Quick Takes

This is clearly a mistake: In the spot where you normally would find a compelling fire video, I am giving you a bunch of talking heads this morning. Some are people you may know by name or the blog they write (you will see that most, like me, have a face for blogging). They were all at Friday night’s fire and EMS bloggers meetup at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor as part of EMS Today. Besides the bloggers (they had a special area taped off just for us, but I think it was meant to keep us from mixing with the sane people), it was nice to hang out with the folks from JEMS, FireEMSBlogs.com and George Washington University who sponsored the event. If you want a complete run down of who was there and all of the scoop, check out the posting from a man of great stature in the blogging community (don’t be fooled by the pictures), The Fire Critic, Rhett Fleitz. After almost three years of communicating via some sort of electronic means, the hardest working man in the blogosphere and I were finally in the same room. But I was immediately a great disappointment to Rhett, when I was unable to make good on my promise to introduce him to one of the “VIPs” in the room. The person kept avoiding me, which fits with Rhett’s quote that “some love to hate Dave” (I’m not sure I like me either). Well, enough of us patting ourselves on the back and let’s get on with the news.

UPDATE – Bensalem, Pennsylvania medic Daniel McIntosh dies while dealing with suicidal patient: From Bucks County, Firefighter Close Calls and The Trentonian report the medic was stabbed while dealing with a suicidal patient during a call around 7:00 PM last night. But there are also some possibly conflicting reports about what happened, including a police officer indicating no weapon was involved. The latest information from Philly.com is that McIntosh had a head injury received while chasing after the mentally ill man. But the cause of death will not be released until the autopsy has been completed.  We do know the 39-year-medic later died. He leaves behind a wife and two young daughters. McIntosh was a medic for the Bucks County South SWAT Team. He also recently took a job as a part time police officer for Hulmeville Borough. Read and watch the story here, here and here. Also, check JEMS Connect, PhillyFireNews.com and Bensalem EMS.

The razor’s edge: If you haven’t read the story from the Florida Keys about one of the most unusual causes for a vehicle collision, you will want to. Truly a classic that will be retold for generations. Check it out.

One giant leap by Dave Statter: I somehow made a connection between the above must read story to the must see video from Erie, Pennsylvania where an SUV’s left turn took priority over a fire engine responding to a call. Probably poor taste and not journalistically sound, but I did it. So watch the video.

And then there’s this quote: We never really had a quote of the week category, but we started it on Saturday and we are already retiring the trophy. If you haven’t checked it out you will want to see Chicago Fire Commissioner John Brooks public defense to a sexual harassment charge. Click here.

Enough of the silliness, now back to the stuff that matters - watch the wires!!!: There were two incidents in two days were a ladder and a tower made contact with power lines injuring eight firefighters. One in Delavan, Wisconsin and one in Houston, Texas. Everyone survived. In the Wisconsin case two chiefs disagree over whether there should be an investigation. We have details, pictures and video on both, plus a look back at two other incidents. Here is our coverage.

Static electricity behind fatal car fire: Fire at a gas pump in Lower Allen Township, Pennsylvania is being blamed on static electricity. No sign of cell phone use. Smoking was also ruled out. Here is the story.

Philly recruiter denounced for email outlining plan to break rules in efforts to increase minority applicants: Captain Troy Gore says he immediately sent out an email denouncing his own scheme to allow minorities to apply to be a Philadelphia firefighter after the deadline closed. Despite that, Captain Gore is now on paid leave and has been denounced by the Valiants Club Inc. , the African American firefighters organization that has long challenged the department’s hiring practices. In fact, the president of the Valiants, Kenneth Greene Sr., leaked the email to the Philadelphia Inquirer. It also turns out that Gore had planned to challenge Greene in the next election. Read more.

How it is supposed to work – citizen sings the praises of first responders even though the had a 45-minute response time that stretched to almost three-hours before transport: We have already heard horror stories about questionable EMS responses in Pittsburgh and Washington, DC during the recent blizzards. Here is a different view, where fire, EMS and private citizens in Loudoun County, Virginia beat the expectations of the public in their response through five-foot snow drifts in an effort to help an elderly woman who had fallen and broken her hip. Check it out.

Fire video roundup: Raw video from a service station fire in Prince George’s County, Maryland (by our friend Tom Yeatman); Two-alarm commercial fire in Worcester, Massachusetts; Vacant house fire in East Orange, New Jersey.

See, I told you: I have no clue if it is true, but I saw this coming. You may recall what I wrote last week about how the current goings on in Clark County, Nevada fit a pattern all over the country as overtime is targeted by political leaders looking to cut budgets. Part of that pattern is a claim of abuse of the system by firefighters. That piece of the puzzle was detailed yesterday in the Las Vegas Sun where there are claims firefighters are “gaming the system” with sick leave abuse translating into more overtime. Click here for the latest.

Also on STATter911 …

• Pennsylvania medic dies of heart attack. New information on death of Daniel McIntosh from Bensalem EMS. – March 8, 2010
• Some really must see video: The Fire Critic finds a ladder rescue from Poland that you just don’t want to miss. – June 17, 2010
• Quick Takes – January 7, 2010
• Quick Takes – March 9, 2010