A man was arrested Saturday on suspicion of setting a small fire at the temporary home for the remains of thousands of World Trade Center victims, police said.
Police announced the arrest nearly 12 hours after the fire, which was set following a break-in. Charges against the 26-year-old were pending, police said.
The smoldering flames in a section of the facility’s chapel on Manhattan’s East Side were quickly extinguished.
Firefighters got a call at about 9 a.m. to respond to Memorial Park, a weatherproof tent on Manhattan’s East Side where the city is storing the remains of 9/11 victims who have yet to be identified.
The fire damaged a wooden bench, while mementos — pictures, notes, flowers — honoring the dead disappeared.
“Anyone who would set fire to the inviolable Memorial Park chapel is craven and contemptible,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement.
Fire marshals and police were investigating.
Nazli Parvizi, the mayor’s community affairs commissioner, sent 9/11 families an e-mail informing them of the incident. Sally Regenhard, whose son perished at the World Trade Center, forwarded the statement to The Associated Press.
Parvizi told the families that about an hour before the fire started, a break-in was discovered in the chapel. Memorial Park is near the city medical examiner’s office, which created special photo IDs to be used by families to enter the site.
Authorities were unsure whether the mementos had been stolen or burned, “but little remains inside the chapel,” said Parvizi, adding that the structure showed some smoke damage.
Lt. Kelli Weeks was Ms. October in the 2008 America's Female Firefighters calendar. Holly Kuhn, also from the Bourne Fire Department, was Ms. March. Click the image to see more photos and read the story about their involvement with the calendar that is used to raise money for the People's Burn Foundation and the IAFF Burn Foundation.
There’s something happening here. What it is ain’t exactly clear. Every time I look, the 48-member Bourne Fire Department in Massachusetts is in the news.
Earlier we told you about Deputy Chief Paul Weeks, charged with rape, who has been allowed back to full duty while the charges are adjudicated. Yesterday, firefighters were called to the Bourne Police Department to be questioned about an investigation that apparently involves Weeks’ wife, Lt. Kelli Weeks.
Picture of Lt. Kelli Weeks. The Cape Cod Times described Weeks this way: "Weeks, who came to the department in 2001, was promoted to lieutenant in 2006. She is originally from Attleboro and made news when she was featured in the 2008 America's Female Firefighters calendar, a national charity effort to raise money for the People's Burn Foundation in Indianapolis and the International Association of Fire Fighters Burn Foundation." Click the image to read the October 24, 2009 article about Lt. Weeks.
That mysterious probe has been going on for a while. We say mysterious, because no one is saying anything publicly about details of the investigation. The Cape Cod Times has been trying unsuccessfully since August to find out some specifics. The state is now reviewing the paper’s appeal to the town’s refusal to supply records. Union officials have urged that the documents be released and have expressed no confidence in Lt. Weeks and Town Administrator Thomas Guerino.
On Wednesday, police were called to the Main Street station to handle a domestic dispute. A female firefighter said she was receiving harassing text messages and phone calls from her ex-husband.
Also, a firefighter is not working because of job related stress after being twice accused by Guerino as being a source for news stories.
And yes, the Bourne Fire Department’s Sagamore Beach station is embroiled in that controversy you may have read about where the weekly veterinary clinic is held in the building.
Bourne police Chief Earl Baldwin confirmed the interviews were taking place.
“They are being interviewed,” Baldwin said. “But this is not in regard to the criminal investigation (into Weeks). This is not a criminal matter. The interviews really don’t have anything to do with the police department other than we’re the ones doing them.”
Bourne Town Administrator Thomas Guerino from the Cape Cod Times.
Baldwin said more information may be available next week.As the controversies have played out, union officials have called for town officials to release information regarding the investigation into Kelli Weeks to the public. Both Guerino and
In a memo from Guerino to (Acting Fire Chief Danel) Doucette, obtained by the Times yesterday, and dated Thursday, Guerino said questionable factual reports have shown up in local papers, a contention that union officials have disputed.
Doucette have threatened to fire anyone caught talking to the press, which has caused tension at the department. At least one firefighter is not working because of job-related stress.
Clearly there are a lot of unanswered questions in Bourne.
Above is a video of the Bourne Fire Department in less turbulent times. The department received some good press for rescuing a cat at a house fire on April 15 of this year. Maybe crossing paths with the cat was bad luck. Click here, here and here for more Bourne Fire Department videos.
Two people were killed — including one person on the ground — when a Cessna 310 crashed into a home in the 2300 block of Walker Drive in Gwinnett County Friday afternoon.
Homes around the crash site were evacuated shortly after the crash, which happened just after 1 p.m. The crash caused a fire which gutted the house.
Picture shortly after crash provided to WXIA-TV by Arthur Gray.
Two people were killed in the crash — one was a woman inside the home, and the second was the pilot of the plane.
“Right now it appears that we have two fatalities, one inside the house and the pilot on board the plane,” said Captain Tommy Rutledge of the Gwinnett County Fire Department.
The woman was inside the home with her husband when the crash happened — he was able to escape uninjured.
NTSB investigator Butch Wilson said the plane shattered on impact. Investigators said they may never be able to determine what happened.
