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A house fire reported around 12:30 this morning in the 200 block of Devonshire Road in Tredyffrin, PA (Chester County). According to the description with the video, the call was dispatched as a fireplace fire. Read more about the fire here.
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STATter911.com reader Michael Brogan shot this video last night at an apartment fire in North Attleboro, Massachusetts. At about 6:45 on the video firefighters remove a woman from the apartment where the fire started. The body of a man was found in the same apartment.
From Boston.com's Alli Knothe:
Firefighters responded at about midnight to a blaze in an eight-unit apartment building on Chestnut Street, said Fire Chief Peter Lamb.
“Almost the entire second floor was in flames when we arrived,” he said.
He estimated that the fire took about 40 minutes to get under control.
From The Sun Chronicle's David Linton:
The fire chief said the blaze originated in the victims' apartment and quickly spread to other second-floor units.
"There was 60 or 70 feet of flame on the second floor. There was just heavy, heavy fire on the second floor of the building," Lamb said.
Firefighters fought through the blaze and found the deceased resident and then the injured woman during a secondary search, Lamb said.
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Furniture store & apartments burn in Syracuse, NY: The fire was Saturday afternoon. YNN.com has more video and these details of a close call - "Mark Mclees, Syracuse Fire Chief said, 'We knocked the fire down, we were advancing in to the structure and the back porch on the back of the building came down and knocked my firefighter down. So we did have a firefighter who was knocked down by a back porch collapse. He's still operating, he's okay. We don't have any other reports of anyone missing.'" Syracuse.com has some good pictures and more details about the fire.
READ THIS – Special fundraiser for FDNY Rescue 2 Mayday Fund: Our friend Zach Green at MN8-Foxfire, who has those extremely unique and useful illuminating products for firefighters, has teamed up with IronFiremen.com and FireCritic.com to do something really nice over the next week. They are raising money for the FDNY Rescue 2 Mayday Fund to help Firefighter Robert Weidmann and Firefighter James Gersbeck who were burned in the fire in Crown Heights on December 19. From today through midnight on Monday January 30, MN8-Foxfire will donate 50 percent of all product sales through the company website to the FDNY Rescue 2 Mayday Fund. There will also be a way to directly donate.
HERE IS THE MN8-FOXFIRE WEBSITE
The uniform crisis in our Nation's Capital continues: Two more TV stories Friday about the battle between DC Fire & EMS Department Chief Kenneth Ellerbe and the troops over issues that have developed after what is being described as the fifth change in the policy for outerwear in the last year. The latest controversy boils down to whether the city can require firefighters to put identifying marks on jackets, seaters, sweatshorts and hats the department does not provide. Union president Ed Smith gets the airtime in the story from ABC7/WJLA-TV. In the other story, Chief Ellerbe, who had previously issued a statement saying he "wouldn't comment further on this one", does an interview with Fox 5/WTTG-TV reporter Paul Wagner. In the same story, Lt. Robert Alvarado again speaks out saying the chief is showing a "lack of leadership" and calls the latest order "unconscionable". Click here.
DC lieutenant's suit against TV station gets thrown out of court: The story is one that I thought, when it aired a year ago, was poorly done, had the wrong focus and tried to hold the wrong people accountable. The lieutenant featured had even stronger feelings and sued the TV news operation. A DC judge recently threw it out of court based on a fairly new law. Click here.
Arrangements for Hopelawn ex-chief Bruce Turcotte: Click here for funeral details following the death of Bruce Turcotte last week during a house fire in Woodbridge, New Jersey. It turns out a neighbor found the firefighter slumped behind the wheel of a rig on the fireground. Here's that story.
The parade passing by may be a record breaker: Glenn Usdin's FireTruckBlog.com has the story from Oklahoma on Friday of what may be the longest fire truck parade ever. They are sending the info to Guinness World Records. Click here.
Lessons in reputation mismanagement: The story of the wife who says she was left on a Maine roadside by the ambulance carrying her dead or dying husband continues to play out in the news. In fact, I think you can say the hospital that runs the ambulance service is helping keep this one alive by failing to follow some basic rules when confronted with bad news. The two most recent stories are here and here.
Mayday audio from Edmonton: Firefighters had a tough time getting out of an apartment building on Thursday when the evacuation order came. Click here to listen.
Firegeezer has the story of a real man: Yes, this guy punches out fire sprinklers in Chicago night clubs and then tries to say his head hit it. The video shows otherwise. Check it out.
Hero Rush: The obstacle race and experience created for firefighters and the general public. And you will be contributing to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation when you sign up. Click here to see when Hero Rush is coming to your town.
