Search Results for: haiti

Man who trained FEMA USAR teams wanted by police. Michael Reimer, Safety Solutions, & four firefighter/employees are caught up in Fort Lauderdale training scandal.

Michael T. Reimer, Safety Solutions, is wanted by Broward County Sheriff’s Office.

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The last word from Broward County, Florida is the remaining suspect from the training and certification scandal involving Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue is Michael T. Reimer. According to news reports, Reimer recently resigned from the fire department and has continued to run Safety Solutions out of Boynton Beach. Reimer’s firm is accused of providing phony training documentation.

A search of the web shows that Michael Reimer and Safety Solutions also have provided training for the FEMA Urban Search and Rescue teams. News reports indicate that the other four firefighters arrested, Freddie Batista, Greg Jones, Joseph Perri and Steve Loleski, all worked for Safety Solutions.

Here’s an excerpt from a January, 2010 article by WSVN-TV in connection with the earthquake in Haiti:

A South Florida company has so far been responsible for training more than two dozen of the country’s urban search and rescue teams.

Contracted by FEMA, Safety Solutions, based in Boynton Beach, taught all 28 urban search and rescue teams in Haiti everything they know. “This is a concrete chain saw. It can plunge through solid concrete,” said Mike Reimer of Safety Solutions, as he demonstrates how the machine can cut through solid rebar in a few seconds.

Teams go into the ruins and dig with $3 million worth of equipment. “They need to know building construction, how to use tools effectively, how to prevent further collapse,” said Reimer. “They’re going to shore up the building with lumber that will hold the building in place, and then they’re going to tunnel and dig.”

Broward County Sheriff’s Office photos of (l-r) Freddie Batista, Steve Loleski, Gregory Jones and Joseph Perri via sun-sentinel.com.

Here’s what the articles are now saying about Michael Reimer and Safety Solutions.

Erika Pesantes and Linda Trischitta, Sun Sentinel:

Authorities said (arrested firefighter Steve) Loleski allegedly got his training at Safety Solutions Inc., a Boynton Beach company owned by Michael and Tracey Reimer that was not approved to offer the certification.

Batista allegedly also made a phony card for Michael Reimer, a city firefighter who recently resigned and faces charges of uttering a forged document, grand theft and official misconduct, police said. He remains at large.

Other firefighters who also allegedly received the bogus certification were: Gregory Jones, 28, and Joseph Perri, 27, both employed by the city department for six years, and charged with uttering a forged document and official misconduct.

WBFS-TV:

During the investigation, it was discovered that Loleski and the other accused firefighters received their ACLS cards from a company called Safety Solution Inc., owned by Michael Reimer, which was not approved to teach the advanced cardiovascular life support course, stated the affidavit. The cards of Loleski, Reimer, Jones and Perri all contained similar, suspicious characteristics including the name of a non-authorized instructor, Freddie Batista, stated the affidavit.

As a result of the fake cards, the affidavit stated, Reimer and Jones received the 15-percent pay incentive and Loleski received the 10-percent.

Elgin Jones, South Florida Times:

Reimer is president of Boynton Beach-based Safety Solutions LLC, an internationally recognized safety company he founded in 1996. Safety Solutions sells products and equipment and specializes in rescue and recovery training.

Batista, Jones, Perri and Loleski have worked for his firm.

The company has provided training to fire departments around the country and abroad. It has also offered training to law enforcement agencies and branches of the U.S. military, as well as foreign government.

Mark Young, BrowardNetOnline.com:

At this time, the remaining subject that is still at large is Michael T. Reimer. His whereabouts are unknown at this time. Anyone with information regarding Reimer’s location, is urged to contact Sgt. R. Pelham of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department at 954-828-5700.

The investigation began when the Fort Lauderdale Fire Department discovered what appeared to be a suspicious document during a routine audit of training certificates. The Fort Lauderdale Fire Department initiated an internal auxiliary review, discovering additional fraudulent documents. The Fort Lauderdale Fire Department turned their investigation over to the Florida Department of Health and the Fort Lauderdale Police Department.

Posted by dave statter on October 18, 2012 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, Courts, EMS Topics, fire, Fire Rescue Topics, Major Incidents, News, Police, Rescues, Special Operations, Training • Tagged: ACLS, Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support Cards, American Heart Association, arrest, Boynton Beach, certification, Command Fire Apparatus, counterfeited medical credentials, Dave Statter, EMS training, EMT, extortion, FEMA, Fire Truck Blog, firefighter, firefighter arrested, firefighting, FireTruckBlog.com, Florida, Florida Department of Health, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue, Freddie Batista, Glenn Usdin, Greg Jones, investigation, Joseph Perri, Judge John Hurley, medical credentials, Michael Reimer, paramedic, recording, Safety Solutions, Safety Solutions LLC, sellfiretrucks.com, STATter911.com, Steve Loleski, training, urban search and rescue, USAR

Japan update: Fairfax County battalion chief describes operations. Photos of VATF-1 in action. Local rescuers find 70-year-old woman trapped for four days.

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STATter911.com previous coverage of Japan earthquake & USAR teams

More pictures from U.S. teams in Japan from WUSA9.com

From Emily Cyr at WUSA9.com:

The 74 members of Virginia Task Force 1 deployed to Japan are seeing the devastation first hand.

Fairfax Co. Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Chris Schaff joined 9NEWS NOW by phone Tuesday morning. He said half the team was resting after searching for survivors, while the other half was preparing to take over.

Click the image above for more of Travis J. Tritten’s photos of VATF-1 in action in Ofunato, Japan and additional details about the team’s initial missions.

“They have us doing search and rescue right along the shoreline where the tsunami came in, and actually working in that grid this morning and afternoon, and we’re going to push further down and closer to the coast tomorrow morning,” Chief Schaff said.

The team was also deployed to Haiti after the earthquake in January, 2010, where they made more than a dozen rescues.

Chief Schaff described how the conditions are different in Japan: “In Haiti, there’s not a whole lot of lumber they used to build, it’s mostly concrete. Here, there is a lot of lumber, so there is a lot of debris washed ashore. There’s houses that have been picked up and moved, as well as a lot of boats, large boats, that we’ve had moved a good distance from the shore, up on top of the houses and collapsed those houses. The crews are working in and around those, doing their search and rescue.”

At this point, they have not had an opportunity to rescue anyone, though Chief Schaff says the team is still very energetic.

Chief Schaff says they are also far enough away for the threat of nuclear radiation not be a concern. “We’ve got hazardous materials specialists that are also working with us from the team, and they’re keeping us abreast of the situation with the hazardous materials in the area we’re working in. That’s not a complication we’re dealing with right now, so we’re not really focusing that direction. However, we do have people that can take care of that should that need arise for us.”

A story from Soma, Japan by Susan Phillips WUSA9.com and AP:

Rescuers have found a 70-year-old woman alive four days after the disaster struck.

Osaka fire department spokesman Yuko Kotani says the woman was found inside her house that was washed away by the tsunami in northeastern Japan’s Iwate prefecture. The rescuers from Osaka, in western Japan, were sent to the area for disaster relief.

Kotani said the woman was conscious but suffering from hypothermia and is being treated at a hospital. She would not give the woman’s name.

Her rescue was a rare bit of news for Japanese traumatized by the disaster.

Posted by dave statter on March 15, 2011 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, EMS Health & Safety, EMS Topics, fire, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Haiti Earthquake, Japan earthquake & tsunami, Los Angeles County Fire Department, Major Incidents, Mass Casualty Incident, News, Rescues, Special Operations, Videos • Tagged: CA TF-2, California, California Task Force 2, CATF 2, Chris Schaff, Command Fire Apparatus, Dave Statter, deployment, earhtquake, EMS, EMT, Fairfax County, Fire Truck Blog, firefighter, Fires, FireTruckBlog.com, Glenn Usdin, Haiti, Jpan, Los Angeles County, mobilization, paramedic, sellfiretrucks.com, Soma, STATter911.com, tsunami, USAID, USAR, VATF1, Virginia Task Force 1

Fairfax County USAR mobilized. Virginia Task Force 1 readying to help out in Northern Japan.

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Coverage of VATF1 in Haiti

From WUSA9.com:

The Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue team has been mobilized to respond to the devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunami in northern Japan.

Dan Schmidt, spokesperson for the Fairfax County Fire Department, says they received word just minutes ago. He says mobilization means the team prepares for deployment, but it does not necessarily mean it will be deployed.

The Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue team, also known as Virginia Task Force 1, is one of two teams in the nation deployed by USAID to assist countries who have experienced large scale damage due to natural disasters or other causes. The other team is from Los Angeles, California.

Two groups from Fairfax’s team were dispatched after Haiti’s earthquake in January, 2010. They pulled more than a dozen people from the rubble.

Posted by dave statter on March 11, 2011 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, EMS Health & Safety, EMS Topics, Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department, fire, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Japan earthquake & tsunami, Major Incidents, Mass Casualty Incident, News • Tagged: deployment, earhtquake, Fairfax County, Fires, Haiti, Jpan, mobilization, tsunami, USAID, USAR, VATF1, Virginia Task Force 1

USAR dog dies after being injured during training in Virginia Beach

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Lieutenant Winters, a seven-year-old Belgian Malinois/Shepherd died Friday after being injured during a training exercise in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Win was a part of Virginia Task Force 2. Win had been deployed five times by FEMA, including during Hurricane Katrina and the earthquake in Haiti.

