Somehow STATter911.com survived the brutal campaign that resulted in the nomination of this site for Fire Blog of the Year. Much like the Republican Party, we apparently eat our own. Here in the final days before the ballots close, things are getting really ugly.
Can you believe Firegeezer accused me of being soft on crime, claiming I issued a pardon to Jerry Engle? And to think I put the full weight of the STATter911.com political machine behind Geezer in previous election seasons.
Despite some of the competition calling me the Jerry Springer of the fire service, I refuse, as always, to go negative with our message. My campaign manager, Firehouse Zen’s Mick Mayers, wants me to hit Geezer hard on the age factor (Bill will turn 103 in July). But I refuse to make senility and all those Depends ads a factor this election season (my spies tell me Bill is already dusting off that Ronald Reagan line about youth and inexperience to use on me).
And you won’t see any personal attacks from me against Geezer’s running mate FossilMedic Mike Ward. Though it’s pretty clear Ward, upset that Firegeezer wasn’t also nominated for EMS Blog of the Year, is going rogue. Geezer’s campaign operation is quite upset that Ward is way off message. They are also trying to keep him away from the press after learning he had difficulty naming any of the big city fire or EMS chiefs. Do you really want someone like that just a 103-year-old’s heartbeat away?
Some of the candidates have gone to the extreme in their negativity, saying the nation’s fire service isn’t yet ready for a female Fire Blog of the Year like HydrantGirl. Remember, I didn’t say that and such vicious and sexist comments have no place in this contest.
Backstep Firefighter’s Bill Carey, also nominated, slammed STATter911.com over the weekend, twisting the words and taking out of context some of what our readers wrote about the Minnesota firefighters in drag video. But he didn’t stop there. Carey posted a poorly thought out comment on my Facebook page DRAGging both the incumbent Fire Blog of the Year and a relative of mine, the head of the Board of Elections, into the Minnesota story:
Bill Carey also wondering if we can get your “son” and his mustached friend to don gowns as a fund raiser.
With apologies to the late Joseph Nye Welch, one of my personal heroes, I must say: At long last Mr. Carey, have you left no sense of decency? How low can you get, bringing my own flesh and blood into this campaign? There was a time that children were off limits. But I guess anything goes these days.
And how about Carey’s running mate Dave LeBlanc? Sounds awful French to me. Not that it should matter. Though a reporter covering the campaign tells me some sheriff in Arizona is going to reveal this week that LeBlanc’s birth certificate is a fake. But I refuse to get into the gutter with the birthers trying to undermine this election. For the record, I was born at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore and have the documentation to prove it.
Rather than taking part in this desperate and destructive campaigning, I plan to continue to stick to the real issues that matter to the people we serve. One of those issues that my opponents constantly bring up and try to use against me is that I am the only candidate who actually lives “inside the Beltway”. I admit that’s true and it looks bad in a year when it is popular to be an outsider. But unlike the other candidates, Average Jake FF, CT Fire EMS, First In, I never wanted to be a firefighter, FSWarrior and Working the job, I am the only true outsider here looking out for the readers. As the Board of Elections chairman pointed out in his failed effort to keep me out of the race, I am not a firefighter. And that’s what is really needed to be the Fire Blog of the Year. Someone to give you that outsider’s view of the world.
In this election season you can send an important message to the President and Congress if you vote for STATter911.com as Fire Blog of the Year. This will let them know you are mad as hell and won’t take it anymore. Remember, a vote for STATter911.com is a vote for freedom. Don’t let the Internet terrorists win.
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.
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.
Four-alarm fire in Fall River, Massachusetts: Providence Fire Videos on the scene yesterday afternoon at a vacant mill complex on Bay Street. Two firefighters were slightly hurt. Here’s more.
Jerry Engle on the left. James Martinez on the right.
Second PGFD volunteer pleads guilty in 2008 arson case: James Martinez, a 25-year-old former career firefighter in Montgomery County, Maryland, has entered a guilty plea on Monday to second-degree conspiracy to commit arson in connection with a fire that Martinez fought as a volunteer with the Riverdale VFD in Prince George’s County. This is the same fire that long-time PGFD volunteer Jerry Engle admitted to setting. Engle was sentenced in September to a year in jail, but was released on time served (click here for that story). Martinez is scheduled for sentencing on December 3. Ruben Castaneda has more in The Washington Post. Click here to review our previous coverage of this case beginning in April, 2009.
Suspended Spalding County, GA firefighter identified. Report calls for firing over cell phone video of dead woman: The report looking at the July incident where video was taken of the body of a woman inside a crushed car calls for at least one firefighter to be fired. At the same time the local news media has identified the firefighter who was suspended after the incident came to light as Terrence Reid. Here’s the latest.
VA fire chief charged with DWI: NVDaily.com reports that Tim Welsh, who heads Virginia’s Frederick County Fire & Rescue Department, is on administrative leave following his arrest Monday on a DWI charge. Here are the details (more here).
Did cops turn off the sprinkler system at California mall where man had barricaded himself?: As we first told you yesterday the answer to that question is now part of the official investigation into the blaze that heavily damaged the Westfield Galleria in Roseville. Click here to learn what a TV station has determined so far. Also, Fossilmedic Mike Ward, who had suspicisions about the sprinkler issue right away, wonders if this was done to keep the robots from melting. Check it out.
Chief resigns following rebellion by firefighters over winter uniform: In Chelsea, Massachusetts, where the IAFF local and Chief Herbert Fothergill have long battled, the final skirmish came when the chief wrote up almost the entire department for not wearing the winter uniform shirt. Then Chief Fothergill suddenly resigned. More from Boston.com.
Deputy sheriff’s great escape after lighting up: Pretty amazing story from Jackson County, Georgia where a sheriff’s deputy’s propane-powered cruiser caught fire after he lighted a cigarette while responding to a call. Here’s that story.
Refund may be coming for Tulsa firefighter applicants: Before charging $25 a head to 342 people who want to be firefighters the City of Tulsa claims it checked out a lot of the legalities. The one they forgot to look at is whether Tulsa had the authority to do it without a City Council approved ordinance being enacted. Read the details.
Firefighters honored for saving bridge from barge: In New Hope, Pennsylvania four firefighters have been recognized for helping to figure out how to keep a runaway barge from taking out a bridge on a rain swollen river. Here’s more.
Friday’s fire in historic chapel in Alexandria: I’ve rightfully caught a little hell from readers for not posting anything on Friday’s fire that destroyed the chapel at the Virginia Theological Seminary. There are a number of reasons that I won’t bore you with, but I am also surprised by the lack of video from the fire (if I had been home I likely would have been there shooting my own video). This and a companion clip from the same person is all I found on YouTube. Firegeezer (I catch a lot of grief when Bill beats me into my first due) and WUSA9.com have more coverage. Also, always check the WUSA9.com video player in the right hand column. The 9NEWS NOW stories have been in there since Friday. Many times that player will have things I haven’t yet gotten to.
The Rube checks out: The very first posting on this blog (I hadn’t even come up with the name STATter911 at that point) on May 4, 2007 was about DC Fire & EMS Department Chief Dennis Rubin. Since then, there have been 206 references to Chief Rubin at STATter911.com (and numerous TV stories). I imagine he is the most mentioned individual in the blog’s short history. Last week Chief Rubin sent a mass email to his friends and contacts (not to the fire department, as some news outlets reported) saying he would be leaving the post when the new administration takes over on January 2, 2011. Even though he has expressed some unhappiness with what we do here, Dennis Rubin has been good for this blog. Because of his national reputation in the fire service there always has been a lot of interest in the good, bad and ugly from the Nation’s Capital. In fact, there may not be another fire chief in the country who has had to endure this kind of scrutiny over an extended period. Just another symptom of the digital environment fire chiefs now have to deal with. As the Rubin era winds down in preparation for a new chief you can click here to review our coverage of his administration. Now, with Chief Rubin soon gone, Kentland quiet and Jerry Engle gone from the fire service what’s to become of STATter911.com? Will anyone still read this rag?
Check out the t-shirt in this accused arsonist’s mug shot: It reads, “You can’t scare me, I’m a firefighter”. In Parke County, Indiana a member of the Bellmore Fire Department is charged with setting a series of brush fires. Click here to read and watch the story.
Reaching back for some vintage films from Chicago: We’ve posted four wonderful old CFD clips that came from ChicagoFD1 on YouTube. Check them out.
Denver Fire Department saves the wedding: The ceremony was held up for about an hour as firefighters freed a carload of guests from a stuck elevator. The pictures and the details can be found here.
