Capt. Travis Mosher, who was the third in command at the Manassas Park Police Department, has resigned, according to an article at InsideNova.com by reporter Uriah Kiser. This comes one day after a bizarre incident at the installation banquet of the Occoquan-Woodbridge-Lorton Volunteer Fire Department at the fire station on F Street.
Mosher, who turned himself in to Prince William County Police, has been charged with stealing a command vehicle belonging to the Dale City VFD.
OWL Station 2 on F Street from owlvfd.org
Newly sworn in OWL Chief Jim McAllister tells STATter911.com they were in the middle of the banquet Saturday night when he was told the battalion chief’s SUV from Dale City, filling-in at OWL, had been stolen. McAllister says the person who handles security for the fire department was in the banquet hall and was sent to work with Prince William County Police. Security cameras at the firehouse recorded the theft.
According to InsideNova.com, the SUV was abandoned at BJ’s Wholesale Club in Woodbridge.
Chief McAllister says that Travis Mosher was not an invited guest at the banquet. OWL is conducting its own investigation into the incident to determine what contact, if any, Mosher had with people at the firehouse.
“We are looking into the possibility that he came as a guest of someone who was invited to the banquet, or if he just invited himself, and into reports that he showed up on the premises already under the influence of alcohol.” (quote from Chief McAllister)
Dale City Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department Chief Christopher G. Hool said Mosher is not affiliated his department.
On a Web page created on the popular social networking Web site LinkedIn, Mosher lists himself as a “volunteer operations captain” with Prince William County fire department, but sources say he has not been an active volunteer firefighter for at least nine years.
Three firefighters from the North Oldham Fire Department in Kentucky have been released from the hospital after their fire truck rolled over around 1:00 Saturday morning. FirefighterCloseCalls.com reports the three were wearing seatbelts.
The crash knocked out power for hundreds of customers in the Goshen area after the rig hit two power poles and landed on its passenger side.
“The fire apparatus left the road for some unknown reasons,” North Oldham Fire Department Deputy Chief David Stoltz said.
Inside the vehicle, three North Oldham firefighters headed to a residential fire alarm at the Paramount Estates subdivision. Officials say the fire truck was driven by Chief Rick Albers.
A witness who lived nearby said he heard a loud “boom,” not far from an LG&E substation. A helicopter arrived shortly after and those involved received hospital treatment.
“Two were transported by ambulance, one by air ambulance,” Stoltz said.
Officials say the fire truck is a total loss and has been picked up by a wrecker service.
Above, is a house fire from Saturday in the 3700 block of Delaware in Gary, Indiana. The photographer writes it was a basement fire that traveled through the walls into the attic.
Below, is a car fire in the 2100 block of Virginia Avenue, also on Saturday. Why I am running it is the comment heard on the video at 3:54. After a tire explodes, someone yells off camera (officer or driver?), “What did you jump for? It ain’t nothing but rubber.” I am sure many of you have heard something similar to that line at some point in your fire service career.
Above is the original version that was posted of the rowhouse fire in Baltimore Friday morning. Five firefighters were caught in a fireball that raced through and outside the home (both front and rear). There is also a link to the longer version of the video now posted on YouTube. That clip lasts 1:52 and shows what happened immediately after the incident occurred. You will see firefighters bringing out one of the injured.
As of last word on Saturday, one firefighter (the officer of the first arriving engine) remains hospitalized with burns to his ears, neck and face.
The latest number we have on people found alive buried under earthquake rubble in Port au Prince, Haiti by Virginia Task Force 1 is 14. The hard and sometimes frustrating work by all of the USAR teams continues as the hours slip away.
In the video above is one of the survivors from the Hotel Montana. There, the crew from Fairfax County joined colleagues from France in searching for those who could still be alive. One of those they found was a neighbor from the Washington area, Rick Santos. Santos, from Silver Spring, Maryland, is the President and CEO of IMA/World Health.
Here is some more information that Fairfax County officials distributed Sunday morning to various interested parties:
The two teams from Virginia Task Force 1 (USA-1 & USA-5) are now combined into one. Apparently this was necessary due to transportation and fuel issues, but has helped in the management of the resources and enhanced the team’s capabilities.
The last live victim removed by VA-TF 1 involved a 26-hour operation at the University of Port-au-Prince. It was completed at 9:00 PM Saturday. The patient was in critical condition.
The operation at the Hotel Montana has been completed.
Satellite telephone reliability is a continuing problem, but the radio system has worked well.
VA-TF 1 along with CA-TF 2, FL-TF 1, and FL-TF 2 are still working out of the U.S. Embassy.
NY-TF 1 and VA-TF 2 are set up at the airport.
It is possible, but not certain, that teams could be used for “humanitarian efforts” once things switch to a recovery operation.
News reports here and here indicate California Task Force 2 located six victims in the rubble at two different locations. The video above and below follows their work at a collapsed building where the team heard tapping within the debris.
Even now, survivors still emerge from under mounds of concrete. By Saturday, American search teams had pulled out 22 people from collapsed buildings.
Early Sunday, a man and a teenage girl were found alive in the rubble of a grocery store housed in a three-story building that had collapsed. A joint New York police and fire urban rescue team found them. Both were taken to a U.N. hospital at Port-au-Prince’s airport, where the girl, about 13, was treated for leg injuries and the man treated for undetermined injuries.