The message is loud and clear but was it a good idea?: A firefighter with a colorful employment record, who was recently fired in one Ohio town, has his termination letter signed by 13 of his colleagues. Some writing in our comments section are debating the merits of getting the troops involved in the separation in this manner. Read the details and the comments.
House fire in Milton, Kentucky: Dash-cam video from the chief's vehicle.
One firefighter with two off-duty rescues in 12 days: A great story about Omaha Fire Department Firefighter Phil Lopez who has been making the news quite a bit recently.
Singing the blues in Mesa: That's where country singer Lee Brice's tour bus caught fire. Watch the raw video and TV story.
Shift trading limited in Cleveland: After lots of criticism and bad publicity over firefighters living as far away as San Diego, limits have been put on shift trading for the Cleveland Fire Department. The amount of time firefighters can owe to each other or be owed will be 144 hours, or six, 24-hour shifts. Prior to this some firefighters were off for months at a time. Here's more.
High school cadet program for Prince George's County, MD: For two of the people in the picture at the right it was apparently their first time dragging a hose inside a burning building. Can you figure out which two it is? The picture was taken following a press conference on Friday announcing that PGFD will be working with the school system to start a high school cadet program. Okay, so from left to right it is Deputy Chief Ben Barksdale, Chief Marc Bashoor, School Superintendent William Hite and County Executive Rushern Baker. But that still really doesn't answer the question, does it?
Firefighters bury dog: In Wake Forest, North Carolina a house fire Friday night took the life of the family dog. A neighbor was so touched that the firefighters went above and beyond, and took care of burying the dog for the family, she alerted the local news media. Thanks to Michael Greenham and Mike Legeros at Legeros Fire Blog for alerting me to the story.
Connecticut newsman and emergency services legend dies: Here is an interesting article from Connecticut's Naugatuck Valley about the passing of 91-year-old Edward Cotter Jr. A founding member of Storm Ambulance, Cotter had also been a photographer and sports reporter with the former Evening Sentinel. When Cotter joined the paper at age 19 his father encouraged him to join the fire department which was next door to the newspaper's offices. Read more about the life of Edward Cotter Jr. Thanks to Chris Schwartz at firstduefirephotos.com who sent us this and has more on Ed Cotter Jr on his site.
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This is dash-cam video from Chief Jason Long of Milton Fire and Rescue in Milton, Kentucky. We have previously run video from this all volunteer department with two stations protecting about 3500 people in an area of 65 square miles along the Ohio River.
For those of us in urban areas, the video is a reminder of what can be the reality of rural firefighting where there are often long response times with limited staffing.
The chief arrives at 5:30 in the first video, with an ambulance already on the scene but has to wait for suppression forces to arrive. Water is flowing a little after 4:00 on part 2.
Here are details about the fire yesterday from miltonfireandrescue.org:
At 1:12 p.m., Milton Fire & Rescue was dispatched to the report of a structure fire at 1283 Palmyra Rd. Car 8501 arrived on scene and found a fully engulfed two story residence. Crews from Milton, Bedford, Westside, and Ghent worked for several ours to extinguish the fire. There were no injuries in the fire and there was nobody home at the time of the fire. The fire appears to be unintentional and cause has yet to be determined. 8501 in Command.
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Previous coverage of this story
Here is another DC TV news operation's look at the latest in the DCFD uniform controversy.
From ABC7/WJLA-TV''s Haley Harrison:
A new departmental uniform policy is keeping some D.C. firefighters from wearing sweaters or coats while they brave the elements.
The new policy concerns the logos and patches that can be worn by emergency responders.
Under the change, uniforms bearing "DCFD" must go and the old plain black of blue winter coats paid for by the firefighters are no longer allowed.
D.C. Fire and EMS views itself as a para-military organization and is striving to no longer be a homeland security risk by allowing firefighters to wear unmarked uniforms, a spokeswoman said.
This latest change to the department's uniform policy is the fifth in less than a year.
Firefighters say all the changes are affecting morale.
"Our stance is that if the department wants to keep continuing to make uniform changes, they should purchase the jackets and the tools we need to do our job," said Ed Smith, president of Local 36, a firefighters union.
The city pays for standard uniforms, but if emergency responders want sweaters, coats or hats, that comes out of pocket. Those items can cost as much as $750.
The firefighters are asking for taxpayers to foot the bill.
Northeast resident Monsoor Ali didn't mind.
"I don't think that the city can afford for their firefighters to become ill," Ali said. "And I don't think they can afford for their firefighters to walk off the job or become suspended."
Chief Kenneth Ellerbe was out of town and unable to respond to the story. Neither Ellerbe nor a department spokeswoman provided a written statement.
