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FireTruckBlog.com: Despite tankers, water was a problem at Marilla, New York house fire. Pictures, video, fireground audio.

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More news from FireTruckBlog.com

Frozen ponds and no hydrants made for a bad combination in Marilla, New York. Glenn Usdin’s FireTruckBlog.com has the pictures, video and fireground audio from the two-alarm house fire on Thursday. Click here for the story.

Raw video: Five-alarms in Passaic, New Jersey.

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Click here for Parts 4-10

A five-alarm fire in a three-story apartment building on Washington Place in Passaic, New Jersey yesterday afternoon left one woman in critical condtion and two injured firefighters. Here’s more from Jersey.com:

An occupant of a ground-floor apartment, identified only as a 53-year-old woman, was taken to St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson with critical injures, said Passaic Fire Chief Patrick Trentacost Sr. The woman’s apartment was “fully involved in flames” when firefighters arrived at the scene, Trentacost said.

Two firefighters were injured. One may have broken one or more ribs, Trentacost said. Another dislocated his shoulder. The firefighters, whose names were not released, also were taken to St. Joseph’s, the chief said.

 

Firefighters used a ladder truck to rescue a woman from a third-floor window soon after arriving at the scene, Trentacost said. Another woman was rescued from a second-floor apartment. Both were treated for minor injuries, Trentacost said.

I guess it’s a good thing you can now text 911. If you haven’t seen it yet, the must see video from the mall.

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I have to give Fire Critic Rhett (check out my best fire/EMS blog contest) Fleitz credit for alerting some of us to this one. But lots of people are finding this video on their computer this morning. In about an hour I watched it get an additional 40,000 pageviews. It’s at 208,000 as I write this. To me it is the video of the month and shows us why people like you will always be needed. It didn’t require a call to 911, but easily could have. WFMZ-TV says this is the Berkshire Mall in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania.

Someone should make a public service announcement using the video. Maybe the fear of looking foolish will actually be a better deterrent  than trying to scare people about getting hurt or dying. Avoiding embarrassment could be the more effective message. As Fernando used to say, “It’s better to look good than to feel good”. 

A big thank you for Houston Fire Department. Firefighters & Cyanokit credited with saving man found unconscious in a burning assisted living facility.

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Parris Charles Flowers had a lot of people to thank for his survival after an electrical fire at his assisted living apartment on Wilmington Street in Houston on November 1. First there were the firefighters who found the unconscious man and then the decision to use Cyanokit to help rid his body of cyanide. HFD used a reunion between Flowers and his rescuers earlier today to promote the department’s use of Cyanokit, now carried in every chief’s or supervisor’s vehicle. Cyanokit is also being credited with saving the lives of two Houston firefighters.

Excerpts from an article by Kevin Reece at KHOU-TV:

“Next thing I remember…it was three weeks later,” Flowers said Friday, surrounded by the firefighters from Stations 46 and 55 who saved his life.

The antidote, called Cyanokit, is an emergency treatment administered intravenously to flush and remove inhaled, ingested, or dermal exposure to cyanide. Burning plastics and furniture can emit dangerous levels of the poison that prevents cells from using oxygen. Cyanokit, manufactured by King Pharmaceuticals, is an antidote that bonds with the poison and alters it to cyanocobalamin (a form of vitamin B-12), which is flushed out of victim’s body through their urine.

Medical experts say the side effect is that the urine will temporarily turn purple.

“Oh, there’s no question he would have died,” said HFD Captain Maurice Davis. “There’s no question.”

HFD Sr. Captain Nathan Snowden concurs.

“It definitely made a difference in saving Mr. Flowers life,” he said.

Raw video, a twofer from St. Louis: Firefighters & cops pull man from burning car. Plus an early morning house fire.

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We have subscribed to bmazanec’s channel on YouTube for a while and often find videos of St. Louis firefighters in action. Today is no different.

