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From WZZM-TV’s Lambrini Lukidis:
Kelysse LaBelle is full of energy today. But when fireman Scott Campau rescued her from the bottom of Fisherman’s Landing in Muskegon last week, Kelysse was purple, her eyes were gray and lifeless.
“The stroller was actually sitting up-right on its wheels on the bottom of the lake and she was unconscious,” said Campau.
“She wasn’t breathing, no heart rate,” said Battalion Chief Ken Chudy who lead the team on the call. “She was lifeless when we pulled her out of the water,” said Fireman Kevin McMillan also assisted by firemen Chad Horn and Scott Hemmeslbach.
Kelysse’s two year old brother accidentally knocked the stroller off the dock.
“I could not get to her, couldn’t see anything, the water was murky, it was cold,” said father Adam LaBelle.
On his first try Scott Campau dove 12 feet and rescued Kelysse.
Tearful parents and a room full of relatives embraced with mutual gratitude.
“It was really rewarding to see them here and the joy in their eyes and you can really feel the gratitude that they have, and that’s the exciting part of this job and the rewarding part of this job is to have moments like this,” said Campau.
While the reunion is in honor of the heroes who saved her, Kelysse enjoyed the cake her family brought to the fire station, celebrating many more birthday’s to come.
Three Maryland firefighters charged with arson. Fire marshal says trio is being looked at for other fires.
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From Mardela Springs VFC website
More from WBOC-TV including a statement from Mardela Springs VFC
From Greg Latshaw at DelMarvaNow.com:
Three members of the Mardela Springs Volunteer Fire Company face arson charges in connection with a fire at a vacant home in Sharptown, a spokesman for the Maryland State Fire Marshal’s Office said.
Mardela Springs residents Kyle James Bradley, 22, Joshua Bryant Maddox, 19, and Marcus Edward Whitelock, 28, are accused of using road flares to ignite a March 30 fire on Norris Twilley Road. The fire caused about $500 in damage to the two-story house, which at the time was being used for storage.
From left to right, Bryant Maddox, Kyle James Bradley, Marcus Edward Whitelock
“They admitted to … setting the fires because they were bored,” said Joseph G. Zurolo, a deputy state fire marshal.
Authorities also charged Maddox with arson in connection with a fire Sept. 6 at a two-story vacant house in the 200 block of Main Street in Mardela Springs. The fire caused about $100,000 in damage to the home, which was also being used for storage purposes.
The three were being held at the Wicomico County Detention Center as of Thursday night, pending their initial appearance before the court, Zurolo said.
“They’re being looked at for possibly being involved in other fires,” Zurolo said, but he could not say specifically which incidents.
Last year, the Delaware State Fire Marshal’s Office investigated a spate of arsons in the Laurel-Delmar area. The crimes were never solved.
Zurolo said Thursday that he was not aware of the suspects being interviewed by Delaware fire marshal’s deputies.
Doug Jones, Mardela Springs Volunteer Fire Company chief, could not be reached for comment Thursday.
The fire company’s Web Site lists Bradley as a firefighter and Whitelock as serving his probationary period. All fire company members must serve one year under a probationary status before becoming an official firefighter.
Zurolo said investigators aren’t sure if the men helped fight the fires they are accused of starting.
“In the past, firefighters who go out to set fires end up responding to help the fires. But we don’t know if that’s the case here,” he said.
The charges filed against Bradley aren’t his first brush with the law, court records show.
In November 2008, the District Court for Wicomico County placed charges on the inactive docket that claimed he had been found carrying a dangerous concealed weapon.
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Three Forty Three: The FDNY’s newest fireboat scheduled to be launched at 10:00 AM in Panama City, Florida. The ship is named in honor of the FDNY members who were killed on September 11, 2001. Read more about Three Forty Three at Firefighter Nation.
September 11, 2009: Firehouse.com has a list of events to honor the fallen from eight years ago. Click here.
FireRescue1.com has an article on how the toll is still climbing in the aftermath of the fall of the Twin Towers. Click here.
Billy Goldfeder has a special column at The Secret List looking at that very same topic of those who worked in the recovery operations and are continuing to suffer. Click here.
In the aftermath of the attacks the number of funerals of FDNY members was overwhelming. Firefighters from around the country helped honor those who were lost. The Orange County Fire Rescue Department in Florida was one of the departments to send a contingent to attend some of the funerals. The Orlando Magic helped make that trip possible. Bill Hoke sent us a link to the video that was made of the trip.
NEW- Battle of Jericho continues: Firegeezer has latched on that interesting story from Jericho Arkansas. This is the one where the unarmed fire chief was shot in the court house over a parking ticket dispute. The chief is now the only one charged in the case. Town officials still refuse to answer questions about the shooting and lots of other interesting things. Here’s Bill’s update.
Firefighters want apology from consultants and city: Sounds like a rather heated meeting Wednesday night in Elyria, Ohio. Among other things, the union says the consulting group that reported the use of sick leave was out of control used erroneous figures. The firefighters and consultants came face to face at the meeting. Read the details.
Chief’s conversation taped and now audio from sick calls released to news media: The controversy in Haverhill, Massachusetts where firefighters were videotaped while on sick leave, seems to be growing. As we told you yesterday, the union has posted an audio recording of a conversation the chief had with a lawyer. Click here for that . Now, to make it more interesting, the recordings of sick calls made by three firefighters have been released. Click here to listen to the audio and read the story.
NEW- Only you (and your taxes) can prevent forest fires … in the Nation’s Capital: I am reasonably certain in my almost four decades of living in Washington, DC area that the city hasn’t had a major wildland fire. The Washington Times tells us that hasn’t stopped the federal government from spending almost $3 million in forest fire fighting money in the District of Columbia. Read the story.
Sleep tight and don’t let the … : Never mind. It’s too late for firefighters at Station 2 in Wilmington, Delaware. The good news is they have all new furniture. The bad news is that experts are worried they returned to the firehouse too soon. Read the story about some tiny bloodsuckers.
Primary and secondary searches negative. Well, not exactly. You forgot Smoka: The one-year-old cat was presumed dead after an August 10 fire in a flower shop and apartment in Franklin, Ohio. A demolition company working on the structure found Smoka under 16-feet of debris 26-days after the fire. Here’s the story.
More charges against VFD president: Back in August it was child pornography that sent police to arrest the president/treasurer of the Sam Bass Fire Department in Williamson County, Texas. Now Gerry Cheney is accused of stealing $220,000 from the department. His wife is speaking out and it isn’t in her husband’s defense. Click here to watch the interview. Read more.
Website targets fire chief: Andover, Massachusetts Chief Michael Mansfield is taking on the website http://www.datingpsychos.com/. According to BostonHerald.com Mansfield’s picture and some very unflattering comments were posted about the chief, who is single. Read the story.
Fire department allowed to reopen after 6 month shutdown: Insurance problems prompted the closing of West Virginia’s Big Wheeling Creek VFD. Here’s the story.
The family that fights fire together … : Different shifts and different companies have kept a father and son team on the Seattle fire department apart for five years. That changed on Wednesday. Click here.