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This is audio from a fire on Thursday at 181511A St. in South Edmonton, Alberta. It was reported around 2:40 PM and burned through the night. As an evacuation of the building was ordered, a crew, unable to exit from the top floor, called a mayday in an effort to get a ladder to their location.
In the end, much of the building burned to the ground. There is news video taken during defensive operations here and aftermath video below.
Firefighters had to fight the fire from outside the building after crews put in a mayday call while inside. Heavy smoke and steam generated by the cold temperatures can reduce firefighter’s visibility to zero, Lamb said.
Temperatures on Thursday evening were in the mid -20 C range with the wind chill. Equipment was damaged from ice buildup, and firefighters tend to tire more quickly in cold temperatures, Lamb said.
Crews were being rotated to prevent injuries and fatigue, (Deputy Chief John) Lamb said.
There were no injuries reported as of about 9 p.m. Thursday. At that time, the fire was still not under control.
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Click here to follow STATter911.com on Facebook (hit "like")This is a bit of an unusual story from Liberty Township, Ohio in Trumbull County (not to be confused with the 24 other Liberty Townships in Ohio). A veteran career firefighter let go by township officials found out it wasn't just the bosses who didn't want him at the firehouse any longer. The feelings of his co-workers were almost unanimous and they let him know it.
Township officials says that Firefighter James Thompson, who had been on the department for 14-years, is guilty of “malfeasance and misconduct in office.” According to Robert Guttersohn at Vindy.com, on December 8 Thompson signed a last-chance agreement and returned to work after four months on paid leave. Only four days later, Liberty Township again put Thompson on paid leave.
Guttersohn reports, after Thompson's return, firefighters wrote a memo to township officials fearing a physical confrontation and indicated one firefighter requested a leave of absence because "the danger of attending work".
Liberty Township then sent James Thompson a termination letter that was endorsed by 12 of the town's full-time career firefighters and one part timer.
Here's more from the Vindy.com article:
The termination letter cites Thompson’s tardiness and that he “intentionally and continually created and fostered a hostile and contemptuous work environment and working relationship” with fellow firefighters.
It was the third try by the township to terminate Thompson since he joined the department in 1997.
The first was in 2004 and the second in 2007. Both times his termination went to arbitration and was negotiated to a lesser punishment.
Throughout his career, he picked up criminal convictions. According to Mahoning County court records, Thompson has criminal convictions, including charges of operating a vehicle while impaired and one misdemeanor concealed-weapon charge in 2003, which eventually landed him on unpaid leave for 90 days, according to his personnel file.
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Photo by Keith Addie, www.njfiregroundphotos.com.
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Funeral Arrangements for Ex-Chief Bruce Turcotte of the Hopelawn (NJ) Engine Company #1:
Wake Service's will be held on Monday, 1/23 from 1900 hours till 2100 hours and Tuesday , 01/24 from 1400-1600 hours and 1900 till 2100 hours with a Firefighter Wake Service to be held @ 1930 hours at the Mitruska Funeral Home, 531 New Brunswick Avenue, Fords, NJ, 08863 followed by a funeral mass on Wednesday morning, 01/25, at Our Lady of Peace Roman Catholic Church, 26 Maple Avenue, Edison, NJ, 08837 at 1000 hours.
Visiting Fire Departments are asked to park their vehicles at the Fortunoff's wing of Woodbridge Center Mall, Route 9 South, Woodbridge, NJ, 07095 for shuttle service to the staging area at the St. Johns First Aid Squad building parking lot beginning at 0900 hours. Companies are asked to provide anticipated headcount, if possible, by RSVP to hecofficers@aol.com .
Lodging is available at the Hampton Inn Woodbridge, 370 Route 9 North, Woodbridge, NJ, 07095, (732) 855-6900. Mention "Hopelawn Fire" at time of reservation.
Further information regarding the wake and funeral can be obtained by contacting Captain Joseph Heintjes, Public Information Officer, at joe.heintjes5@gmail.com .
Previous coverage of this story
From Paul Wagner at Fox5 News/WTTG-TV (reprinted with permission):
D.C.'s firefighters are taking a stand against the chief, refusing to comply with another uniform change. It is the fifth in the last year.
It is a change they are all expected to pay for. The union sees it as retaliation while the chief says it is necessary for security.
11 days after FOX 5 first aired footage showing firefighters turning their jackets and sweatshirts inside-out to comply with the latest uniform change – here comes another.
It is a directive from the chief forbidding firefighters from wearing unmarked jackets, saying it is a risk to homeland security. It is an order that left many firefighters dumbfounded and furious.