Talk about biting the hand that feeds you: I helped Rhett Fleitz line up Union City Chief Kelly Edmison for Firefighter Netcast last week to talk about the latest “pay for spray” news from Obion County, Tennessee. To repay my kindness and generosity Rhett uses the interview as an opportunity to further attack me because of my views on this controversy. Rhett would have better spent the time apologizing for the remarks he made when this controversy first surfaced. Click here for the interview and here for the kind words and heartfelt thanks from Rhett.
Captain accused of putting camera in bathroom to spy on female firefighter: In Los Alamos, New Mexico another peeping case involving a camera and a firefighter. Click here for the sordid details.
Female firefighter is canned after having sex with lieutenant: In Illinois the Oswego Fire Protection District has fired its only female firefighter after she had sex inside the firehouse with a lieutenant. The lieutenant had already resigned. Read more.
Firefighter gets a second “last chance”: From Spokane, Washington a firefighter who already received a “last chance” agreement for sick leave abuse gets another chance and another agreement. Here’s the story.
Imagine that, Jerry Engle didn’t tell the truth to STATter911.com: A little more than a year ago the self-proclaimed baddest firefighter in all of PGFD Land (and former “mayor” of Kentland) told me it was other firefighters who set a March, 2008 blaze at a vacant house in Riverdale Park. Jerry claims he just watched and tried to report it to the top officials of the Riverdale VFD. I am guessing not too many thought that story made a lot of sense when we ran the extensive interview of the author of the book Probie Days. Now Jerry has said in court that he actually set that fire, entering a guilty plea on a second-degree arson charge. Co-defendant James Martinez, a former Riverdale volunteer and career firefighter in Montgomery County, has a court date in a month, accused in the same fire. Check out this latest, and maybe our final chapter in the life and times of Jerome Engle. (Note: We were a4re having trouble embedding videos, but we now have the links working to the interview and other videos from the Engle archives, including when he used his bottle rocket launching pad.)
Martinez lit the road flare and handed to it Engle, who ignited a sofa in the basement, Engle said in court Tuesday.
Engle and Martinez returned to the Riverdale Fire Station and awaited the dispatch of a 911 call.
When no call came, Engle said he told Martinez to go back to the house and told him, “If the fire is small, put it out. But if it’s big, come back to the firehouse and get us.”
Careful not to choke on your breakfast when you watch this: We have Part 2 of this must see series of videos selling life saving techniques (and lingerie) in a unique way. I also pay tribute to a friend of mine who introduced the Heimlich Maneuver to the public. Check it out.
The firefighters saved the beer and then drank it: When a hotel burned in Oliver, British Columbia firefighters apparently had their priorities on straight, rescuing as many as six kegs of beer from the flames. Now it turns out those kegs found their way to the fire hall. The mayor is not happy. Two firefighters are under suspension. Here’s the story.
And on a similar note, firefighter is charged with driving the fire engine while drunk: This is from Jefferson County, Oregon where a firefighter who crashed his car on the way to work is accused of then taking the fire engine out to a camp ground, racing through with the siren on and yelling obscenities at the campers. Read more about this smooth move.
The instructor was “just trying to help fellow EMTS”: The words of a Lexington, Massachusetts firefighter in the center of the EMS training scandal. The help came in the form of giving a passing grade on recertification and not having to take the course. Read the details.
Closed drive-in burns: In Ceres, California Monday night the Ceres Theatre and Flea Market burned. Here’s the raw video. A report of two separate fires in the complex. Here’s more.
Jerry, back in the day. Click the image to watch the other side of Mr. Engle.
In May of last year Jerry Engle told me he did not set fire to the vacant house at 5413 Riverdale Road on March 17, 2008, but instead blamed it on other firefighters Engle had turned in to Prince George’s County fire investigators. My guess is that those familiar with the long saga of Mr. Engle won’t be surprised to learn that Jerry didn’t tell me the truth that day (I know I am not surprised).
This morning the 46-year-old Engle entered a guilty plea on second-degree arson. Besides his time at Riverdale VFD (when the fire occurred), Engle had previously been a long-time member of Kentland VFD. After leaving Riverdale he ran with both Bladensburg and Riverdale Heights.
Co-defendant James Martinez, who was also a Riverdale volunteer and a career firefighter in Montgomery County, is scheduled for trial in a month.
Rather than tell the whole story of Jerry Engle again (even I get tired of that stuff) you can listen to the interview (sorry, only Part 1 is available online) and follow the links to the extensive file available on STATter911.com.
Below is the press release from the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney:
Prince George’s County State’s Attorney, Glenn F. Ivey announced today that volunteer firefighter, Jerome Engle, 46, of Bowie, pleaded guilty to second degree arson in connection with setting fire to a building located at 5413 Riverdale Road, Riverdale, MD on March 17, 2008.
Mr. Engle was a firefighter with the Riverdale Volunteer Fire Department.
As part of the plea agreement Engle faces up to 10 years in prison but could receive the guideline recommendation from the sentencing commission of 1 year in jail. The State’s Attorney will seek $200,000 restitution from Mr. Engle on behalf of the property owners.
“We expect our firefighters to battle blazes not burn buildings. Mr. Engle not only violated the public trust but also put property and people at risk. We are holding him accountable with today’s conviction,” said Glenn F. Ivey.
A sentencing and restitution hearing is set for July 1, 2010 in front of Judge Graydon McKee who oversaw today’s proceedings.
The co-defendant in the case James R. Martinez of Damascus is set for trial on July 22.
Investigation of this and similar incidents is on-going; anyone with information should contact the Prince George’s County Fire Department at 301-77ARSON.
Statement from Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department Chief Eugene Jones:
“As the Fire Chief of this Department, I fully support the work of the States Attorney’s Office in reaching a guilty plea in this case of arson. I commend their staff as well as the Fire/EMS Department’s Fire Investigators for their due diligence in compiling evidence and building the case. I also want to acknowledge the volunteer leadership of the Riverdale Fire/EMS Station for their support and cooperation during this difficult period.
To the citizens and residents of Prince George’s County; this heinous act is a result of the actions of individuals and should not be a systemic assessment of our Department. Our combination, volunteer and career, Fire/EMS Department strives to provide the very best in fire and emergency medical services possible and are dedicated and committed to keeping our County safe from the perils of all hazards.
One person has been deemed guilty for his actions and a second person is soon to have his day in court.“
Busy Sunday morning in Minneapolis: This fire at 1169 14th Avenue, SE is one of three handled by Minnesapolis firefighters early Sunday. Click here for more information.
This is why you should vote for Firegeezer for the best blog: The scene is Sunday afternoon at the World Headquarters of STATter911.com and I have plenty of things to do before I get to work at the TV station after a week-long vacation. So, what is it am I doing? I am mindlessly watching an episode of Emergency! embedded on Firegeezer.com instead of doing my work. This is exactly the reason why Bill Schumm should win FireCritic.com’s Fire/EMS Blog of the Year of 2009 contest. Bill knows his audience and he panders to us big time. Bill realizes fire & EMS types of a certain age can’t resist taking one more look at Johnny and Roy in action. Just like he knows they can’t resist all of his writings about beer and hockey mixed in with a whole mess of fires. If his standards and practices committee (Mrs. Firegeezer) would let him get away with it, Bill would probably throw in some soft porn, too. While I have been accused of being the Jerry Springer of the blogs, Bill is our Phineas Taylor Barnum. Which sort of makes sense, since for five-and-a-half years Bill was assigned to a fire station just down the street (second due) from Bailey’s Crossroads, Virginia. That Bailey is the same family as P.T.’s partner in “The Greatest Show on Earth”. While the name Firegeezer would make you believe the blog is the AARP of the fire/EMS sites, Bill has an instinct for all kinds of news. It’s a talent that many people in my business would envy. Now that you know who I have voted for and why, make sure you send Rhett Fleitz your nomination at firecritic@firecritic.com. Vote early and vote often.
Our top story of 2009. If you missed the New Year's Day list of our top 20 stories and the name of our contest winner, click the image.
It wasn’t Jerry Engle and it had nothing to do with PGFD: In case you missed it, on New Year’s Day we published the most popular stories for 2009 and named the winner of our traditional first-annual, year-end contest (we shall see if it actually shows up again at the end of the year). Your guesses, for the most part, were far off the mark (that’s it Dave, insult the people who actually read this stuff), but they were fun to read. If you click here you can see the top 20 and who won the contest.
Two fired over noose: If you were too busy on New Year’s Eve to check in, you may not yet know the end of the year was also the last day for two Loudoun County, Virginia firefighters. Both were fired for their involvement in an incident where a noose was left in the vehicle of a black firefighter in early December. Read the details.
Remembering Steven Koeser: The funeral for the Wisconsin firefighter killed last week after an industrial dumpster exploded was held on Saturday. We have video and details.