Neighbor’s dogs act as smoke alarm in Paradise: Ten people are alive thanks to a man who was awakened by his dogs and discovered his neighbor’s house on fire. There were no smoke alarms in the burning home. All ten escaped unharmed thanks to the man’s pounding on a window. Click here for the story from California.
NEW- Baltimore County house fire this morning: Michael “FirePix1075” Schwartzberg took this video of a house fire at 2361 Research Drive in Landsowne at 1:38 AM. Here’s his description – First arriving units from BCoFD Station 5 (Halethorpe) reported a fully involved two-story dwelling and began stretching line
s for fire attack. Firefighters confirmed all occupants had escaped the house, and due to heavy fire conditions command ordered a defensive operation. Firefighters used multiple hand lines and the deck gun from Engine 5 to bring the blaze under control. Crews found a pet cat outside the home and a paramedic resuscitated the animal with oxygen before turning it over to a family member who took it to an emergency animal hospital. The BCoFD Fire Investigation Division was requested to determine the cause and origin of the fire.
Dirty bloodsuckers invade firehouse. Bedbugs shut Wilmington, Delaware fire station. Experts worry firefighters moved back in too soon.
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Journal News photo by T.J. Healy II
Excerpts from a DelawareOnline.com article by Angela Basiouny:
Five-star hotels have them. Former President Bill Clinton reportedly had them. Wilmington firefighters now have them, too.
Bedbugs.
Like a horde of tiny vampires, the nocturnal, blood-sucking parasites have infested Wilmington Fire Station No. 2 in Southbridge, forcing officials to close the building for a day to give exterminators a chance to do chemical battle with the critters.
The station reopened Wednesday afternoon, with fans whirring at every open door to dissipate the last of the pesticide foggers that were set off inside.
Nobody seems to know how the insects got into the fire station or how long they may have been there. But experts say the firefighters shouldn’t feel badly about it — bedbugs are all the rage right now.
“They are in the news a lot lately because they are making a comeback,” said Charles Bartlett, associate professor of entomology at the University of Delaware. “There is a lot of mythology about them, because they had been very well controlled for a long time.”
The development of pesticides and improvements in sanitation made bedbug infestations nearly nonexistent in the United States for the last 50 years or so. But several factors have given rise to a resurgence, including the increase in international travel, the general lack of awareness about the insects, and what some scientists are saying is a better breed of bedbug more resistant to pesticides.
Wilmington’s Station No. 2 firefighters noticed the bugs last week and sent a letter to supervisors, who put in a call to a pest control company. The exterminators diagnosed the infestation, and firefighters were moved to nearby Station No. 7 while the building was treated.
Standing in the reopened station Wednesday, Battalion Chief Carl Zipfel waited for a delivery of new furniture for the four-man crew that works in 24-hour shifts. The fire department spent $810 for the extermination, $1,295 for new mattresses and $2,900 for new couches and chairs.
“The couches, chairs, everything that was upholstered had to be thrown out,” he said.
Bartlett said he wouldn’t be so quick to rush back inside.
“If it were me, I would want to wait a few days after the treatment before putting new things in there,” he said. “Even with those steps, I would probably monitor for some time.”
Chemical application isn’t always effective because it may not reach the bedbugs’ hiding place. There are new treatments, including thermal panels to heat a room for several hours to “cook” the bugs. Bedbug-sniffing dogs are also being used by some pest control companies to offer assurance that the critters are gone for good.
Controversy in Haverhill, Massachusetts over secretly taped conversation. Audio of chief & lawyer talking about sick leave abuse.
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IAFF Local 1011 website where audio is posted
If you go to the IAFF Local 1011 website this morning you will find a YouTube video titled Haverhill Firefighters DO NOT receive fair hearing from Mayor James Fiorentini!. On the video is audio of Haverhill’s Fire Chief Richard Borden talking with the lawyer who presided over hearings involving four firefighters accused of abusing sick leave. These are the firefighters a private detective investigated and videotaped for the city.
How the audio was recorded is now part of the controversy in Haverhill. Here are excerpts from an article in The Eagle-Tribune by Mike LaBella (it is worth reading the entire article):
City Solicitor William Cox said it could only have been firefighters who recorded fire Chief Richard Borden and Attorney Michael Marks chatting about firefighters, the work they do and how they are perceived. The conversation happened at one of last month’s hearings where the sick time abuse was reviewed.
He said the behind-closed-doors hearings at City Hall were not recorded by the city or Marks, who was appointed by the mayor to preside over the hearings.
“I don’t know if they did it with a cell phone or how they did it,” Cox said. “The only ones in that hearing were city officials, the hearings officer and the firefighters, who secretly recorded this private conversation.”
A phone message left yesterday by The Eagle-Tribune with Capt. Paul Weinburgh, president of the local firefighters union, was not returned. Marks could not be reached for comment.
Cox said the posting was intended to divert attention from the fact that the four firefighters who the mayor suspended this week for abusing their sick leave refused to testify during the hearings. Cox said that during the hearings they “hid behind their lawyer.”
“The real story is this is a red herring put out by the firefighters who want to talk about anything but the facts,” Cox said. “This isn’t about whether they got a fair hearing. This is about whether they abused sick leave or not.”
This week, Fiorentini suspended firefighters Christopher Cesati, George Sarrette and Andrew Lafferty for 10 days without pay for violating Haverhill’s sick-leave rules. Fiorentini also has ordered a five-day unpaid suspension for firefighter Raymond Robinson Jr. Sarrette and Lafferty are former presidents of the firefighters union.
After what the mayor called a trend of sick time abuse in the Fire Department, the city hired a private detective in December who videotaped the now-suspended firefighters doing activities like moving furniture, shoveling snow and running errands on days they called in sick.
The posting, which can be found by entering “Fiorentini” in the You Tube search bar or the firefighter’s Internet site, shows an image of City Hall overlaid with this text: Hearing officer Marks…”I think since 9/11 firefighters are full of themselves.” Chief Borden…”Firefighters you see on the news putting water on a fire aren’t the real heroes.”
The posting came two days before the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, in which New York firefighters were proclaimed heroes.
Borden said the text does not reflect his true quote in which he talks about which part of the job makes firefighters heroes.
“Those are the guys working inside, where they can’t see their hands in front of their face and they’re feeling the heat,” Borden said in explaining what he was talking to Marks about. “The unfortunate thing is you don’t catch that on camera, you don’t catch that on film. And by the time you get there (to the fire) those aren’t the things you get to see. The guys who are the heroes are the guys who take a beating in less than ideal conditions. It wasn’t meant to cast a dispersion on anybody.”
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Firefighter in Canada revived during restaurant fire: “A 32-year-old volunteer firefighter was resuscitated Wednesday morning after severe smoke inhalation from a restaurant fire in Meaford, Ont., left him fighting for his life.” Click here for more on this story from Canada.com.
Working for free helps get 6 firefighters their jobs back: An interesting story from Sterling, Illinois. Six firefighters who were laid off will get there jobs back. To do so the union had to agree to some concessions. One of those is that every firefighter will work five-hours without pay each pay period. During those five hours the firefighters will only be available in the station for emergency calls, but not other work. Read the details.