“There’s not really much left of the house or the airplane,” Wilson said. “Most of it has been consumed in the fire. What we do have left, we will examine.”
A neighbor said that he was at home working on his computer when he heard a low-flying airplane, followed by a crash that blew his windows out. He said he dived under his desk, and when he came out, he saw that his neighbor’s house was up in flames.
The twin-engine plane had just taken off from Briscoe Field, apparently loaded with fuel. The plane was en route to Sparta, Tenn., when the crash happened. Air traffic controllers got no word of trouble prior to the crash.
“They were in transition to the Atlanta radio tower, the airport tower. They, according to Gwinnett’s Airport tower, did not make contact with the Atlanta tower and there was no distress signal that was given to the Gwinnett tower from the plane,” Rutledge said.
Neighbors who heard and felt the explosion were stunned with not only the loss of life, but the realization that the plane could have hit anyone’s home.
NEW- Where’s a fire marshal when you need one?: Actually, in this case they were all over the place. A STATter911.com reader alerted us that officials had to handle an overcrowding problem at a public facility in Baltimore on Wednesday. It was in the meeting room where the International Code Council was dealing with the sprinkler issue. The fire service response apparently contributed to this condition. It also greatly helped to bring a quick resolution. A Baltimore Fire Department inspector and the city’s FM made sure the ICC set a good example after noticing the problem. Chief Jim Clack provided these details by email:
Before supper, BCFD Fire Marshal Ray O’Brocki told the leadership of the ICC that the room had to be reconfigured by removing tables and making more chairs available for members. This was done during the dinner break and afterwards the crowding issue was much better. The turnout for the vote from the fire service was nothing less than spectacular. It made me proud to be part of this great profession.
Ladder truck leaves station without an important crew member: Boise, Idaho’s only tillered truck left the firehouse on Thursday after with no one in the tiller seat. Click here for the pictures of what happened next.
Interesting story on how the vehicle ended up like this. Click the image to read the story behind the AP photo by Bill Lackey at the Springfield News-Sun.
“We should send firefighters around because everyone opens their door for firefighters”: Gov. Martin O’Malley of Maryland with an unusual idea on how to make sure people fill out their 2010 census forms. We think this was likely not a serious suggestion for another duty in your all-hazards department. But, we also didn’t think anyone was serious with the idea that firefighters should be helping with the digital TV switch over. Here is the article.
Investigation finds nothing to drinking charges: A former member claimed that firefighters from the Towamencin Volunteer Fire Company in Pennsylvania were responding to calls drunk. A municipal investigation has found no merit to the claims. Click here for the update.
Residents lit beehive starting fire that injured two firefighters: The beehive was in a landing of the apartment building in Kissimmee, Florida. The extermination effort could have taken out more than a bunch of bees. Two firefighters were injured when the roof came in on them during the fire Sunday evening. Click here for the latest.
UK firefighter dies during kick-boxing match: It was 26-year-old Daniel Edmonds first organized kick-boxing tournament. A single blow to the head killed him. More on the firefighter from Watford here.
Tanker lost in fatal wreck still not replaced: FirefightingNews.com found this story from Maine where a cabin fire was impacted by the tanker that still hasn’t been replaced after a firefighter was killed during its wreck two-years-ago.
Four firefighters are assigned to Boise Fire Department’s Truck 5. Only three were on board when the crew left the station to respond to an automatic fire alarm at Adams Elementary School.
The rig sideswiped a pick-up truck shortly after leaving Fire Station 5 on South 16th Street. No one was hurt and the truck is back in service.
The investigation is still ongoing, but officers and Boise Fire officials say it appears the ladder truck may have been at fault, being driven without one of its key personnel on board – the rear driver, Boise Police said in a release.
“When there is any kind of collision involving a citizen’s vehicle one of our fire apparatus, we take it very seriously,” said Boise Fire Chief Dennis Doan. “In this case, most importantly, we’re thankful no one was hurt.”
When officers arrived on scene, witnesses, including firefighters and the driver of the pick up told officers the ladder truck had just left Fire Station 5 at 212 S. 16th Street on an emergency call, when turning right, or east onto Grove, the tail end of the fire truck swung wide and hit the driver’s side of the Tacoma that was headed west on Grove.
In accordance with Boise City policy, both assigned drivers of the fire truck are currently being drug tested. City policy dictates any driver of a city vehicle involved in a collision that results in disabling damage of another vehicle is subject to post-accident drug testing. Boise Police officers investigating the accident say there was no indication drugs or alcohol were involved.
Banned in Baltimore: Helmet-cams and other cameras are not allowed to be used by firefighters responding on calls in Baltimore. There was a reminder sent out on Tuesday of a previous order covering this issue. Read the details.
St. Elmo’s fire: An explosion and fire at a natural gas pipeline company in St. Elmo, Illinois on Wednesday afternoon left two workers injured. Click the image to read and watch more on the story.
One more from Baltimore: Both the officers and firefighters unions vote for the furlough option as the lesser of two evils in their negotiations with the city. Click here to read and watch the story.
Fire company sues manufacturer over crash: In Edmonton, Kentucky, the North Metcalfe VFD says an improperly installed tank on a tanker allowed the rig to overturn, injuring two firefighters. Read more.