Ladder rescue in Murray, Kentucky: Click the image to take you to WPSD-TV's Facebook entry of a series of pictures taken by neighbor Lisa O'Neal after a woman became trapped on the second floor of a home on Poplar Street on Sunday.
Explorer programs under scrutiny after teens hurt in two incidents in two days: I am just stating fact and not an opinion when pointing out that I, like many others, was in the fire service at a time when 16 and 17-year-olds did just about everything except drive the apparatus (and even that happened once or twice). It was not a rare occasion that I was the only one on the rig who wasn’t in high school. I can think of quite a few of those junior members who are now, or have been, in the upper ranks of some large career fire departments. But times have changed.
We have been getting a lot of comments about the story where one 16-year-old Boy Scout Explorer was hospitalized with exhaustion after apparently taking part in interior firefighting operations in Sonoma County, California. Officials there say it is not supposed to happen that way. Read more.
The second incident was the exploding dumpster in Wisconsin that killed the St. Anna’s Steven Koeser. Captain Adam Schuh, who was on the scene and has been handling press inquiries, says one of those hurt in the explosion is his 17-year old stepson. That teen is of legal age to be a firefighter. Also hurt was a 15-year-old boy who is an Explorer. Captain Schuh indicates the boy was at what was believed to be a safe distance from the fire. Read the details.
Politicians home destroyed: A Pennsylvania state senator escaped in the middle of the night as fire tore through his Montgomery County home. Click here.
The latest from Modesto: Two firefighters were burned, one over 40-percent of his body, after falling through the roof at a house fire on New Year’s Day. Our two earlier postings with video and details are here and here.
Snakes alive …. and some dead: In St. George, Utah they rang out the old year with the traditional trailer fire involving 19 pet pythons. Not all of them saw 2010. Read more.
Fireground audio: Our friends at FireSceneAudio.com have been keeping us busy with timely postings of some interesting incidents. One is a Sunday house fire where a Chicago firefighter was burned. Click here.
We have another entry with fireground audio from a Prince George’s County house fire, a triple-fatal Detroit residential hotel fire, a New Orleans three-alarm fire that damaged three home and a Chicago fire where two people were rescued out of a burning basement. All of that is here.
Who made this video?: The folks at SprinklerAcademy.com posted this old flashover video of some time ago and our now trying to figure out who produced the video. Here’s the contact information if you have the answer.
We have a winner! The very first entry into our top stories contest for 2009 correctly guessed the top story of the year. Even though the rest of that person’s top five weren’t on target, it gave me hope for you people and this contest. Once again, Statter was wrong.
Many of you were blinded by our extensive coverage of PGFD and one man in particular, who at last look was still in the Prince George’s County Detention Center. You will have to scroll way done to number 14 to find his picture on this page. Other entries, including one from a person who should know better, focused way too much on our coverage of the District of Columbia Fire & EMS Department. Only one DC story made the list (but it was a big one at number two). In fact, only eight of the top 20 were local stories from the Washington, DC area. Remember that for next year’s contest. We are global in scope here at STATter911.com (yeah, right!).
To get a winner we had to go deep down to someone who guessed two of the top five. While he had the two top stories in reverse order, author and fire service veteran from Baltimore County Chris Hawley was the only entrant to get more than one out of five. The good news is the two Baltimore boys should have lots to talk about when this one buys lunch.
Our rankings are based on the number of pageviews between January 1 and December 31, 2009 according to Google Analytics. If a story had multiple postings we only counted the top one for our list.
The interesting thing is that the bottom two stories and the 21st story were just nine clicks apart. Their rankings kept changing up until the closing hours of 2009. In the end, a somewhat odd, but newer story from Montgomery County, Maryland moved up, knocking off one of my personal favorites from earlier in the year. Number 21 is the story of Alexandria Fire Department (VA) veteran Doug Townshend who, while off duty, rescued his brother Mike from a burning home. Click here for that story.
Click the Popeye cartoon to see what used to pass for a year-end review at STATter911.com.
By the way, I did this type of year end review, rather than the more humorous (at least I thought so) version of the two previous years, because I thought it would be easier to manage. I am writing this at 4:00 AM on New Years Day, so now I am not so sure. If you miss the old one, here it is (I am sure most of it is still true today anyway).
Obviously isn’t just us taking a look back at 2009 and ahead to 2010. Other fire service sites beat us to the punch. Paul Peluso at Firehouse.com says 2009 was the year of the video (look below for proof). FireRescue1.com has a host of characters writing lots of words under its year in review banner. Billy Goldfeder has a message for the new year at FirefighterCloseCalls.com. Paul Combs has a great thought in his December cartoon at FireEngineering.com. I am sure Bill Schumm will have something to help bring in the new year Firegeezer style and so will many others who share the FireEMSBlogs.com site with this rag. .
And Rhett Fleitz at The Fire Critic, who is a great inspiration and supporter to all of us who blog, has a contest that is better than mine. Rhett is looking for the Fire/EMS Blog of the Year 2009 (now you know why I said those nice things about him). Rhett’s is better because he is promoting it as the contest with the prize where you don’t have to sit across the lunch table from Dave Statter.
Thank you to all who entered our contest. Thank you to all who read and comment each day. Thank you to all who link to STATter911.com and carry our stories. Most important, a happy and safe 2010 to all of you and especially those out there protecting us each and every day.
So, drum roll please! We present our 20 most popular stories from 2009:
This was the story that dominated 2009 on STATter911.com. Not only did the posting on May 30 (our fourth posting on the topic) bring in 43 percent more pageviews than our number two story for the year, three other stories on the confrontation would have taken places two, three, and four. When you add up the clicks for the almost 20 stories we posted on this topic they account for about five-percent of the overall traffic on the blog for 2009.
There have been more than 700 comments (actually a lot more than that, but many we couldn’t publish). A couple of comments still arrive each week.
I think the reason for the high numbers, besides being a hot topic, is that we apparently reached way beyond our normal fire and EMS service audience on this story. It helps that the YouTube video above, which has more than two million views, has our link in its description.
As much grief as I get for carrying too many negative stories on the blog, the only reason the world knew about this one is because I was trying to do a good deed and post some positive news. On Wednesday, October 7 there were two sprinkler demonstrations scheduled in the National Capital region. One at Gallaudet University and the other at the University of Maryland (at MFRI). My goal was to get to both of them, but the Maryland one was the priority because of the release of a study about Prince George’s County’s mandatory residential sprinkler law. I never made it to DC and no one said anything to me about a problem during that demonstration.
As I was about to leave work the following evening I was feeling guilty the DC sprinkler video didn’t get any play in my story the day before (there had been a photographer on the scene from LNS, the local news service run by my station and two others in Washington). I pulled the video up with the intention of editing something for the blog and possibly WUSA9.com. Of course, as I watched the video, I immediately realized there was a little bit more to this demonstration.
This entry had 128 comments. More comments came in after Chief Dennis Rubin, when talking about what he saw, used the term “comedy act”.
Firefighter Will Gregory exits the home with his PPE on fire. Photo by Brian Haney, The Daily Record.
This was a late entry for the year. It came about because FirefighterCloseCalls.com first put out the story of the close call based on the newspaper article by Brian Haney at The Daily Record in Dunn, NC. Figuring that there might be more than one photo, I called Mr. Haney and he told me he had shot 210 images from that fire. Brian sent a bunch to STATter911.com and gave us permission to use the photos.
Until a day or two ago, this was in the number three spot for the year. In my heart I wish it was number one. I was blogging away on the Friday afternoon that Ladder 26 wrecked trying to keep up with the developments from Boston. Later in the evening when we learned that Lt. Kevin Kelley was the firefighter killed, it didn’t take long to find his appearances from Firehouse USA on the web. How can you not smile when you watch these?
While I get a lot of stories and videos from your tips, this is one I found all by myself. Going through fire related YouTube videos on a Sunday evening I happened upon this clip. I usually don’t run controlled burning type training exercises, but this one looked different. After picking my jaw off the floor upon seeing the unusual PPV via the leaf blower, I decided this was one worthy of a wider audience.
You have to admit this one was different. The 160-foot Spirit of Washington squeezed the 72-foot John H. Glenn Jr., putting a big gash in the Glenn’s hull and sidelining the boat for many months. The collision also crushed a small FBI boat at an adjacent dock.
This is a rather simple story of a rescue in that it was popular despite there being no video of the event. Firefighters saving the day when it looks like that might be impossible.
Here’s how WZZM-TV’s Lambrini Lukidis described the story:
Kelysse LaBelle is full of energy today. But when fireman Scott Campau rescued her from the bottom of Fisherman’s Landing in Muskegon last week, Kelysse was purple, her eyes were gray and lifeless.