"I know it looks like a Home Shopping Network display here, but this is what we have gone through,” said Lieutenant Robert Alvarado with Truck 13, showing FOX 5 on a table all of the winter weather gear he has purchased that is now no longer compliant with the uniform policy. “We started out at the end of the year with this t-shirt here and this sweatshirt here and both were an acceptable uniform item. As of January 1st, these items are done, can't wear them. This jacket as well because it has DCFD on the back, and this is a winter jacket purchased with my own money which makes me clearly identifiable as a member of the department. That's no longer good.”
What is infuriating to Lt. Alvarado and others on the department is the fact these changes don't come cheap.
The fire department does not pay for winter outerwear and the only option for firefighters to remain compliant and not be disciplined is to buy additional outerwear with the proper identification or wear their turnout gear around the clock.
"I don't understand how in good conscience this man can put on the chief’s uniform and issue an order that sends his people into inclement weather with no protection. It’s unconscionable and it shows a lack of leadership," said Lt. Alvarado.
The lieutenant is speaking out on his own, risking discipline for what he has to say.
Union President Ed Smith says he is behind the lieutenant along with every other firefighter who has decided to take a stand.
“If they want to make uniform changes, they should purchase all articles, including the cold weather jacket,” said Union President Ed Smith. “Yeah, they're taking a stand on their own, most of them. They don't have to be told, but yeah, we are taking a stand, we want this stuff bought.”
But as you may imagine, Chief Kenneth Ellerbe sees things differently.
"What I did was I took away the ability to wear any personal equipment that doesn't readily identify employees as firefighters,” said Chief Ellerbe. “It seems there's been a movement to wear just plain blue or black jackets, but that creates a problem for other agencies in terms of identifying our members, and it also creates a problem for the public because they don't know who represents the fire department and who doesn't.”
What is doubly upsetting to firefighters is the fact the chief issued outerwear to EMS personnel and the top brass, but has so far refused to buy it for the people who staff the trucks, engines and rescue squads.
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Click here for latest story from KETV-TV
Click here for Firefighter Lopez talking about January 8 house fire
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On January 9 Omaha Fire Department Firefighter Phil Lopez was on TV talking about saving the life of man whose house was on fire the day before. Yesterday Lopez was back on TV, being interviewed about saving another life. In both cases the firefighter was off duty.
The latest incident occurred Tuesday at Grandmother's Restaurant where Lopez was dining with his family. He noticed a woman having difficulty breathing and kept his eye on her. Here's more from KETV:
Moments later, the woman, Erin Byrne, walked away from her table choking. Lopez followed her.
"I heard this man's voice from behind me, and he said, 'Ma'am, are you choking?'" Byrne said.
"I went over and administered the Heimlich, gave her about five good abdominal thrusts and it came out," Lopez said.
"I really do feel like he is my hero," Byrne said.
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Previous coverage of this story here and here
Coverage from Curt Varone's FireLawBlog.com here and here
We teased you this morning with word that it looks like we were finally going to hear the other side of the story surrounding the January 12 fatal skiing accident in Maine of David Morse of Nova Scotia. Morse's widow, Dana, a nurse practitioner, has told reporters that the medic crew not only provided poor care, but left her on the side of the road when she asked to be moved to the back of the ambulance to be with her husband in his final moments.
From the start, many of us said this was a one sided story because we haven't heard from Northstar Ambulance or its parent company Franklin Memorial Hospital. The hospital told reporters it would release a statement today, almost a week after the story made the news.
The hospital followed through on its promise and issued a statement. I would call it a non-statement. It does nothing to set the record straight if, in fact, the details already known are wrong. It does nothing to get this story out and behind the hospital so it can repair the damage.
But yes, it is a statement and it comes from the hospital's CEO Rebecca Ryder:
I would ask everyone in our community and around the state of Maine to join me in extending our heartfelt sympathies to the family who lost their loved one last week as the result of a skiing accident. I have asked the employees in my organization to join me in doing the same.
I understand that this is a very difficult time for the patient’s family, and especially for his wife and children. I am committed to fully understanding all aspects of what occurred following this tragic accident, and will work toward that end.
Throughout this week, we have been conducting a review of this situation. As part of that fact-finding, all involved need to be interviewed, and we have not yet completed that process.
Integral to the mission of Franklin Community Health Network is providing high quality care to our patients and families. As president of the network, I am confident that the health professionals in our organization, which includes NorthStar ambulance service, have continued to maintain our values of expert clinical care and compassion, defined by consistently showing respect for all the people we serve.
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When I first saw the story above a little more than a year ago, I thought it was unfair to the firefighter who was featured, and missed the real story by failing to track down the people who should be answering the questions. In general, I thought it was a poor job done by the reporter on what was and is a legitimate story.
The person featured in the story is DC Fire & EMS Department Lieutenant Richard Lehan. The report focused on Lt. Lehan's income from the District of Columbia. He was the fire department's top money maker in the overtime category. Similar stories have been done in many cities.