The team was trying to reach three others who were still trapped, according to a statement Sunday from New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne. The five survived on the grocery store’s inventory of food and water, authorities said.
Nearly 30 international rescue teams continued to comb the disaster areas for more survivors.
The video above was taken on December 18, 2009 well into the operation at the burning apartment building on Jared Street in DuBois, Pennsylvania. A little earlier in the day, shortly after the 7:00 AM call came in, the first person to arrive on the scene was DuBois Fire Chief Jim Corby. Corby found fire on the first and second floors of the multi-story apartment building that also has businesses on the ground floor. The smoke conditions were extreme.
Corby saw a man in the second-floor window calling for help and he could see another face.
Standing about 20 feet below the window, he could do nothing to help the people at the window. He said he felt helpless and was worried they might try to jump or leave the window and run back into the burning building. He became aware that the fire escape was starting to come down and realized that people were getting out of the building using that route.
Chief Jim Corby from DuBois VFD website.
Corby said he was committed to not leaving the people at the window. He told the man, “Help is on the way. Stay low and stay at the window. I know where you are.”
Everything was happening at once; he was maintaining contact with the man at the window, running the fire scene and requesting additional help.
“This was up and beyond the average fire call,” Corby said.
As he anxiously awaited the arrival of fire trucks, he was hoping that the ground ladder on the fire engine would reach the window. He looked away for a second and when he looked back, the man was gone.
“Where are you?” Corby yelled, worried that the man had left the window and turned back into the burning building. Then he saw a hand reach up at the window and wave. Corby said he was not aware there were more than two people at the window.
As soon as the trucks arrived, Corby grabbed a ladder from firefighter Greg Vida and raised it up to the window. Assistant Chief John Emerick and firefighter Bob Lepeonka helped position the 24-foot ladder, which barely reached the window. Firefighter Herm Suplizio went up the ladder, followed by Vida, while firefighter Paul Smith accessed another ladder nearby to assist Suplizio.
Firefighter Bill Boyle and Ron Shick, DuBois construction code officer, rushed to climb the fire escape ladder to check on residents. The smoke and fire conditions worsened, causing problems with breathing and visibility. They were replaced by equipped firefighters Dan Baronick and Dave Shepherd.
A man was located near the fire escape, where he had collapsed and died.
Visibility was a problem for firefighters on the ladder because of the smoke. A 2 1/2-year-old boy – Gavin Zawrotny – was carried down first. He resisted and did not want to leave his parents, James and Amanda Havrilla. Suplizio handed the child to Vida, who met him half-way up the ladder.
Suplizio climbed back up the ladder and took the baby, 7-month-old Sarah Havrilla. “When I got her, she was not breathing. It scared me. I was blowing in her face, shaking her and after what seemed to be minutes but probably was seconds she started crying. All this happened while I was still at the top, the last rung of the ladder. And I hate ladders to begin with. I avoid them at any cost,” he said.
Sarah was handed to Vida halfway up the ladder and then given to DuBois Policeman Lanny Prosper. DuBois police Officers John Licatavich, Matt Roberson and Shawn McCleary were also helping at the scene.
James and Amanda Havrilla were then brought down the ladder by Suplizio.
Firefighters launched an interior attack. Within minutes, a victim was located inside, dead.
Hamilton County firefighters hate a communication system that taxpayers spent $35 million on because it doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do when they’re in a burning building: Let them talk to each other.
The radio failures – which some firefighters say happen daily – played a role in the death of two Colerain Township firefighters nearly two years ago and local fire chiefs say if a solution isn’t found other firefighters’ lives are at risk.
The issued surfaced again last week when radio problems resulted in near miss for Cincinnati Firefighter Kevin Phillips who fell down a set of stairs, which knocked his helmet and air mask loose, causing him to become disoriented.
A transcript of the radio transmissions obtained by The Enquirer shows it took three minutes before fire command at the scene responded to the mayday call by Phillips’ partner, an eternity in a burning building, firefighters say.
Cincinnati Fire Chief Robert Wright did not return two calls for comment. Firefighters at the Glenway blaze say Wright met with them Tuesday, listened to their concerns and asked what would help them.
Hamilton County taxpayers spent $35 million on the digital Motorola system which was activated in 2003, replacing a fire radio system that dated to the 1940s and a police system that was nearly as old. The new system was hailed for allowing agencies to talk to each other, an impossibility on the old system.
But problems crop up when more than one firefighter tries to talk at once, resulting in firefighters getting a busy signal when they try to call and in garbled transmissions due to background noise like engines and burning buildings. In addition, metal construction blocks communication when firefighters are inside large buildings like downtown high rises or hospitals.
“We’re finding out this is happening every day, not just in big fires,” said B.J. Jetter, Sycamore Township Fire Chief and president of the Hamilton County Fire Chiefs Association.
“And not only with fire and EMS, but for police too,” he said. “It’s system wide.”
The issue came to the forefront in April 2008, when Colerain fire Capt. Robin Broxterman and firefighter Brian Schira died in a blaze on Squirrel’s Nest Lane. A review of the radio calls made during the fire showed the firefighters repeatedly made mayday calls, which were never transmitted.
“I don’t think the full impact or level of concern (about the issue) was realized until we were able to see the radio call log from the Squirrel’s Nest fire,” said Colerain Fire Chief Bruce Smith.
Broxterman’s parents are suing over the fatal fire, naming in the lawsuit among others, Motorola.