“The stroller was actually sitting up-right on its wheels on the bottom of the lake and she was unconscious,” said Campau.
“She wasn’t breathing, no heart rate,” said Battalion Chief Ken Chudy who lead the team on the call. “She was lifeless when we pulled her out of the water,” said Fireman Kevin McMillan also assisted by firemen Chad Horn and Scott Hemmeslbach.
Eight Prince George’s County firefighters were hurt when an explosion occurred while they were investigating a natural has leak at a shopping center in Forestville.
Truly one of the great stories of the year. John and Joel Rechlitz received national attention for their off-duty rescue of a young boy from a burning car. Their efforts didn’t stop after the rescue. The firefighters remained close to D.J. Harper and his family. Click here.
In December, 2008 Continental Flight 1404 ran off a runway and burst into flames at Denver International Airport. This was the audio as the airport tower controllers directed firefighters to the scene.
The fireground audio provided by Erie County Fire wire was very difficult to listen to as these two men responded to a call for help inside the burning building on Genesee Street.
Layoffs and budget cuts were THE story of 2009. We saw a lot of stories like this one, but for some reason the Flint fire got more attention than the others.
What more can I say about this frequent subject of STATter911.com stories. In the interview Jerry Engle told us all about an arson ring involving firefighters. Later in the year Engle and another former volunteer from Riverdale were both charged with the fire Jerry told us about. If you haven’t read enough about him, click here for our Jerry archive.
A touching tribute to firefighters who were lost 50-years earlier. The incident is believed to be the first time the term BLEVE was used to describe the rupture and rocketing of a flammable liquid container during a fire.
It took teamwork and a lot of guts as a dispatcher and engine company worked to save a woman trapped in an apartment fire started thanks to a neighbor’s meth lab. Video shows Chad Meyer from Engine 26 basically walking through fire to bring out Nikki Cain.
This entry from Montgomery County had to be one of the more unusual stories of the year. A firefighter’s date spent the night at the firehouse and got lost on the way to the bathroom.
What this means is that, even though Kyle Wilson died in a house fire in April, 2007 and the report was released nine-months later, firefighters are still interested in learning from this tragic situation. Enough people searched, found and apparently read that entry in 2009 to make it part of our top 20.
Mug shots of Jerry Engle (l) and James Martinez provided by PGFD.
“When you are the best fireman in the county and you come from Kentland, I mean, yeah, everyone’s going to try to knock you off the pedestal.”: The words of Probie Days author Jerry Engle, talking with STATter911.com in May. That interview came just a day after a raid by fire investigators of the Riverdale VFD and the home where Engle was living. Engle is now in the Prince George’s County jail on arson charges (a return visit for Engle who there on unrelated charges in July). Engle was indicted Thursday along with James Martinez, a career firefighter in Montgomery County. Both men were members of Riverdale in March, 2008 when a vacant house was set on fire down the street from the Riverdale VFD. Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Glenn Ivey and PGFD Chief Eugene Jones say the investigation is still active with more arrests possible. Sources indicate the investigators are looking at a list of fires that includes more than just homes and apartments that were vacant. We have updated our coverage from yesterday adding an official statement from Riverdale VFD , the press release from PGFD and more. Click here.
Volunteer recruitment in “rural” Prince George’s County is down: I use the word “rural” in quotes because the Route 381 corridor in the southern part of the county isn’t quite as rural as it used to be and that appears to be the problem. Despite PGFD touting recent records on volunteer recruitment, the fire companies in this part of the county point to declining numbers of firefighters. Zoe Tillman at Gazette.net has the story.
$20 to kill a firefighter: That’s the sad truth from Detroit where it has surfaced that the man accused of starting the fire that killed Firefighter Walt Harris was paid $20 to burn down the home. Read the details.
Geezer cranking them out: Firegeezer Bill and his partner FossilMedic Mike had a very productive Thursday. Lots of good stories. Click and scroll. I particularly liked the pictures of the two derailments at the same bridge.
Sleeping dispatcher update from Ohio: We told you recently about the Warren County 911 director who resigned in the controversy of a dispatcher who may have been dozing as a call came in that was a key to a high profile murder case. The call taker’s discipline and more details have now been revealed. Read the story.
Dispute over how to pay OT settlement: We have been following the story from Louisville on the recent settlement of a 9-year dispute over firefighters overtime. Now questions are being raised over how the city will pay out the almost $45 million in back pay. Read the story.
Inside the Command Post: It has been a while since we have checked in with this continuing series of videos from San Bernardino, California
A volunteer firefighter who told fire investigators earlier this year about a firefighter arson ring operating in Prince George’s County has been indicted on charges he set fire to a vacant Riverdale Park, Maryland home. Forty-six-year-old Jerry Engle is accused of breaking into the home at 5413 Riverdale Road on March 17, 2008 and setting it on fire. At the time Engle was a member of the Riverdale Volunteer Fire Department.
5413 Riverdale Road on March 17, 2008 from the Riverdale VFD website.
Charged with Engle is 24-year-old James Martinez. Martinez was also a member of Riverdale VFD and is a career firefighter in Montgomery County, Maryland. Both Martinez and Engle responded to the early morning house fire as part of the firefighting crew from Riverdale.
On April 21, 2009 STATter911.com first broke the news about the investigation of a firefighter arson ring in Prince George’s County. At the time a handful of volunteer members at Riverdale had been suspended.
Sources confirmed that Jerry Engle provided information about firefighter arsons to Prince George’s County fire investigators. Engle made the accusations after he was investigated for stealing firefighting equipment from the Riverdale station. At the time Engle, who has been associated with at least four volunteer companies in the county, was riding with the neighboring Riverdale Heights station.
On May 5 Engle gave an extensive interview to STATter911.com about his actions in the hours prior to the fire on Riverdale Road and other related topics. The tape of that interview was subpoenaed by fire investigators.
Engle told STATter911.com he watched as three firefighters set the vacant house on fire. According to Engle, he left an anonymous letter for the chief and president of the Riverdale Volunteer Fire Department alerting them to this serious problem. Engle says no actions were taken.
Engle claims the episode began when he drove the fire engine to check out a report of smoke in the area during the overnight hours. According to Engle, he waited inside the cab of the engine as the three other firefighters on board walked toward the home carrying road flares. Thinking that was odd, Engle says he followed the firefighters and saw them using the flares to ignite debris inside the house. Engle claimed that James Martinez was part of the crew on the fire engine that morning.
According to Engle, he drove the fire engine with the crew back to the Riverdale firehouse a few blocks away. Once there, Engle says two firefighters then left the fire station with a gasoline can. A short time later the call was dispatched for a house fire at 5413 Riverdale Road.
Jerry Engle in July, 2008.
Jerry Engle contacted STATter911.com immediately after a May 4 raid at the Riverdale Volunteer Fire Department. Fire investigators served a search warrant looking for evidence of an arson ring. Engle said at the time a warrant was also served at the Bowie area home where he was living.
Jerry Engle denied being involved in the Riverdale Road fire or setting any other fires, but admitted investigators have questioned him extensively about the arsons. Engle told us he wanted the investigators to administer a polygraph examination to prove his innocence. It is not known if that ever happened.
Engle believes the investigators were already looking at the possibility firefighters were involved in a string of arsons when he provided the information about the Riverdale fire.
According to area fire department websites the same house also burned two days earlier in the early morning hours of March 15, 2008 and possibly in the evening hours of March 16, 2007.
At about 0545 hours, a citizen heading to work called the station stating he smelled what seem to be mulch burning in the area of Tanglewood Drive and Riverdale Road. He added that he did not see any smoke or fire in the area. The station notified Public Safety Communications (PSC) and responded to the location with E807 staffed with 8 volunteers. After arriving in the area and finding nothing the crew returned to the station.
As they were heading back to bed, PSC alerted the station for a reported house on fire at Kenilworth Avenue and Riverdale Road at 0621 hours. E807 went on scene at 5413 Riverdale Road with fire and heavy smoke coming from the 3 story vacant structure.
Above, Jerry Engle in happier times at the Kentland VFD. This is part of the video that surfaced in July, 2008 of apparent hazing and the shooting of illegal fireworks inside the Kentland firehouse. Engle can be seen using his body as a launching pad for bottle rockets. Click here, here and here to read more about this episode. Click here to watch our interview with Engle about the videos.
Engle has long been a controversial figure in the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department. He wrote a book called Probie Days about Engle’s many years with the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department, one of the busiest volunteer fire companies in the world.
Last year, videos surfaced of Engle’s time at Kentland. It showed firefighters apparently hazing a new firefighter and shooting off illegal fireworks inside the station. Engle was seen using his body as a launching pad for a bottle rocket.