Lehan's feelings about the report were obviously a lot stronger than mine. He filed a defamation lawsuit against WTTG-TV. DC Superior Court Judge Rufus G. King III has now dismissed that suit based on the District of Columbia's new anti-SLAPP law.
SLAPP stands for "strategic lawsuits against public participation". Wikipedia has one of the clearest explanations of a SLAPP I could find:
A lawsuit that is intended to censor, intimidate, and silence critics by burdening them with the cost of a legal defense until they abandon their criticism or opposition.
Anti-SLAPP laws are generally intended to protect a citizen's right of free speech and, as in this case, have also been used by the news media to do the same.
Richard Lehan's lawsuit is the first dismissal under DC's law.
Drew E. Shenkman and Charles D. Tobin, with Holland and Knight LLP, have written an article about this case. I have forwarded it to FireLawBlog.com's Curt Varone to see if I can encourage him to translate it into English from legalese in one of his columns. Actually it is not that bad, but Curt, a lawyer and firefighter, will do a better job explaining what this all really means. In the meantime here's an excerpt from the article:
In June 2011, Lehan sued for defamation and defamation per se. He alleged that the station's figures were inaccurate and that the report's use of phrases like "racked up" and "month-after-month" were defamatory. He also alleged that the report that he and his brother controlled the assignment of overtime was false.
The station filed a special motion to dismiss under the District's anti-SLAPP statute, D.C. Code §16-5501, et seq., enacted in March 2011. D.C. is the 29th jurisdiction with a law permitting early challenges to SLAPP lawsuits. Under the D.C. statute, if a defendant establishes the lawsuit arose out of "acts in furtherance of the right of advocacy on issues of public interest," the burden shifts to the plaintiff to demonstrate a "likelihood of success" on the merits. If the plaintiff fails, the statute requires the court to dismiss the lawsuit and the judge may award reasonable attorneys' fees.
Now, my complaints about this story have nothing to do with defamation, though I thought there was a fair amount of innuendo with no smoking gun to back it up. If I had been doing the story, I'm sure I too would have featured Lt. Lehan, the top overtime earner. That's a fact important to the story, especially since his later earnings appeared to violate a DC law limiting the amount of overtime a firefighter or police officer can make.
But since there was no indication in reporter Roby Chavez's story (Chavez is no longer with the station) that Lt Lehan was putting in for overtime he didn't earn, my questions would have been directed elsewhere. Instead of spending a lot of time staking out the quarters of Engine 30 trying to get Lt. Lehan to talk, I would have been tracking down, and if necessary staking out, former Chief Dennis Rubin and his assistant chiefs who were ultimately responsible for how the overtime money was spent. They are the people who should have been answering the questions from the reporter and those raised by the council member interviewed in the report.
It isn't just DC. I have brought this same point up many times before elsewhere in the country. If the firefighter or other public servant is legitimately being paid for hours worked, the focus should not be on the person receiving the fat paycheck, but rather the person writing it.
Obviously Judge King has judged that this TV news story was not defamation. That's out of my expertise (though, when I first heard about the lawsuit from a friend, I expressed doubts about its success). I will, however, judge that it was a poor and misguided journalistic effort.
FULL DISCLOSURE: I have known Lt. Lehan and his brother Ed (also mentioned in the report) for a long time. I like both of them and they both have been kind to me through the years. That said, to my knowledge, I have never talked to either one of them about the story or the lawsuit, and am basing my opinion solely on my experience as a TV reporter who covered the fire service.
In addition, I have some very good friends (or at least did) at WTTG-TV. The station has some wonderful TV journalists on its staff. My comments focus solely on this one story and do not reflect on the news operation as a whole.
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Photo by Keith Addie, www.njfiregroundphotos.com.
Read entire Star Ledger article about FF Bruce Turcotte
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Krista Sweeney had rushed backed to her home yesterday afternoon after hearing about a fire in the neighborhood. Deborah Bell at the Woodbridge Patch reports that as Sweeney was walking up Jefferson Street she passed a fire engine and saw what she at first thought was a mannequin behind the wheel.
Looking a little closer, she realized it was actually a man in the driver's seat. It turned out to be Bruce Turcotte, a former chief of the Hopelawn VFD. According to Bell's article Sweeney alerted firefighters on the scene:
The firemen looked at one another and in seconds, they had located Turcotte, dragged his body from the cab of the fire engine, and were furiously working to revive him.
"They didn't know [that he was injured.] You couldn't see him from where they were fighting the fire. The ambulance blocked it. You had to be where I was," she said, as she was walking towards her house to see Turcotte's unconscious body in the fire truck.