In a press release today, Virginia Beach Fire Department Battalion Chief Tim Riley explained how the dog was injured:

He entered through a small opening of the rubble pile, where the victim was located, when the accident occurred. A piece of concrete reinforcing wire punctured his chest cavity causing internal bleeding. Although Win was injured, he finished his search, located the victim, and laid at her side. The canine handler immediately sensed a problem and Win was quickly transported to Bay-Beach Veterinary Hospital where Team Doctor/Veterinarian Mark Honaker was unable to save Win. He died shortly after arriving at the animal hospital. Win died doing what he was trained and loved to do, performing his job to the very end.

Posted by dave statter on June 7, 2010 • Filed under: Command & Leadership, EMS Topics, fire, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, News, Rescues, Special Operations, training-fire-rescue-topics, Uncategorized • Tagged: Battalion Chief Tim Riley, Bay-Beach Veterinary Hospital, Belgian Malinois/Shepherd, Dave Statter, FEMA, firefighter, Hurricane Katrina, Lieutenant Winters, Mark Honaker, STATter911.com, Urban Search and Rescue team, USAR, VA-TF 2, VATF 2, Virginia, Virginia Beach, Virginia Beach Fire Department, Virginia Task Force 2

UPDATE Haiti rescuers become victims of collapse. Fairfax County fire station in Bailey’s Crossroads buckles under snow. Second firehouse in danger.

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Click here for new pictures from inside the firehouse

For the people who go all around the world helping others when their buildings collapse due to natural disasters, this one couldn’t have been any closer to home. Overnight there was a collapse of the roof over the equipment bay at Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department Station 410. Now, there is a roof problem at a neighboring firehouse. Firefighters report sagging in the roof at Station 408 in Annandale, about three miles south on Columbia Pike.

Dan Schmidt, spokesperson for Fairfax County Fire and Rescue, says 18 firefighters were in the bunk room of Station 410 located in the 3600 block of Firehouse Lane when they heard a loud noise coming from the bay area around 3:00 a.m. Schmidt says the firefighters discovered the flat roof over all four bay areas collapsed under the weight of this weekend’s heavy snowfall.

Firehouse in Bailey's Crossroads at a better time. Click the image for Google Maps Street View.

There were no injuries.

Schmidt says a good portion of the roof is now sitting on top of the ladder truck and the engine. A full evaluation of the damage has not been made, but the damage at Station 410 is extensive.

After the collapse at Station 410 Schmidt says an alert went out to firefighters to do an evaluation of flat roofs at other fire stations. That’s when sagging was noticed at Station 408 in Annandale.

Officials say there is a two to five inch deflection in the center portion of the roof at that station. For now crews are running out of the newer bingo hall at the firehouse.

Posted by dave statter on February 8, 2010 • Filed under: Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department, fire, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, News • Tagged: Bailey's Crossroads VFD, blizzard, collapse, Dave Statter, Fairfax County, fire station, firefighter, firehouse, snow, Station 10, Station 410, STATter911

Quick Takes

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5th alarm in New Jersey: A fire in an industrial building just before 6:00 PM on Saturday at 1275 Bloomfield Avenue in Fairfield. There are four more parts to this video. Click here. Details can be found here. More video is here.

The information flow in your Nation’s Capital: We have two stories for you this morning with connections to the DC Fire & EMS Department and how the District of Columbia government communicates with reporters and, in turn, the public. Both cases seem to follow the same pattern: a reporter uncovers something that on the surface doesn’t seem right; the fire chief or his spokesman provides very limited answers, shedding little light on what actually happened; more information is uncovered by reporters; the initial action is reversed; and in the end the department never fully answers what this was all about.

A Steve Skipton photo from a four-alarm fire in Burlington, New Jersey Sunday afternoon that damaged seven homes. Click the image for more pictures and details from PhillyFireNews.com.

In one of these cases, the aborted donation of a fire truck and ambulance to a resort town in the Dominican Republic, it took ten months before reports from two DC City Council committees provided some transparency. The council determined policies were ignored, but no laws broken. The DC Fire & EMS Department, which appears to have had a secondary role in all of this, continues to refer all questions to Attorney General Peter Nickles. According to the Washington Examiner, Nickles believes the investigation was a “waste of time and a waste of government resources in what became a very political series of actions”. Despite this case now seeming to be closed, Chief Dennis Rubin still faces a little scrutiny by at least two reporters who have compared emails released in the reports with his sworn testimony at a council hearing last April. Click here for that story.

Then there is the story of the Sarasota County, Florida fire chief who remained an employee of the DC Fire & EMS Department while in his new job. In this one, there is no council investigation shedding light on the issue and there is still no indication anyone in the DC government is willing to explain why this arrangement was made, other than to allow Kenneth Ellerbe to be eligible to take home a more favorable retirement package. Through sources, we learned that Ellerbe, who was a deputy chief, resigned from his DC position on January 15. A department spokesman then confirmed that information on Friday. Click here for the latest.

No delay on information here - a battalion chief & two captains are among those fired in Georgia: Pretty quick action in DeKalb County. A report issued in a botched response to what ultimately became a fatal fire and four firefighters were let go. All of this happened within about five days of the fire. Click here for the latest.

Chaplain who is friends with fired top PGFD official quits: Alvin Graham didn’t like some of the policy issues he was dealing with involving the chaplain corps even before Lt. Col. Victor Stagnaro received his walking papers a week ago. But it is clear Stagnaro’s firing was involved in Graham’s decision making process. It was Stagnaro who recruited Graham for the volunteer post nine-years-ago and the men are close friends. On Friday, Chaplain Graham turned in his car and other Prince George’s County property. Here are the details.

Firefighter detained in Haiti: Drew Culberth is a Topeka firefighter who went to Haiti on a different kind of rescue mission. Culberth and nine members of his church are now being held over issues surrounding the group’s efforts to bring 33 children back to the United States. Here’s the story.

Fireground audio from mayday at deadly Brooklyn fire: Five residents died at a fire early Saturday in Bensonhurst. Thirteen firefighters were hurt, including one who became entangled in a collapsing stairwell. Click here for our coverage.

Injured firefighter tells his story from the hospital: Firefighter Cory Broich is recovering from serious injuries after a car struck him while he was working a collision scene in Clearwater, Minnesota last Tuesday. Click here to read the latest. Here is our earlier coverage of the story, including the radio traffic.

Tulsa firefighters vote to stop job layoffs: Concessions that include a more than five-percent pay cut and furlough days were agreed to by Tulsa firefighters in an effort to prevent 147 from losing their jobs. Here’s the latest.

Regrouping in Houston: The Chronicle looks at the challenge facing Acting Chief Rick Flanagan and starts the article by recounting the recent past-

Racist graffiti, threats, profanity and a noose hanging in a locker; claims of harassment and a culture of accepted sexism, evidenced in part by a topless female firefighter posing in panties on a widely distributed calendar.

: It seems the firefighter protest in Belgium was a bit kinder and gentler than the one in Spain. I guess it is hard to get angry in the middle of a foam fight. Photo from the Daily Mail.

Cop mixes up pepper spray and fire extinguisher containers - plus much more from Firegeezer: Bill takes a look at the awful story from Portland, Oregon as a police officer tries to snuff out the flames of a man who set himself on fire. Click here. (I saw this story and was certain I used it in Quick Takes on Thursday or Friday, but I can’t find it. Now which one’s the geezer?)

Bill also has a look back to a 1956 fire in Anne Arundel County, Maryland that killed 11 people.

And he has the video of the clash between protesting firefighters and police in Spain. Which reminds me of the great pictures from Brussels that most of us missed more than a week ago, where a firefighter protest involved spraying police and everything else with foam. Check it out.

Fire truck hit by flying object, Part 1: In this case it was a bullet as a St. Louis crew returned from the repair shop. Here’s the story.

Fire truck hit by flying object, Part 2: In this case it was shrapnel from dozens of exploding acetylene and propane tanks at a Flint, Michigan auto salvage business. We have video, pictures and details. Click here.

And more explosions from another Michigan auto salvage firm: The Flint fire was on Saturday. In Detroit, 24-hours earlier, there was a similar fire at an auto salvage and parts business. It went to three-alarms. Click here for fireground audio, video and pictures.

Call taking and dispatching in Florida: NaplesNews.com takes a close-up look at 911 operations in Collier County. Video, pictures and story can be found here.

Fire at a dairy farm: Click here for details and pictures from Adams County, Pennsylvania.

Posted by dave statter on February 1, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Chief Dennis Rubin, Command & Leadership, DC Fire & EMS Department, fire, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Firefighting Operations, Fires, Funding & Staffing, Major Incidents, News, Quick takes, Videos • Tagged: 911, Anne Arundel County, Belgium, Brooklyn Park, Chief Rick Flanagan, Clearwater, Collier County, Cory Broich, Dave Statter, DC, Dominican Republic, Dsitrict of Columbia, Fairfield, firefighter, Firegeezer, Florida, HFD, Houston, Kenneth Ellerbe, layoff, Maryland, Minnesota, Naples, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Oregon, pepper spray, Portland, protest, Sosua, Spain, STATter911.com, Texas, Tulsa, Tulsa Fire Department

Firefighter among those detained in Haiti after a different type of rescue mission is interrupted. Topeka’s Drew Culberth part of church group hoping to bring 33 children back to U.S.