In May, Engle was driving a red Volkswagen adorned with numerous pieces of small fire equipment, including nozzles and axes. Many firefighters who have seen the vehicle questioned how Engle got the equipment. Engle said in his interview none of the items were stolen, but they are surplus equipment he was allowed to take from the various stations where he was a volunteer.
Engle admits his departures from the volunteer fire departments at Kentland, Riverdale and Bladensburg each involved controversy. Engle was suspended from the Riverdale Heights Volunteer Fire Department in March following the accusations that he stole items while his company was transferred to the Riverdale station. Engle says the nozzle and nozzle bale he took were his own that he had left behind after parting ways with Riverdale VFD last year.
Back in May Engle said he was told by a top official in the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department that he is now permanently barred from being a firefighter in the county.
The Riverdale VFD has issued a statement indicating both Engle and Martinez had been dismissed for “unrelated reasons” prior to Riverdale officials becoming aware of the investigation (Engle rode at both Bladensburg VFD and Riverdale Heights VFD after leaving Riverdale). Here is an excerpt from the statement:
These indictments should in no way reflect on the sincere dedication that the majority of volunteer firefighters and EMS personnel put forth each and every day protecting life and property. The Riverdale Fire Department and the many other volunteer departments continue to provide a professional and competent volunteer force answering the majority of fire and EMS service calls during nights, weekends, and holidays due to the County’s budgetary constraints.
Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service officials tell us Firefighter Martinez remains on administrative leave with pay as he has since late April.
Jerry Engle faces the possibility of 51-years in prison on charges of second degree arson, burglary, conspiracy to commit second degree arson, burning with intent to defraud and malicious burning.
The same charges were filed against James Martinez along with making a false report. He faces up to 54-years in prison.
Mug shot of Jerry Engle from the Prince George's County Department of Corrections
Interview brings out the critics: Both Jerry Engle and Dave Statter are taking a few hits in the comments section following the airing and posting on Tuesday of the interview with the former PGFD firefighter. Engle claims he saw three firefighters lighting a fire in the town of Riverdale Park, but didn’t tell investigators until more than a year later. Click here and scroll down to see what readers are saying.
Testimony of fire official blocked: In a move that was somewhat expected, DC Attorney General Peter Nickles isn’t going to allow a deputy fire chief and another city official testify before a City Council hearing looking at the aborted pumper and ambulance to a Dominican Republic resort town. Bill Myers has the story in the Examiner.
Four-alarm fire at historic Vegas hotel-casino: The first integrated casino in Las Vegas was destroyed by fire Wednesday. The Moulin Rouge was in the process of being restored following a 2003 fire. Click here for video, images and details about its history.
More on the Australian fire captain questioned about deadly fire: We first told you about CFA Capt. Ron Philpott yesterday. He has been questioned about the Marysville bushfire in February that took 38 lives. The veteran volunteer firefighter proclaims he is innocent. Click here to view an interview with Capt. Philpott.
I guess it takes all kinds: In Delaware a man who was turned down by three fire companies was arrested for impersonating a firefighter. Apparently he was inspecting a fire alarm system when he was caught. Read more.
Geezer’s other favorite topic: This is another perfect Firegeezer story. It is about beer and it is about fire. A large building that had been part of a German brewery caught fire during demolition. Bill has lots of pictures and videos. Click here.
More pictures from Burtonsville 2nd-alarm: Jim Codespote has an extensive series of pictures on the Laurel VFD website from Saturday’s tw0-alarm fire in Montgomery County, MD. The pictures begin as an injured firefighter is brought from the building.
Three-alarm fire in Everett, Washington: The fire gutted a large building that is part of the Sno-Isle Tech Skills Center. One firefighter was injured after falling during the Tuesday afternoon fire. Click here for more details and pictures.
The man in the middle of the PGFD firefighter arson probe tells his story to STATter911.com: We have updated the article about our interview Tuesday with Jerry Engle, author and former volunteer firefighter in Prince George’s County. Engle claims he watched as three firefighters from Riverdale set a vacant house on fire in March of 2008. We have since found a description of the fire on Riverdale VFD’s website that matches some of Engle’s account. Both the home where Engle is living and the Riverdale firehouse were raided on Monday as investigators gather evidence connected to the targets of the investigation. Jerry Engle says he didn’t set any fires and wants to take a polygraph. So far, no arrests have been announced. Click here for a detailed account including videos, pictures and the complete interview with Engle, who proclaimed himself the top firefighter in the county.
Another firefighter arson probe: This one is in Australia and it has much more serious implications. A captain who reported the sawmill fire that sparked the bushfire that killed 38 people in February proclaims his innocence. While he hasn’t been charged with anything, the captain believes he has been unfairly targeted. Read more.
House fire where firefighter’s body was found is ruled arson: In Oklahoma, Osage Fire Department volunteer Michael Cobb’s body was found inside a burning home last Tuesday. Cobb was last seen an hour before the blaze at a fire company meeting. While they are providing few details, investigators say the fire was deliberately set. Read the article.
Michigan chief gets a year’s salary: That is now the parting gift for former Brighton Area Fire Chief Martin Deloach. We had previously reported Deloach’s sudden firing in March. Read the details.
Wreck during driver’s training: Firegeezer has details of a collision between a fire truck and a utility pole on Sunday in Kane County, Illinois that left two firefighters injured.
Salvation Army opts out of Rhode Island canteen operation: The Special Signal Fire Association has responded for decades to fires and other emergencies in support of public safety personnel. The Salvation Army has provided the trucks and an old firehouse used as a headquarters. Budget cuts and a change in philosophy are changing this arrangement. The Salvation Army state coordinator told projo.com, “We are trying very hard to make sure our Christian message gets out, and the Special Signal Association is not particularly a Christian organization.” Read more.
Jerry Engle claims he watched as three firefighters set a vacant house on fire in early 2008, in Riverdale Park, Maryland. According to Engle, he left an anonymous letter for the chief and president of the Riverdale Volunteer Fire Department alerting them to this serious problem. Engle says no actions were taken.
The house that burned used to sit on what is now a vacant lot at 5413 Riverdale Road. Engle believes the incident he witnessed occurred in March of 2008. There is a YouTube video from March 17, 2008 of a fire occurring at that house. According to area fire department websites the same house also burned two days earlier in the early morning hours of March 15, 2008 and possibly in the evening hours of March 16, 2007.
Engle claims the episode began when he drove the fire engine to check out a report of smoke in the area during the overnight hours. According to Engle, he waited inside the cab of the engine as the three other firefighters on board walked toward the home carrying road flares. Thinking that was odd, Engle says he followed the firefighters and saw them using the flares to ignite debris inside the house.
According to Engle, he drove the fire engine with the crew back to the Riverdale firehouse a few blocks away. Once there, Engle says two firefighters then left the fire station with a gasoline can. A short time later the call was dispatched for a house fire at 5413 Riverdale Road.
At about 0545 hours, a citizen heading to work called the station stating he smelled what seem to be mulch burning in the area of Tanglewood Drive and Riverdale Road. He added that he did not see any smoke or fire in the area. The station notified Public Safety Communications (PSC) and responded to the location with E807 staffed with 8 volunteers. After arriving in the area and finding nothing the crew returned to the station.
Picture from Riverdale VFD website.
As they were heading back to bed, PSC alerted the station for a reported house on fire at Kenilworth Avenue and Riverdale Road at 0621 hours. E807 went on scene at 5413 Riverdale Road with fire and heavy smoke coming from the 3 story vacant structure.
(Note: The Riverdale VFD website actually lists this fire as March 16, 2008, but two other sites show it as March 17.)
Google Maps Street View of house that Jerry Engle says was torched by firefighters. Click image to tour the area.
Jerry Engle contacted STATter911.com immediately after Monday’s raid at the Riverdale Volunteer Fire Department. Fire investigators served a search warrant looking for evidence of a possible arson ring involving firefighters. Engle says a warrant was also served at the Bowie area home where he is currently living.
Jerry Engle denies being involved in the Riverdale Road fire or setting any other fires, but admits investigators have questioned him extensively about the arsons. Engle wants the investigators to administer a polygraph examination to prove he is innocent.
Engle believes the investigators were already looking at the possibility firefighters were involved in a string of arsons when he provided the information about the Riverdale fire.
Sources indicate a handful of volunteer firefighters remain operationally suspended as the investigation continues. This includes three firefighters at Riverdale. One of the suspended Riverdale volunteers is also a career firefighter in Montgomery County.
Contacted about Engle’s allegations, Riverdale Volunteer Fire Department Chief Charles Ryan III, says the department stands by its previous statements that they are cooperating 100 percent with fire investigators.
Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department Chief Spokesman Mark Brady says the department can’t make any comments about the case because the search warrants served by investigators remain sealed.
In a previous statement issued by Brady, the department acknowledged investigators were looking at suspicious fires in six vacant homes, but made no mention of the possibility that firefighters were the suspects. The fire identified by Engle is not on that list.
Engle has long been a controversial figure in the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department. He wrote a book called Probie Days about Engle’s many years with the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department, one of the busiest volunteer fire companies in the world.
Engle drives a red Volkswagen adorned with numerous pieces of small fire equipment, including nozzles and axes. Many firefighters who have seen the vehicle have questioned how Engle got the equipment. Engle says none of the items were stolen, but they are surplus equipment he was allowed to take from the various stations where he was a volunteer.
Engle admits his departures from the volunteer fire departments at Kentland, Riverdale and Bladensburg each involved controversy. Engle was suspended from the Riverdale Heights Volunteer Fire Department in March following the accusations that he stole items while his company was transferred to the Riverdale station. Engle says the nozzle and nozzle bale he took were his own that he had left behind after parting ways with Riverdale VFD last year.
Engle say he was told by a top official in the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department that he is now permanently barred from being a firefighter in the county.
This is not an April Fools joke: These photos were sent to STATter911.com. We have confirmed that the car, decked out with a variety of fire equipment and appliances, belongs to Jerry Engle, author of the book Probie Days. Engle is under investigation after a criminal complaint was filed accusing him of stealing a nozzle and nozzle bale when his company filled-in at the Riverdale firehouse in Prince George’s County, Maryland on Sunday. Investigators are still looking into the matter and the State’s Attorney’s Office has yet to make a decision on criminal charges. Click here if you missed the story. Click here to watch it (or here).
Still searching for answers on fire and ambulance donation: The Examiner reports the deputy fire chief in charge of the apparatus division for the DC Fire & EMS Department spent 7 days at taxpayers expense in the Dominican Republic. It is one of a number of issues involving the donation of a surplus fire engine and ambulance that Chief Dennis Rubin may be asked about at a DC City Council hearing today. Click here for more.
Houston crash update: Bicyclist Leigh Boone remains in critical condition. Engine 7 Captain Michael Mayfield remains in fair condition. Engine 7′s driver Brian Edwards is in good condition. Everyone else has been released from the hospital following Monday’s collision between Engine 7 and Ladder 16. The driver of the car that was crushed told police she was stopped at a red signal. Police say that is also the signal facing Ladder 16. The call the rigs were responding to turned out to be crews smoke-testing sewer lines. Click here for the latest from the Houston Chronicle.
One problem solved but 911 center is still closed: While officials believe full 911 capabilities have been restored to the Montgomery County, Ohio Regional Dispatch Center, the sheriff wants exhaustive testing before reopening. Click here for an update.
More troubles for controversial Minnesota fire chief: Austin Chief Dan Wilson now has the City Council filing a complaint against him about allegations of a confrontation Chief Wilson had with a woman at a city meeting. Read the latest.
Austin is also looking at a fire call fee as a way to solve some budget issues. Click here.
Maryland volunteer sues department citing racist behavior: The Taneytown VFC in Carroll County is being sued. From the AP- “Pernell Hammond’s $1.5 million lawsuit filed in federal court last week alleges some members of the fire company used racist language and told racist jokes meant to belittle him.” Read more in the Frederick New-Post.
Was reprimand enough punishment for noose incident?: The Houston Black Firefighters Union doesn’t think so. They want more answers about the probe into a noose discovered in a captain’s locker at Station 41. Read more.
Firefighter could lose job over where he lives: For the first time Lynn, Massachusetts’ residency requirement may cost a firefighter his job. Read the article.
Scranton to keep fire companies, for now: Criticism seems to have been on hold a plan by Scranton’s mayor to close to engine companies as cost saving measures. Public safety director thinks more planning on the issue is needed. Click here for the latest.
UK Fire Service believes uniforms may be key to hiring more women and minorities: Trying to change its white male image, the fire service in England has unveiled uniforms tailor made for women and the religious and cultural needs of minorities. This includes head scarves for Muslim women. The picture above from the BBC. Read their story.
Sudden u-turn for DC fire engine and ambulance donated to Dominican Republic beach resort: The Washington Examiner now reports there is some truth to STATter911.com’s discovery that the donation to the town of Sosua may have been a done deal. Reporter Michael Neibauer writes, “A city hall official who asked not to be named told The Examiner on Monday that the vehicles, on their way to the Dominican Republic town of Sosua, had been ordered turned around”. The equipment been estimated as wroth $340,000 which many in DC think is a lot of value left in truly surplus equipment. Still a lot of unanswered questions that no one seems to be ready to answer about the three way deal with the group Peaceoholics. Read the Examiner article. Read our previous coverage. You can also keep tabs on this one from columnist Mike DeBonis in the Washington City Paper and his Loose Lips Daily.
PGFD’s and Probie Days author Jerry Engle out as theft from firehouse is investigated: From Kentland to Riverdale to Bladensburg to Riverdale Heights, Jerry Engle has a knack for being involved in controversy wherever he goes as a volunteer firefighter in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Engle has been operationally suspended after being accused in a criminal complaint of stealing equipment from the Riverdale firehouse while Riverdale Heights was at the station on a transfer. Riverdale Heights tells STATter911.com that Jerry isn’t coming back. Will this latest incident be the end of Jerry Engle’s days with PGFD? Click here for the details on Sunday’s theft complaint and a Jerry Engle retrospective.
Never mind … Boston is not the most expensive fire department: You may have seen the stories yesterday that ranked Boston as number one in the country in per capita costs for a fire department. Wrong. The Boston Globe story was based on faulty numbers provided by the City of Columbus, Ohio which had studied the issue. Boston is really number two and trying harder. Read the update.
Latest on the collision of Houston rigs that injured 11: The brother of the bicyclist buried under the wreckage of Houston’s Ladder 16 talks about his sister who is in critical condition. Click here.
Two of the nine firefighters suffered broken bones when Ladder 16 was hit by Engine 7 at an intersection. Most have been released from the hospital. The woman whose car was crushed had only minor injuries. Here is an excerpt from the latest article in the Houston Chronicle-
“Whoever has the green light has the right of way,” (District Chief Tommy) Dowdy said. “We don’t know who had the green.” Also at issue is the possible role an Opticom — a device mounted at intersections to regulate traffic signals as emergency vehicles approach — played in the crash.
Firefighter fired and paramedic resigns over YouTube video: This is the latest development in the story from Milwaukee we recently told you about. The two are accused of shooting a video with derogatory language while on duty. Read the update, including the reaction of the fire chief.
Bruce Willis loses ski lodge in fire: A fire Monday morning destroyed the main lodge at a small ski operation co-owned by Bruce Willis near Fairfield, Idaho. No one was injured. Willis was at his home in Hailey at the time. Read the story. Watch slideshow.
Howard County, Maryland to add two fire stations and eight 911 positions: Firegeezer recently predicted the downsizing of fire engines as a nod to the poor economy. How about fire stations? Bill Goddard, the new fire chief in Howard County, says the county will build its first new stations since 1994, but that they will be the bare bones version. In an announcement with Goddard’s boss and the police chief, the county is also expanding 911 positions. Read more.
Townhomes burn in South Minneapolis: Heavy fire conditions as a pair of homes burned on Monday. Click here (or here) for video and the story.
Texas fire chief found shot to death: Gun cleaning equipment and a new gun were found near Cleveland, Texas Chief Steve Wheeler’s body. Police are waiting for an autopsy to determine if the death was an accident, suicide or homicide. Read the story.
The postman always rings twice, but knocks real hard when there is a fire: In this case it was a postwoman (alright, female mail carrier) delivering the mail in West Bloomfield, Michigan who helped alert a woman her home was on fire and brought the woman to safety. Read the story.
Queen for a Day, the E-One version: When I was a little boy home sick from school I remember sitting with my grandmother watching the game show Queen for a Day. An applause meter would help decide which woman told the most heart wrenching story about her down and out life.
Host Jack Bailey would then crown her queen and she would win a bunch of prizes. I am sure Firegeezer recalls it too, with the only difference being Bill was watching it sitting in the firehouse. My point in bringing it up is that the TV show reminds me of E-One’s “Tell Us Your Story” contest where a new Tradition ES pumper is given away to some lucky fire department. The choice of a winner is to be based on need, heroism and tragedy. The contest is down to 7 finalists. Click here to find out who they are.
STATter911.com has learned that Firefighter Jerry Engle has been suspended from emergency operations following a criminal complaint of a theft at the Riverdale firehouse (PGFD Station 807). Engle most recently has been a member of the Riverdale Heights VFD (PGFD Station 813), but had previously been a member at Riverdale and two other volunteer companies in Prince George’s County, Maryland.