The Star-Ledger reports that Bruce Turcotte's son Brian, also a Hopelawn firefighter, was on the call:
Turcotte, a former chief of Hopelawn Engine Company No. 1, excelled to the end, said Brian Turcotte, the fallen man’s son and a firefighter himself with Hopelawn.
The younger Turcotte was there Thursday for his father’s final mission, a fatal residential fire on Jefferson Street in the Menlo Park Terrace section of the township.
Turcotte went into cardiac arrest after Hopelawn’s Rapid Intervention Crew arrived at the scene, according to his son and a statement from fire Capt. Joseph Heintjes. According to Heintjes, the elder Turcotte was assisting in stretching hoses so the engine company crews could advance to the building.
A short time later, he was discovered unresponsive behind the wheel of the truck.
In addition to Firefighter Turcotte's death, a man was found dead in the basement of the burning home. Woodbridge's mayor told The Star Ledger the same home had a fatal fire in the 1970s.
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Previous coverage of this story
Coverage from Curt Varone's FireLawBlog.com here and here
UPDATE: Read Friday statement from hospital CEO
Since we first reported the story on Sunday about a Nova Scotia man who was fatally injured in a skiing accident at Sugarloaf Ski Resort in Maine last week, like me, many of you have been waiting to hear the other side of the story. Some key information has been missing and it's possible some of those answers may come today.
So far, we only know the details provided by David Morse's widow Dana, a nurse practitioner, who says paramedics left her on the side of the road when she asked to be allowed in the patient compartment for what she believed were her husband's dying moments. In addition, Dana Morse has strongly criticized the care provided by the ambulance crew.
Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington, Maine, which runs Northstar Ambulance service, indicated it did not know about Dana Morse's complaint when contacted by the Chronicle Herald last weekend. Since then, the hospital has not been doing itself any favors by not releasing any information about the incident.
While determining the level and quality of care provided to the patient may take some time, it seems the key point of the story that has made it newsworthy, whether Dana Morse was abandoned by the side of the road, should be an easy one to figure out, along with any explanation for those actions.
Rather than provide those answers in a timely fashion, the hospital and ambulance service have stretched this reputation issue into a whole week of news stories. OnlineSentinel.com reports the wait for the rest of the story may end today after Jill Gray, community relations manager for Franklin Memorial Hospital, indicated there could be a statement released about the internal review.
Among the stories this week are the one above from NECN where the reporter talked by phone to Dana Morse's sister.
Bangor Daily News has done at least two stories. In the first, Dana Morse said the details of what happened are even worse than what she shared with the Chronicle Herald:
Dana Morse told the Bangor Daily News on Tuesday she believes an investigation into the handling of her husband’s case will reveal it was even worse than depicted in The Chronicle Herald story, which she said was otherwise “completely accurate.”
“I will file a formal complaint to ensure the details are available for their investigation, as the printed details in The Chronicle Herald are not even touching the surface,” she wrote to the BDN in an email, adding, “I will not provide further comments [as] my focus is my boys.”
In the second story, Bangor Daily News reporter Seth Koenig got in touch with my friend Curt Varone, who writes FireLawBlog.com:
"We’ve got to get down to the facts about what happened,” Varone told the BDN in a Wednesday evening telephone interview. “Did the transporting EMS unit en route to a hospital leave a patient’s family member by the side of the road? If that did happen, what were the grounds? As a fire service leader, I’m struggling to come up with grounds to justify that. I’m not saying they didn’t have grounds, but we’d need to know what those grounds were.”
Varone said before the public knows what the hospital’s internal review finds, “it’s not helpful to speculate.” But he said it will be important for the hospital to release its findings openly, a step medical facilities are not often required to take.
“This is something that has captured the public’s attention, and the hospital, just like any other entity, has an obligation to tell the public, ‘This is what happened — we did an investigation and, you might not like what happened, but here are the results,’” Varone said.
Excellent points, as always, by Curt. In fact, a good way to stop that speculating would have been for the hospital to provide the key facts well before now. If it is bad news for the hospital and the ambulance service, delaying the inevitable is just making it worse. If the hospital has a defensible position, they have lost a lot of opportunities to share it and possibly prevent further erosion of the ambulance service's reputation.
Those who think that just by saying "it's under investigation", or the old standby, "we can't talk because it's a personnel matter", are enough to quiet things down and give you time, can just look at this story to see what really happens. Not talking usually does little to solve a serious image problem like this one.
In addition, Curt made a good point to the Bangor Daily News, that echoes something I said in the comments section following our original post last weekend:
“How could a couple of medics have gone through this ordeal — especially if it happened the way the widow said it happened — and not report it to their supervisors?”