The problem became evident to all county public safety agencies during the Sept. 14, 2008, windstorm. All agencies were trying to use the radios at once. While that is an extreme situation, it locked up radios and prevented people from communicating.
County communication center officials questioned Motorola about possible fixes, but there isn’t a solution right now, the company told the county, said Mike Bailey, of the Hamilton County Communication Center.
“This is not an extreme emergency at this point, but it is a very big concern,” Bailey said.
A Motorola spokesman in charge of public safety for North America did not return a call for comment.
Cincinnati Fire department spokesman Capt. Michael Washington said the current system is better than the old one, and the department must work with what it has.
As the county grapples with what to do, Jetter said firefighters, police officers and the public are in danger. “It gives me heartburn that we have this situation,” he said.
Fire departments nationwide have reported problems with the digital radios.
The city of Phoenix has the same system, but when fighting a blaze the fire department uses the old analog system that transmits calls radio to radio, instead of through a computer system.
The International Association of Fire Fighters is now recommending fire department not use digital systems in fires.
“Radios are the most important piece of safety equipment a firefighter has,” said Richard Duffy, assistant to the president of the international union. “If you can’t communicate on the fire ground, you put yourself and others at risk.”
Duffy said Motorola should be held accountable.
Jetter said the problem is so bad it’s almost like having no communication at all. “We’re going back to the old days of using runners, where somebody runs in to deliver a message,” he said. “In an age of technology, this shouldn’t be an issue.”
Cincinnati Fire Union President Marc Monahan said last week’s missed mayday call “could have been really bad.” “We’ve had problems, we’ve pointed them out and nothing has been done,” he said. “Hopefully, this is enough evidence that will force some changes.”
The union plans to once again address the issue with fire administrators at the quarterly safety committee meeting Wednesday. Jetter said he’s not sure what the solution is. “We can complain all we want,” he said. “I don’t know how this gets resolved.”
STATter911.com has exchanged emails with Baltimore Fire Department Chief Jim Clack this evening. The chief has given us a preliminary run down of what happened leading up to what he says appears to have been a flashover at the fire on Northeast Avenue this morning. (I know, as is normal with these videos, there is a raging debate as to whether this was actually a flashover, backdraft, or something else. As usual, I will let you, and those investigating the incident be the judge.)
According to Chief Clack the fire started in the basement of an occupied row house and appears to have been burning for “a while” before the fire department arrived. The first engine took a line through the front door to the rear kitchen area. The chief says that crew had some trouble finding the basement stairs. They were in the kitchen when it flashed.
We have been told it is the officer of that crew who was admitted to the hospital in stable condition with burns to the ears, neck and face.
Another engine company went to the rear with a line to the outside stairwell leading to the basement. The chief says that crew was just starting down those stairs “when the fireball came up the stairwell into the back yard as well”.
Chief Clack tells us, “The first truck vented some skylights on the roof as well as the front basement windows before the explosion.”
The chief also writes, “Lots of ‘personal” property’ in the basement made getting to the seat of the fire very difficult.”
UPDATE: Five firefighters were hurt in the flashover. One remains hospitalized in stable condition. Two other were hurt during overhaul.
From the AP:
A Baltimore fire official says five firefighters were injured battling a blaze at a rowhouse.
Fire Department spokesman Chief Kevin Cartwright says when firefighters arrived at the rowhouse on Northeast Avenue around 6 a.m. Friday they found heavy smoke and fire coming from the basement spreading to the first floor.
Cartwright says one firefighter suffered a first-degree burn and may have fractured his arm. He was taken to Bayview Burn Center, where he is listed in stable condition.
Four more firefighters with less serious injuries were taken to other hospitals and are also in stable condition.
Cartwright says it took about a half hour to control the blaze and the cause is under investigation.
He says it’s not yet clear whether anyone was home when the fire broke out.
(Note: Please check the video player to the right. When new videos come in involving USAR teams, WUSA9.com’s Emily Cyr and Jillian Coyle are adding them, often before I am able to catch up with the details. You will also see other fire & EMS related videos in the player from the DC area and around the country.)
It is clear the urban search and rescue teams on the ground in Haiti are making progress. We have been keeping tabs of our local teams from Fairfax County, Virginia, but there is good work being done by many.
Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department spokesman Dan Schmidt tells us the same team successfully completed at 1:00 AM a 17-hour rescue of a woman at the Hotel Montana in Port-Au-Prince (part of that operation is seen on the video above).
They then went on to assist the French team with the rescue of four people (a fifth was being worked on late this morning). A portion of the team was also assisting the group from Spain on rescuing two people from an elevator shaft.
Team two is known as USA-5 USA-1 Medium. It has 42 36 people on the team. They arrived in Haiti early this morning and Schmidt confirms they are also using the US Embassy as a base of operations (considered a plus for security and coordination).
Second crew from Fairfax County, Virginia headed out: Above, a second team from Virginia Task Force 1 heads to Haiti. This is the first time Fairfax County has had two such teams deployed on the same international incident. This latest group is made up of 42 members. In case you missed it, click here for our coverage of what the first team did in Haiti yesterday.
Kentucky mayor first refuses, then changes his mind, about letting firefighters be part of Ohio USAR’s deployment: Worried that the federal government will only reimburse 70% of the overtime expenses to pay for those who would be needed to staff stations back home, Lexington, Kentucky Mayor Jim Newberry at first declined to send firefighters to Haiti. He later had a change of heart and nine firefighters are on standby. Read that story. Meanwhile, there has been some delay in getting Ohio Task Force 1 on a flight to Haiti. Here are the details. Click here for video of the Ohio team getting ready.