What were they thinking?: That’s the first question that comes to mind when reading Firegeezer’s story about a training exercise in Germany that injured nine children and two adults. The idea was to teach people how to react in smoke, using a vacant apartment building. Somehow an explosion occurred. Bill gives us some idea how that may have happened. Check out the story.
No criminal charges in Atlantic City sex scandal: A prosecutor has declined to file criminal charges after allegations were made about teenaged girls involved in sexual activity with firefighters from Atlantic City’s Station 2. Results of internal investigations have not yet been released in an incident that has sparked much controversy. Read the latest.
Double the fun: Want to learn more about how the DC Fire & EMS Department operates? We have two helmet-cam videos from the same house fire. One was worn by a firefighter on the first-due engine company and the second was worn by the tillerman of the first-due truck. Click here.
WTC steel: Billy Goldfeder ran this interesting item on The Secret List –
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is accepting requests from organizations that would like to request a piece of World Trade Center steel. The steel was recovered from the World Trade Center site after September 11, 2001 and secured at JFK Airport by The Port Authority of NY and NJ until now.
Click here to read all of the details.
Two dead in fire no one noticed: Smoke inhalation apparently killed a couple in their Smith County, Texas home. No one spotted the fire which had burned itself out. Read the story.
DC Fire & EMS Department in action. Not one, but two helmet-cams rolling on first due engine & truck.
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This is from a house fire on Friday in Washington, DC in the 700 block of Chaplin Street, Southeast.
Engine 30 and Truck 17 were first due. Each had a helmet-cam rolling. Here’s how the firehouse website describes the blaze:
As the members were cleaning up from eating breakfast the units from the 2nd Battalion were alerted for a house fire in the 700blk of Chaplin St S.E. 30 engine went on the scene with smoke showing from one window on the second floor. As 30 Engine entered the first floor and was met with heavy smoke and fire on the first floor. As 30 engine extingushed the first floor,17 truck removed the bars from windows and vented the house. The incident was scaled back to 1 and 1 with investigations and the arson K-9 DOZEN.
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There is nothing spectacular about this video: But I love it. It is just a taxi fire at 53rd Street & Seventh Avenue in Manhattan last Thursday. But it is what’s going on around the fire that I am enjoying. First there’s the guy just chatting on his cell phone walking away from it as if nothing was happening. Then there is the cop who starts to direct traffic and apparently thinks better of it as the smoke heads his way. Finally, look at all the people taking pictures, especially the group shot at 2:07 into the video. Sorry, I am easily amused.
I sink, therefore I am. Watch how they got LAFD’s Engine 60 out of the hole: The Los Angeles Fire Department’s Engine 60 was having a pretty normal day until it suddenly found itself on CNN and splashed all over the Internet. The good news is the firefighters are all okay. The bad news is that Engine 60 is not. If you somehow missed the story, the rig was mostly swallowed by a sinkhole created by a water main break. Almost as interesting is watching the extraction process. We have three different views showing various aspects of the heavy equipment bringing the fire engine back to solid ground (or as solid as it gets in Southern California). Click here.
Police versus EMS, New York style: A little controversy brewing in New York over a run-in on the Palisades Interstate Parkway (PIP). According to Yeshiva World News (YWN), the PIP Police detained a Hatzolah ambulance for an hour Monday night and would not let the crew transport victims from a motor vehicle accident. Also, YWN reports a Hatzolah member responding in his own vehicle was given two tickets. Apparently there is a long history here. Read the article.
Budget woes has the fire chief saying no to EMS: An interesting concept in Lawrence, Massachusetts. The fire chief says with station closures and layoffs he needs the remaining firefighters to concentrate on their primary mission of fighting fires. No more of having fire trucks tied up on medical calls. Read the story.
Forget the fire, I want to see more of the ladder truck: The best part about the video from the auto body shop burning in Haverstraw, New York that I posted yesterday is not the fire. At about 25 seconds into the clip you will see an open cab 1969 Pirsch tiller making a turn responding on the run. Check it out.
Florida firefighter says there is a connection between layoffs and no confidence vote: Fort Meyers Beach Chief Mike Becker can understand why one of the six firefighters laid off might think that, but says it just isn’t the case. Click here to read and watch the story.
Of mice and firemen: In Hamden, Connecticut, Station 2 on Circular Avenue is more than 100-years-old. And it is showing its age. The mice and squirrels think of it as home as much as the firefighters do. There was hope on the horizon for a new firehouse. Instead, there is more delay. Read the story.
More video from Daytona Beach: Geezer had some good coverage of the strip mall that burned at Daytona Beach on Labor Day (click here), but I think Bill was dreaming he was in one of those old spring break beach movies from the 60s and he missed a bit of raw video. Here it is.
Dave on the road: But not very far. Click here to see a few visits STATter911.com will be making in the coming weeks. This includes the two day seminar put on by the Fairfax County Professional Fire & Rescue Officers Association in Tysons Corner on October 1 & 2.
Reminders on how to find us: The easiest way is to simply type in STATter911.com. We are here with regular updates 24/7. But there are many other ways to access our content. Click the links for Facebook, Twitter (join our fan page), YouTube, LinkedIn or Firefighter Nation. And there is also home delivery.
What goes down must come up. The rescue of LAFD's Engine 60. Hear from one of the firefighters & see 3 views of the extraction.
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Click here for the view from KCBS-TV
The KABC-TV view of the fire engine extraction from other side
According to various news reports it took about seven hours to engineer the removal of LAFD’s Engine 60 from the sinkhole that swallowed it this morning. Pulling it just from the rear didn’t work and heavy equipment was need to pull the front. The KABC-TV video gives you the best view of the removal, the damage to the rig and a look at the hole at low tide.
Here’s the story from the AP:
Crews using a crane have pulled a fire engine from a large sinkhole that opened as it was responding to a broken water main on a Los Angeles street.
Four firefighters escaped injury as mud and water poured into the vehicle’s cabin Tuesday in the San Fernando Valley.
The firefighters were attempting to back the 22-ton engine out of the street when the collapse occurred.
The sinkhole was caused by a broken, 6-inch cast iron pipe. A Department of Water and Power official says it’s unlikely the burst pipe is related to another one that broke two miles away over the weekend and flooded homes and cars.
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Details on the fire that occurred around 2:00 Monday morning from an article by Hema Easley at LoHud.com:
Sixty firefighters from the Haverstraw and West Haverstraw fire departments battled an early morning blaze at a used-car dealership on Route 9W that sent three firefighters to the hospital.
One of firefighters was taken to Westchester Medical Center in serious condition, Haverstraw Fire Chief Peter Rugg said yesterday.
The fire, which seriously damaged the building, forced the closing of southbound Route 9W for nearly 2 1/2 hours, Rugg said.
“The building is pretty much destroyed,” said Capt. Martin Lund of the Haverstraw Police Department. “The fire is under investigation.”
Firefighter Brian Holmes, a three-year veteran with the Haverstraw department, was taken to the medical center in Valhalla for smoke inhalation and a high level of carbon dioxide in his blood stream.
