here is more on the story and some of the conversation Lawrence Lowell had with reporter Sarah Harlan of WFIE-TV:

“My wife and I were lying in bed, and I think she dozed off and I think she dropped a lighter,” Lowell said. “Everything went up and it moved fast. The mattress must be made of petroleum base. It was all black smoke. I grabbed my wife’s hand and we went to floor and we headed out.”

“Water, she tried mashed potatoes,” Lowell said.