Quick Takes: April 16, 2012.

Play-by-play: Interesting commentary, but nothing bad, from the videographer at this apartment fire. No details on where this took place, but I believe this is in Canada. Something tells me the KICs may have some comments of their own on this one.

Click here to follow STATter911.com on Facebook (hit “like”)

What if a firefighter died in the line-of-duty and no one covered it?: Today you will see a lot of news stories about the fifth-anniversary of what’s considered the deadliest shooting incident by a single gunman in U.S. history. It’s important for us to recognize and remember those who were lost in the April 16, 2007 tragedy at Virginia Tech. Barely covered that day was another breaking story that would likely have been the lead news item in the Washington, DC area if not for the events in Blacksburg. Click here for my look back at the death of Firefighter Kyle Wilson from Prince William County, Virginia. (And don’t forget the Fifth Annual Kyle Wilson 10K Walk for Fitness on April 28.)

Another anniversary: Yesterday was the third year since the Sudlersville VFC in Queen Anne’s County, Maryland lost Chief Charles “Buck” Clough.

Redding, CT firefighter dies: From NewsTimes.com – “Redding Fire Lt. G. Marshall Sanford, a former fire chief and 50-year veteran firefighter, died while responding to a brush fire Sunday night, fire officials said. Sanford collapsed and died of an as-yet-undetermined ‘medical issue'”.

FDIC bound?: In this morning’s Quick Takes you will notice references to seven different firefighters who died in the line-of-duty. The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation is there for the families of all of them. Please make sure you take part in two important NFFF Events in Indy. Friday’s 9-11 Memorial Stair Climb (click here to register) and Thursday night’s Stop, Drop, Rock and Roll (click here). And next week there is another 9-11 Memorial Stair Climb at CFSI in DC (click here). Hope to see you at these events.

Trayvon Martin, a fire captain and Facebook prove to be a newsworthy combination in Miami: This will be an interesting one to follow. A Miami-Dade Fire Rescue captain is under investigation after a website posted a screen grab of the captain’s Facebook page that had some rather scathing remarks about the Trayvon Martin – George Zimmerman case. Adding to this whole thing is that the captain’s Facebook rant is now getting news coverage all across the country. Whether he has a legal right to post without interference from his employer is one aspect of this. Understanding that a few sentences on your Facebook page, with the right set of circumstances, can suddenly rocket around the world at the speed of light, impacting your reputation and the image of those around you is another important consideration. Here are the details.

Can’t we all just get along?: Apparently not if we are talking about NYPD’s ESU and FDNY. The latest battle was Friday when each used different tactics to get to three men dangling on scaffolding outside a Manhattan high-rise. Click here and you can be the judge on which method made the most sense.

Pre-arrival video as fire & explosions force residents to flee down fire escapes & through windows: Lot’s of angles covered from the fire Friday in Downtown Santa Monica, California. See a group of early videos as explosions occur and residents escape a 53-unit seniors apartment building. Click here.

Falling down like a house of cards: Dramatic video from Benton Harbor, Michigan last week as a house just completely falls apart while firefighters try to put out the fire and protect exposures. Check it out.

Philadelphia firefighters remembered: Over theweekend the Philadelphia Fire Department said goodbye to Lt. Robert Neary and Firefighter Daniel Sweeney who where killed during a collapse at a five-alarm fire a week ago today. Click here and here for news coverage.

Nice: A newspaper reader in Asheville, NC sent a brief note to the local paper about a recent fire department radio transmission that adds a wonderful postscript to the now successful efforts to name a bridge after Captain Jeff Bowen. Here’s what was heard – “Rescue 3 in service clearing the scene on Jeff Bowen Memorial Bridge.”

Fallen firefighter honored with speciality beer: The beer, Rescue One Kolsch, is being brewed in honor of Worcester, Massachusetts Firefighter Jon Davies. Learn more.

Vote for DC Firefighter/Paramedic Alex Capece: My friend Alex Capece is in the running to be one of five brand ambassadors from around the country for Foundry Cycles. Let’s help him out. He needs your vote. Alex is in the Northeast Region. Click here. Find his picture and follow the instructions. Thanks.

Maintaining the status quo in Rancho Cucamonga: I’ve always thought Rancho Cucamonga is a great name for a place. Maybe it’s because I can still here the way W.C. Fields used to say “Cucamonga” (I know, many of you now want me to explain who W.C. Fields was). Glenn Usdin’s FireTruckBlog.com takes us to Rancho Cucamonga for a tour of the fire department’s maintenance facility.

Seventeen firefighters injured in New York: THE Fire Critic has the video and the story of Saturday’s four-alarm fire in the Bronx.

Did you hear the one about the Catskills resort that burned down? Actually it’s a two-part joke. Actually it’s not a joke. Firegeezer has the story of two former Borscht Belt properties going up in smoke a week apart. Check it out.

Pre-arrival video at an Ontario house fire: Check out the scene from the City of Cornwall.

Medic wins case against ambulance manufacturer: Curt Varone at FireLawBlog.com looks a New Orleans medic winning a $1.5 million dollar judgment after a seat collapsed in the back of an ambulance. Here’s the story.

Who better to send to clean a dirty old firehouse than a dirty old man: IronFiremen.com’s Willie Wines Jr. tells about a clean-up detail and provides a tour of an historic Roanoke fire station.

The rush to Hero Rush: Just days left to register! Join Rushers from 21 states by registering for the first-ever HERO RUSH on April 28 — you’ve got less than a week to lock in your spot and save $10 in the process at http://www.herorush.com/md.

Virginia golf tournament: The 7th Annual Virginia Public Safety Foundation Golf Tournament, is scheduled for Wednesday, April 25, 2012. Join golfers from all over Virginia at Raspberry Falls Golf Club in Leesburg, Virginia. Click here for the registration form and here for the PSF website.

Training in Prince George’s County, MD: This sounds like a good event: Lifesaving Leadership is a two day seminar put on by the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department on May 11 and 12 featuring some of the programs from the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.. It is quite inexpensive. Check it out here. Also, if you are interested in being a sponsor of this event click here. For more details contact PGFD’s Risk Management & Safety Office at pgfdos@co.pg.md.us.

THE Fire Critic and STATter911 being social … or at least talking about social media: Apparently due to someone with a warped sense of humor I ended up on the same bill with THE Fire Critic at the Ohio Fire & Emergency Services Foundation’s 2012 Leadership Conference in a day long session on various aspects of social media and the fire service. And they are making us travel together (please let there be separate rooms). Should be interesting. Join us in Newark, Ohio for May 23 & 24. Click here to sign up.

Do you want to sell a rig? Click HERE to find out how with SellFireTrucks.com.

Quick work of high-rise fire in Albany, New York: Jonathan Worden shot this video of a fire on Thursday at South Mall Towers, a seniors building in Albany. It’s shot from a distance but you see the conditions change rapidly for the better. Here are some details and aftermath video.