This calendar photo featuring a Houston firefighter has become an issue along with the chief's handling of a "team building session" on a firefighter's first day back after making racism and sexism claims.
UPDATE – Mayor scolds Houston fire chief over his welcome back for female firefighter who made accusations about graffiti: Chief Phil Boriskie decided to have a “team building session” at Station 54 as Firefighter Jane Draycott returned to the firehouse for the first time since last summer when she made accusations about racist and sexist graffiti inside the women’s locker room. The four-hour meeting with the chief, his command staff, a psychologist, Draycott and co-workers apparently didn’t go so well. Draycott says the men brought up rumors, grievances and questioned her sanity. Draycott went home. Mayor Annise Parker questioned the chief’s judgment, saying she doesn’t condone and won’t tolerate what happened at Station 54. Critics are also pointing to other concerns about sexism, including a calendar to raise money for HFD’s Pipes and Drums that has “a scantily clad and nearly bare-breasted female firefighter”. Read more. There also more about a letter read at the meeting. Click here to read and watch that story.
Rhett Fleitz at FireCritic.com has posted a completely different view of the calendar and an interview with the woman appearing in the picture at left. Click here.
Fatal ambulance crash in New Jersey: Firegeezer and Firefighter Close Calls are on top of the story from yesterday where an ambulance in Warren County, New Jersey hit a tree, killing a patient and trapping the crew.
New study questions immobilization protocols: Johns Hopkins researchers have data that shows it may not be a good thing to take the time to immobilize a gunshot or stabbing victim. Click here for the details.
More on Baltimore’s doomsday budget: We told you yesterday about Chief Jim Clack briefing some firefighters on the possibility of closing a lot more companies and laying off scores of firefighters come July 1. The Baltimore Sun has more on the issue today.
Click the image for fireground audio and raw video from yesterday's gasoline tank truck fire in Montgomery County, Maryland.
Pittsburgh union prez admits firefighters have “stumbled” tarnishing the department’s image: We have heard from management on the recent arrests of Pittsburgh firefighters for drug, alcohol and violence charges. Now it’s labor’s turn. Click here.
Detroit firefighter accused of insurance fraud after fake incident report filed: Police indicate the firefighter was trying to cover for an off-duty accident where he hit a parked vehicle and fled the scene. Investigators believe the firefighter created a fake fire department incident report to send to his insurance company. Read more.
The Detroit Fire Department has suspended a 10-year veteran firefighter, who’s expected to be charged Friday with creating a false fire department report after leaving the scene of a hit-and-run accident.
Jonathan Britt, 30, of Detroit was put on leave without pay last week when the department learned a warrant had been signed Jan. 6, Fire Commissioner James Mack said today.
“Those are some serious charges to be leveled against someone with the fire department,” Mack said today. “We take those charges very seriously. When the indictment came out and we were notified, we placed him on that status.”
Britt could not be reached for comment today.
According to a warrant, Britt is accused of hitting an unoccupied car parked at Conant and East McNichols on May 2, 2009, then creating a false Detroit Fire Department report claiming he was in an accident elsewhere, to submit to his insurance company.
Britt is also accused of filing a false report with the Detroit Police Department, claiming he was in an accident at Linwood and Hazelwood that required firefighters from Engine 21 to respond, according to the warrant.
That engine company was deactivated – no firefighters were working that firehouse – the day of the accident, according to the fire department.
The warrant charges Britt with uttering and publishing, punishable by up to 14 years in jail; insurance fraud, punishable by 4 years in jail and up to $50,000 in fines; identity theft, punishable by up to 5 years in jail and $25,000 in fines; and false pretenses more than $1,000 but less that $20,000, punishable by up to 5 years in prison and $10,000 in fines.
The cold weather may have led to multiple home fires on the First Coast this weekend, stretching first responders and the Red Cross thin.
State Fire Marshal Alex Sink said it appears a fire that destroyed a portable classroom at Lakeside Elementary in Clay County Saturday night started in an attic heater unit. And a fire at the Links at Windsor Park Apartments started in a fireplace, according to a spokesman from Jacksonville Fire and Rescue.
“That was unusual, unquestionably. A matter of fact, the first responding crews … I can assure you they have not had a second alarm within an apartment fire complex in many many years,” said spokesman Tom Francis. The fire left 19 families homeless.
Firefighters were called to 12 substantial fires between Friday and today, which Francis said is about average. What is unusual is the amount of people affected by those fires, who are now reaching out for aid.
STATter911.com has learned the United States Agency for International Development has activated a second urban search and rescue team from Fairfax County, Virginia. Virginia Task Force 1 is now gathering a 42-member team at the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department’s training academy. The first team of 72-members from Fairfax has been on the ground in Port au Prince and has made at least one rescue. This is apparently the first time two teams have been employed from Fairfax County for an international response.
A man walked out of the collapsed United Nations building in Port au Prince, Haiti today thanks to the firefighters from Northern Virginia. Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department’s Lt. Mike Davis told CNN word came in overnight of someone trapped alive in the building. A four-person recon team confirmed the victim and called for a 15-person rescue squad.