Citizen shuts down fire station: LAFD’s Station 42 in Eagle Rock was evacuated on Wednesday for an hour after a citizen brought in what looked like an explosive device. It turned out to be a smoke grenade. Read more.
Arson ring arrest: Firegeezer has a lot of details and video from the arson ring finally shut down in New Castle, PA.
NEW- Firefighters assaulted: One firefighter was punched the other had his watch broken by a man they were trying to help in Lockport, NY. Click here for the story.
NEW- I wonder if they will soap your window or TP the lawn if the answer is no: In Prince George’s County, Maryland firefighters will be going door to door on Halloween with the following message, “Trick or treat, we want to hear beep, beep, beep.” If the answer is yes PIO Mark Brady tells us in his press release that the “homeowner will receive coupons good for complimentary popcorn and soda from AMC Movie Theatres.”
NEW- Part time chief only lasts two days: In Davenport, Florida the man hired at the start of last week to be the part time fire chief had to quit two days later. He had received a promotion at his full time job that no longer gave him the flexibility he needed to handle both positions. Read more.
Previous STATter911.com coverage of this issue here, here and here
It appears we won’t be seeing many more videos like this one from the website of the Baltimore Fire Department’s Engine 8 & Truck 10. While we recently told you of the new policy by the Houston Fire Department banning helmet-cams and the like, Baltimore’s policy had already been in place.
Yesterday, Assistant Chief of Operations Donald Heinbuch sent out a friendly reminder that reads:
The use of any type of recording device by on duty members on Fire Property or Vehicles is prohibited. Included are cameras, video recorders, audio recorders and recorders on cell phones.
Members are prohibited from using these devices while on duty and responding to or operating on incidents.
Unit officers may approve the use of cameras and/or recorders by on duty personnel for photographing apparatus and members in nonemergency situations. Otherwise, only personnel authorized by the Chief of Fire Department may use recording devices under the conditions specified when authorization is granted.
Apparently this was the goal, but the timing was off: It takes a while for the photographer to get to the scene on this one in Paterson, New Jersey last night. The best we can tell from a brief news report and the description on YouTube is that a demolition crew working on getting rid of an 8-story office building at a hospital complex left for the day. It was then that the building decided to save the crew some work and a big part of it came down on its own. According to the photographer, this brought in a very big response from a whole lot of agencies. If you want the full tour, here’s Part 2.
NTSB report finds fault with pilot, air traffic control and search operation: Having listened to the search for Maryland State Police Trooper 2 very early on Sunday morning, September 28, 2008, it was obvious that something wasn’t right. This was just not supposed to happen again. I had covered the search in the fog for Trooper 3 on a Sunday morning 23-years earlier. No one knew that pilot and medic were missing until the relief crew discovered the chopper wasn’t in its hanger in Frederick. The search was centered in Carroll County, but the wreckage was found in Baltimore’s Leakin Park, long after the crash occurred. That accident eventually brought a new fleet of helicopters and technology that was supposed to allow SYSCOM to keep track of the choppers at all times. Clearly that system failed. On top of that, as we first reported two days after the crash of Trooper 2, there were serious communications failures between, MSP, SYSCOM and Prince George’s County. The NTSB has now addressed these issues. In its preliminary report, released yesterday, not only do investigators place blame for the deadly crash, they have some very specific findings about the search and rescue operation. Click here to read the report and our coverage.
A decent or indecent proposal? You be the judge. There is a lot missing to this story in both the web and TV versions. All I get from it is that a Selden, New York firefighter staged a car crash, fellow firefighters lured his girlfriend in to hold an IV bag and she walks away with a ring. Please tell us more. Click the image to watch the brief story.
Graphic allegations in suit filed by two female firefighters: Both firefighters have been on leave from the fire department in Westbrook, Maine for more than a year. They are claiming discrimination, defamation and retaliation. There have previously been demotions, suspensions and reprimands for seven firefighters in connection with this case. Here is an excerpt about the suit from an article on KeepMeCurrent. com-
The complaint by Kathy Rogers and Lisa Theberge makes claims about inappropriate conduct in the department, including masturbation in the fire station and inappropriate touching of victims while being transported in a rescue vehicle.
North of the border: LAFD just finished another training session for firefighters from Mexico. Click here.
The proposal includes a pay reduction of 10.5 percent, the elimination of holiday bonus pay and the reduction of other bonuses, requiring firefighters to pay an additional 5 percent of their health insurance premiums. Also eliminated would be three positions: an assistant chief, a deputy chief and a division chief.
Ex-wife and her new husband charged in firefighter’s murder: We told you earlier of the suspicious fire in West Virginia where the body of Rockingham County, Virginia firefighter Dennis “Chip” Taylor and two others were found. Taylor’s ex-wife and her current husband are now in custody. Read the details.
An unusual one from FirefighterCloseCalls.com: A new firefighter came out of a burn building in Spalding County, Georgia and began being verbally abusive and made threats against fellow firefighters. According to the account in Firefighter Close Calls he then ran into the roadway and grabbed the mirror on a woman’s car. He ended up going to the hospital with road rash. I haven’t a clue. Click here for the whole story.
We finally know the most-likely cause of that horrible crash of a Maryland State Police helicopter.