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Quick Takes

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Fireground audio of 3-alarm Oregon fire with water supply problems: Click here for the radio traffic from FireSceneAudio.com of the fire in a large vacant early 1900s building at the Fairview Training Center in Salem. Read more.

A welcome home from Haiti: Away for 15 days, Virginia Task Force 1 helped bring 16 people to safety who were trapped in the rubble of the earthquake in Haiti. Watch the welcome the team received yesterday evening in Fairfax County. Also, click here for a slideshow of the welcome home.

Report faults firefighters for not following procedures during fatal fire: Four members of the DeKalb County Fire Department, including two captains and a battalion chief remain suspended with pay after a report puts a lot of the blame on their shoulders for failing to find the burning home of a woman who called 911 early Sunday. They did return about five hours later to find the house destroyed and the woman dead. Read the report and more details.

Woman hit by hose falls off fire engine: You had probably seen the earlier story on this one from Cambridge, Massachusetts. A loyal reader and Firegeezer alert us to the update that an 82-year-old woman died when she was hit by hose that fell off the rig as the crew was responding. Click here.

Ambulance with a very bad reputation lives up to its past and burns: The ambulance that helped push New Jersey lawmakers to widen the states “Lemon Law” to include emergency vehicles self destructed yesterday and few are surprised. Click for pictures, video and the to read the story.

Mayor and fire department director finally talking in Memphis: With the TV station into its second week of stories on hiring practices at the Memphis Fire Department, city officials are now answering some questions about the arrest of 80 firefighters over the last five year. Click for the mayor and here for Director Alivin Benson.

Fire department takes $128,000 loss on new fire engine that was just too big: Pennsylvania’s Lawrence Park Fire Department (Erie County) sold its new, 37.9-foot-long Pierce Dash Pumper just 17-months after getting the $510,000 rig. They found Engine 284 too big for the township’s alleys. And the sale has caused some controversy. Read the story.

Omaha heating up again: Loyal reader Ron Young points us to some stories out of Omaha where there has been controversy over a proposed new fire boat and other items being purchased from a special fund. Click here for that one (and an earlier article here).

The news never stops in Bourne, Massachusetts: Just when we thought things might calm down after the resignation of Lt. Kelli Weeks, there is even more controversy in the Bourne Fire Department. The acting chief now has some allegations against him. Click here for that story. Also, the firefighters’ union has some harsh words for how the town selectmen handled the Weeks affair. Check it out.

Another blue light special: In Des Moines police say a Grand Junction volunteer firefighter apparently wants to also be a volunteer police officer. The cops say 29-year-old Richard Collogan was pulling people over with his blue light. Read the details.

The wife tells me I must run this one: She was charmed about the story of a 3-year-old boy who very effectively used 911 to help her grandmother who was having a seizure. Click here for the story from Maple Shade, New Jersey and here to listen to the call and meet Jaden Bolli. We need to get Jaden to teach everyone how to be that calm when calling 911.

It is not the CNN employee I expected to do this: If there was ever someone from CNN who I could easily see an old firehouse in New York to live in, it would be my friend, and fire buff extraordinaire, Vito Maggiolo. But the story at HuffingtonPost.com isn’t about Vito. It’s about Anderson Cooper paying $4.3 million for such a privilege. Click here for the story and pictures.

Fireground audio & video from Chicago 3-11: A very cold Steve Redick shot this fire in the cockloft of a large commercial building at 47th and King yesterday. Click here for the radio traffic from FireSceneAudio.com. You can read more about the fire here.

Posted by dave statter on January 29, 2010 • Filed under: 911, 911 Audio, Administration & Leadership, Bourne Fire Department, Chicago Fire Department, Command & Leadership, EMS Health & Safety, EMS Topics, fire, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Firefighting Operations, Fireground Audio, Fires, Funding & Staffing, News, Police, Quick takes, Rescues, Videos • Tagged: 3-11, 4665 King Drive, 911, Alvin Benson, Anderson Cooper, blue light, Bourne, Cambridge, Chicago Fire Department, Chief Dan Doucette, Dave Statter, Des Moines, Erie County, Fairfview Traning Center, firefighter, freak accident, Grand Junction, Jaden Bolli, Lawrence Park Township Fire Department, Lt. Kelli Weeks, Maple Shade, Massachusetts, Memphis Fire Department, Nebraska, New Jersey, Omaha, Omaha Fire Department, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Pierce Dash pumper, Richard Collogan, Salem, STAter911.com, Steve Redick, Vito Maggiolo

A welcome home for Virginia Task Force 1.

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Above is raw video from Dulles International Airport and the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department Training Academy as Virginia Task Force 1 is welcomed home by family and friends. Video by Sky9 and Greg Guise.

Click here for a slideshow of the welcome home

Pictures of some of the work by the team in Haiti

Previous coverage of the team’s mission

From Surae Chinn, WUSA9.com:

114 men and women of the Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue team arrived home to their families.

They saved 16 lives after the deadly earthquake.

A huge crowd anxiously waited for them at the Fairfax academy on West Ox Road Thursday night.

Loud cheers, smiling faces and lots of hugs and kisses to go around.

It may have only been 15 days away from home but it felt like an eternity for loved ones and the heroes who saved lives in Haiti.

As the three buses, escorted by police, turned the corner to the academy the crowd erupted.

Cindy Porter was overwhelmed with emotion.

And it just so happened Cindy’s husband, Sam, was one of the first to get off the bus.

You could see children hugging their dads a little tighter not willing to let go. The group tired, but excited too.

Their hair a little shorter after staying the night and showering in Santo Domingo before the trip home.

After their emotional reunion it didn’t take long for them to start putting their requests in.

Sam Porter yells out, “I want to get a good steak dinner!”

Rebecca Knerr, who sat by Michelle Obama at the State of the Union Wednesday night, was there to greet her husband.

Knerr says, “It’s good to have him home.”

Watch Surae Chinn’s story, above.

Jim Perkins says, “I don’t like using the term hero, we were just doing our job.”

Porter says he had to throw a lot of his clothes and a pair of boots away. Most of his memories, he says, are in his mind.

Porter says, “It makes me so proud to see my family. They were there when I left and they were there when I came back. It’s breathtaking

They all said it will take some time to decompress from the 15 days of seeing all the suffering, tragedy and the miracles.

but they say they would do it again in a heartbeat.

Posted by dave statter on January 29, 2010 • Filed under: Uncategorized • Tagged: Cindy Porter, Dave Statter, earthquake, Fairfax County, firefighter, Jim Perkins, Joe Knerr, Port Au Prince, Rebecca Knerr, Sam Porter, STATter911.com, Surae Chinn, Urban Search and Rescue team, USAR, VA-TF 1, VATF1, Virginia Task Force 1

Quick Takes

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Fireground audio from mayday during fatal Randolph, NJ house fire: An elderly woman died and a firefighter was injured trying to get to her on the second floor in the fire late yesterday morning. According to DailyRecord.com’s Rob Jennings, “Randolph Fire Chief William Wagner said one firefighter suffered minor injuries after escaping a flashover on the second floor by tumbling head-first down a ladder to the ground.” Click here for the fireground audio (courtesy FireSceneAudio.com). There is more video here and here.

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Firing of top PGFD official has union president coming out swinging in message to members: If you are one of those who follows the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department closely you will want to read this. The ouster of Lt. Col. Victor Stagnaro (our sources say he was flat out fired, while Chief Eugene Jones says Stagnaro announced his intent to retire) has inspired a very direct message from Local 1619′s Andrew Pantelis to his members. It outlines rather complete dissatisfaction with the current department leadership. Here’s one quote: “… we now find it difficult to work in ‘good faith’ with an administration that clearly has no interest in respecting and upholding the rights that are guaranteed to the members that we serve”. The union president said it wasn’t meant as a press release when we asked him about it last night, but members and others sent a number of copies our way. Click here to read the whole message.

That's Rebecca Knerr between Michelle Obama and Jill Biden. Her husband Joe returns from Haiti today with Virginia Task Force 1. An AP photo by Pablo Martinez Monsivais.

Virginia Task Force 1 home today: Two weeks to the day after making their first of 16 rescues in Haiti, members of the first USAR team on the ground in Port-au-Prince after the earthquake are scheduled to return home. They should be back at the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department Training Academy late this afternoon. Last night, the wife of Capt. Joe Knerr, Rebecca (who is a former firefighter/paramedic in Fairfax County), was invited to sit with First Lady Michelle Obama during the State of the Union address. Click here for our interview with Joe Knerr last week from Haiti.

Also, click here for the latest rescue from Haiti. A 16-year-old girl pulled from the rubble 15 days after the earthquake

Washington City Paper's Darrow Montgomery's photo of ambulance and fire engine that caused so much controversy in the Nation's Capital.