A camera then confirmed the victim’s location and Lt. Davis said the crew began de-layering almost three floors of concrete in an effort to free the man. The man’s escape was hampered by a chair that blocked his way out. Firefighters were able to pass him a Sawzall to cut up the chair. Rescuers say the man walked out of the wreckage on his own.
The rescued man is a United Nation’s security guard from Estonia.
Virginia Task Force 1 arrived in Haiti at 4:00 PM on Wednesday. They have set up a base of operations at the American Embassy compound.
A tanker truck carrying between 7500 and 9000 gallons of gasoline overturned and caught fire as the rig exited I-270 at Montrose Road. Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Services Assistant Chief Scott Graham tells STATter911.com the tractor trailer turned onto the driver’s side around 4:40 AM, but the driver was able to escape unharmed as the truck caught fire.
According to Graham firefighters kept burning gasoline rolling down the road in check with handlines as they let much of the fuel burn off. A foam crash truck from Dulles Airport arrived about 30-minutes into the incident and about a half-hour later was used to extinguish the fire. A second foam unit from Frederick County, Maryland was also on the scene.
Graham says the burning fuel did not appear to impact the integrity of the Montrose Road overpass above I-270 as the fuel run off generally burned away from the structure.
House fire in Millersville, Pennsylvania: This is from last Friday. No more info.
NEW – Virginia Task Force 1 makes rescue in Haiti: Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department’s USAR team arrived in Haiti at 4:00 PM yesterday and set up camp at the American Embassy. Lt. Mike Davis tells CNN that a UN worker has been rescued from a collapsed area by the team. Details later.
More drastic cuts coming in Baltimore?: Baltimore City Fire Department Chief Jim Clack told firefighters it is possible that a loss of state money could mean the closing of 9 to 14 companies and a loss of 200 to 250 jobs come July 1. Click here to read and watch the story.
Layoffs and staffing in Cleveland: A judge has issued a temporary restraining order keeping the Cleveland Fire Department from implementing a staffing plan to account for Monday’s layoffs. Here’s the update.
Goldfeder has a lot to say on a few recent stories: The story we ran yesterday from Monroe Township, New Jersey where the volunteer deputy chief has been suspended for six months after sending around a petition to save the jobs of the department’s two career firefighters caught the attention of The Secret List. Combined with the other recent story about the replacement of Buffalo’s fire commissioner, Billy Goldfeder is talking about how tough times make some people stand up and be counted. Read his commentary.
Then there is the issue of training in Arizona. With state funding cut for certification and accreditation that had been done by the State Fire Marshal’s office, Goldfeder is wondering if some priorities are wrong in Arizona and on the federal level. You can read that one here.
Federal judge says FDNY discriminated: “A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that New York City intentionally discriminated against black applicants to the Fire Department by continuing to use an exam that it had been told put them at a disadvantage.” That’s the opening line in an article by Al Baker in The New York Times. Read more.
Discrimination & retaliation claim in Philly: “A white Philadelphia firefighter who settled a racial-discrimination case against the city last year filed another federal lawsuit yesterday, saying the fire commissioner and his top aides had retaliated against him for going to court.” That’s how an article by Robert Moran begins in the Inquirer. Read more.
Firefighters respond second time for fire in the same house, but it definitely wasn’t a rekindle: Firefighters in East Hanover Township, Pennsylvania recognized the house that was burning in front of them Wednesday morning. They had fought a fire in the same house five-years-ago. Click here for the story.
Fire in Stoughton, Massachusetts: Firegeezer has video and details from a fire that burned a large 1890s era home and the efforts by neighbors to save an elderly woman who lived there.
A big time out: A broken sprinkler line forced the evacuation of FedEx Forum during the Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Clippers game Monday night.
House fire in Baltimore County: From yesterday morning on Carla Road in the Pikesville area. Video from Michael “FirePix1075″ Schwartzberg. Read details at the Pikesville VFC website.
Click the image for more pictures of Fairfax County preparing for departure to Haiti.
Fairfax County & Los Angeles County USAR teams to Haiti: Late yesterday, the U.S. Agency for International Development tapped two teams to respond to the devastating earthquake in Haiti. We now have interviews posted as the Fairfax County team prepared for its departure. Click here for details.
Volunteer deputy chief suspended for peitition drive to help save career positions: This one sure is different. Scott Kivet, the deputy chief of Monroe Township VFC #1, has been suspended for six months. After a December 29 Fire Commissioner Board meeting, where firefighters learned two career firefighters would be eliminated, Kivet decided to take action. He began circulating a petition around town last week. Chief Lonnie Pipero believes Kivet represented himself in a manner that would be interpreted as the opinion of the fire department. Read the details here.
Dash-cam video of fatal Pennsylvania ambulance wreck: Jason Fait is guilty of running a red light when driving the Penn Township ambulance back from the hospital, but was cleared of vehicular homicide. The tragic moment in 2006 was caught on video. A 46-year-old man was killed in the car hit by the ambulance . The video was released after Fait had his day in court. Watch the video and read the details. You can also click here to watch the whole story.
New boss in Frederick County, MD comes from Fairfax City, Virginia: Tom Owens has his work cut out for him as he becomes director of Frederick Fire & Rescue Services. Owens spent the last 6-years as the chief in Fairfax City, Virginia. He doesn’t get the chief title in Maryland because the political leaders decided in 2008 not to follow recommendations outlined in a consultant’s report. Career – volunteer issues await Owens on February 1 when the takes over a combined department that is suffering growing pains. Read more.