The video above is from 11:30 PM last night  and is getting some attention. It shows firefighters and police on the scene of a vehicle fire with a person still inside. Here are details from KSDK-TV:

St. Louis police and firefighters pulled a man from a burning car overnight in south St. Louis. It’s unclear what caused the car to catch on fire near the intersection of Taft and 37th street.

Fire officials say the victim was not burned but was suffering from smoke inhalation when he was rescued around 11:30 p.m Thursday evening.

The unidentified victim was transported to a local hospital with injuries that are not considered serious. The fire remains under investigation.

(Craig Luecke also has this at SideCharlie.com)

Also posted is the video below of a house fire at 4101 Concordia early this morning.

Quick Takes: January 14, 2011.

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Three-alarm house fire in Slatington, Pennsylvania:Newsworking.org‘s Bill Rohr on the scene of the fire yesterday in a duplex at 405 W. Center Avenue. At least one person was helped from a porch roof by firefighters. Others, including children, jumped. At 4:30 in the video you will hear the air horns sounded. You can read more about the fire here.

The firefighter’s friend Connie Xinos in Oak Brook, Illinois is still at it: Remember Mr. Xinos who takes on little girls trying to keep library’s open and wants to bring firefighter’s to their knees in contract negotiations by firing one firefighter each month until they get the hint?  We haven’t checked in on him in a while, but Connie is still being Connie. At Tuesday’s Oak Brook Board meeting he spends most of his testimony telling of his role “mediating” a police dispute. But at the end of his talk Connie returns to one of his favorite subjects, Oak Brook’s firefighters and their contract negotiations. He graciously offers to return from his wintering in Florida to personally negotiate with the firefighters. What a guy. Connie takes the stand at about 18:08 on this video. You will find a recap of our Connie Xinos coverage here, here, here & here.

Early video from Oklahoma City apartment fire: Neighbors react as a couple floors of an apartment burn on Tuesday. Click here.

Ambulance struggles for traction & much more: Glenn Usdin’s FireTruckBlog.comhas the story of an ambulance with a patient on board unable to navigate icy Georgia Roads. There’s also the story of a large fire truck order in Ghana and lots of other apparatus news. Check it out.

Countywide FD proposed for Camden County, New Jersey: As an idea to help struggling municipalities save money, Camden County is looking at a proposal for countywide fire and police departments. It also comes at a time when the City of Camden is dealing with major cutbacks and lay offs. Here’s the story.

Former firefighter says nude photos aren’t the department’s business: The latest on a former Austin, Texas firefighter trying to get his job back.

Video roundup: Videos of fires in NJ, IL, NC  NY.

Montgomery County (MD) Band of Brothers fundraiser tonight: Dwayne Harris tells us there is a fundraiser tonight January 28 for this group organized ”to assist career firefighters and police officers with the lingering effects of being in a combat zone by having a support group with fellow firefighters and police officers that have been deployed.” It is being held at Winston’s Sports Cafe at 1776 E. Jefferson Street in Rockville from 7:00 to 10:00 PM.

Wind power going down in flames: One of Firegeezer Bill Schumm’s favorite topics. Here’s the latest installment.

Firefighter responds to his burning bar: Clinton, Massachusetts Firefighter Dean Weeks thought he was responding to a gas leak at the bar he owns on Main Street near the firehouse. It turned out to be something quite a bit more. Click here to read details of the firefighter’s dream destroyed.

Early video: Neighbors react to Oklahoma City apartment fire. Also, check out SideCharlie.com.

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Craig Lueke’s SideCharlie.com found this fire from Tuesday in Oklahoma City. (Craig, by the way, probably has more experience in providing news, information and entertainment on the web than the rest of us fire service bloggers combined. Check out his eyecatching site that already has a lot of compelling content.)

The video shows the reaction of neighbors at an apartment fire well before firefighters arrive.