Richard Obergon, the nursing supervisor at the medical center, said last night that Holmes was in stable condition.
Firefighter Eric Rausch was taken to Nyack Hospital for heat exhaustion, and firefighter Afran Castro Jr. was treated for an ankle injury.
Lund couldn’t say what the source of the fire was or if foul play was suspected. But Rugg said firefighters checking the building before starting firefighting operations found an open window.
Firefighters arrived at the dealership at 1:56 a.m.
Rugg said police initially indicated that a card game had been taking place inside the building.
But firefighters looked through the building and found no signs of people inside and no car in the parking lot that was being used.
Smoke was billowing out of the two-story building while the fire in the rear was steadily getting out of control. Rugg said he asked for mutual aid from the West Haverstraw and Congers fire departments, both of which were on standby.
Firefighters worked aggressively to keep the fire from spreading , first breaking through the ceiling and roof to ventilate it and allow the fire to escape.
The fire spread to other businesses as well, but firefighters were able to bring most of the fire under control by 3:30 a.m. and they had finished by 5:30 a.m.
Come see Dave and some people who really know what they are talking about. The 2009 Fairfax County Officers Seminar.
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September and October always seem to be very busy times for STATter911.com. There must be so many events that people are so desperate to get a speaker or emcee they will even use me. Such is the case on October 1 and 2 in Tysons Corner, Virginia when the Fairfax County Professional Fire and Rescue Officers Association holds its 7th Professional Development Seminar.
My best pitch on why you should show up is that there may not be an 8th Professional Development Seminar after they booked me as their keynote speaker. It could very easily just end right there.
The second reason you should show up is that there are actual fire service professionals like John Salka, Bobby Halton and Billy Goldfeder. There is also author and speaker Kimberly Alyn on the topic “Real Leadership is Not for Wimps”.
Then there’s Dave. We shall see what kind of leadership Battalion Chief Chuck Ryan shows when he has to explain how he gave me a microphone to say whatever I want.
The event is also a very convenient stopping point in the region for those heading to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Memorial Weekend in Emmitsburg. That’s where I am hiding out after the speech.
Click here to register and find out more details.
Some other appearances by Dave
This coming Saturday Dave is heading to Fauquier County, Virginia to speak at the 85th anniversary banquet of the Warrenton Volunteer Fire Company.
On September 22 I will be in Howard County, Maryland for the Mid-Atlantic Life Safety Conference. The topic there is “Using Social Media and Marketing Tools to Reach Your Community”. I am apparently the comic relief as part of a group that includes Bill Delaney, Pete Piringer and Mark Brady. Come join Pete and Mark as they take their shots at STATter911.com. Click here for details.
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A water main break has claimed a fire engine in Los Angeles. According to KTLA-TV LAFD’s Engine 60 was on the way to check out the damage from the break when the roadway buckled sending the rig nose first into the hole. No firefighters were injured. Reporters indicate the fire engine continues to sink.
The water main rupture was reported at 5:20 AM near the intersection of Hartsook Street and Bellingham Avenue in the Valley Village area.
Here’s more from KTLA-TV’s website:
Crews say the asphalt was still in tact when they tried to drive across, but the weight of the truck caused the sinkhole. Officials say a regular car probably could have made it across without any problems.
The entire front end of the fire truck was inside the hole and filled with muddy water.
Another car on the street would not start because of the water damage, one
The water main break is located just a few miles away from another pipe that burst Saturday in Studio City, forcing the closure of the heavily-traveled Coldwater Canyon Avenue.
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Another “before” picture of ill-fated aerial: An image of New Eagle VFD’s Ladder 14 before its collapse on the fireground in Monongahela, Pennsylvania on Sunday. The best information is that there was only one person at the tip during ladder pipe operations at the time of the collapse. That firefighter was treated and released. We have dozens of photographs of Ladder 14 from the fire thanks to Wayne E. Ray. A few taken while it was in operation and many more after the ladder came crashing down. Click here for that, plus details, links and videos.
District chief & car collide while going to the same place: In Boston on Sunday a district chief heading to a house fire collided with a car. It turns out both vehicles were on the way to the same burning house. The driver of the car was the owner of the house. Apparently the house didn’t suffer serious damage. The chief and his aide ended up at the hospital after their SUV came to a stop against the steps of a church. Click here to watch the story.
Firefighter charged with arson & murder after two house fires: Two homes, one-mile apart, burned on Highway 9 in Union County, Mississippi early Saturday morning. An 88-year-old woman in one of the homes died. Now, a 22-year-old volunteer firefighter is in jail. Read the story.
She fell head over heels for her man, literally. Watch video of a dangerous proposal: A little romance went haywire on Sunday. A man popped the question to his girl Sunday near Great Falls in Maryland. She apparently said yes and then took a bad tumble down a rock face. It took firefighters and a U.S. Park Police helicopter to get her out of there. She has serious but not life threatening injuries. Click here for the story and here for the helicopter video.
On Labor Day more firefighters got paid to stay home than ever before: Another money saving measure by Prince George’s County drastically cut the number of career firefighters working on Labor Day. In an effort to avoid paying holiday pay (double time), about 50 slots went unfilled compared to previous years. This included battalion chiefs, EMS supervisors, a safety officer and all the shift work firefighters at eight fire stations. Volunteer crews were expected to fill the void. Click here for the details.
Also, IAFF Local 1619 is having off-duty firefighters gather in District Heights this morning. They will be going door to door with fire safety messages and talking to residents about the impact of staffing cutbacks.
More labor pains: For the holiday weekend I looked at three recent stories focusing on the relationship between labor and management in the fire service. Click here.
Battalion chief demotes self to lieutenant over email: Nothing lewd or crude. The email was an attempt by Art Zern to rally the troops against budget cuts. Instead, the email left the former Chief Zern with some personal budget cutting. The email did not sit well with city leaders. Read the details.
Firehouse closes after thieves make off with equipment: The fire trucks are still there, but a lot of what was on them is gone. The Central Crossing Fire District in Missouri was hit by thieves at a new rural station. The loss is estimated at $30,000. Here’s the story.
Survivor story: Check out Firegeezer’s account of how crews got to the lone survivor after a car ended up in the bottom of a Tulsa quarry. He has the 911 audio and much more as call takers tried to figure out where the young woman was calling from. Click here for Bill’s coverage.
Lots of fire in Allentown: A three-alarm factory blaze very early Sunday morning. Click here to see the video from NewsWorking.org.
Old fire engine goes to college: New life for a 1967 Ward LaFrance pump on the campus of ODU. The rig has joined a fraternity. Check it out.
Two from Detroit: Dennis Walus had a busy Labor Day. Click here to see his photos from a house fire early Monday at Barlow and E. McNichols. Another house fire from early Monday was at Glenfield and Coplin. Click here.
Back in business: Jason at Firefighter Spot has had a rough couple of weeks with technical difficulties beyond his control (we all hate when that happens). He is back in business with lots of new videos. Make sure you check out the site.
3-alarm house fire in Massachusetts: Ken LaBelle of NRI Fire Photos has more than 80 photos of this house fire early Sunday morning in Dudley. Click here for the images and details.