UPDATED – Disciplinary process for firefighters involved in bonfire explosion: Gasoline, diesel fuel and too many pallets brought about the pre-Thanksgiving explosion at New Jersey’s Vineland High School. It wasn’t students or teachers who set this up, it was firefighters. A local paper took the pictures of the firefighters spreading the fuel and caught the blast. Three firefighters now have to face the music. Click here for the story.
Oh, and I thought it was to pick the top blog in this country: If I had fully understood that the contest to pick the best fire & EMS blog of 2009 was international in scope, of course I would have put my money on Paramedic Mark Glencorse of the UK’s North East Ambulance Service. Mark’s Medic 999 blog is the winner, beating out my man FireGeezer (clearly the best this country has to offer). Here’s more at FireCritic.com.
Not unexpected this evening, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced it is sending a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) to Haiti. This will include firefighters from Fairfax County and Los Angeles County. The two urban search and rescue (USAR) teams have been activated and are gathering personnel and equipment.
According to USAID, the USAR teams have as many as 72 personnel, 6 search and rescue canines and up to 48 tons of rescue equipment.
Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department spokesman Dan Schmidt tells STATter911.com that as of 10:30 PM EST flight arrangements have not been finalized. Approximately ninety-percent of the 72-member team is made up of county firefighters. Civilian doctors, structural engineers and canine handlers are also part of the team.
The firefighters are at the department’s training academy loading the team’s 90,000 pounds of equipment.
The department, as it has in the past, will set up its family support group to keep relatives notified of the team’s location and progress through conference calls and other means.
Members of the Fairfax team have responded to disasters all over the world including two previous trips to Haiti for a school collapse and a hurricane.
The driver of a Penn Township, Pennsylvania ambulance has been found not guilty of vehicular homicide in a 2006 crash that killed a man. Jason Fait was found guilty today of careless driving and failure to obey a traffic control device and fined $225. Excerpts from an article on the WTAE-TV website:
“I never intentionally did this,” Jason Fait said outside court. “I spent my entire life trying to save lives, educate the public on safety. It just gives me a new appreciation how just one moment in time can alter anybody’s life.”
Fait, of North Huntingdon, ran a red light at the intersection of Route 130 and South Greengate Road in Hempfield Township, striking another vehicle on the morning of Oct. 30, 2006.
”It proved in our argument that Jason was not trying to deliberately beat the light or run the light or do anything else that was unsafe driving. He missed it,” defense attorney Ken Burkley said.
Fait and a paramedic who was also riding in the ambulance were not hurt, but Frank Scalise Jr., 46, who was on his way to work at Westmoreland County Prison, died a week after the crash.
Police said Fait was not en route to a call during the time of the crash, but had just dropped off a patient at Westmoreland Hospital at about 5:30 a.m. before leaving to return to base in Harrison City.
Police said the ambulance’s warning sirens and lights were not on and it was believed to have been traveling at 40 mph — five mph under the speed limit.
Tom Owens, who has been the chief of the Fairfax City Fire Department in Virginia since 2003, moves across the Potomac River to Frederick County, Maryland. The announcement came in press releases today from both jurisdictions.
City Manager Robert Sisson said, “Chief Owens has provided high-caliber leadership to the City of Fairfax Fire Department since he came to the city in 1998.”
Owens had been an assistant chief in Fairfax City prior to taking over the chief’s job. Before that he was the first director of Virginia’s Frederick County Fire & Rescue Department. His career in the fire service in Virginia goes back to 1969.
On February 1, Owens will take over as director of a combined career and volunteer system that has been run since May of last year by Assistant County Manager Barry Stanton. Stanton had no background in fire and EMS when he took over after the sudden retirement of Director Gene Mellin.
In recent years there has been much tension between career and volunteer forces in Frederick County. At the urging of volunteer leadership, county officials rejected a consultants report that called for a reorganization and the appointment of a county fire chief (click here and here).
Three city firefighters face possible disciplinary action for mishandling the lighting of Vineland High School’s annual bonfire, according to state fire officials.
The Nov. 25 bonfire, part of a pep rally for the school’s football match-up with Millville, exploded upon ignition, sending flaming pallets sky high.
The firefighters — Michael Cifaloglio Jr., Capt. Lou Tramontana and Brian Murray — are scheduled to appear before the Peer Review Board of the state Division of Fire Safety in Trenton this morning for a hearing. The board will determine what, if any, discipline the firefighters should receive.
Vineland Fire Chief Robert Pagnini said Monday the division’s investigation found too many pallets were used in the bonfire and no accelerants should have been used to start it.
School officials vowed the pre-Thanksgiving game rallies, including the bonfire, would continue.
VHS South Principal Tom McCann, who was just several feet from the explosion, said he met with Tramontana after the incident to ensure the safety of students at future bonfires.
Cifaloglio and Murray are volunteer city firefighters; Tramontana is a full-time, paid firefighter. Cifaloglio also is the city’s fire marshal. All three are licensed by the state to conduct fire-safety inspections.
“It’s a formality,” Cifaloglio said late Monday of today’s hearing. “We made a mistake and we’re going to address the mistake. Fortunately, we don’t make a whole lot of mistakes.”