Not one, but two reports on DC’s ill-fated fire engine & ambulance donation to the Dominican Republic: Remember that contentious DC City Council hearing we showed you back in March of last year (I know, which one?) where Council member Phil Mendelson was trying to get to the bottom of a surplus fire engine and ambulance donation to the resort town of Sosua as he grilled Chief Dennis Rubin? (Click here, if you forgot.) The City Council has now issued two reports on the subject. Click here for the report by the Committe for Public Safety & the Judiciary and here for the report by the Committee for Government Operations & the Environment. Also, check out summaries by Mike DeBonis in the Washington City Paper and Tim Craig in The Washington Post. And if that is not enough reading, just click here and scroll down to see all of our previous coverage on this one.

Truly a sad, sad, story: This is as tragic a set of circumstances that I have seen in a while. A New Jersey ambulance crew member returning from the hospital hears a fire call dispatched for his own home. His elderly father is inside the house. Even though Joseph Sims Jr. isn’t apparently authorized to respond to that call, he does (how many of you wouldn’t?). While on the way, the ambulance collides with a car sending a woman to a trauma center. Sims’ father died in the house fire. Click here for more.

Another tragic story: Teenaged members of a volunteer fire department in Pennsylvania were apparently on the way to a department meeting and didn’t make it. Three bodies were found in the icy lake where their vehicle crashed. The Zelienople VFD is in mourning. Click here and here for coverage.

Must see video from the gas explosion in Belgium: The collapse of an apartment building hours after a gas explosion was caught on video. Click here to see it. But there is a lot more to the story, including the rescue of a young girl from the rubble. Firegeezer has the update.

Fireground audio from Buffalo third-alarm: Four buildings were destroyed in the fire yesterday morning. Click here for our coverage.

More from Singapore: Anyone who was intrigued by our video from a commercial fire in Singapore that we posted yesterday, will want to check this out. A long time reader, Deputy Chief P.J. Norwood from East Haven, Connecticut, spent some time teaching at the Singapore Civil Defense Force training academy and has some pictures on his Fire Engineering page.

Posted by dave statter on January 28, 2010 • Filed under: Chief Dennis Rubin, Command & Leadership, DC Fire & EMS Department, EMS Topics, Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department, fire, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Firefighting Operations, Fireground Audio, Fires, Haiti Earthquake, Patient Management, Quick takes, Reports, Videos • Tagged: Adrian Fenty, DC, District of Columbia, FireSceneAudio.com, Haiti, Jill Biden, Joe Knerr, mayday, Michelle Obama, New Jersey, P.J. Norwood, Pennsylvania, Phil Mendelson, Port Au Prince, President Barack Obama, Randolph, Rebecca Knerr, SCDF, Singapore, Singapore Civil Defense Force, Sousa, State of the Union, VA- TF1, VATF-1, Virginia Task Force 1, Zelienople VFD

Quick Takes

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How they do it in Singapore: Good quality, close-up video of the fire department in Singapore in action late last Thursday morning at a commercial fire. Here’s part of the description - 3 Fire Engines, 2 Firebikes, 3 Red Rhinos, 3 Supporting Vehicles, 1 Ambulance were immediately dispatched to the incident site. Upon arrival, fire was found raging from the two-storey shop house. SCDF firefighters immediately set up water jets and pitched ladder to gain access into the shophouse. As the fire had partially burnt through the roof, water jets were used to tackle the fire from the top. Here’s the Street View of the building on Moonstone Lane and the surrounding neighborhood (look at the business and the clutter across the street). Watch more from the Official Singapore Civil Defense Force Videos on YouTube.

Radio traffic after firefighter struck: Firefighter Cory Broich, father of five, is in the hospital with two broken legs. The woman driving the car that hit Broich and the fire engine was also hurt. Listen to the incident from Clearwater, Minnesota and read the details.

Fireground audio from close call in Virginia: If you haven’t checked in with us since early yesterday morning the fire on Heming Avenue turned out to be a double fatal. The bodies of two men were found inside. Three firefighters from Fairfax County found the kitchen floor crumbling around them and needed help getting out. One firefighter was slightly hurt. We have the radio traffic and raw video. Click here.

Virginia Task Force 1 scheduled to return: As of yesterday’s briefing the USAR team from Northern Virginia is expected to fly to the Dominican Republic today and then back to the Washington area on Thursday. They have been in Haiti for two weeks.

More on shake-up in Prince George’s County: Mark Brady’s PGFD PIO blog takes a closer look at the 24-year-career of Lt. Col. Victor Stagnaro who was suddenly dismissed via a letter from the Chief Eugene Jones on Monday (the chief says Colonel Stagnaro expressed his intent to retire after 24-years). The comments section here is burning up on this issue and was by far our most read story over the last 36 hours.

The director speaks: Memphis Fire Department Director Alvin Benson finally talks to the reporter who has been featuring a rather unflattering side of his department in reports over the last 8 days or so. Click here for the latest.

Brownouts in San Diego: They start next week as a budget saving measure. Read more.

And what will it sound like if they win the Super Bowl?: We were sent a recording of the New Orleans Fire Department’s radio traffic immediately after the Saints won Sunday night. Check it out.

Officials have more to say about new volunteer accused of setting fires: We had previously told you about 24-year-old Adam Paul Carriere who was accused of starting two fires within days of joining a fire department in the Baton Rouge area. A press conference is scheduled for this afternoon where investigators are expected to point out that Mr. Carriere was a bit more prolific than originally thought. Here’s the story.

Firefighter hurt as two are grabbed from Alaska house fire: The woman was on the phone with 911 screaming shortly before firefighters pulled up to the Anchorage home. There’s a lot of detail in the article on how the firefighters got the woman and a man out yesterday morning. One firefighter cut up his foot on window glass. Click here.

Saved from the mighty Mississippi a woman says thanks in a big way: Kay Dickison knows it was a 911 call taker and firefighters who saved her after falling through the ice trying to rescue her dog on the Mississippi River in Dakota County, Minnesota last month. She didn’t just say thanks. She wrote a check for $2500 so firefighters can get additional cold-water suits. Click here for the story.

Dissension in Vermont: A volunteer firefighter in Wallingford says he was blindsided by his dismissal after bringing up concerns about safety and how the fire department is run. The board of directors says he didn’t follow the chain of command with his complaints. Here are the details.

Posted by dave statter on January 27, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, fire, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Firefighting Operations, Fires, News, Rescues, Videos • Tagged: Adam Paul Carriere, Alaska, Anchorage, Anchorage Fire Department, Baton Rouge, Church Point Volunteer Fire Department, Dakota County, Dave Statter, firefighter, Haiti, Joshua Gilman, Kay Dickison, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi River, Moonstone Lane, San Diego Fire Department, Singapore, Singapore Civil Defense Force, STATter911.com, USAR, VA- TF1, VATF-1, Vermont, Virginia Task Force 1, Wallingford, Wallingford VFD, West Feliciana Fire District No. 1

Quick Takes

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House explodes and burns in Cleveland: A neighbor’s video as three people were hurt after an explosion at West 83rd Street and Madison Avenue. Click here for more details and videos.

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UPDATED – Close call in Fairfax County, VA at scene of now double fatal fire: (Click here for slideshow from fire.) PIO Dan Schmidt confirms the bodies of two men were found inside a burning home on Heming Avenue in North Springfield this morning. Earlier three firefighters from Station 422 ran into trouble when the kitchen floor began collapsing around them. Other firefighters assisted them in getting out safely. Schmidt says one firefighter has been hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries. All firefighters were accounted for. The fire was reported around 6:40 AM. We will have more later, including video.

Dead, not dead: Firefighters in Prince George’s County, Maryland thought they were doing body recovery early Sunday morning on I-95. The “body” in the burned out car started breathing and things quickly reverted to a rescue operation. We have the details, fireground audio, and a timeline. Click here for our coverage.

More PGFD news – Shake-up at the top: In November, Chief Eugene Jones said about Lt. Colonel Victor Stagnaro, “You are growing into the leader I always believed you had the capacity for” as he gave the 24-year veteran “a rare and prestigious” department award. Yesterday, Chief Jones gave Stagnaro something else: his walking papers. According to Chief Jones, Stagnaro “indicated his intent to retire”. But numerous other sources familiar with what happened at the Largo Government Center tell STATter911.com the chief’s executive officer presented Stagnaro with a letter telling him his last day is February 12. Click here for more on this story.

Close Call #1: This is the "before" picture a neighbor snapped just prior to two firefighters falling through the roof of this burning Phoenix home on Monday. The firefighters were not injured. Police say the house was set on fire by an 18-year-old who had assaulted his parents. Click the image to see more pictures and watch the story.

Two Metro workers killed on tracks in Maryland: Montgomery County firefighters were busy early this morning when two employees of Metro were struck and killed by a hi-rail vehicle on the rail system’s Red Line in the Rockville area around 1:55 this morning. Read the story here. Click here for the video. Click here for pictures.

NEW – Virginia Task Force 1 heading home Thursday: That’s the plan today for the return of the urban search and rescue team from Northern Virginia. They have been in Haiti for two weeks and are now assisting with humanitarian efforts after helping to rescue 16 people who were trapped in the rubble of the earthquake.