An early warning system, especially with bad news traveling at the speed of light in the digital age, is crucial to dealing with reputation issues. When those in charge and those responsible for addressing the press and the public have to find out the potentially bad news first from a reporter, responding properly and promptly will be even more difficult.
Stuff happens. Make sure your people know that keeping it a secret will always make things much worse.
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The video above captures two blasts from inside a building at 200 Clark Street in Southington, Connecticut that burned this afternoon. There were no injuries. The building housed a local truck club.
From an article by Kimberly Primicerio at the Record-Journal:
A Southington Fire Department responded to a fire at 200 Clark St. around 12 p.m. where they were met with heavy flames, said Fire Chief Harold "Buddy" Clark.
2,000 gallons of diesel fuel was delivered to the address this morning, but Clark said the fuel was not touched in the fire.
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The Star-Ledger's coverage can be found at NJ.com.
Photos from the fire by Noak K. Murray, The Star-Ledger
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Volunteer fireman Bruce Turcotte, of Hopelawn Volunteer Fire Department in Woodbridge, suffered the heart attack while helping to extinguish a fire at 33 Jefferson Street in the Menlo Park Terrace section of the township this afternoon.
Turcotte later died at JFK Medical Center in Edison, according to Woodbridge mayor John McCormac. He was 58.
“Bruce was an outstanding fire fighter and public servant,” McCormac said. “He loved the fire company. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.”
Firefighter Bruce Turcotte. Photo by Keith Addie, www.njfiregroundphotos.com.
Firefighters were called to 33 Jefferson St. at about 1:20 p.m., according to Woodbridge Township spokesman John Haggarty.
They were told a person was unaccounted for, and went into the home to retrieve the missing man. Firefighters found the deceased male victim in the basement, said Haggarty. He has not been identified.
A lifelong firefighter with the Hopelawn Fire Department was laying a hose outside when he suffered a heart attack, according to Haggarty.
Engine 10, Truck 13 website
More from Vito Maggiolo at DCFD.com
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This video is courtesy of Engine 10 and Truck 13 (The "Trinidad Fire Department" & "House of Pain"). It was shot Sunday morning around 9:00 AM at 1236 Mt. Olivet Road in Northeast Washington.
Here is an excerpt from the 10engine.com:
13 TRUCK had numerous locked gates and doors to breach to get THE DIME in position to attack the fire. Once inside the structure crews were confronted with zero visibility while discovering a large pile of debris on fire that had extended to the roof of the structure.
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On Saturday, Albuquerque Fire Department Engine 27 was seven miles from its station, parked in a Rio Rancho neighborhood for two hours. It's hard to hide a fire truck, so neighbors were quite curious why a rig from a neighboring department was spending so much time on their street. Their curiosity has brought the scrutiny of a TV reporter and AFD's chief.
According to KRQE-TV, the neighbors say they were told the firefighters were checking out a smoke complaint. It turns out the lieutenant and three firefighters had been authorized to go to the home of one of the firefighters to repair a broken water pipe. It appears they had permission from their battalion chief, sort of:
Here's more from KRQE-TV's story:
But AFD Fire Chief Jim Breen said the firefighter lied about the location of his house, saying it was in Albuquerque and within Station 27's district on the far west side. The chief said if the bosses had known, it never would have been approved.
"Typically what we like to do is relieve that firefighter of duty, let him go address his situation, his personal situation and we'll call in another firefighter to take his place," Breen said. "I'm very concerned about this incident."
Even though the crew was out of its jurisdiction for more than two hours and was seven miles from their station, it remained on dispatch's call list. That means there would have been a delay if they had to respond to a fire in their district, possibly putting city residents at risk
Chief Breen says he isn't sure what they were doing but an investigation is underway to find out.
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This was posted earlier today by one of the more than 300,000 fans of the Firefighters Worldwide Facebook page. It was uploaded yesterday to YouTube.
Firegeezer Bill Schumm has much better worldwide resources than my mom and pop operation (or is it just pop?). Firegeezer's French bureau chief has the details of this fire and tells us it's local police making the rescue.
It has a lot of similarities to the Spiderman type rescue we showed you from Moscow recently, except these guys have a longer ladder.
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Pictures from the Jacksonville Fire Museum
Firefighter's first hand account of the fire
Reporter's account of the fire
Newsreel account of fire
The Roosevelt Hotel burned a little more than 48 years ago in Jacksonville, Florida. While I was vaguely aware of the fire I had never seen this footage before. It is more than 11 minutes of film, apparently shot by local TV crews on Sunday, December 29, 1963. The fire left 22 people dead and injured more than 100, including 20 Jacksonville firefighters. Among the dead was Assistant Fire Chief James Romedy, who apparently suffered a heart attack while directing rescue efforts. The film was uploaded yesterday to the YouTube Channel for IAFF Local 122. The union dedicated it to Chief Romedy.