The pilot, two medics, and an accident victim died a year ago –and just one teenager survived.
The National Transportation Safety Board is blaming pilot Stephen Bunker, who unexpectedly flew into a dense cloud bank, and then tried desperately to get below it.
He was looking so frantically for the ground that he ignored an altimeter that might have warned him he was about to crash into it.
But the Board also says a whole series of other mistakes by air traffic controllers contributed to the crisis.
“I wear the bracelet with everyone’s name on it,” says Jordan Wells, who was the only survivor. She’ll never forget the crash that killed her friend Ashley and three other people trying to rush the teens to a hospital.
“The look on Lippy’s face, then I heard something brush against the helicopter,” says Wells. “Then I blacked out because I broke this side of my face.”
Wells came to the NTSB hearing, hoping the long investigation will help save other lives.
“You can only hope,” she says. “You can only pray that it will fix things and make them better.”
“The probable cause of this accident was the pilots attempt to regain visual conditions by performing a rapid descent,” the NTSB’s David Mayer told the board.
It was a miserable night, and the pilot briefly considered refusing the mission. But based in part on five hour old weather data, he decided to go anyway. And that bad data was just one of the “numerous procedural deficiencies” the NTSB blamed on air traffic controllers, “…including unresponsiveness, inattention, and poor radar vectoring,” said Mayer.
Bunker had almost three decades of experience, but it had been a long time since he’d practiced an instrument landing.
And when he suddenly flew into heavy fog, he failed to follow procedures.
The NTSB is recommending that all public air ambulances be regulated just like commercial aircraft. It’s also pushing for formal risk assessments on every flight, and for new technology like night vision goggles and terrain awareness warning systems.
“We want to make sure when they’re going to save a life, they don’t lose their life, or risk other lives,” says chair Deborah Hersman.
The NTSB also criticized the Maryland State Police for its performance after the crash. It took some time for the agency to even realize the chopper had gone down — and then an hour or so to find it. If not for the heroic efforts of a couple of troopers, it might have taken hours longer to discover the crash scene — even though it was right on an electronic map at Syscom, but just hard to read.
The Maryland State Police says it has already corrected many of the problems, and is working on others. And the NTSB praised the agency for its cooperation.
Below are NTSB finding that deal directly with the search for the downed helicopter:
20. Had two Maryland State Police aviation employees not pursued their own search effort, locating the accident site would likely have taken several more hours than it did.
21. The incident commander’s lack of aviation knowledge diminished the effectiveness of search and rescue activities.
22. Maryland State Police troopers and System Communications Center personnel were insufficiently equipped and trained to conduct a search involving global positioning system coordinates, and this hindered their ability to locate the site of the wreckage.
23. Neither Prince George’s County nor Maryland State Police dispatchers fully understood the importance of obtaining distance and bearing information, as well as the cell tower location, before releasing a location obtained from cell phone ‘pinging;’ this lack of understanding led dispatchers to provide the cell phone tower’s simple street address without context to all units involved in the search. This distracted and confused units already searching a more likely location.
24. The Federal Aviation Administration air traffic control’s inability to produce timely location data also hampered search and rescue efforts.
25. Knowledge of the disjointed search and rescue efforts and the techniques eventually employed to locate the accident site could provide valuable lessons to agencies, such as Helicopter Emergency Medical Services dispatch centers, 911 dispatch centers, and fire, police, and sheriff’s departments, involved in search and rescue efforts.
Police in Rialto, California shut down a “haunted house” Friday night because it was unsafe. It had been set up in a burned out home. That home, at 1460 North Lilac Avenue, caught fire on May 29. Inside the home firefighters found five-year-old Mario Sisneros and three-year-old David Sisneros. The boys died hours later.
KTLA-TV reports Irma Delgado, the boys’ grandmother, attempted to get the boys to crawl to safety.
The mother of the children is the person who turned the home into a “haunted house”. Twenty-seven-year-old Viviana Delgado says it is how she is coping with her loss.
Here are excerpts from KTLA-TV’s story:
“It’s my way of saying happy Halloween to my kids.”
Delgado says she is planning to have pony rides as a part of the “haunted house.”
Amid Halloween décor including monsters and spooky signs, a planter sits on on the lawn, filled with some Mario and David Sisneros’ toys– a scooter, a toy tractor, and stuffed animals.
In the midst of the boyhood trinkets are two plastic buckets, each holding a picture of one of the two deceased boys, as well as a crucifix.
Two tombstone decorations can be seen on the lawn.
“People don’t know what I’m going through, they don’t know how I feel,” Delgado said. “This is how we’re going to spend Halloween together.”
Though Delgado says the “haunted house” is a tribute to her boys on their favorite holiday, some neighbors consider the scene to be “ghoulish” and “macabre.”
Delgado is inviting visitors to walk the very halls where her sons attempted to crawl under the deadly smoke. She says there will be flashing lights and a Halloween soundtrack playing for effect.
“Since it’s a haunted house, it has to be some kind of scary,” she said.
House fire in Massachusetts: This is from around 1:00 PM on Monday on Boston Road in Sutton, Massachusetts. News reports indicate a firefighter was injured during the fire. The fire extended from the carport into the house. Neighbors reported hearing an explosion before the fire was discovered. More from ProvidenceFireVideos.com
Role reversal – firefighter catches drunk police officer: The Toledo police officer had been called to investigate an accident involving a fire truck. The cop was arrested. Read more.