Here are some details from KOCO-TV (where you will find more video):

Firefighters said the fire broke out at an apartment in the Quail Ridge Apartments at 13307 Plaza Terrace, near May Avenue and Memorial Road.  

Investigators said “something” left smoldering on a patio ignited a propane tank, causing the fire.  

An Oklahoma City Fire Department spokesman said everyone was able to escape unharmed. 

Deputy Chief Cecil Clay said eight units were destroyed. Firefighters said the fire broke out at an apartment in the Quail Ridge Apartments at 13307 Plaza Terrace, near May Avenue and Memorial Road.  

Investigators said “something” left smoldering on a patio ignited a propane tank, causing the fire.  

An Oklahoma City Fire Department spokesman said everyone was able to escape unharmed.

Video roundup: Fires in NC, NY, IL & NJ.

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Charlotte, North Carolina condo fire: Posted to YouTube by the Charlotte Fire Department – “On Monday January 10, 2011 at 5:03 pm members of the Charlotte Fire Department were dispatched to a working structure (2-story Condominiums) fire at 7317 Winery Lane. 60+ FF’s Firefighters needed to knockdown fire in 1 hour; (2) felines & (2) K-9 rescued; The Greater Carolinas Chapter of the American Red Cross assisted nine people displaced by the fire.”

Two-alarm house fire in Rochester, New York: Guy Zampatori video from a fire yesterday on North Clinton, Avenue. Click here for fireground audio from Monroe County Fire Wire.

 

Woodbine, New Jersey house fire: This was Wednesday. No injuries reported. Read more about the fire.

House fire in Carmi, Illinois: This was Kerney and Olive Streets around noon yesterday.

FireTruckBlog.com: Tree falls on fire engine in Massachusetts. Firefighter hurt.

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Glenn Usdin’s FireTruckBlog.com has the story of one firefighter who was hurt in Melrose, Massachusetts when a tree came down on his rig. Click here for the story.

Former Austin, Texas firefighter Alejandro Garza fighting to get his job back. Fired for nude photos on Flickr.

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Click here for STATter911.com previous coverage of this issue

You may recall the case of Alejandro Garza, an Austin, Texas firefighter who was canned in October for ”poor moral character” after nude pictures of Garza were brought to his bosses by the husband of a woman with whom Garza admitted having an affair. Garza’s attorney, Tom Stribling, told an arbitrator yesterday the pictures were not the business of the fire department.

From KVUE-TV:

“These photographs were in no way public,” Stribling said.

Stribling said the pictures had been kept in a private Flickr account, and that Austin city officials misunderstood how they were used.

“They thought they had a person who was out there on the Internet, and that was simply not true,” Stribling said.

Last year’s photos did not mark the first time that Garza’s questionable behavior came to the attention of his superiors. In 2006 he was reprimanded for appearing in a racy picture on Craigslist.

Early raw video: Newark, New Jersey firefighters make multiple rescues from fire escapes at 3rd-alarm.

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Click here for more Ed Gray video

Ed Gray, as usual, is in there early and up close as the Newark Fire Department goes to work late Sunday night at 77 Lincoln Park. The fire apparently started in a ground floor Chinese restaurant and spread to the apartments above.

From WNYW-TV:

Daring rescues by firefighters saved the lives of more than two dozen people overnight in Newark.

A fire broke out at around 11:30 p.m. on Sunday inside the Happy Garden Chinese Restaurant at 77 Lincoln Park, according to fire officials.

The restaurant was closed at the time, according to several residents who spoke with FOX 5 News.

Approximately 30 people lived above the restaurant in eight apartments. Their homes were completely destroyed, reported the Associated Press.

A four-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl were taken to a local hospital and treated for smoke inhalation.

Newark fire officials fear the building may collapse.

From the Star-Ledger:

But 20 minutes later the alarms hadn’t stopped, and when Jackson went to investigate he said the hallway smelled of burnt fish. He and his brother-in-law Jonathan Foye, 41, had to leap from a second-floor fire escape to evade the flames.