Other teams are already home. Click here for video from the return of the Miami-Dade team.

Firegeezer also has some return videos for teams from Virginia, New York and the UK.

More from Memphis: A TV station is into its second week of reports on the Memphis Fire Department. WLMT-TV has been looking at the department’s hiring practices, the number of firefighters who have been arrested and allegations of discrimination over who gets to keep their job and who doesn’t. The latest installment is here. Click here to see what you missed earlier.

Four fire officers on leave as fatal house fire is probed in Georgia: Firefighters in DeKalb County were sent to a 911 disconnect at 1:00 Sunday morning. A fire truck was sent to investigate. The firefighters found nothing. Five hours later the house was destroyed with a woman inside. Read and watch the story. Read DeKalb County public safety director’s statement.

New talk of major FDNY cuts: Firehouses and firefighters are again being discussed for possible cuts as mayor’s staff and the new fire commissioner meet on budget issues. Read more.

911 system in DC getting scrutiny after gun is pulled on council member: A fire truck was the first on the scene to assist Council member Yvette Alexander last week when she interupted an armed robbery. There are questions about the accurate relay of information and the timeliness of the response. Read more.

Three firefighters inside as explosion lifts roof off home during fire in Wells, Minnesota. The chief says he was blown 3-feet out of a door. The firefighters weren't hurt. Click the picture by Brie Cohen for details and more pictures from the Albert Lea Tribune.

Close Call #2: Three firefighters inside as explosion lifts roof off home during fire in Wells, Minnesota. The chief says he was blown 3-feet out of a door. The firefighters weren't hurt. Click the picture by Brie Cohen for details and more pictures from the Albert Lea Tribune.

Former Columbus, Ohio firefighter who killed dogs walks out of hearing because of TV camera: The latest on David Santuomo, who left the two dead dogs in a dumpster behind a firehouse in December, 2008, is that the Civil Service Commission dismissed the appeal of his firing because the former firefighter wasn’t present. News reports indicate Santuomo got up and left when he saw the camera being set up. You may recall Santuomo executed the dogs because he didn’t want to pay kennel fees while on vacation. Read more.

LAFD defends dog rescue: The Los Angeles Fire Department stands by the decision to commit resources to last Friday’s dog rescue in the L.A. River that left a firefighter with dog bites. Read more. Earlier coverage here and here.

Mayor is shocked: Paramus, New Jersey Mayor James Tedesco is also a volunteer firefighter. Responding on a call for a downed power line, the firefighting mayor touched a fence that had come in contact with the wire. He is okay. Read more.

House fire in New Jersey: This is from yesterday in Oradell in Bergen County.

Posted by dave statter on January 26, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, DC Fire & EMS Department, Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department, FDNY, fire, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Firefighting Operations, Fires, Funding & Staffing, Los Angeles Fire Department, Major Incidents, Montgomery County Fire Rescue Service (MD), News, Quick takes, Videos • Tagged: 911, Arizona, Bergen County, budget cuts, Cleveland, Cleveland Fire Department, close call, Columbus, Dave Statter, David Santuomo, DeKalb County, discrimination, District of Columbia, dog rescue, explosion, Fairfax County, FDNY, firefighter, Georgia, Heming Avenue, hi-rail, Joe St. Georges, LAFD, Los Angeles Fire Department, Los Angeles River, Maryland, Mayor James Tedesco, Memphis, Memphis Fire Department, Metro, Michael Highfill, natural gas, New Jersey, Ohio, Oradell, Paramus, Phoenix, Red Line, rescue, Rockville, STATter911.com, Tennessee, urban search and rescue, USAR, VA-TF 1, WLMT-TV, WMATA, Yvette Alexander

Quick Takes

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House fire in Norwich, Connecticut: This fire on Prospect Street was reported around 7:00 PM on Saturday. No injuries, but 23 people have been displaced. The home housed a substance-abuse recovery program for women. Read the details.

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NEW – Timing is everything: Read the Un-Official Howard County (MD) Fire Blog story on the luckiest man in Columbia. He couldn’t have picked a better moment to fall through the ice while trying to retrieve his dog.

Firefighter rap sheets making the news in two cities: We summarize the coverage from two cities as TV reporters look closely at how the fire departments in Memphis and Pittsburgh are handling firefighters who get arrested. Alcohol and drugs are behind many of the arrests, both directly and indirectly.

Related to all of this is one case in Memphis where there was an unintentional swap between two fire departments that is quite interesting and somewhat ironic. Click here for the details and the TV coverage.

It’s not just the firefighters Part 1 – Read statements from firefighters about chief who showed up to fatal fire after a few drinks: Tarpon Springs, Florida Chief Stephen Moreno has been suspended after allegations he arrived at a fire after a few drinks, gave orders without checking in with the IC, and had no radio or gear. On top of that, his wife was walking around the fire scene. Read the paperwork, watch and read the story.

It’s not just the firefighters Part 2 – Kentucky chief under investigation resigns: Firegeezer has the story on Chief Paul Barth who has resigned from the McMahan Fire District in Jefferson County. Barth has been suspended since November 24 over money issues that now involve the U.S. Secret Service.

A Steve Skipton photo of Sunday morning's 5-alarm vacant warehouse fire in Gloucester City, New Jersey. Click the image for more pictures from Steve and Ted Aurig at PhillyFireNews.com.

Overtime issue in DC: Another in the regular oversight hearings on overtime expenditures by the DC Fire & EMS Department. There were no fireworks between Chairman Phil Mendelson and Chief Dennis Rubin this time. One reason is that the chief didn’t make the hearing (which did not make the councilmember happy). Read Michael Neibauer’s article in The Examiner last week. Watch the hearing.

Town divided over possible return of firefighters involved in costly gay bashing lawsuit: The possibility of three firefighters returning to the Secaucus Volunteer Fire Department after the town lost an almost $5 million lawsuit by a gay couple who lived next door to Engine Co. 2/ Rescue Co. 1 has brought mixed reaction. The trio resigned after the couple won the suit and are now looking to be reinstated. Read the details.

Fireground audio, video & pictures from tanker truck fire on LIE: A large overhead signed collapsed early on after a gasoline tanker truck crashed and burned Saturday on the Long Island Expressway. Click here for the before and after picture and the rest of our coverage.

They blew the #@!* out of the package: That was the case on November 6 in Longview, Washington. A bomb squad disrupted a suspicious package outside City Hall only to find it was full of feces. Now, officials say a retired firefighter left it and tried to blame it on another firefighter. Here are the details.

Firefighters save only ashes and a woman thinks they are heroes: In Albury, Australia a burning restaurant was pretty much a total loss. But it wasn’t quite at that point when the decision was made to send two firefighters in to make a recovery while the fire burned above. All the firefighters returned with were ashes and to a restaurant worker that was just perfect. Click here for the answer to this riddle.

Everyone wants to be a fire dispatcher: In Lockport, New York, both the police department and the Niagara County sheriff are eager to take over dispatching duties for the fire department. It is part of an effort to free up a firefighter each shift. Click here for the story.

Station 54 where are you?: Actually it should be where is the crew? A shake-up at the Houston fire station at the center of the scandal that helped push Phil Boriskie out of the chief’s office and back into a fire station. Read more.

Firefighter recovering from dog bites following river rescue: LAFD mounted a significant effort from the air and ground to save a dog floating down the Los Angeles River. It took a firefighter dropping from a chopper to save the dog. In the process, Joe St. Georges received some significant punctures on his arm and hand. Read our coverage here and click here for interviews with the firefighter.

Take the bus, but don’t leave the driving to him: There was a major rescue effort in the Nova Scotia River Saturday night after an Acadian Lines bus fell off a bridge in whiteout conditions. The most experienced person involved in this type of rescue operation was likely the bus driver. Driver Ken Mitchell was at the wheel of another Acadian Lines bus that skidded off a bridge into the Baddeck River last February. Read and watch the story.

Posted by dave statter on January 25, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, Courts, fire, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Firefighting Operations, Fires, Funding & Staffing, Major Incidents, News, Police, Rescues, Videos • Tagged: Acadian Lines, Albury, Australia, Baddeck River, Cape Breton, Connecticut, Dave Statter, District of Columbia, firefighter, Firegeezer, gay bashing, Gloucester City, Ken Mitchell, Lockport, Longview, McMahan Fire Protection District Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, Niagara County, Norwich, Nova Scotia River, overtime, Paul Barth, Phil Mendelson, Prospect Street, Secaucus, Secaucus Volunteer Fire Department, STATter911.com, suspicious package, warehouse fire, washington

Quick Takes

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A stove fire in Pennsylvania: That’s how this one was dispatched late last night in the Borough of Wilson in Northampton, County. NewsWorking.org shot the video and provides this description- At 2011 hrs. Wilson fire 24 responds two engines and a truck to a report of a stove fire in a dwelling. Fire officer 2454 arrives and transmits a working fire in a three-story duplex. Engine 2412 arrives and stretches a handline. Ladder 24 positions in a parking lot on side Bravo of the dwelling. The fire rapidly extended vertically to the roof and within minutes, engulfed the entire roof and gutted the dwelling attached on side Delta. Easton City and West Easton assisted at the scene. It took over one hour to bring the fire under control.