Reversal of view at the Niagara on the Lake fire: The video at the top of yesterday’s “Quick Takes” was a commercial fire in Ontario. That video was shot in the rear of the businesses. Click here and here for the view on Side A.
Fire boat burns: Firefighters in Beaufort, South Carolina are looking for a new boat to replace a Carolina Skiff destroyed with another boat during a fire at a boat repair shop. Here’s the story.
Rescuing the firehouse: It was built 70-years-ago as a public works project. Now LAFD’s Station 39 in Van Nuys is the oldest station still operating. It is too small and lacks amenities. But some firefighters and others are trying to save it. Read more.
Famed director says he will stay and fight during next wildfire in his L.A. neighborhood: James Cameron says he has a swimming pool full of water, a pump and Class A foam. Read more.
Random drug testing in Pittsburgh: It was something the mayor insisted on after a series of incidents involving firefighters. Read and watch the story.
Candidate makes firefighter/council member’s use of sick leave an issue: In Woodbridge, New Jersey, the incumbent council member is a fire captain. His opponent is making an issue of how and when the captain has used his sick leave. Read the story.
New rigs will change staffing: In Quincy, Illinois the fire chief wants $1 million to buy a new quint and rescue pumper. His plan is to cut the number of fire trucks on the road and change the staffing configuration. No one will lose their jobs, but there will liekly be demotions under the plan. Read the details.
Controversy over FM appointment: In Rochester, New York the firefighters’ union is protesting the filling of the fire marshal’s job with a non-firefighter who is a political appointee. Read the details.
Graffiti may be clue in Puerto Rico: Investigators trying to determine if the tank farm fire was an accident discover some interesting graffiti in a tunnel. Click here for the story.
House fire in Canada: This is from New Brunswick. Here is the description posted with the video- Moncton Fire Dept had to respond to this house fire at 46593 Homestead Rd. ( Old Trans Canada) because Salisbury Fire had no manpower at the time. Riverview Fire , Petticodiac also responded. House was fully engulfed and at one time fireman said there were people trapped. Fire call came in at 2:17pm and at 2:33 pm everyone was out ok.
Ambulance was needed at the scene and by 3:10 pm firefighters had the fire knocked down.
In Toledo, Ohio a bit of an unusual story. An on-duty police officer has been arrested and charged with drunk driving. The man who blew the whistle on him is a firefighter.
According to the Toledo Blade, Officer James Breier, on patrol Friday afternoon, was sent to investigate an accident involving a Toledo fire truck. Arriving on the scene, Officer Breier interacted with a battalion chief. It was the chief who noticed the smell of alcohol on Breier’s breath.
A police sergeant sent to the scene agreed and had Officer Breier taken into custody. Officer Breier, on the force since 1982, has been suspended without pay.
Commercial fire – roof operations: This is a fire Sunday in Ontario’s Niagara on the Lake. The building where the firefighter is on the roof is believed to be an old fire hall. It was most recently a garden store. News reports indicate the fire started in the basement of this building and spread to another building. Four businesses were destroyed. The firefighter is forced to make a quick retreat from the roof at about 5:50 on the video.
One of those must see videos: I have no idea if this recovery of a tanker truck at the scene of a wreck is old or new, or where it was taken. There is no fire department on the scene and that may be one of the big problems. One hazmat expert, pointing to the lack of smoke, believes the product could be ethanol or something similar. If you know anything about this incident, please fill us in. Click here to watch it.
Banned in Houston: Helmet-cams: The Houston Fire Department has outlawed the used of helmet-cams by its firefighters. It is now a firing offense. This is an issue we have discussed on the blog many times. It is being addressed in various ways by fire departments across the country. Click here for the HFD story.
Citizen firefighter gives it her all: This video is well worth watching. A restaurant worker decides to battle the flames. It looks like they both get knocked down. Click here.
Engine 236 & Ladder 107: Click here for our coverage of the collision of these two FDNY rigs in Brooklyn on Saturday.
Great series of pictures from Canada: A restaurant fire and gas leak on Saturday morning lights up the pages of CodeRouge.com. Click here.
Bomb or no bomb: Is it bomb making materials or is the guy a model rocket enthusiast? Depends on who you talk to about an explosion that injured a man in Rhode Island. Firegeezer tries to sort if out.
Close-up tours in Puerto Rico: We have two videos that show you the firefighting operations at the tank farm fire in Puerto Rico. Click here. The earlier coverage is here.
Virginia firefighter & two others killed in suspicious fire in West Virginia home: VAFireNews.com has the details on the death of Rockingham County’s Dennis Taylor.
Inmate/firefighter rescued: This rescue at a wildfire in California was of an inmate/firefighter. Read his story.
Arbitrator’s ruling on minimum staffing has city going to court: In Lockport, New York the firefighters won the first round on minimum staffing for each shift. But city officials say they won’t hire the nine firefighters needed to comply with the ruling, or pay out the OT to fill the slots. Instead the city plans to go to court. Here’s the story.