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The video above is from NewsWorking.org of a fire early Sunday morning at Olson Technologies in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The Morning Call reports the firm “manufactures industrial valves for oil and other industries.”
Here is the description of the fire NewsWorking.org posted with the video:
At 0056 the box was transmitted for a structural fire in the 100 block of Hamilton Street. Responding on the ticket: Engines 6, 4, 9, 10, truck 2 and Battalion Chief 4 (Grim). Engine 6 enroute from the Hibernia station 6 blocks away reported heavy smoke. B/C 4 enroute signaled a working fire and struck the second alarm, consisting of companies 13, 14 and Air 1.
As the chauffer for the B/C drove down the alley b/t Linden and Hamilton, they encountered heavy fire with propane tanks involved and down power lines. As engine 4 was stretching a 1 3/4″ handline, the propane tanks let loose! With that, B/C Grim struck the third alarm bringing in Engine 11 and Truck 1.
B/C 4 signaled “ALL HANDS” and ordered all master streams into service. Tower Ladder 2 set-up to the rear of the structure, while Tower Ladder 1 operated on the Front Street side. Engine 11 set up its ladder pipe on the west side of the fire building and squrt from engine 6 set up in a field off of Front Street, plus multiple ground monitors were also place into service. Engine Co. 13 fed the stand-pipe on Linden Street.
The fire was darkened down within 40 minutes, but with some extension into the roof lines of the exposures, prolonged the operation well into the morning.
Labor Day in Prince George's Co. PGFD labor paid to stay home for the holiday. Volunteers to fill-in. About 50 additional positions left vacant.
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There are a lot of firefighters being paid a days pay and told not to come to work in Prince George’s County, Maryland today. That is not all that unusual because it is a practice that has gone on for decades in the county (and elsewhere). In the past it usually was the case just for PGFD support staff and firefighters who worked at day-work only stations (staffed by career firefighters Monday to Friday 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM). Volunteer crews were expected to handle the day-work stations, but could request career firefighters if volunteer staffing wasn’t available.
The idea is the county doesn’t have to pay premium holiday pay (double time) for those firefighters who don’t come to work. In recent years there have been efforts to further reduce the disbursement of holiday pay, but veterans say that was nothing compared to what is going on today where about 50 additional supervisory and firefighting positions at fire stations throughout the county have been left vacant. It is another effort by the department to keep expenses down and live within its budget.
A department spokesman says despite the planned reduction for today officials do not expect any unusual response issues. A union official believes it will cause response delays and calls the reductions “unacceptable”.
According to staffing information provided to STATter911.com, eight shift-work stations have no career firefighters working today. Other shift-work stations have reduced staffing. The sources say no exceptions are being allowed for day-work stations that do not have volunteer staffing.
The sources say three shift-work battalion chief positions are left vacant for the day. Two of three EMS supervisor slots and the career safety officer position also weren’t filled today.
While volunteer crews are staffing many stations today, as they have during past holidays, it is unclear if every station has staffing.
We asked Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department Chief Spokesman Mark Brady about this development. Here is his written response:
Yes, from what I understand there will be a limited amount of holiday OT paid this Monday – Labor Day. This has been in the planning stages for some time and should not come as any surprise to anyone. Volunteers will be relied on to provide staffing at stations that will not have career staffing.
We are expecting that all stations will be staffed and their will be no response issues other then what is normally encountered on a daily basis – holiday or no holiday.
We also contacted Andrew Pantelis, vice-president of IAFF Local 1619, who provided this statement:
The staffing cuts that have occurred on the Labor Day Holiday are another example of the dramatic reductions to Fire and EMS protection that the citizens of Prince George’s County have endured during recent months. Any time that personnel are removed from a station, such action places the lives and safety of the citizens and our employees at risk. Holiday staffing is a cost that is budgeted for and approved by the County Council. However, with recent mandates to cut the budget by nearly ten percent, the Department is forced into the position of not being able to provide services to many of our communities.
To resolve this matter, Prince George’s County must seriously consider taking a number of proactive steps, such as the long overdue hiring of Fire/EMS personnel and the re-appropriation of funds to cover existing vacancies. If such measures do not occur soon, our citizens will continue to witness a significant increase in the time it takes for responders to get to the scene of an emergency.
While the County continues to take the position that service is not impacted and stations are not closed, the bottom line is that Prince Georgians are now waiting for Fire Trucks and Ambulances to respond from two, three, and sometimes four communities away while their neighborhood Fire and EMS station sits empty. When every second counts in an emergency…this is an unacceptable practice.
The following list was provided by sources familiar with today’s TeleStaff report. The sources are not authorized to speak publicly for the department on this issue. It does not include information about volunteer crews available to staff stations:
PGFD career supervisory positions not filled today:
3 battalion chiefs
2 EMS supervisor
1 safety officer
The following shift-work stations have no career personnel assigned today:
Station 8 (Seat Pleasant)
Station 20 (Upper Marlboro)
Station 23 (Forestville)
Station 25 (Clinton)
Station 27 (Morningside)
Station 39 (Bowie)
Station 46 (Largo)
The following shift-work stations have a reduced number of career personnel assigned today:
Station 34 (Chillum)
Station 40 (Brandywine)(career crew operating paramedic-ambulance only)
Station 41 (Calverton)
Station 45 (Croom)
Station 55 (Bunker Hill)(career crew operating paramedic-ambulance only)
UPDATE Before & after photos of Ladder 14 on fireground in Monongahela, Pennsylvania. Aerial ladder collapsed with firefighter on tip. New videos.
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Pictures by Wayne E. Ray at SnapShop47photos.com.
New details and video from WTAE-TV
Two firefighters were hurt this morning when an aerial ladder collapsed during a commercial fire in Monongahela, Pennsylvania. New Eagle VFD Firefighter Les “Hootie” Pemberton was at the tip of Ladder 14 (New Eagle VFD, Washington County) when it collapsed during ladder pipe operations. Pemberton was strapped in and rode the ladder down as it crashed onto a roof top. He was treated and released from the hospital on Sunday afternoon.
Photographer Wayne E. Ray with SnapShop47photos.com was on the fireground when the incident occurred. Wayne had already snapped pictures of Ladder 14 in operation in the rear of the building. Wayne was elsewhere on the fireground when the collapse occurred. He arrived around back and shot many pictures of the bent and crumpled ladder. Wayne was nice enough to send STATter911.com dozens of photos. We have some of them posted and will add more later.
Click above to watch Wayne E. Ray’s complete series of photos of Ladder 14 at the fireground in Monongahela, Pennsylvania.
Helmet-cam video of fire. Does not include collapse of Ladder 14.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s A.J. Panian reports it this way:
New Eagle firefighter Les “Hootie” Pemberton, 50, of Monongahela, was injured when he fell about 20 feet after the ladder from an aerial truck collapsed onto the roof of one of the buildings.
Pemberton was at the top of the ladder, about 50 feet above ground, spraying water onto the three-story building housing Hufnagel Computers when the ladder collapsed, said New Eagle Fire chief Paul Pro, 47.