Check out our latest videos in the player to the right. New videos of USAR teams in Haiti added this morning.

Did they also stamp the hands of the firefighters?: Dave becomes outraged over the evacuation procedure for Detroit’s Cobo Center after a fire broke out yesterday during the annual auto show. Instead of making sure everyone left immediately, there were apparently some other priorities. Click here.

More from the auto show fire: Click here for fireground audio, pictures and more videos during the fire at the North American International Auto Show.

Retired Scranton firefighter charged with arson: Investigators say that insurance fraud is the motive behind a 2008 arson at an East Scranton apartment building that sent two people to the hospital. Thomas Gervasi, who retired from the Scranton Fire Department in 2001, was arrested yesterday. Read more.

Judge wants FDNY to impose hiring quota: In an effort to make up for an “intentional” pattern of discrimination by FDNY, The New York Post reports a federal judge in Brooklyn has a imposed a temporary hiring quota-

Under the order handed down yesterday, Judge Nicholas Garaufis said he wants the city to hire two black and one Hispanic candidate for every five applicants who pass the test until there are 293 minorities added to the ranks of the FDNY.

An AP photo of Virginia Task Force 1 members at the site of a collapsed hospital yesterday in Port-au-Prince. Check out the player to the right for new USAR videos from Haiti.

Former L.A. County assistant chief takes stand in puppy killing case: Remember Glynn Johnson? He’s the former assistant chief who retired from Los Angeles County Fire Department after a November, 2008 incident where his neighbor’s dog had to be put to sleep. Johnson is now on trial and has taken the stand in his own defense. Read details.

Let’s make a deal: Tulsa’s mayor is offering more last minute deals to avoid laying off 147 firefighters. Of course it involves pay cuts. Read the story.

Firefighter gets money for hearing loss: Broward County, Florida has agreed to pay $50,000 to settle the claim of a recently retired firefighter who says his hearing loss came from 27-years of loud sirens. Click here.

Not a real good plan: A reader tipped me to this story from Santa Fe, Texas but Firegeezer beat me to it. Two former EMS workers are accused of calling in a false alarm as a diversion so they could steal drugs from their former station. Police say the pair went to so far as to make sure police would also respond on the call. But things didn’t quite work out as envisioned. Read more.

Join us all over the web: As we have reminded you before, one of the easiest ways to find us is at the address www.STATter911.com. But we also have a fan page at Facebook (come join us) and there are other ways to keep up with the latest news from STATter911.com, like Twitter, Fire Engineering, Firefighter Nation, and YouTube. And you can always sign up for home delivery at a price you can’t beat.

Forearm immersion, cooling vests – a rehab study: An interesting video from Pittsburgh. While it was posted yesterday, I believe this was from last summer.

Posted by dave statter on January 22, 2010 • Filed under: Command & Leadership, Courts, fire, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Firefighting Operations, Fires, Funding & Staffing, Quick takes, Videos • Tagged: Borough of Wilson, Broward County, County, Dave Statter, discrimination, dog, FDNY, firefighter, Florida, forearm immersion. cooling vest, Fort Lauderdale, Glynn Johnson, hiring quote, Judge Nicholas Garaufis, layoffs, Lehigh Valley, Los Angeles, Northampton, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh Fire Department, rehab, settlement, STATter911.com, Tulsa, Tulsa Fire Department, Wilson

Quick Takes

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Five firefighters tumble into the basement: Only two of the firefighters who ended up in the basement when the first floor collapsed at an Anne Arundel County, Maryland house fire yesterday afternoon were sent to the hospital. Neither has life threatening injuries. The video above is from Sky9. I have edited it so all of the shots are in chronological order. The mayday was over when the chopper arrived. The video begins with the Maryland State Police helicopter ready to take off with one of the injured firefighters. You can click here for the slideshow. You will find the fireground audio and many more details about the three-alarm fire here.

Four dead in Baltimore fire: A fire at 11:30 last night in a Baltimore home has left four people dead. The fire was in the 1600 block of East Oliver Street. Here are some details. Click here to see video, here for some pictures and here for a quick interview with Capt. Roman Clark at the scene.

Read controversial letter captain read to returning Houston firefighter: The letter that apparently helped push Houston Fire Department Chief Phil Boriskie out the door has now been released. Click here to see the four page document that was presented by Capt. Brian Williamson to Jane Draycott on the day she returned to Station 54, six months after making accusations about racial and sexual grafitti in the women’s locker room. The letter, read aloud to Draycott, Chief Boriskie and others, listed reasons why the crew did not want Draycott back at the firehouse. Also, an investigator in the grafitti case says, that despite news reports, Draycott and another female firefighter are not suspects in the case. Click here, here and here for the latest.

“That is all bogus and lies and fabrications” – FDNY EMTs tell their side of the story: Two EMT/dispatchers for FDNY are scheduled to be back to work today after being accused of not providing medical help to a dying woman while on break at the Au Bon Pain near the dispatch center in Brooklyn. For the first time Jason Green and Melisa Jackson tell their story. Click here to read the details.

More from Haiti: Virginia Task Force 2 has been making news in Haiti. The team was heading back to its base on Tuesday when it was flagged down and brought to what used to be a three-story home. There they rescued a boy and girl who had been in the rubble for seven days. Here’s the story. You can follow VA-TF2 on its website and Facebook page.

So, why didn’t the closest team go to Haiti first?: There are some unhappy people in Florida over the fact that the Miami-Dade USAR Team, sitting within easy striking distance of Haiti, didn’t get the first call. There was a time they would have been at the top of the list. But Miami-Dade was dropped from that list after an audit revealed it had overbilled the federal government for some of its trips in the 90s. Specifically, it was an effort to hide the cost of overtime for firefighters to backfill the positions of team members who were deployed. It is a cost the federal government now reimburses. The fire chief says that all happened under old management and wants to see the team back in the first-call category for international responses. Read the story. Watch the story.

Felon hired in Memphis may be tip of the iceberg: A Memphis, Tennessee TV station has been all over the case of Lawrence Batiste a firefighter currently facing a variety of charges including domestic violence, assault, drugs and alcohol. WLMT-TV reports that Batiste was hired by the Memphis Fire Department despite being canned by the Shelby County Fire Department when a previous felony was discovered. But it appears the Memphis Fire Department will be facing more scrutiny. STATter911.com has seen FOIA documents that indicate this problem goes beyond FF Lawrence Batiste. Here’s the latest story.

Captain accused of pretending to be a Klan member is fired: Accusations that he used a pillow case to pretend to be a member of the KKK and made a racially insensitive remark have brought the dismissal of a Captain Robert “Danny” Heil at Pleasure Ridge Park Fire Protection District board in Kentucky. Read the story.

147 firefighters told to be at a meeting Friday about layoffs: That’s the story from Tulsa. Click here.

Posted by dave statter on January 21, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Baltimore City Fire Department, Command & Leadership, FDNY, fire, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Firefighting Operations, Fires, Funding & Staffing, Haiti Earthquake, Houston Fire Department, Major Incidents, Mass Casualty Incident, News, Quick takes, Videos • Tagged: Anne Arundel County Fire Department, Au Bon Pain, Baltimore, Brooklyn, Capt. Brian Williamson, Chief Phil Boriskie, Chris Glass, collapse, Deale, E. Oliver Street, Eutisha Revee Rennix, FDNY, FL-TF2, FLTF2, Houston Fire Department, Jane Draycott, Jason Green and Melisa Jackson, Kentucky, KKK, Ku Klux Klan, Lawrence Batiste, layoffs, Little Road, Lothian, Louisville, Memphis Fire Department, Miami-Dade, Oklahoma, Pleasure Ridge Park Fire Protection District, Robert "Danny" Heil, Station 54, Tulsa Fire Department, urban search and rescue, USAR, VA - TF2, VATF2, Virginia Beach, Virginia Task Force 2

UPDATED Quick Takes

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Must see video of a fire in the firehouse: Video from Defiance, Ohio where this fire occurred around 2:30 yesterday. The ambulance that caught fire was hooked up to a battery charger. Other city offices that are part of the building, including court, were evacuated. More details here and at FirefighterCloseCalls.com.

Don’t forget to check our player to the right where we are always adding new fire & EMS videos, including new clips of USAR teams in action in Haiti

UPDATE – 6.1 earthquake hits Haiti this morning: Word from Virginia Task Force 1 is that all team members were at the Base of Operations at 6:09 this morning when the large aftershock occurred. All are fine. (More new information below).

WUSA9.com’s Emily Cyr has been keeping on top of the latest news from Haiti this morning. Click here for our coverage. We will update you on any search and rescue team developments when we know them.

UPDATE – Another interview from Haiti and the Wednesday briefing: Virginia Task Force 1 participated in its 16th rescue last night. We have video in the player at right and in the link to follow of one of the crews recent rescues. It is believed the search and rescue teams in Haiti from all over the world have pulled out at least 122 people. More in our Wednesday briefing on VA-TF1.

Our old friend Mark Stone, who ages ago was a PIO for Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department, gave us a call from Port-au-Prince yesterday evening. Mark, retired from Fairfax and currently a lieutenant in Stafford County, is still a part of Virginia Task Force 1. Besides a happy birthday greeting for his wife Terri, Mark gave us more insight into the work being done by the teams and gave us a hint that the successful rescue last night was underway. Click here to listen to the entire interview.