Journalistically this is unsound in every way. But it is a good story that happens to be the truth about one of the good guys: The woman who wrote the article has anything but an arm’s length relationship with her subject. The blog that posted the article employs the person it is written about. As a reporter, I shouldn’t be touching this one at all. But I have to tell you it is one of the more interesting fire service articles I have read in a while about a guy who retired from PGFD, regretted his move and did something about it. Check out the story of Charlie Flinn. (Just in case there aren’t enough conflicts of interest for you, the article’s author once nominated the editor of this blog for an award.)
Garage fire in Gary: This is from Saturday in the 3100 block of Gerry. According to the description with the video there were no hydrants in the area and the Gary crews were assisted by a tanker from Lake Ridge.
Previous STATter911.com coverage of this issue here, here and here.
You likely have seen the video above at some point or another. Houston firefighters rescue a man trapped behind burglar bars in a burning home. I was caught on video through the helmet-cam worn by Captain Brad Stewart at Engine 15.
The Houston Fire Department has issued a rule for all firefighters that no helmet cameras are allowed. If any clip shows up online now that the rule has passed, firefighters say they know they’ll face suspension or firing.
While those clips may show heroics, fire department headquarters is clearly moving to avoid the flip side of that coin. What happens if a helmet camera is recording when something goes terribly wrong? Even if it doesn’t end up online, it could lead to liability for the city, or images that could scar a grieving family for life.
Ask any firefighter and they’ll tell you that things always go wrong, even at fires that seem ‘textbook’ from afar. Nothing is predictable when a house is burning and crews are scurrying to deploy their training to put it out. Even when a seasoned firefighter encounters something that he’s done a thousand times before, one tiny variable can send things into chaos at a fire.
The Houston Fire Department’s new policy makes it a fireable offense to possess a helmet camera on the job. Any captain is responsible for making sure his team doesn’t have one.
Several websites focus on displaying firefighting helmet camera videos from around the nation, but this new policy is aimed at making sure no Houston Fire Department videos are added to that collection in the future.
This is one of those where there is no information with the video. I don’t know if it is old or new or where it is from. It was posted on LiveLeak.com earlier today. Feel free to fill me in.
This fire Saturday morning destroyed the Marco Restaurant in Ste. Anne de Bellevue (Montreal area). News reports indicate the fire started in the basement and was discovered around 7:45 AM.
No injuries were reported.
Anne Sutherland, a reporter with The Gazette, interviewed Ste. Anne de Bellevue Mayor Bill Tierney and Montreal Fire Department chief of operations Michel Gareau. Here are excerpts:
“I got a call at 8 a.m. and by the time I got here at 8:10 a.m., there was a lot of smoke and then the flames burst out,” the mayor said as he watched from Cunningham’s restaurant across the street. “It was very dramatic.” A pile of rubble from a collapsed wall covered the gas valve, complicating matters, said Montreal Fire Department chief of operations Michel Gareau.
A gas leak and a burning fire are a dangerous combination, and Gareau cleared everyone out until the leak could be capped.
“We couldn’t close the valve so we had to dig down and find the pipe to shut it off, and in doing so we broke the gas main,” Gareau said.
A before picture of Marco Restaurant. Click the image for the Google Maps Street View tour of the neighborhood.
The restaurant occupied the basement and the first floor of the two-storey brick building. No one was on the premises when the blaze broke out.
Quick work by firefighters saved the adjacent building, a pharmacy, which sustained only smoke and water damage. “In this case, a fire wall did its job and stopped the fire,” Tierney said.
This is an interesting up close view of the tank farm fire in Puerto Rico. Not sure what the people in the car were up to. The news media was also given a tour of the firefighting operations. Check out the video below.
Firefighters made progress in containing a raging fire at an oil storage depot in Puerto Rico, but shifting winds threatened to bring the toxic smoke closer to populated areas, officials warned on Saturday.
However, authorities said air quality remained good, well below toxicity levels that would prompt more evacuations.
The fire has destroyed 18 of the storage facility’s 40 tanks. The governor said only five tanks were still fully ablaze on Saturday, while four had collapsed in the flames and others appeared to have burned out but were still smouldering.
“The fire is contained. We don’t expect it to spread from there,” said Fire Chief Pedro Vazquez.
Firefighters focused on chilling the unaffected tanks and containing the flames. There were 130 firefighters battling the blaze with the support of 30 fire trucks and other equipment.
The New York Daily News reports a firefighter, trapped for two hours in the overturned Ladder 107, gave a thumbs up to a cheering crowd as he was pulled from the wreckage two hours after the collision. As many as 12 firefighters were hurt after Engine 236 and Ladder 107 met at Hedgeman Street and Ashford Avenue in East New York. Another firefighter was freed from the rig earlier.
The two trucks – from Engine 236 and Ladder 107 – were heading to the call at 762 Warwick St. in East New York when the engine truck (do they mean the engine?) T-boned the other at the intersection of Ashford Street and Hegeman Avenue around 9:38 a.m., officials said.
Ladder 107, which was heading north on Ashford, flipped on to its side. Its back end landed on top of a parked minivan, crushing it, and its front end ended up wedged into a tree, witnesses said.