Spend a few minutes watching the film, particularly the daring ladder rescues with ground ladders used to extend the reach of the ladder trucks. One of the ground ladders comes crashing down at 3:55 in the film.
This fire occurred a little more than a month after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The hotel was packed with guests in town for the Gator Bowl held the day before the fire, where the University of North Carolina beat the Air Force Academy 35-0.
Here's a summary of the fire from the Jacksonville Fire Museum's website:
The fire started shortly before 7:30 am in the ballroom ceiling on the first floor of the 13-story, 300 room luxury hotel. Firefighters arrived on scene to find people hanging out of windows by tied-together bed linens. The United States Navy suppled eight helicopters for rescuing victims trapped higher than aerial ladders could reach. These victims were air lifted to neighboring parking garages for treatment by rescue personnel. A Second Alarm was struck at 7:47am, followed by a Third Alarm at 7:50. A Fourth and General Alarm was sounded at 7:57am.
The fire was extinguished within two hours. In all, 475 people were rescued. 21 people were found dead in their beds during a secondary search of the hotel.
Among the distinguished guests in the hotel at the time were Norm Sloan, the head basketball coach at the University of Florida, and 1963 Miss America Donna Axum. Axum was treated for smoke inhalation and burns to her throat and nose. She was bed ridden for several days.
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This video is from Oregon's Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue. This is apparently a fire from yesterday morning in Aloha. Read news coverage of the fire here.
Here's the description with the video:
Firefighters from Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue quickly extinguished a fire at a home in Aloha, despite the fact that flames had spread into the attic. No one was injured.
Firefighters were dispatched to the scene after a nearby resident called 911 reporting heavy smoke and flames. Firefighters from TVF&R Station 67 arrived minutes later to find 20 foot flames coming from the roof of a one story home. They quickly forced their way into the home and determined that no one was inside. It appeared that the house was vacant. As more firefighters arrived at the scene, firefighters pulled hose lines and began attacking the flames. Within minutes, firefighters had extinguished the bulk of the fire and began working to knock down hot spots.
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Photos of the fire from Stephen J. Walsh at Box 714 Imaging
This is from the fire yesterday on Beacon Street in Brookline, Massachusetts. IAFF Local 950 has posted a picture on Facebook taken earlier in the fire showing fire on the ground floor (the fire started in the basement). Click here.
The four-alarm blaze broke out around 9 a.m. in the basement of the Beacon Street residence, then shot upward, engulfing the upper floors, officials said. A number of residents narrowly escaped the fire, rushing from their homes through heavy smoke or scaling down the fire escape, but all made it out safely.
One woman in her 20s was hospitalized for smoke inhalation, and four firefighters were treated for minor injuries, fire officials said.
Authorities are probing what sparked a four-alarm blaze that gutted a Brookline apartment building yesterday but miraculously injured none of the residents, many of whom scampered out a back entrance before a fireball shot out the front door, witnesses and officials said.
Brookline Fire Chief Paul Ford said it appears the fire started in the basement and moved quickly through the structure’s walls before engulfing parts of the third and fourth floors.
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A close call yesterday in West Haverstraw, New York. Firefighters were investigating the rupture of a high pressure gas line by a Verizon crew when there was an explosion that leveled a townhouse and injured two firefighters and two utility workers. The urgent message about the explosion comes from command at 4:49 on the audio above.
The injured firefighters are Gerry Knapp and Ken Patterson of West Haverstraw Volunteer Hose Company #2. As you will read below, Firefighter Patterson also had a close call a year ago.
Two firefighters were near the townhouse on Zarriello Lane investigating reports of a gas leak when the blast occurred shortly after 12:30 p.m..
“They knocked on the door at 52 Zarriello right before the explosion,” said Orange and Rockland Utilities spokesman Michael Donovan. “No one answered so we assume no one was home.”
The firefighters were brought to Westchester Medical Center as other first responders battled to get the blaze under control and to contain further explosions. Nearby homes were evacuated after the blast, which leveled the townhouse.
Knapp, who lives near the development and is West Haverstraw’s emergency coordinator, suffered first and second degree burns to his face, West Haverstraw Mayor John Ramundo said. Patterson, who works for the village Department of Public Works, suffered severe burns to a leg.
Patterson, one of the injured firefighters, was nearly killed while fighting a blaze almost a year to the day.
On Jan. 14, 2011, he was inside a home on Westside Avenue that had been illegally converted and became disoriented while searching for potential victims.
He ran out of air inside the burning building and issued a mayday call.
Another firefighter, Andrew Kolesar, found Patterson in the building and rescued him.
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