Cifaloglio was not at the bonfire because he said he was on another assignment that evening. The Division of Fire Safety has recommended he receive a written reprimand because as city fire marshal, he was generally responsible for what occurred that night. The recommended punishment for Tramontana and Murray, who were both present during the explosion, is a 30-day suspension of their license to conduct fire-safety investigations.
Tramontana was at the bonfire in his part-time role as a district warden for the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, which issued a permit for the event, Pagnini said.
No one was seriously hurt in the explosion, which happened seconds after the pallets were lit. One firefighter suffered minor injures when he was hit in the back of the leg with flying debris. Several people at the scene sought medical attention due to hearing problems related to the high-decibel blast heard and felt throughout town.
Pagnini said a Vineland Fire Department investigation revealed fuel vapors accumulated in the bottom of a crater dug for the bonfire in the field between Johnstone Elementary School and VHS South.
Instead of dissipating, the fumes were held close to the ground by high humidity and the density of the air, authorities said. When the pallets were lit, the vapors ignited in a ball of flames.
Fire officials had visited the bonfire site earlier in the day to issue the permit for the bonfire, Vineland High School Assistant Principal Dorothy Burke said, noting they set specific rules on how the materials are assembled.
One teacher contributed some cardboard for the bonfire, Burke said, but that wasn’t used because fire officials limited the structure to pallets only.
The fire department was responsible for lighting the bonfire, Burke said.
It was lit with a combination of gasoline and diesel fuel, which the Division of Fire Safety determined was improper, Pagnini said.
A heavy fog settled on the field at the time of bonfire lighting. But that did not prompt fire officials to cancel the event, like they’ve done in the past when there’s been unfavorable weather conditions, such as high winds.
Where weather may have contributed to the explosion, it also may have kept students out of harm’s way.
Instead of marching across the muddy field, which would have put students in the direct line of flying debris, Burke directed the band, football team and cheerleaders toward the asphalt path, a less direct course to the field.
“I had a hard time sleeping for a couple days after the explosion because of how loud the explosion was,” she said. “The silhouette of those pallets is something I will never forget.”
Firefighters are no-shows and one quits: As you will see at the end of the above story, there may be more behind the resignation of one volunteer, but what is clear is none of the 35 volunteers of the Fresno City VFD in Texas (about 20 miles south of Houston) showed up for a Sunday morning house fire. The fire chief says he will investigate. You can read the story here.
LEAD STORY – Paramedic in scuffle with trooper last May arrested yesterday during traffic stop off-duty: It was our top story last year and it keeps on giving. Creek Nation Paramedic Maurice White Jr. was put in jail yesterday morning in Vian, Oklahoma, accused of resisting arrest and other charges. White was in that widely seen video where OHP Trooper Daniel Martin had him in a choke hold. Click here for all of the details known so far.
Win one for the Geezer: I made my choice for the best fire and EMS blog of 2009 a long time ago and I am glad to see that Firegeezer Bill Schumm has been going back and forth for the top spot with his sudden surge yesterday. There are some really good blogs in the running, but we have long admitted our bias for the retired fire captain from Fairfax County. Thank you to my mom and dad for voting for me (I think the wife and son voted for Bill), but if your choice is between Firegeezer and STATter 911, may I suggest a vote for my favorite blog. Click here. Voting ends at 5:59 PM EST.
Congratulations to Fire Critic Rhett Fleitz for this contest that helps introduce everyone to the various voices out there. And good luck to the new pod people on the block as The Fire Critic and Fire Dailyjoin forces for the Firefighter Netcast at 8:00 PM EST tonight. That’s where the Oscar is being handed out. I’m sorry, I mean the winner of the contest will be announced. The envelope please.
More on burned firehouse in Ashland, New York: WTEN-TV has now posted some early pictures from a passerby as efforts were made to salvage the rigs in Sunday’s fire that gutted the firehouse. Click here for the video. There are also some new details on the fire and the impact on the community here and here. Click here for earlier coverage.
The story behind the picture. The Los Angeles Times discovers why this 1948 fire truck from a different town has sat on the roof of a building in Vernon, California for decades. Click the image for the answer. Photo by Anne Cusack, Los Angeles Times.
Collapse, explosion, video and pictures as NJ bowling alley goes up in flames: Fifty-years old, the Loyle Lanes in Vineland are no longer. We have put together a lot of elements including a video that shows a bit of a collapse, what it looked like before firefighters arrived and even something exploding. Check it out.
As I recall, the last major bowling alley blaze we ran was also in New Jersey. That was last June in Shrewsbury at Memory Bowling and it had some pretty spectacular video and pictures. If you missed it, check here.
House fire audio and pictures from Fairfax County, VA: Click here for the audio/visual elements from Sunday night’s two-alarm house fire.
Looting at large apartment building fire in Massachusetts: So, what the fire doesn’t take, your local thief grabs. That’s the story from Malden following Saturday’s six-alarm fire. Read and watch what is a pretty sad state of affairs. Thanks to Jimmy Daly for finding this one.
Firefighter resigns over concerns about police impersonation: From Lee, New Hampshire, an Epping volunteer firefighter resigned after pulling over a friend in what some perceived as a case of police impersonation in a community that recently has had such a problem. Read more.
Kennebunkport fire chief indicted: This is an update on a story we brought you in September where there was a bit of a lover’s triangle causing a problem that left a man’s face smashed by a motorcycle helmet.
37 firefighters pack their bags in Cleveland: The layoffs took effect yesterday, but it is possible that they could return soon. Read and watch the story.