As he leapt to safety, he said he felt like he was living a scene from the movie “Backdraft.”

When the fire alarm started ringing in his Newark apartment around 10:55 Sunday night, Samuel Jackson, his father-in-law and brother-in-law ignored it. The alarms had gone off before for no reason.


Don’t vote for me! I mean it. But I do have a suggestion. Also, listen to Tiger & Glenn tonight.

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Vote for FireTruckBlog.com as blog of the year (or just write Rhett at firecritic@firecritic.com)

(THE FIRE CRITIC CORRECTS ME, YOU CAN ONLY WRITE IN NOMINATIONS NOW. HE MAKES IT SO COMPLICATED.)

Listen to Glenn Usdin & Tiger Schmittendorf on Firefighter Storytellers tonight at 9:00 PM EST

For the second year, my friend or fiend (depending on the day, or even the hour) Rhett Fleitz of Fire Critic infamy (explain it to him Willie) is trying to determine your favorite fire and EMS blog. Now, don’t think for a moment Rhett is doing this because he’s so vain he wants everyone to vote for his blogs. Rhett made his blogs ineligible. But, despite his many faults (that list runs longer than he does), Rhett is the man when it comes to promoting fire and EMS blogs and other social media outlets. Rhett is quite generous in this regard, as is his hosting of this contest. Maybe we can do like Miss America and give him the Miss Congeniality award.

While I support Rhett’s efforts and am glad to promote the contest, I really don’t want you to vote for STATter911.com. It’s not false modesty. I just think this honor should go to a blogger who spent more than the few years I did in the fire service. While my time as a firefighter (something Rhett claims never happened) was one of the highlights of my life (right up there with meeting Jerry Engle and Rhett) I think of myself more as a washed up reporter who happens to do a fire and EMS blog (the same way I’m sure most of you think of me).

Last year I put my weight (such as it is) behind my friend, retired fire captain Bill Schumm at Firegeezer. As his campaign manager, I came up short. We were beaten out by a paramedic who doesn’t even respond to 911 calls. If you keep encouraging them, these foreigners are going to take all of our fire and EMS blogging jobs. Can’t we build a firewall around the Internet?

I am still a firm believer that Bill has one of the top fire & EMS blogs in the blogosphere, but the masses have spoken. They want younger, hipper, someone with a funny accent and a lot of 9s in his url (all of you who voted for him, remember it is just the devil doing a handstand). This year I am going with Glenn Usdin’s FireTruckBlog.com and I am asking the legions of STATter911.com fans to do the same. Glenn is younger and hipper than Bill (sorry Bill). At least we are moving in the right direction.

Also, as I have mentioned before, I’ve been working with Glenn on FireTruckBlog.com. So, those of you who are dissapointed I don’t want you to vote for me, it is the next best thing.

But it isn’t just because I have a business relationship that I am supporting Glenn (okay, it does help, but he doesn’t even know I am doing this), I also believe in what he is doing. FireTruckBlog.com’s name says it all.

While the blog is one of the new kids on the block, Glenn isn’t. He has a wealth of experience in the fire service in New York and Pennsylvania, buying and selling fire trucks and as a writer and photographer. If you are looking for stories, video, pictures and links about fire apparatus it is THE site for you. It covers an important aspect of the fire service, there’s lots of new material each day and it is consistent. It’s everything STATter911.com isn’t.

Just remember a vote for FireTruckBlog.com is a vote for STATter911.com. Well maybe that’s not such a good slogan (could be why Bill lost last year). Click here, or the link above, for Rhett’s very complicated voting instructions. You can also vote by simply writing Miss Congeniality at firecritic@firecritic.com. You can vote once a day from each of you email addresses (hopefully you have scores of them).

While we are on the topic of Glenn Usdin, tonight you can listen to him tell war stories with Tiger Schmittendorf (another fine blogger) on Firefighter Storyteller. Coming up at 9:00 PM EST.