“It went up in the air. I could see the wheels. It spun and then it slammed down on its side and then it slid and stopped wrapped in the tree,” said Everett Groves, 63, a superintendent of a nearby building. “It seemed like he was trying to slam on the brakes but it was going too fast and it could not stop. To think you could turn that thing over.”
The other rig – which had been going west on Hegeman — sped into the front lawn of a nearby home.
“I heard one firefighter yelling, ahhhh,” said witness Everton Brown. “After [the ladder truck] flipped, the one standing on the back flew off the truck and landed on his face. He walked back and sat on the other truck. Then guys from both trucks got out and started to help.”
In all, 13 were hurt. The Fire Department said that 12 were hospitalized — four with serious leg injuries and eight with minor injuries. The other was treated at the scene. No civilians were hurt.
The two firefighters with the most serious leg injuries, Lt. Kevin Washington and the truck’s driver, Robert Pupa, were taken to Brookdale Hospital where they were expected to live.
“They are probably just fractures, but they are going through tests right now,” said a fire department official. “The guys are alert and talking.”
This fire occurred Friday morning around 9:30 AM in Pekin, Illinois. Only about ten of the 70 rooms in the ten-year-old hotel were occupied. Fire officials say the fire began in the attic out of the reach of sprinklers. Here are excerpts from an article by Sharon Woods Harris and Tara Mattimoe of the Pekin Daily Times:
Upon arrival, Pekin firefighters entered the attic with a hose and found it fully engulfed. After attempting to extinguish the fire, firefighters were pulled out because the lightweight wooden trusses supporting the roof burn quickly and the roof was in danger of collapse, (Pekin Fire Chief Kurt) Nelson said.
Within 20 minutes the roof collapsed and disabled the sprinklers in the rest of the building, said Nelson. Once firefighters were outside, the blaze broke completely through the roof, which began to collapse.
Ramesh Patel, manager of the Super 8 Motel, said that when they first noticed the fire it was right above the sign in the middle of the building. Then it spread to the left, then just went everywhere.
The fact that witnesses saw where the fire was erupting from the building first will help determine a cause, said Nelson. He said at this time he suspects an electrical malfunction.
Nelson said the state fire code and the city code does not require sprinklers and alarm systems for attics in hotels and motels, but Nelson said that is something strongly encouraged. Nelson said it would be easy for the city council to make such a requirement.
Pekin City Manager Dennis Kief said the Pekin City Council could revise the city code to make sprinklers a requirement.
“That is something I would purely rely on the fire chief to make a recommendation,” said Kief. “If the chief felt it worth pursing we could get with the inspections board and look at blending it into the fire code.
“But I have to be honest with you — when people come here and look to build here they say, ‘Well, we won’t have to do that in this other town.’ It is probably something we need to look at.”
There are reports now that as many as 14 fuel tanks are burning in the explosion and fire outside San Juan this morning. Here are some of the many videos on YouTube so far. Below is an earlier article by the AP:
An explosion at a Gulf gasoline facility Friday rocked a neighborhood outside Puerto Rico’s capital, causing minor injuries and forcing evacuations as firefighters raced to prevent additional blasts.
Several columns of black smoke and flames were rising from the Caribbean Petroleum Corp., a gasoline warehouse and distribution center on San Juan’s bay that owns the Gulf brand in this U.S. Caribbean territory.
FBI agents on the scene were among those investigating what caused the blast, which struck around 12:30 a.m. (0430 GMT), according to police chief Jose Figueroa Sancha.
A police helicopter that flew over the area confirmed that 11 of more than 30 tanks had exploded, Figueroa Sancha said. Firefighters were planning to chill the remaining tanks in an effort to keep them from exploding. Dozens of fuel trucks were also being moved from the area.
“This is about containment,” firefighter Brenda Rodriguez said.
The fuel company told authorities that all of its employees who were at the plant are safe, Rodriguez said.
Some people who were driving through the area were injured when the explosion shattered their car windows. One of them, truck driver Alredro Nevares, had cuts on his face from a broken windshield, according to his son Luis.
Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said the agency put a temporary flight restriction in place over the area because of smoke.
The flames, which could be seen from miles away, intensified several hours after the explosion and Figueroa Sancha said it would likely take several days to put out the fire.
Authorities were evacuating people from communities downwind from the thick smoke. About 80 people living in a secure facility for Justice Department witnesses were also moved elsewhere, according to attorney general Antonio Sagardia.
Police cars were clearing the way for ambulances and fire trucks arriving on the scene in Catano, across the bay from San Juan, where the blast tore up a highway. Gov. Luis Fortuno urged islanders to stay away from the site to keep the access clear and nearby schools announced they would be closed Friday.
Environmental authorities urged nearby residents to keep their windows shut to avoid potentially dangerous smoke.
A three-alarm fire burned a building in Seattle’s Greenwood neighborhood housing three restaurants and a coffee shop.
Fire Department spokeswoman Dana Vander Houwen says it was reported about 4 a.m. Friday. The roof partially collapsed, forcing firefighters to take defensive positions outside.
There were no injuries except for a firefighter who twisted an ankle.
Investigators are looking for the cause and estimating damages.
Vander Houwen says there was smoke and water damage to the next-door Taproot Theater, but no fire damage. She says firefighters also prevented the flames from spreading to a building on the other side with shops, apartments and an animal shelter with several cats.