From his book Probie Days, looking at what Engle called the “glory days” of the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department (PGFD Station 833), to a video that showed another side of Jerry Engle, the veteran firefighter has been one of the most recognizable and controversial figures in the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department.
Sources familiar with an incident that occurred Sunday morning identify Engle as the person under investigation and named in a criminal complaint. Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department Chief Spokesman Mark Brady is not naming names in his confirmation that an investigation is underway. Here is Brady’s description of what happened in an email sent earlier today:
On Sunday, March 29, 2009, just before 5AM, Fire/EMS units responded to a vacant house fire in the 4500 block of Madison Street. As a result of the fire, an engine was transferred from a neighboring station to fill-in at the first due station, Riverdale. While the neighboring engine was at the Riverdale station it is alleged that a member of the fill-in engine was observed removing property from Riverdale and placing the items onto the fill-in engine.
The member in question was confronted by the person observing the actions and the City of Riverdale Park Police Department were notified and reported to the scene. A “Criminal Complaint” was completed and forwarded to the States Attorneys Office for review.
The career Duty Major and the Volunteer Operations Major were summoned to the Riverdale station as well. Interviews of everyone involved were conducted and an internal investigation, in addition to the Criminal Complaint, into the matter has been initiated. While this investigation is on-going, the member in question has been removed from emergency operations.
Sources familiar with the investigation confirm the theft involved a nozzle and a nozzle bale. According to the criminal complaint, Engle was in the Riverdale Heights engine with the items when police arrived at the Riverdale firehouse. The complaint says that Riverdale Deputy Chief Brian Carpio discovered the theft and confronted Engle.
Since last August Engle has been a live-in member at Riverdale Heights. STATter911.com attempted to contact Engle at the Riverdale Heights fire station today and was told he was not there and would not be coming back.
Jerry Engle made the news last July when controversial videos surfaced from his time as a member of the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department. The videos showed a firefighter being hazed by others. Engle was seen in one video showing firefighters shooting illegal fireworks inside the station. In one of the more memorable moments, Engle’s naked backside was used as a launching pad for a bottle rocket.
Engle claimed he left Bladensburg after he confronted a member for urinating on food and drinks belonging to Engle and others. Chief Fowler denied that such an incident occurred.
Engle then began riding at the Riverdale Heights station.
Springer 911: That’s the name someone in the comments section gave this blog after our latest story about Jerry Engle. Once the mayor of Kentland, Jerry has become a bit of a mayor-at-large. The author of Probie Days was ordered to vacate the Bladensburg VFD during his own probationary period and has left a forwarding address of 6101 Roanoke Avenue. Maybe 13 will be his lucky number. To read why Jerry parted ways with Bladensburg, click here. Is PT 809 the name of the new drink of some Prince George’s County FFs? One side says absolutely not.
Arson spree arrest: In Frederick County, MD an arrest has been made in some recent arsons. We have added pictures to our earlier story. The suspect had a very, very brief connection to a local firehouse. Click here.
How did I miss that?: STATter 911 reader Steve Marshall in PA noticed something I didn’t really figure out from the bus versus ambulance video in Portugal that we ran yesterday. I was too busy focusing on the people on the sidewalk in the middle of the screen who see the bus coming toward them and scurry fast. Steve had his eyes on the guy in the blue shirt at the bottom of the screen. Watch him closely. It appears he was dumped out of the ambulance. Very lucky the bus didn’t then run over him. Click here. It is the second video on the page.
More from Wes: We have more fire photos from the late Wes Gerald that need identification. Click here to help us out.
Help from the top on volunteer’s red light ticket: An interesting story of a push to change some policy after a firefighter responding to a truck fire was pulled over while in his work vehicle. Read the story.
Shib’s law: In Illinois a new law was signed by the governor that gives firefighters the authority to close down lanes of traffic if no law enforcement is present. It also increases reckless homicide penalties when emergency personnel are the victims. The law is named for FF James “Shib” Miller killed last summer when struck by a bus on I-57. Read more.
Riled in New Hampshire: In Newington, NH some people think the local FD is to blame for a house burning down on July 16. They had hoped to find some answers to their complaints at a Board of Fire Engineers meeting scheduled for Tuesday night. The people complaining are even more upset and suspicious because that meeting was canceled. The reason given is that someone stole the posting about the meeting, which might put in question the legality of the gathering. Read more here.
Few words: Neither the fire chief of Demopolis, AL, Ron Few, or the police chief are willing to talk about the arrest of a firefighter on DUI and gun charges. Click here for the story.
Help wanted: Another look at the volunteer shortage. This time from Corpus Christi, TX. Read the story.
July 14 image of Jerry Engle. In late July Engle cut the mohawk and removed all visible piercings.
Last Saturday was Jerry Engle’s last day as a probationary member of Bladensburg VFD (Station 809) in Prince George’s County, MD. Bladensburg Chief Matt Fowler tells STATter 911, “It came to the point he was causing more problems in the organization and we had enough of it”. According to Fowler, “It wasn’t worth it anymore”.
Engle had been at Bladensburg for about three months. Prior to that he had a short stint as a volunteer at Riverdale VFD (Station 807). Engle is best known for his many years at Kentland VFD (Station 833). He wrote a book on his experiences titled Probie Days.
Engle made the news recently as part of the videos showing fireworks being used and the hazing of a new member at Kentland. In the video Engle’s backside became a launching pad for a bottle rocket.
Jerry Engle’s departure from Bladensburg is not without controversy. Engle contacted STATter 911 today saying that he was told to leave after he confronted a member he accused of urinating on food and drinks belonging to Engle and others. Chief Fowler denies that such an incident occurred.
Currently Engle is riding with Riverdale Heights VFD (Station 813).
As we first reported over the weekend there is a new look for one of the more controversial firefighters in the nation, Jerry Engle. FireGeezer Bill Schumm heard me working this story while we were together at Firehouse Expo. Obviously a man with too much time on his hands, Bill used Photoshop to show us what Jerry looks like without the Mohawk and metal (bottom picture). Please send all complaints to the old guy at FireGeezer.com. I’m just the messenger on this one.
Dave needs your help: I have an update on Friday’s wreck involving Engine 26 from the DC Fire & EMS Department. What we know about the collision has inspired me to ask some general questions about driving emergency vehicles. Click here to read more.
Fire truck overturns, woman killed in KY: In Madisonville, KY a fire truck responding to a fatal motorcycle accident on Saturday ended up upside down in a ditch. The truck from the Manitou VFD had run onto the shoulder of the road and then came back onto the roadway colliding with an SUV. The woman driving the SUV was killed. One firefighter was flown out, but is in stable condition. The report says all parties were wearing seat belts. Read details.
Child’s play at fire hydrant gets serious: The Pittsburgh Fire Department had already closed the fire hydrant once on Sunday. When a security officer tried to close it a second time there was trouble. Five people were arrested and police used pepper spray. Click here for the story.
Family wants to reopen suit over PASS device: In St. Louis the survivors of FF Rob Morrison settled with Survivair in 2006 in a wrongful death suit. What they didn’t know at the time was this wasn’t an isolated case and feels the company withheld this important information. Read more.
Volunteers feel slighted in CA wildfires: With firefighters from all over the world coming in to fight fire, volunteer firefighters are complaining they didn’t get the call. Read the story.
Council member’s home catches fire: A fire that damaged the home of Cleveland City Councilman Joe Cimperman’s home early this morning is being called suspicious. Watch the story.
Taking care of their own: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch looks at some fire service traditions as firefighters said goodbye to Maplewood’s Ryan Hummert who was gunned down last week. Read the article.
I’ve got a drunk in Kalamazoo. Actually not one, not two, but three who shouldn’t have been behind the wheel converge on the same scene: This is why FireGeezer is my hero. He finds some of the most bizarre stories. In this one an ambulance stops to help a suspected drunk driver who drove a car into ditch. The ambulance is then hit by another suspected drunk driver. The sheriff’s car that comes to investigate all of this is then hit by a third suspected drunk driver. If you had put this scene in a movie, no one would find it believable. Read the details.
Don’t forget Rich Findley’s family: A motorcycle ride/fundraiser is coming up. Click here for the details.
In the many comments on multiple forums about the recent videos from Kentland VFD, a common theme was the physical appearance of FF Jerry Engle. Engle, formerly a member of Kentland, and currently with Bladensburg VFD, arrived for our interview with a shirt on. That in itself was surprising, considering that Jerry often would go most places, including to fires, without a shirt. It was also a lot more clothing than he was wearing when the camera was rolling during the Kentland videos.