“He was belted in on the ladder, and he rode it down all the way” to the roof, Pro said. “He did exactly what he should have done in that situation.”
Pemberton was taken to Mon Valley Hospital, where he was treated and released, Pro said.
“Before” picture from Google Maps Street View. Click image to tour the neighborhood. Click here for Bird’s Eye View from Bing.
The fire damaged Vocelli’s pizza, Hufnagel Computers, the Bee’s Nest Cafe and some apartments. It broke out at 5:15 AM today. Neighbors reported hearing explosions just before the fire was discovered.
Here is more about the fire and a close call for a cop from an Observer-Reporter article:
No one was seriously injured in the fire that appears to be traced to leaking natural gas in a Vocelli Pizza franchise, 222 W. Main St., authorities said.
“It was a very, very dangerous situation,” said Monongahela Police Chief Brian Tempest.
Police were called to the scene about 5:15 a.m. to investigate breaking glass, Tempest said.
Patrolman Bill Fusco encountered the fire and then entered the building to evacuate the tenants. Fusco was pulled from the building by a Carroll Township police officer because he was beginning to “go down,” overcome by smoke, Tempest said.
Ladder 14 from New Eagle VFD website.
Bee’s Nest owner Barbara Mayfield said she was concerned about how the fire started because she has complained about Monongahela police officer George Langan, who was arrested two days earlier on drug and corruption charges.
However, Washington County District Attorney Steve Toprani said it does not appear his widespread drug investigation in the city is related to the fire.
On the labor front: Budgets, layoffs, staffing levels, controversial union president and even Fill the Boot.
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On this Labor Day weekend I found a few articles that grabbed my attention about the relationship between labor and management in the fire service.
The fall guy
In Lincoln, Nebraska the issue is the Lincoln Fire Department’s daily minimum staffing level of 76. The union was able to get that provision a year ago as a trade off for mandatory drug testing, following a scandal involving the arrest of two paramedics.
Union president Dave Engler explained to the Lincoln Journal Star’s Deena Winter his rationale for the trade off:
“I said, ‘I’ll give you that, but I think it’s less of a safety issue than staffing is,’” Engler said.
He said the drug cases were isolated incidents, whereas running firetrucks with fewer than four firefighters is unsafe and contrary to industry standards.
But the minimum staffing has come back to haunt the fire department. It is not because of anything the union did. This was a mistake of the fire chief who failed to adequately estimate the real cost of minimum staffing for the Lincoln City Council.
At least that’s what the mayor’s office had the public believing for more than a month. Since July, Chief Niles Ford has been told not to talk to the press and to be the fall guy for the $300,000 in overtime the agreement is costing. Now the truth has come out.
The chief has now finally been allowed to speak to reporters on the condition that the mayor’s chief of staff stand by his side (you trust the guy with life and death decision making, but not to speak to the public?). It turns out that Chief Ford provided the correct numbers to the mayor’s office. For some reason it just never got to the council. You can read the complete story here.
Overpaid, budget busting firefighters with Jerry’s Kids in the middle
We have been occasionally checking in with the fire department in Anchorage, Alaska. Like many departments it is dealing with budget cuts that have meant layoffs and brownouts. At the moment, the firefighters are feeling a bit under siege as the union battles these issues with Mayor Dan Sullivan.
Adding to this feeling are the views of conservative talk radio host and columnist Dan Fagan and orders from the mayor that puts a stop to on-duty MDA fund raising at intersections.
Fagan’s recent list showed some firefighters with total compensation packages of more than $150,000. He thinks the previous mayor gave away the store to the unions.
In light of all of this Julia O’Malley at the Anchorage Daily News spent a day with the local firefighters. Her story is worth reading.
He would rather switch than fight
Actually that is not really the case and may not be a fair headline (but it’s catchy), because Kurt Henke has been fighting battles for a long time in Firegeezer’s favorite bankrupt city, Vallejo, California (click here and scroll down for Bill’s long list of stories). Along the way, Henke has been fired by one mayor (reinstated by the next) and certainly ticked off a few people.
Now Henke, an assistant chief in Vallejo and 15-year president of regional IAFF Local 1186, is moving on. He takes over the number two job in the Sacramento Metro Fire Protection District.
The Times-Herald’s Jessica A. York has an interesting profile of a man who has walked the difficult line between management and labor.
Firing up school spirit with a 1967 Ward LaFrance pumper. Fraternity's fire engine becomes a symbol at ODU.
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The photo above is by Gary C. Knapp and is part of an article in today’s Virginian-Pilot by Bob Molinaro. The 42-year-old Ward LaFrance is owned by a man about the same age who was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity when he attended the University of Toledo. Dave Eck bought the rig in 2005 from a fire department in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.
Eck now lives in the Hampton Roads area. He added PKA lettering to the fire engine and now regularly drives it to the campus of Old Dominion University for special events, including football games. It is expected today for some serious tailgating at ODU’s first football game of the season (the article points out the pumps work but it hasn’t been yet retrofitted for dispensing beer).
Eck hopes to soon see the fire engine in the stadium sounding its siren every time ODU scores. According to Eck that would only be for home games, because the pumper overheats even on the short local trips.
Battalion chief demotes self to lieutenant over email. Attempt to rally troops about budget cuts causes problems in Des Plaines, Illinois.
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Art Zern from his page at Fire Engineering
This is quite an unusual story coming from Des Plaines, Illinois. Battalion Chief Art Zern saw the handwriting on the wall about the typewriting he did on his computer while on duty on the evening of August 23. Facing the possibility of more serious disciplinary action, Zern requested an immediate demotion to lieutenant.
Many, many people have gotten into trouble at work for emails. More often than not those messages involve inappropriate language and sexual content. That was not the case here.
Zern’s problems come from urging more than 20 people under his command to rally against potential budget cuts for the department. The controversy came to a head shortly after the details of the email were made public in a column on Wednesday posted at JOURNALOnline by editor Todd Wessell. Here are some excerpts:
In his email, written at 9:27 p.m. while he was on duty, Zern describes a plan of action he believes members of the department should take in order to protect “items that are fundamental to our operational efficiency and safety.” He said that rather than create a list of all possible cuts, as the fire department has been asked to do, Zern says, “let’s make a list of things that should not be on the table, those things we are willing to fight to maintain, regardless.”
Zern, who is a top department supervisor, writes, “I do expect you to advocate for this fire department, your fire department. I do expect you to fight the good fight when it comes to our safety and the safety of our citizens because what is good for them is good for us.”
What has apparently angered many in the city with Zern is what he writes later in his email. He declares that whoever is appointed the new Des Plaines fire chief should be prepared to fight for certain issues or “he should be prepared to leave tomorrow.” And, writes Zern to those he manages, in trying to drum up support for his position, ” We will rally behind you and you will feel empowered by our support and admiration. On the other hand, if you turn your back on this and other issues that should not be on the table, if you refuse to even acknowledge the fact that these are the issues of our time, and you refuse to fight the good fight, we will know who you are and you will know the cold reality of disappointment and respect lost.”
This last comment is being translated by some as a threat that if any firefighter/paramedic does not agree with him and is not willing to fight for those beliefs, they face some type of punishment.