Tanker fire in Indianapolis: Video from yesterday during a crash and fire involving a propane truck on I-465. Read the details.
Pre-dawn fire in St. Petersburg, Florida: A large apartment building that is part of a retirement community is burning this morning. Click here or here for the video.
A look back to a tragic day in Baltimore County: Three firefighters were remembered in Dundalk, Maryland yesterday. They died as Shillers Furniture burned on October 22, 1984. I was able to find some video from our library and also have links to the coverage of the ceremony to honor three Baltimore County firefighters. Click here.
$12.7 million for pole hole fall: That’s the award from a jury to a former Seattle firefighter who suffered severe injuries in 2003 after thinking he was heading to the restroom at 3:00 AM. Instead he fell 18 feet through the hole to the ground. Read the story.
Man billed for no-show firefighters: As more and more places bill for fire service there are going to be problems, but this one sure is interesting. A man in Bellevue Township, Michigan says when kids playing with fireworks sparked a brush fire at his home, two firefighters showed up in their personal vehicles to check on the fire he had already put out. The bill charges him for the work of 13 firefighters. Almost sounds like an episode of the Sopranos. Click here to read the story.
Firefighters who went home sick told to now stay home: In North Providence, Rhode Island the mayor claims two firefighters staged a “mini-sickout” when they both went home sick last month instead of going on a temporary transfer to another company for the day. Both firefighters have been suspended. Check out the story.
SConFire.com is now SCFireWire.com: Our friend Grant Mishoe has been the voice of South Carolina for quite a while. His site has a new look and a new name. Check it out.
Neighbors not buying reasons for station closings: In Evansville, Indiana the mayor and fire chief are using words like “efficiency” and phrases like “for the good of the city”, but the people who live near two firehouses that are closing aren’t necessarily buying that message. Click here.
Look at me!: Unfortunately that’s what too many drivers did when firefighter in Fort Walton Beach, Florida had a rope training rescue drill underneath a busy bridge as people went to work. It didn’t help traffic that a lane was also taken. The chief says the training needs to be realistic and safe. Read more.
Three barns burning: In Windsor Locks, CT, this video shows fire spreading among three tobacco barns on Monday. Investigators believe it was deliberately set. Read and watch more.
The Baltimore County Fire Department honored three of its firefighters who were lost 25-years-ago today during a fire at Shillers Furniture on Holabird Avenue in Dundalk. The ceremony was held at 1333 hours, the time of the initial alarm. Killed were Firefighter James Kimbel Jr., Firefighter Walter Barowski and Firefighter Henry Rayner.
It was the second largest line-of-duty loss for Baltimore County. Thirteen-years earlier, four firefighters were killed trying to rescue people from a flood following an intense storm.
On Monday October 22nd 1984, Fire Box 6-2 was struck out at 13:33hrs for a reported building fire at the Shillers Furniture Store in the 7400 block of Holabird Ave. While enroute Engine 6 (Dundalk) advised they had heavy smoke showing from a mile away. Engine’s 6 & 61 arrived at location at 13:37 and advised dispatch they had a 210′ X 130′ 2 story block building with heavy smoke and fire showing.
Baltimore County Fire Department picture
While crews from Engine 6 & 61 started an aggressive interior attack, a 2nd alarm was requested at 13:41.
As Engine companies were stretching lines to the interior of the building they noticed that there was in fact a third floor that was not visible from the exterior. A third alarm was struck out at 13:52 hours it was around this time when conditions started to deteriorate rapidly. One firefighter stated that, as he was exiting the building he was almost blown out of the structure by what he describes as flashover-like conditions and reported that three other firefighters were still inside.
He was the last firefighter to leave the building alive.
Several attempts were made to knock down the fire in the rear so that members could reenter the structure and search for the three trapped firefighters, their attempts were unsuccessful. Shortly after, it was reported that three firefighters were found exiting the rear of the building. It was originally thought that these were the firefighters in question, “that was found not to be true after a roll call was conducted” A 4th alarm was struck out at14:12 and the 5th at 14:32 hrs, a special call for 4 more engines was requested at 14:55 hrs.
A roll call of all fire department personnel was conducted, the process revealed that Three Firefighters were missing and could not be accounted for. Efforts were again made to search for the missing firefighter’s however the rescue attempts were hampered due to the many collapses of the structure.
The bodies of Firefighters Walter Bawroski and Henry Rayner, Jr were recovered in the rear of the building later that evening. Firefighter James Kimbel’s body was recovered the next morning in the center portion of the collapsed building.
It was about a-month-ago that we last checked in with Rhode Island’s North Providence Fire Department. That’s when a battalion chief was arrested on charges he falsified the amount of overtime he had worked. Now two firefighters are suspended after a disciplinary hearing yesterday. The mayor claims the pair were protesting a work assignment. Here are excerpts from a story by the AP:
Mayor Charles Lombardi said the two firefighters were already at work at their station, but went home sick after being ordered to work at other locations in the city that day because their ladder truck was under repair.
Lombardi referred to the Sept. 29 incident as a “mini-walkout, mini-sickout.“ He said the fire department was forced to call in two other firefighters on overtime because of minimum staffing requirements.
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