Video: Two-alarm motel fire in South Hackensack, New Jersey, leaves firefighters, cops & motel guest injured.

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One man was badly burned during a fire yesterday that apparently started in his room at the Super 8 Motel on Route 46 in South Hackensack, New Jersey. The two-alarm fire also left two firefighters injured and two police officers with smoke inhalation. Little Ferry Fire Chief Rob Cordasco told WABC-TV (below), “We were very low on manpower.” The chief cited that and the freezing temperatures as problems for firefighters. (Thanks to Firefighter Close Calls for alerting us to this fire.)

More details from an aticle by Marlene Naanes and Nick Clunn:

Investigators identified the victim as 40-year-old Peter Mortimer. Medics rushed him to the Burn Center at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, where he was listed Tuesday night in critical condition, a nursing supervisor said.

Two firefighters and two police officers also sustained minor injuries in the towering blaze that appeared to have started in a second-floor room occupied by the victim about 7:15 a.m., Little Ferry Fire Chief Rob Cordasco said.

The Police Department, notified of the fire by a 911 caller, dispatched officers to evacuate the two-story building on the westbound side of the highway.

Early video: Cinnaminson, New Jersey house explosion. Elderly woman badly injured.

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Looking at this, I’m not sure how they did it, but neighbors say they rescued an elderly woman from this burning pile of rubble that used to be her home. The explosion occurred last night on in Cinnaminson, New Jersey. According to neighbors the woman was badly burned, but conscious.

This was the home that was destroyed last night. Click the image for Bing's Bird's Eye View.

From WPVI-TV:

“They were watching the Flyers game, everything came off the shelf in the house, it blew out a couple windows across the street, it was bad,” neighbor Jackie Larmanis said.

The surrounding homes suffered significant damage and authorities say those residents may be displaced for some time.

Public Service Electric and Gas is investigating the cause of the explosion. They are looking into whether it was a gas explosion.

Action News viewers called into the newsroom shortly after the explosion saying they felt the effects from as far away as Northeast Philadelphia and Columbus, New Jersey.

From WCAU-TV:

An elderly woman and here dog were at home when the blast happened and were rescued thanks to the quick thinking of neighbors including Ron Ruppert.

“I went and looked and I saw the older ladies house on fire,” Ruppert said.

“I knew she was in there,” Ruppert said. “We tried to get through the front but there was too much fire so me and another guy… we ran to the back of the house and she was standing towards the back of the house with the dog.”

Intruder spends the night at San Francisco firehouse. Man found in female firefighter’s clothes inside Station 19.

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Getting a picture of Station 19 off of Google Maps I found that the Street View car caught Engine 19 out front. Click the image & veer right to see the firehouse.

In San Francisco, 29-year-old Eric Miller was arrested after being found inside a fire station Monday, wearing a female firefighter’s clothes. He’s been charged with burglary and possession of stolen property. A firefighter coming on duty was the first to spot Miller and at first thought he was another firefighter. There are nine firefighters on each shift at Station 19. Firefighters detained him until police arrived. It is unclear what time Miller showed up the station. According to news reports the crew in the bunkroom heard someone working out in the gym at 2:00 AM but assumed it was another firefighter.

Here are excerpts from an article by Art Burack of Bay City News:

A firefighter arriving at Station 19 at 390 Buckingham Way in the Taraval District for a morning shift found 29-year-old Eric Miller at about 6 a.m. sitting on the couch watching TV, police said.

The firefighter then asked Miller, “Do you need a jump?” which is firefighter lingo for taking over a shift, according to Talmadge.

Miller didn’t understand the question, and the firefighter became suspicious, she said.

When asked what he was doing there, Miller replied that he “worked for the army and was waiting for an emergency call on the DNS phone,” police spokesman Lt. Troy Dangerfield said.