USAR in the future: Firegeezer, always looking for the latest technology, has one from the search and rescue field. Check it out.

Photo of the day – driving the fire SUV: Not a fun time for one battalion chief trying to navigate flooded roads and mudslides. Check it out.

A slow motion version of the video of the fireball that engulfed Baltimore City firefighters has now been posted. The firefighter who was admitted to the hospital with burns following the rowhouse blaze last Friday is now home. Click the image to see the video.

Fireground audio from around your Nation’s Capital: FireSceneAudio.com has radio traffic from a number of fires in the Washington, DC area this week. Click here for the clips from the DC Fire & EMS Department, Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Services and Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department.

That didn’t take long: Only three days after coming aboard as a probationary firefighter at the West Feliciana Fire District #1 in St. Francisville, Louisiana, 24-year-old Adam Carriere is under arrest for fires in a vacant bar and a vacant home just minutes apart. Read more.

Harsh editorial on Houston fire chief: We brought you the news first thing yesterday morning that Phil Boriskie is going back to suppression after six-years as Houston fire chief. The Houston Chronicle’s editorial on the controversies surrounding the department starts this way:

Whatever Houston Fire Chief Phil Boriskie was thinking when he presided over a personnel confrontation at Station 54 between a beleaguered woman firefighter and her male colleagues, it turned out to be the equivalent of trying to put out a house fire by dousing it with gasoline. In the subsequent blowup Boriskie himself suffered first-degree administrative burns and announced Tuesday morning he was stepping down to return to the rank and file effective Friday.

There are other views on Chief Boriskie, including high praise from the union president. Click here and here for those stories. Assistant Chief Rick Flanagan is the interim chief starting on Friday.

Firefighter saves man after vehicle is hit by train: Last night in Huron, Ohio a firefighter pulled a man to safety from a burning SUV that just been hit by a Norfolk Southern train. Click here.

House fire in Pennsylvania: This fire in a duplex in Shenandoah Heights in Schuylkill County occurred around 4:00 Tuesday morning. Read more about the fire.

Posted by dave statter on January 20, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, fire, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Arson, Firefighter Safety & Health, Firefighting Operations, Fires, must see video, News, Quick takes, Rescues, Technology & Communications, technology-communications-ems-topics, Videos • Tagged: Adam Carriere, arson, Chief Phil Boriskie, Defiance, Defiance Fire Department, Firegeezer, firehouse fire, Houston Fire Department, Huron, Louisiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rick Flanagan, Schuylkill County, Shenandoah Heights, St. Francisville, technology, West Feliciana Fire District #1

UPDATED STATter911.com interview with USAR team member: Still hope as another rescue was made last night. Get the Wednesday briefing on Virginia Task Force 1.

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Click here for our previous coverage of search and rescue teams in Haiti

Check out the player to the right for new videos from Haiti and other fire & EMS news

Wednesday morning briefing on Virginia Task Force 1:

The team assisted French and Turkish crews in rescuing a 25-year-old woman last night (see the video below of the recent rescues by the team).
That is rescue number 16 for VA-TF1 and 122 for all teams (43 by U.S. crews).
All team members were at the Base of Operations and are fine after this morning’s 6.1 earthquake.
Recon and Rescue assets are today at the new epicenter site – this assignment may prove to be lengthy due to the distance from the Base of Operations and extremely heavy traffic.
Personnel will also be back at the Hotel Montana to assist with delayering operations and the recovery of remains.
Team members are doing fine with the exception of some bug bites.
Canine Tomo was given fluids and is doing better after suffering dehydration/electrolyte issues yesterday.
All of the previous concerns about satellite phones, food, water and fuel are still the same and are being dealt with and/or watched closely.

Lt. Mark Stone with the Stafford County Fire & Rescue Department is part of Virginia Task Force 1 in Haiti. Stone, retired from the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department, has been on a number of these missions around the world. He took some time yesterday afternoon to give STATter911.com an update on their work in Haiti. Click above to listen to the entire interview.

Lt. Stone says that even now, eight days after the earthquake hit. this is still very much a rescue mission. While finding people alive is not happening as frequently, there have still been success stories by search and rescue teams as recently as a few hours before our conversation. As we spoke, members of Virginia Task Force 1 were on at least one mission that had the potential to be successful. For that reason Stone expects the team will be in rescue mode for a few more days.

A recent rescue in Haiti involving Virginia Task Force 1. We are still trying to determine if this is video from last night where the Northern Virginia crew assisted French and Turkish teams with the rescue of a 25-year-old woman or the Sunday night rescue of a 21-year-old woman.

As in our interview with Captain Joe Knerr a day earlier, Stone says the team has not had to deal with the unrest and violence that we have seen in the news coverage from Port-au-Prince. But it is an issue that continues to be watched closely.

While there is enough food and water for the search and rescue team they are being conservative in the use of those resources, watching the supply closely due to restocking issues. Fuel is another commodity that is even more challenging. But Lt. Stone says they are getting where the need to go to be effective.

Stone is greatly impressed by the resiliency of the people of Haiti who had so little to start with and now have to deal with this unbelievable devastation. He expects that members of Virginia Task Force 1 will eagerly help in the humanitarian aid once their focus changes. In the meantime, he reminds us for now this continues to be very much a rescue mission.

And one more important note, Mark Stone sends along a happy birthday greeting today to his wife Terri.

Posted by dave statter on January 20, 2010 • Filed under: Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department, Fire Rescue Topics, Haiti Earthquake, Major Incidents, Mass Casualty Incident, News, Rescues • Tagged: Dave Statter, Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department, firefighter, Haiti, Lt. Mark Stone, Port Au Prince, Stafford County Fire & Rescue Department, STATter911.com, urban search and rescue, USAR, VA- TF1, VATF-1, Virginia Task Force 1

Update on Virginia Task Force 1: Today’s briefing.

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Click here for previous Haiti coverage from STATter911.com

Check out our player to the right for the latest videos from Haiti and elsewhere

Here are some of the main points from this morning’s update from the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department:

Still at 15 rescues as of 10:00 this morning.
Search and rescue teams have been responsible for the rescue of 72 people.
U.S. teams made 40 of the 72 rescues.
The team is doing a secondary search of an area known as Sector 1 A.
The team is involved in delayering operations at the Hotel Montana.
There were no night operations last night so team members caught up on rest.
There is improved access to transportation and escorts.
Shortage of fuel is an issue and the team is being allotted 15 gallons-per-day.
Satellite phone problems persist, but the hand-held radios continue to work well.
Supply restocking is an issue the team continues to deal with.
They are restocked on water and MREs.
Bottled water is being reserved for crews work in the field and personnel at the Base of Operations are refilling empty bottles with water that is filtered on the embassy grounds.
Team members remain motivated from the continued success of the mission and continue to work extremely hard.
Demobilization plans are being developed but no timeline for demobilization has been established.

Posted by dave statter on January 19, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Haiti Earthquake, Major Incidents, Mass Casualty Incident • Tagged: Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department, Haiti, search and rescue, USAR, VATF1. VA-TF 1, Virginia Task Force 1

UPDATED Quick Takes

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Rescuing a blind and deaf Chief (we don’t mean the guy in the picture above): Chief in this case is a 30-year-old horse. Chief fell into a sinkhole yesterday afternoon in Frederick County, Maryland. It took firefighters six hours to bring Chief to safety. Watch the story above, or click here to read more.

NOTE: Don’t forget the player at the right where there are new videos from Haiti and the work of the USAR teams. Also, the aftermath of a Germantown, Maryland two-alarm apartment fire where Montgomery County crews brought numerous people to safety down ladders. (Click here for more details from the fire.)

NEW- Houston fire chief out after botched sensitivity/grievance session: At 7:00 this morning Houston firefighters were notified that Chief Phil Boriskie would be stepping down. At 8:30 the chief gathered the press to say he was stepping aside and returning to the firehouse after six-years as chief. Certainly not a bit of a surprise after last week’s gathering the chief ran at Station 54 to welcome back Firefighter Jane Draycott. Draycott is the firefighter who reported some not so nice graffiti in the women’s locker room and then became the target of the investigation. What was apparently someone’s idea that there should be “a can’t we all get along” type meeting attended by the chief blew up as a station captain and two other firefighters read letters saying why they didn’t want Draycott at their firehouse. Talk about making a bad situation worse.

The Houston Chronicle has this quote from IAFF Local 341 President Jeff Caynon: “The truth is, Chief Boriskie was a victim of his good nature and management style, both of which left him vulnerable to political attack. For the past year, the opportunist politicians, extremist activists and disgruntled city employees who recklessly stereotyped local firefighters also treated the chief despicably.”

Houston’s mayor is expected to have her briefing on the fire chief situation later today.

In case you missed it, click the image to view the flashover video and close call from Gary, Indiana.

Just trust me and click where I tell you: You will want to see this picture from a Schenectady, New York apartment fire. Plus there is good fireground audio from FireSceneAudio.com. So what are you waiting for? Click here.