“Can’t we agree that this is a hill to die on?” asked Zern. He later adds, “Now is not the time to give up and roll over.” He also refers to those who feel differently as “the enemy” by writing, “I believe that it can happen today and I cannot remain silent while the enemy works to convince us that we don’t fight fires any more, we are really an EMS department, it’s just another false alarm, 3 on a company is more than enough and so on and so on.”
Zern’s email ends, “Be prepared to leave tomorrow. If you are not, you are beholden to the elected and appointed officials. I understand, but I am not out of touch. I sympathize, but I am not delusional. I want you to lead, but I can’t make you. You may win today, but I will not be silent. Be prepared to leave tomorrow, be prepared to fight the good fight and we will do everything within our power to make sure that doesn’t happen. We will stay with you.”
Chief Randy Jaeger, who is about to retire, recommended a 10-day suspension for Zern. Highland Park Chief Alan Wax was appointed this week as Jaeger’s replacement.
In a story in the Daily Herald, City Manager Jason Bajor said he thought the actions merited an immediate demotion. According to the article, Bajor had written to Chief Jaeger that Zern’s actions were “improper, unacceptable, and rebellious in nature. – His actions go beyond a matter of mere negligence and into the realm of intentional malice.”
In Wessell’s article yesterday about the latest developments, he had this quote from City Manager Bajor: “My overriding emotion on this is one of disappointment. I’ve known Art Zern for a long time and still have a great deal of respect for him. These are unfortunate circumstances.”
In 2007 Art Zern was acting fire chief as Randy Jaeger underwent brain surgery shortly after his appointment to the top post.
Stolen equipment forces fire station to close. $30,000 in gear & tools missing from Missouri's Central Crossing Fire District.
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Thieves broke into a rural fire station in Shell Knob, Missouri (Barry County) and virtually wiped it out. It is the newest of seven stations for the Central Crossing Fire District. The loss of $30,000 in gear and tools represents about 15-percent of the annual operating budget. For now, the loss has forced the closing of the station.
The video above and the story below detail what was stolen. Another article on the theft may indicate what the thieves were really after. It appears to be a rare and unusual firefighting tool that must be used for both forcible entry and scene illumination. According to OzarksFirst.com, one item stolen was a “halogen bar”.
Just two months after the Central Crossing Fire District headquartered in Shell Knob opened a new fire station, that station has been robbed.
The theft was discovered Wednesday morning when firefighters went to the unstaffed Fire Station 7 to perform inventory and maintenance tasks , said Fire Chief Rusty Rickard.
Firefighters found someone had forced entry and stolen almost $30,000 of firefighting equipment. Vehicles in the station were not taken.
“They mainly took personal protective equipment, which is about $2,500 a set to replace,” said Rickard.
The station, which is off Missouri 76 between Shell Knob and Cape Fair, has been shut down. The Central Crossing Fire District encompasses about 135 square miles and maintains six other stations.
“They also took a lot of tools, chain saws, fans to blow smoke out of homes. Axes, pry bars, chains … . Seventy-five to 80 percent of that stuff was brand new, just purchased,” said Rickard.
Most of the stolen items carry tags or engravings bearing the initials CCFD for “Central Crossing Fire District” and inventory numbers.
Rickard filed a police report and also got the word out to other fire departments through various e-mail lists. He hopes if the thieves are approaching other departments to sell the items, staff at those other departments will be alert and help them catch the thieves.
Rickard is also working with the department’s insurance company on a claim.
“We are also trying to scrounge together what equipment we can so we can get things back going,” he said.
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The primary care physicians of Engine 10: The picture above is from Doug Mills of the New York Times. It accompanies an article in today’s paper by Ian Urbina that gives the view of health care from the perspective of the firefighters assigned to what is often the busiest engine company in the country. The headline for the article reads “Some Firefighters Are More Like Doctors”. Riding along at DC’s “House of Pain”, Urbina doesn’t talk about this problem with city officials. He focuses on the thoughts of the firefighters who deal with this every work day. Read the article. Click here for the audio slide show.
Really lost: I heard this one myself Tuesday night and could sense the frustration on the radio. An engine company crew tried for 48-minutes to guide an ambulance to the scene of an injured person at a senior citizens’ home in Prince George’s County, Maryland. The ambulance, from Riverdale VFD, never made it. A second ambulance was sent. We have details, maps and video for you. Click here.
NEW- Station fire turns into homicide probe: Incendiary material has been found at the area of origin in the Station fire that left two Los Angeles County firefighters dead. It is the largest wildfire in the county’s history. Firegeezer has the update this morning.
NEW- First Amendment issues in Austin: There are some new and old parts of the Austin Fire Department’s Code of Conduct getting some attention these day. The old section says an AFD employee “shall not criticize or ridicule the department, its policies, its officers or other members by speech, writing, or other expression”. Add the new language addressing Twitter, Facebook, cell phone pictures and the like that says “any written, auditory, and/or visual messages … are the sole property of [the Austin Fire Department]” and the union is having some issues about all of this. Click here for the story from the Daily Texan.
What? And give up show business: I guess this comes this is what they mean by “all hazards”. Some FDNY controversy as union officials point out Engine 245 was shut down for a half-hour on Wednesday to give Suzie a bath. Suzie is a circus elephant. Read and watch the story.
NEW- Fire truck recall: A recall by HME of 2009 1871 fire trucks with Cummins diesel engines. Read the details here. (The interesting thing about this type of vehicle recall is that there are only 29 of them.)
NEW- Mayor orders cuts in Reading, Pennsylvania: Significant layoffs for public safety. In the fire department 24 could go with 11 other positions left unfilled. That appears to be about 25 percent of the department. Click here and here for the story.
Cyber warfare in Boston: With Boston’s Mayor Thomas Menino up for reelection, the firefighters have taken notice. IAFF Local 718 has a video and a website called FireFighterthesmears.com. Click here for the story, the video and the links.
In Tulsa a politician calls what they are doing in Boston “thuggery”: Politically active firefighters with the union in Tulsa, Oklahoma are actively supporting three candidates for City Council who are running against incumbents. Some of those current council members aren’t happy and think the firefighters may be violating the law. Read and watch the story.
Chief calls lay offs toughest day on the job: St. Petersburg Fire & Rescue Chief James Large told five firefighters on Tuesday they being laid off and then sent a memo to the department explaining the actions. Click here to read it. Read an article on the lay offs.
Fire station shot up: In Lincoln Parish, Louisiana someone left multiple bullet holes at a firehouse. One fire truck was also hit. Click here for the story.
An interesting perspective on the sleeping chief: Billy Goldfeder questions the official statement by the Chicago Fire Department in the case of the battalion chief who slept through a two-alarm fire. He points out that you can’t have it both ways when you try to tell the press and the public that everything was okay on the fireground even though the chief didn’t make it. Check it out.
Filling the boot in Fairfax County: I know they will give me the boot if I don’t mention the efforts of firefighters in my own county to raise money for MDA. Click here or here for the details from IAFF Local 2068.
A firefighter never forgets. FDNY Engine 245's date with Suzie is making headlines. Elephant washing shuts firehouse.