Miller had apparently retrieved a female firefighter’s clothing from the dryer and then washed his shoes in the washing machine, Talmadge said.

He then donned the female firefighter’s T-shirt and shorts, and rolled her underwear up inside his own T-shirt, Talmadge said.

Video & fireground audio: Two-alarm house fire on Minton Street in Buffalo.

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Fireground audio via Erie County Fire Wire

A fire yesterday at 26 Minton Street in Buffalo, New York, with damage to exposures. The video above is from Don Murtha.  Here’s some of what WIVB-TV wrote about the fire:

Firefighters say they had a hard time getting through a burning home on Minton Street because of what was inside. They say the fire was fed by more oxygen by civilians, who broke a window, trying to help out. They remained on the scene for more than an hour, battling the stubborn flames.

Some firefighters suffered minor burns. The fire chief said at times, the debris was as high as firefighters’ waists and they had move items to get further into the home to fight the fire. No one was home at the time. Two dogs were rescued and are now at the animal shelter.

More details & pictures from Erie County Fire Wire

FireTruckBlog.com: Some new delvieries, training in Kenya, PUC, Glenn meets Tiger & more.

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FireTruckBlog.com has details, links and pictures for lots of new fire trucks that have been delivered.

Also, check yesterday’s Roundup for details on Minneapolis firefighters heading to Kenya to help train firefighters on a rig the city donated (I would be doing anything to get out of Minneapolis this time of year), a patent for PUC (Pierce Ultimate Configuration) and much more apparatus news.

The man who runs FireTruckBlog.com, Chief Glenn Usdin, has a guest spot tomorrow evening at 9:00 EST on Tiger Schmittendorf’s Firefighter Storytellers. Listen to these two veterans of the fire service and call in with your questions. Read more about it, here. Use this link to tune in.

Check this out: Video of explosion & collapse during vacant building fire in Cairo, Illinois.

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Something exploded in this vacant building as firefighters battled a fire Monday night in Cairo, Illinois. A photographer for television station K-F-V-S was rolling when the blast occurred and also caught the collapse a short time later..

The local fire chief says the fire started when four men were inside the building, looking for things to steal.

The fire chief says the blaze probably started when the men were cutting metal with torches.

No one was injured.

Here’s more from KFVS-TV:

Tuesday morning Cairo Police Chief Gary Hankins said the fire at 8th and Commercial Monday night was not arson.

According to the chief, the fire started when four men were in the vacant building stealing things. Chief Hankins says a two pickup trucks were found behind the building with material from inside. The trucks belonged to two of the men.

At one point something in the fourth floor appeared to explode, followed by the collapse of at least half the building.

UPDATE – Video added: Car explodes in Arlington County, Virginia. A bad couple of days for BMWs.

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Video above from WUSA9.com’s Greg Guise.

Slideshow from WUSA9.com 

Here are the details known so far about this morning’s explosion in South Arlington from Susan Phillips at WUSA9.com:

Police and fire investigators are on the scene of a car explosion in Arlington.  

Lt. Ed Hughes with the Arlington County Fire Department tells 9NEWS NOW the explosion occurred in the trunk of a white sedan parked in a residential neighborhood on South 9th Street between Courthouse Road and Veitch Street. The fire department was alerted to the incident around 8:30 A.M.

Lt. Hughes says no one was injured in the blast.

Hughes says they are still in the early stages of the investigation.

It has been a bad 24 hours for BMW’s on STATter911.com. This is the third incident that we’ve posted involving the demise of a BMW. It started early yesterday morning with the tragic death of lobbyist Ashley Westbrook Turton inside her burning SUV at her Southeast Washington home. Then there was the car fire during live snow coverage by WXIA-TV in Marietta, Georgia.

If you are looking for greater meaning in this, don’t bother. I know I am feeding the conspiracy theorists, but it’s just a coincidence.

Raw video: More from Monday’s 5th alarm at 4800 Walnut Street in Philly.