Rochester, NY cuts: Click here to read and watch a story on the impact on both the city and suburbs with budget cuts in Rochester. Monroe County Fire Wire has an opinion on these cuts and even relates it to the recent controversy over the mayor’s former campaign manager taking a post in the fire department.
Reno 911: Update on options on the table for cut backs in service for Reno’s fire department. Read details.
Apartment fire in Pennsylvania: This is from a fire Thursday in Lebanon. Read details.
Creek Nation Paramedic Maurice White Jr., who was involved in a May scuffle with an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper, was arrested today following a traffic stop this morning in the town of Vian. White , who was in his own car when he was pulled over, is facing a variety of charges including speeding, not having a driver’s license, not wearing a seatbelt, and resisting arrest.
Vian Assistant Police Chief Brian Chandler, who made the arrest, told reporters the 56-year-old White was booked into the Sequoyah County jail.
While Chandler was completing a citation, White allegedly approached the police car and was asked to return to his vehicle, police said. “I asked him again to go back to his vehicle, and he said, ‘What was I going to do’ if he didn’t?” Chandler said. “It went downhill from there.”
White’s vehicle allegedly was clocked at 39 mph in a 25 mph zone, Chandler said. He faces fines of $668, said a spokeswoman with the Sequoyah County Sheriff’s Office. White attorney, Richard O’Carroll, said the allegations are “officer fiat. If he (the officer) says it happened, it happened.
“I think it will never make it to the courthouse door,” he said. “We’re going to contest it right there in the city of Vian. If we can’t beat it in the city of Vian, we’ll bring it on down to the city of Sallisaw, and we’ll deal within the county courthouse. It ain’t going anywhere — for a fact.”
On May 24, White, while working for a Creek Nation ambulance, was part of a tussle with OHP Trooper Daniel Martin.
Martin had stopped the ambulance at Paden after he thought the ambulance driver, Paul Franks, had made an obscene finger gesture, which the trooper felt was an “act of defiance.”
White came out of the back of the ambulance and said he told Martin they were taking a patient to the hospital and asked to continue the dispute there. A physical altercation ensued at the side of the ambulance, a video of which was aired on national TV channels.
Martin served a five-day suspension, levied July 21, for “conduct unbecoming an officer’’ for his role in the tussle with White.
OHP spokesman Chris West said Martin had a right to stop the ambulance and had justification to arrest the paramedic for obstructing an officer, but that the situation could have been handled differently.
O’Carroll called the timing of White’s arrest on Monday “curious,” given that White is scheduled to testify Wednesday in the jury trial of Kristopher Douglas, of Holdenville. Douglas, 28, is charged with obstructing an officer in Hughes County for allegedly not heeding officers’ commands in connection with a Oct. 3 traffic stop, which took place in front of Douglas’ uncle’s home.
Stemming from that incident, Martin and OHP Trooper Tommy Allen were placed on administrative leave for six weeks but cleared of accusations of using excessive force.
“A prosecutor called me and told me my witness had just been arrested before I knew it,” O’Carroll said, referring to White’s arrest Monday “… I’m going to check the cell phone records for everybody.”
O’Carroll said he didn’t think the arrest would affect White’s civil case against Martin. In July, White filed a federal lawsuit in Muskogee, claiming that the OHP trooper violated his civil rights.
Click here for a short video taken before the arrival of the fire department and here for another clip that shows a bit of something exploding at 2:10.
An overnight fire has heavily damaged the Loyle Lanes bowling alley on South Delsea Drive.
Photo by John W. Carr, The Daily Journal
Firefighters responded at 2:39 a.m. today to a report of fire in the building. It was unoccupied at the time, authorities said.
The fire was called under control around 8 a.m. today, authorities said.
Firefighters from all six Vineland stations as well as Millville and Bridgeton, were among those dispatched.
Additional area stations brought tankers to the scene to help put out the fire. Authorities said there were around 140 firefighters in all at the scene.
Firefighters and police are continuing to investigate the cause of the fire, but Vineland fire Chief Robert Pagnini said the building is totally damaged.
State Department of Transportation and Vineland public works’ road department helped to put salt on Delsea Drive and the parking lot of Loyle Lanes. Both were iced over as the stations worked to put out the fire.
Delsea Drive was closed to traffice between the west mall entrance and the intersection with Butler Avenue.
At about :20 in you will see parts of the north side of the building collapse.
FireSceneAudio.com has the radio traffic and Virginia’s Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department has the pictures. Gregory Hunter and Matt Cox, Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, C-Shift took the images of the two-alarm house fire around Sunday evening at 8610 Cherry Drive in the Providence area of the county.
Here is an excerpt from the press release by PIO Dan Schmidt:
Firefighters encountered heavy fire and smoke bursting through the front and sides of both floors of the home upon arrival. Massive fire was coming from the rear and out of second floor windows when firefighters arrived on scene. The Incident Commander quickly struck a second alarm, bringing over 60 firefighters to the scene. An aerial ladder was used to place large streams of water in the attic and roof area. Firefighters fought the fire from all four sides of the all-brick, two-story home. Firefighters contended with extreme temperatures and black ice while fighting the fire. It took firefighters about an hour to bring the fire under total control. Using defensive measures, firefighters ensured close-by homes were not damaged. No one was home when the fire broke out. Two adults have been displaced. There were no injuries.
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