What most people wrote about were Jerry’s spiky, orange colored Mohawk haircut and the numerous piercings on his face.
At Firehouse Expo I began hearing that Jerry very recently had a makeover. Sources, and Jerry himself, later confirmed orders came down through Bladensburg’s leadership that the hairstyle was out and there would be no piercings that could be visible to the public.
New Engle angle: Over the last few days we have been getting many emails about former Kentland VFD firefighter and author Jerry Engle. Quite a few people sent us information about assault charges filed against Engle the day after our interview. We’ve pieced together as much as we can about that story. Click here if you haven’t seen it.
Andrew Bashoor is back home: We got a call this afternoon from West Virginia as Marc and Laura Bashoor were bringing their son Andrew home from a rehabilitation hospital, six and half weeks after a traffic accident almost took Andrew’s life. Very good news.
Marc will be in town next Thursday to emcee the retirement dinner honoring PGFD’s Chauncey Bowers and Curtis Eaby. Congratulations to my friends Chauncey and Curtis, I am sorry I am going to miss the show. There are certainly a few things I’d like to say.
Bad week for a Kentucky FD: The Hustonville VFD’s chief has resigned after a DUI arrest and now the department is being criticized for being a late arrival at a fire in sight of the fire hall. Read and watch the story.
Weekend fire inspections at a price: Eight Chicago fire inspectors are being disciplined for taking what is being described as “tips” to conduct weekend inspections of sprinkler pumps. Read and watch the story.
Now its personal: The lead sentence on one story about the shootings on a fireground in Indianapolis reads – “Friday’s shootings at a fire scene raise questions about firefighter safety”. What are the photographers who were actually shot and apparently targeted, chopped liver?
Sorry, had to vent for a second. A WISH-TV photographer and another man I have seen identified as a freelance photographer and/or fire buff were wounded. An SCBA cylinder on the back of a firefighter was also hit. A man who lived across the street is now in custody. He apparently had words with the TV photographer before the shooting. Read more.
Actress says paparazzi used fire hoax: A lot of unanswered questions in this story about Maggie Gyllenhaal and her new baby. She is claiming the photographers called in a false alarm at her West Village building so she would have to come outside with the baby. The only article I can find is in a gossip column. If it’s true, is it being investigated? Where’s Paul Harvey when we need him.
Drowning response questions, answers and 911 call: In Palm Beach County, Florida, claims from relatives and friends that firefighters didn’t do everything they could to try and save a man who had drowned in a lake. Palm Beach County Fire Rescue says otherwise. Read the story and hear the 911 call.
“Big Whiskey” burns to the ground: That’s what Clint Eastwood called the home in Tuolumne County, CA, when he stayed there during the filming of Unforgiven. Michael J. Fox was a guest when filming Back to the Future III. The large home was destroyed by fire his morning. Details and a picture, here.
Strike up the band. Not strike the band: FireGeezer Bill Schumm has the story and video from a military review in Fort Riley, KS on Thursday that didn’t go so well. The casualty list includes three musicians, two sousaphones and a parachutist. Click here to learn more.
Damned if you do and damned if you don’t: Firefighters in the UK are accused of wasting taxpayers money on a bird rescue. Read the story.
A day after our interview with FF Jerry Engle about his role on the controversial videos from Kentland VFD, assault charges were brought against Engle. The charges were filed on Tuesday by a man who lives just a few doors from the Bladensburg firehouse where Engle is currently a volunteer firefighter. It appears there is no connection between the neighbor’s claims and the recent stories involving Engle.
From conversations with Engle, police sources in Bladensburg and Prince George’s County Fire & EMS Department officials, we have pieced together a rather unusual story.
The incident that sparked the charges happened on July 2. Jerry Engle tells STATter 911 he intervened on behalf of an approximately 6-year- old child who claimed that a 69-year-old man who lives near the firehouse had committed a crime involving that child. Engle confronted the man and held him until the Bladensburg Police Department arrived.
Sorting out the details, Bladensburg police officers did not find enough evidence to warrant an arrest and let the man go.
On Tuesday, the man who Engle had detained, filed charges of 2nd degree assault and false imprisonment. Court records show a summons was issued to Engle.
There is also a “peace order” that instructs Engle he shall not abuse, contact or enter the home of the person who filed the charges. The order expires on July 22.
Other fire and police sources generally confirm Engle’s account of the incident.
When contacted, Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department spokesman Mark Brady indicated no action is being taken against FF Engle:
The Fire/EMS Department reviews each charge brought against its membership and makes a decision to remove the person from public contact/emergency operations suspension based on the merits of the charges. In this particular case, the Fire/EMS Department is taking no action against Jerry Engle in relationship to criminal charges filed against him for this incident.
As for the Kentland VFD videos, where Engle had a bottle rocket launched off of his naked backside, Engle said so far there has been no disciplinary action concerning his role. FF Engle previously told us he deserved to be punished for the antics caught on tape.
Former Kentland FF faces the camera (this time): Click here for our interview with Jerry Engle the author of a book about Kentland. Engle is also the man seen on the recently released videos doing a rather unique fireworks demonstration (beats the usual watermelon being blown up). You will also find links there to our previous coverage, including the videos, comments from Gordon Routley and STATter 911 readers.
Read this account of a fire response in Detroit: Below is the conclusion from Detroit Free Press columnist Bill McGraw after arriving well before the fire department at a burning house Monday morning.
An abandoned house on fire. Missing street signs. Slow fire response. A broken rig. Another morning in the under-served neighborhoods of Detroit.
Not a battle where you will likely to win the hearts and minds of the public: In Nassau County, FL a Jacksonville Fire-Rescue captain is accused of hitting a 75-year-old man and pulling him out of his car. It is being described by police as a road-rage incident while the captain was off-duty. The physical part of the event took place in the parking lot of Nassau County Fire Station 20. Firefighters there confronted 44-year-old Michael Braddock who then drove away. Captain Braddock is now on paid administrative leave. Click here for the story and video.
Things go boom in Baltimore: A flying manhole cover left a pedestrian injured after an explosion followed by a fire that last for five hours underneath North Charles Street. Click here for the print version and here for the TV story.
Duck soup: The mystery at the U.S. Capitol Reflecting Pool is still ongoing as the FBI tries to find out how a bunch of ducks died. Our wildlife bureau chief (reassigned stateside after a recent international assignment) has the story of Saturday’s hazmat deployment. Check in on Vito Maggiolo’s posting on DCFD.com (scroll down).
Baltimore County 4th alarm: With so much Kentland news, we are very late on this one. Pikesville VFC’s photographer Michael Schwartzberg has some nice photos from Friday’s four-alarm warehouse fire in Baltimore County’s Woodlawn section. Click here for pictures and Michael’s account.
What’s it all about ALF(ie)?: FireGeezer has a look at American LaFrance’s decision to pull its fire truck manufacturing out of South Carolina.
FFs’ accounts from the front lines of a wildfire: The San Jose Mercury News is putting the news gathering in the hands of firefighters. From the Santa Cruz Mountains they have details of the Martin fire in the words of firefighters from Bonny Doon Fire & Rescue Company 32. Company engineer Steph Marr did the editing. Click here for the story.
Got gear, but need bodies in Louisiana: Lafayette’s fire chief says people aren’t lining up like they used to for a job as a firefighter. Read the story.
And I’m sure no one got lost on the way to this call: In the UK at 2:00 this morning, a lap-dancing club was destroyed by fire. Pictures (of the fire only) and the story are here. The club sparked controversy when it opened just three weeks ago. The owner suspects arson. Click here for more.
Jerry Engle spent more than half his life at the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department. One of the most active firefighters in the company’s history, and he claims in the U.S., Engle wrote a book on his experience called Probie Days.
Engle may have to add a few new chapters after the recent release to the news media of controversial videos involving Kentland’s firefighters.
Engle, now a member of the Bladensburg Volunteer Fire Department, is seen on one of the videos using his bare backside as a launching pad for a bottle rocket. The video shows numerous firefighters shooting fireworks inside the fire station on Landover Road. Fireworks are illegal in Prince George’s County, Maryland.
The videos were shot more than four-years-ago.
Engle tells STATter 911 he was not involved in the hazing incident seen on one tape and thought that incident was “extreme”.
According to sources, the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department has already suspended its chief and others in the videos. Officially, Kentland calls what’s on the videos “inexcusable” and will only confirm that disciplinary action has been taken.
Jerry Engle expects that Prince George’s County Fire Chief Lawrence Sedgwick will also take action against him and others seen on the videos. So far there has been no official comment from Chief Sedgwick since a statement Friday calling the antics on the videos “disturbing” and “unprofessional”.
Engle tells STATter 911, “We deserve some type of punishment.”
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