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STATter911.com earlier coverage of the Walnut Street fire & Sunday’s five-alarm fire on Warren Street

Newsworking.org’s Bill Rohr sent along this video he took yesterday evening at 4800 Walnut Street in Philadelphia. Here’s Bill’s account:

At 14:35 hours, Box 2837 was transmitted for the apartment building at 4800 Walnut Street. On arrival, crews found heavy smoke in the hallways on the 3rd and 4th floor.

Due to the massive size of the comples, crews had trouble finding the seat of the fire. When they finally did, the fire was in the walls extending vertically to the cockloft.

A second alarm was transmitted about an hour into the call. With the rapid extension of the fire in the cockloft, the 3rd and 4th alarms were transmitted. As the fire spread to the west wing and the east wing, the 5th alarm was transmitted.

In all, over 160 firefighters and more than 50 pieced of equipment battled the blaze in freezing temperatures. 89 of the 90 apartments were occupied. About 100 residents were displace by the fire.

It took over five hours to contain the blaze. Under Control was transmitted at 19:25, but firefighters were far from finished.

Asbury Park Acting Captain Jason Fazio suffers serious burns & broken bones in apartment fire. Series of pictures captures flashover.

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From Firefighter Close Calls

Acting Captain Jason Fazio, who turned 41 today, was seriously burned in that morning fire in Asbury Park and remains in critical condition at the St. Barnabas Burn Center in Livingston (N.J.). 

Fazio, 41, acting Captain of the truck company, went into the building which contains 12 2nd floor apartments along with stores on the first floor. Fazio was in a room in that apartment, which flashed over from the heat and he dove out of the second story apartment to save himself, according to APFD Fire Chief  Kevin Keddy Captain Fazio suffered several fractured bones secondary to his burns. 

Click the image above to see the entire series of photos by Tom Berg at APP.com.

From APP.com

Fazio, 41, acting captain of the truck company on the shift, went into the 400 Main St. building which contains 12 second-floor apartments and stores on the first floor at the corner of Main Street and Bangs Avenue, across from the city post office. 

No one was home in the one apartment that was gutted in the fire. 

Fazio was in a room in that apartment, which flashed over from the heat. He dove out of the second story apartment to save himself, Fire Chief Kevin Keddy said. 

Fire officials said they were waiting for medical authorities at the burn center to give an assessment of Fazio’s conditions. Earlier reports were that it was at least second-degree burns, Mayor Ed Johnson said. 

Raw video & fireground audio: Two 5-alarm fires in Philly in two days.

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More on these fires from the Fire Critic

Two five-alarm fires in as many days in Philly. Sunday’s fire was at a school at 5151 Warren Street (scroll down). We start with today’s fire in a large, four-story apartment building at 4800 block Walnut Street. 

From PhillyFireNews.com:

B/C-7 reported smoke showing from a four story apartment building, W Shape building. Placed 2&2 in service. D/C-1 reported fire third floor extending to the fourth floor. Special called additional 2&2 above the box. Companies to assist in evacuation of the building. Command then struck the second alarm.

Click the image above for lots of photos of the 4800 Walnut Street fire by Ted Aurig, Ron Trout, Chris Miller, & Michael Warren at PhillyFireNews.com. And click here for PFN’s pictures from Sunday’s fire on Warren Street by Rich Moulder

Command reported fire through the roof, third alarm struck. Master stream placed in service. D/C-1 then requested the fourth alarm struck heavy fire through the roof of the building. The fifth alarm was struck at 4:37 pm.

From WFTX-TV:

Deputy Chief Willy Williams says light smoke was reported in the four-story building at 4800 Walnut Street at 2:35 p.m. Monday. He says the response had reached a third alarm about an hour later and a fourth alarm was declared at 4 p.m.

Williams says the fire had spread to the roof area, and fire crew were attacking the flames from the outside.

But he says crews have gone through the building getting residents to safety, and there are no reports of injuries.