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From the AP:
A firefighters union says a New York City engine company had to close its firehouse for 30 minutes to bathe a circus elephant on city orders.
The Uniformed Firefighters Association says Brooklyn’s Engine Company 245 didn’t want to participate in the photo opportunity with circus elephant Suzie, part of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey show in Coney Island. But it says city officials ordered the engine company to participate.
The firehouse closed Wednesday while four firefighters and an officer went to scrub Suzie. About 10 firefighters stayed behind.
The fire department says firefighters were only supposed to spray the elephant when it walked by the firehouse and weren’t ordered to close. It says closing the firehouse was a mistake.
It hasn’t said if any emergency calls came in while the firehouse was closed.
Lost ambulance: Prince George's County firefighters wait 48-minutes for ambulance crew. First unit never made it to scene. Second ambulance sent.
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Read entire response from Riverdale VFD Chief Charles Ryan III
Read entire response from PGFD Chief Spokesman Mark Brady
Watch 9NEWS NOW 6:00 PM report (or here)
While everyone seemed to keep their cool, there was a great deal of frustration evident on the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department radio system Tuesday night. A fire engine crew was with an injured elderly woman at an apartment complex and couldn’t get an ambulance to come to the scene.
A PGFD spokesman and the chief of the Riverdale Volunteer Fire Department (Station 807) confirm that despite efforts of the firefighters to guide the lost Riverdale crew, a second ambulance had to be sent, arriving 48-minutes after the initial dispatch. Ambulance 807 never got to the scene.
PGFD Chief Spokesman Mark Brady tells STATter911.com, “The lack of a timely response and arrival is totally unacceptable.” Brady believes the delay had no adverse impact on the patient’s condition. The elderly woman was treated by the engine crew during the wait for an ambulance.
Riverdale VFD Chief Charles Ryan III wrote in an email to STATter911.com there were some mitigating circumstances, but that “Ultimately, there is no acceptable excuse”. Chief Ryan says he has been “deeply involved in the investigation” and has counseled the individuals and clarified “what steps they need to take to ensure this doesn’t happen in the future”.
Google Maps view of the area. The red arrow points to 4915 Eastern Avenue. Click the image for more.
According to Mark Brady and Chief Ryan, the call was dispatched at 8:42 PM for an injured woman at 4915 Eastern Avenue. The building is a large, four-story senior citizen’s complex known as Avondale Park.
Engine 855 from Bunker Hill and Riverdale’s Ambulance 807 were dispatched. Brady says that “Engine 855 arrived, made patient contact and initiated BLS care for a small laceration to the face of one of our senior citizens at 8:47 PM.”
Here is Brady’s written account of what happened next:
The crew on-board Ambulance 807 was not familiar with the location or the route to the incident location and was provided directions over the radio to the scene from Engine 855. After 30 minutes since the 911 call was placed, despite receiving directions, Ambulance 807 was still not on location (9:22 PM).
The next closest BLS ambulance, Ambulance 801, Hyattsville, was dispatched on the call and arrived at 9:30 PM. Ambulance 801 transported the patient to a local hospital at 9:43 PM.
Those who monitored the conversations between Engine 855 and Ambulance 807 on PGFD’s Channel 4 heard the engine crew, on multiple occasions, calmly providing directions. Brady says the ambulance crew kept giving updated ETAs.
The apartment is accessed through the same entrance and property as St. Ann’s Infant and Maternity Home at 4901 Eastern Avenue. St. Ann’s has long been a frequent user of the ambulance service in Prince George’s County and is well known to ambulance crews in the area. Residents at 4915 Eastern Avenue also say that fire trucks and ambulances frequently respond to emergencies at their building. The crew from Engine 855 used St. Ann’s as a landmark to help guide the responding ambulance.
Eastern Avenue is the Prince George’s County border with the District of Columbia along the city’s Northeast quadrant. Eastern Avenue at that point is split, with the road dead ending between the 5000 block and the 4900 block at one end of the large property owned by the Archdiocese of Washington. The 4900 block picks up as Gallatin Street, NE ends. Residents tell us visitors often have difficulty finding the building.
In trying to follow the directions provided by the firefighters on the scene, the crew from Ambulance 807 found itself at one point in DC along South Dakota Avenue after missing the turns provided by the engine crew.
Ambulance 807 was canceled and put back in service at 9:30 PM when Ambulance 801 arrived at the apartment building. The Hyattsville fire station is about three-miles from the Eastern Avenue location. That is about a mile closer to the scene than Riverdale’s station. Ambulance 801 was on another call when the Eastern Avenue emergency was dispatched. Ambulance 801 had returned to service from the previous call at 9:01 PM and was in quarters when it was dispatched to Eastern Avenue.
Station 807 is considered the fourth due company to 4915 Eastern Avenue.
Image of Page 8 from Station 855′s map book. It is unclear if this map was available to the crew from Ambulance 807.
Riverdale’s Chief Ryan indicated that the GPS unit inside the ambulance provided the wrong location. STATter911.com found a similar problem using a GPS unit. It took us to Carson Circle off of Queens Chapel Road, about a half mile from 4915 Eastern Avenue.
Besides the GPS issue, Chief Ryan wrote that the map pages of this area Station 855 provides to neighboring companies are “unacceptable”. In his email Chief Ryan attached one page from Station 855′s map book. It gives a general overview of the area, has “4915″ labeled above the words “Gallatin Street NE” and shows access from Eastern Avenue and Gallatin Street. It also points to a more detailed map on Page 8 of the book. It is unclear if the crew from Ambulance 807 had Page 8 in their book (that map was not provided by Chief Ryan). A look at a similar map book at Station 855 on Thursday showed Page 8 providing a much more detailed map of the complex.
Chief Ryan also said there were incorrect cross streets on the dispatch printout from the CAD.
Mark Brady says the entire incident, and not just the actions of the crew on Ambulance 807, is being reviewed by PGFD officials.
Like Brady, Chief Ryan pointed out “the delay did not have a negative impact on the patient’s outcome.”
Chief Ryan did take issue with Mark Brady. In his statement to STATter911.com Chief Ryan wrote, “Mr. Brady, before offering any response should ha
ve had the decency and professional courtesy to contact me before releasing any response as I have been deeply involved in the investigation, counseling and ultimate conclusion to this incident since its occurrence …”.
Boston's cyberwar. Firefighters take to the web in a big way to battle Mayor Thomas Menino and oppose his reelection. Watch the video.
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Last night, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino went head to head with three people who want his job during a televised debate. The three men running against Menino aren’t the only ones who want to see new leadership in Boston.
We have been carrying the stories since 2007 about the very rocky relationship between IAFF Local 718 and Mayor Menino. With election season in full swing the firefighters are using the web to mount an attack.
The video above is part of that effort. The union also has a blog called firefightthesmears.com. President Edward Kelley describes the union’s campaign this way -
This website-your website-will state the facts clearly, including our commitment to deliver Boston’s residents with the best service possible, in the safest manner possible. For, if we are not safe, you are not safe. The Mayor has painted our union as being unwilling to make positive change, nothing could be further from the truth.
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