Firegeezer has more on Sunday’s fire

Now to Sunday’s fire on Warren Street. Here’s the PhillyFireNews.com write-up:

Engine 16 was dispatched for an alarm system. Engine-16 arrived on scene with fire in the basement of a three story school, 50×75, an placed all hands in service. D/C-1 reported heavy fire extending through out the building. Requested the second alarm struck and third alarms struck. All companies went in service with heaviest water lines. Fire extended to an exposure in the rear. Fourth Alarm struck. The fifth alarm was eventually struck by command.  

And more on the Warren Street fire from Philly.com:

A five-alarm fire that raged for more than an hour and a half early Sunday caused “substantial” damage to the 400-student Global Leadership Academy in West Philadelphia, Deputy Fire Chief Michael Wahl reported.

The cause of the fire, which started in the basement of the three-story building at 5151 Warren St., near 52d Street and Lancaster Avenue, is under investigation, Wahl said.

Early video: Washington lobbyist Ashley Westbrook Turton, wife of White House aide, found dead in burning car. Vehicle partially in garage of Capitol Hill home.

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Firefighters with the DC Fire & EMS Department found the body of a 37-year-old lobbyist inside a burning car partially in the garage of the woman’s Capitol Hill home. Ashley Westbrook Turton was director of congressional affairs for Progress Energy. Turton was married to Daniel Turton, the White House deputy director of legislative affairs for the U.S. House.  

Here is what WUSA9.com is reporting:   

Pete Piringer, spokesman for DC Fire and EMS, says firefighters were called to the 800 block of A Street for a report of a fire inside a row house just before 5:00 Monday morning. Firefighters quickly arrived at the scene and found a car engulfed in flames inside the attached garage of a row house. Piringer says once fire crews brought the flames under control they found the body of an adult victim inside the vehicle.  

Piringer says police and fire investigators are on the scene. According to Piringer, the leading theory is the car may have crashed into the garage and caught fire.  

From Paul Duggan at The Washington Post:  

Ashley W. Turton, 37, an energy company lobbyist and former chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), was found dead shortly before 5 a.m. in a burning BMW, the back end of which was partly out of the garage, as if the vehicle had been entering or leaving when the fire started, authorities said.  

 

Authorities said her death appears to have resulted from a low-speed crash, an unknown medical condition, the fire, or some combination of the three. “We have no evidence of any obvious malfeasance in her death at this time,” said Capt. Michael Farish, of the D.C. police homicide unit. The department’s major crash unit is handling most of the investigation for the police department.  

Most of the smoke and fire damage was contained to the garage, according to Piringer, who said an adult male and several children in the house were unharmed. He said no 911 call came from the house and it is possible that the man and children were unaware of what had happened until firefighters arrived.  

911 calls from Tucson shooting that wounded Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords & left six people dead.

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Raw video: Car catches fire on live TV. Snow coverage heats up in Georgia.

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WXIA-TV reporter Paul Crawley and my old friend photojournalist Al Ashe had one of my least favorite TV news assignments this morning. They were standing out in the cold and snow telling everyone it was cold and there was snow on the ground. I tried to schedule root canals during snowstorms so I had something more pleasurable to do.

They had a live shot set up in Cobb County, Georgia when a man driving a BMW had a little traction problem on the ice. As you will see in the video, the snow and ice in that spot were soon not a problem. Here’s what WUSA9.com posted about the story (and yes, I know it’s just a car fire):

One unfortunate motorist on Windy Hill Road in Marietta slid backward on the icy road, and tried to spin his tires to get out. That didn’t work out so well for him. His car ended up catching fire — directly across the road from where 11Alive’s Paul Crawley was set up for a live shot on the dangerous road conditions.

The car ended up catching fire on live television as Crawley yelled to the driver to get out.

Cobb County Fire crews showed up to put out the fire, and the hapless motorist was not hurt.