A phone call from Haiti: Captain Joe Knerr from the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department took a few minutes away from his vital work in Haiti to give STATter911.com a call yesterday afternoon with the latest on Virginia Task Force 1. The team has assisted in 15 rescues since its arrival last week. You can listen to the entire interview with Captain Knerr and see some close-up video of the team’s work during the very first rescue last Thursday. Click here for our coverage.

A close call even before arriving in Haiti: Read the story of a Natick, Massachusetts firefighter’s trip to help earthquake victims. A near collision brought on some other problems with the plane that was taking firefighters to Haiti.

This is Travis Mosher the former Manassas Park, Virginia police captain accused of stealing a fire chief's buggy. InsideNova.com now reports a radio transmission from that vehicle gave a report of shots fired at an IKEA store. Click the image for the latest information.

“A sneak peak into hell”: That’s what an Austin firefighter calls a fire ten-years-ago that almost killed a captain. John Butz lost a thumb, had burns over much of his body and suffered a heart attack because of the fire. He is now a battalion chief. Chief Butz and the firefighters who saved him talk about their experience. Click here.

170-year-old church burns: History destroyed in Cummington, Massachusetts. Community Congregational Church has been on the scene in the town of 1500 since 1840. Check out the video and the pictures from a man who goes back almost as far, Firegeezer.

Laid off firefighter is first arriving at house fire: Jason Harris is one of the firefighters who was laid off in December from New York’s Canandaigua Fire Rescue. But that didn’t stop Harris when fire broke out in his neighborhood. Read the details.

She looked flushed: ”Ying Chao was relieved in more ways than one when volunteer firefighters came to her rescue at a Blenheim public toilet last night.” That’s the first line of the story about the poor woman in Australia who dialed 111 when she had trouble making a getaway from the bathroom. It turned out she really didn’t need much help. Read more.

Historic hotel burns: This was the 96-year-old Fort Hotel that burned in the city of Fort Saskatchewan in Alberta, Canada yesterday afternoon. As you will see in this report, the fire apparently started in the restaurant and spread to the second and third floors. From CTV, Edmonton- “Halfway through their [fire crews] search on the second floor they came across where the fire had spread and it was too hot for the crews to continue,” said Deputy Fire Chief James Clark.” Incident command made the decision to go defensive so it was safe for all the firefighters.” Click here for more video.

Posted by dave statter on January 19, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, fire, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Firefighting Operations, Fires, Funding & Staffing, Major Incidents, Mass Casualty Incident, News, Rescues, Videos • Tagged: Alberta, Austin Fire Department, Australia, Canada, Canandaigua, Chief, Chief John Butz, Chief Phil Boriskie, church fire, CTV, Cummington, Dale City VFD, Dave Statter, Deputy Chief James Clark, Edmonton, firefighter, Firegeezer, Fort Hotel, Fort Saskatchewan, Frederick County, Haiti, horse rescue, Houston Fire Department, Jane Draycott, Jason Harris, Manassas Park Police Department, Maryland, Massachusetts, Natick, New York, OWL VFD, sink hole, sinkhole, STATter911.com, Sydney, toilet rescue, Travis Mosher, Woodsboro

The inside view of the first USAR save in Haiti. Close-up video as Virginia Task Force 1 rescues security guard at UN building. STATter911.com has a conversation with a task force leader in Port-au-Prince.

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STATter911.com previous coverage of the USAR teams in Haiti

Watch 6:00 PM report from 9NEWS NOW

Check out the video player to the right for more videos of USAR teams in Haiti

STATter911.com had a phone conversation this afternoon with Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department Captain Joe Knerr, who is a task force leader on the ground in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Captain Knerr tells us the live rescues by Virginia Task Force 1 and the other USAR teams are becoming fewer as the hours slip by saying, “Time is our enemy”.

The last rescue for his team was last night around 9:00 PM when the Fairfax County group assisted rescuers from Martinique in removing a 21-year-old woman from a collapsed apartment building. She was taken to a hospital set up by a group of Israeli medical personnel.

That was the 15th successful rescue Virginia Task Force 1 participated in since becoming the first urban search and rescue team to arrive in Haiti.

Last Thursday we showed you the very first rescue. That was the widely seen video of security guard Tarmo Joveer as he walked down from the crumbled United Nations building. What we haven’t shown you until know is the close-up view of that rescue. That video, above, shows the final stages of the operation. This appears to be the moment when the crew passed a Sawzall to Joveer so he could cut away a chair and clear the path from the rubble.

Captain Knerr said it was good morale booster for the crew to make an early rescue. They had already been to one scene where the victim they were after had expired. The next day the crew from Northern Virginia made eight more rescues.

Currently Virginia Task Force 1 is doing searches in the team’s assigned sector of the city. Captain Knerr says while he is aware of reports of unrest and security issues, his team has not experienced that problem. He says where necessary they are escorted by security personnel.

After the initial blitz of the entire team working 40 to 50 hours with only cat naps, they are settling down into a routine of assigned shifts.

Knerr tells us they continue to keep a close eye on their water supply and expect to be in Haiti between 10 and 14 days.

The captain says their hope is as the teams move into a recovery phase they can assist with other humanitarian efforts.

Posted by dave statter on January 18, 2010 • Filed under: Command & Leadership, Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Haiti Earthquake, Major Incidents, Mass Casualty Incident, must see video, Rescues, Videos • Tagged: Captain Joe Knerr, Dave Statter, Fairfax County, firefighter, Haiti, Israeli hospital, Martinique, Port Au Prince, Sawzall, security guard, STATter911.com, Tarmo Joveer, UN, United Nations, urban search and rescue, USAR, VA- TF1, VATF1, Virginia Task Force 1

Quick Takes

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Early video & fireground audio from slippery Missouri house fire: This is from Spanish Lake last Monday. You will notice the crew having some difficulty on the slippery surface, including a firefighter taking a fall at about 4:28. Firefighter Spot found this video and published some tips on dealing with the ice.

In case you missed it, there is now a longer version of the video showing a fireball shooting out of a Baltimore rowhouse. Click the image for the latest.

NEW – More videos of USAR teams in Haiti: Check the video player at the right. WUSA9.com’s Emily Cyr just added a bunch of new clips of some of the USAR teams in action as they continue searching and digging through the rubble in Haiti.

Motive unknown after police captain charged with stealing the fire SUV: This story is quite bizarre. The third in command of the Manassas Park Police Department in Virginia has resigned after being arrested on charges of stealing a command vehicle from the Dale City VFD in Prince William County. The SUV was parked at the OWL VFD where the annual installation banquet was underway. Click here for all of the details known so far.

Radio traffic after rig overturns in Kentucky: All three firefighters were belted when the fire truck hit power poles and landed on its side early Saturday morning in Goshen. They’ve been released from the hospital. Click here for the audio and details.

Drunk dialing or harassment: That’s the question being asked in Hammond, Indiana. A top fire department official is accused of calling the home of a top union official with some phone calls that weren’t all that friendly and apparently mentioned the union guy’s wife in a sexually explicit way. It apparently happened after the union official encouraged members to attend a City Council budget hearing. The fire chief says it happened off-duty and was between two grown men, so it shouldn’t be an issue. The union isn’t dropping it. Here’s the story.

See the firehouse. See the red arrow. The red arrow points to the building that burned in North Bergen, New Jersey early Saturday morning. Guess which firehouse was closed because of budget cuts? Click the image for pictures and details from FirefightingNews.com.

Keeping felons out of the fire department: In Richmond, Virginia the City Council is considering closing a loophole that could allow convicted felons to become firefighters. Click here for the latest.

Two videos from Gary, Indiana: A basement fire and a car fire from Saturday. Check them out.

USAR teams in Haiti: This is our Sunday morning update. We should be adding more today.

Pulling up on the big one and it’s just you: Read the story of a deadly fire in DuBois, Pennsylvania and the fire chief who felt quite alone for a while.

Digital problems: Our sister publication in Ohio takes a look at how critical messages from firefighters are being lost in transit via digital radio systems. Here’s the story.

FDNY cuts out volunteer ambulance squads: Firegeezer has the story about the apparent stealth policy change on dispatching New York’s volunteer ambulance squads. Click here.

Somerset, New Jersey house fire: Here’s the description with the video of this 5:54 AM fire on Sunday on Patton Drive - Video is of fire condition upon arrival of first due apparatus Squad 27, from East Franklin. Squad 27′s crew upon arrival hit a hydrant and stretched a 2 1/2″ line and blitz fire for an exterior attack. Chief 27a assumed operations, while Chief 25a was command. All crews worked for 4 hours to extinguish the blaze, clearing at around 10am.

Posted by dave statter on January 18, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, fire, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Firefighting Operations, Fireground Audio, Fires, Major Incidents, Quick takes, Videos • Tagged: budget cuts, cutbacks, Dave Statter, drunk dialing, East Franklin. firefighter, Hammond, Hammonf, harassment, house fire, Indiana, Missouri, New Jersey, North Bergen Fire Department, slippery conditions, Somerset, Spanish Lake, STATter911.com, volunteer ambulance squads

NEW INFO ADDED: Fairfax County team in Haiti helps in the rescue of a neighbor. Silver Spring, Maryland man tells his story of being trapped under the Hotel Montana.

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Virginia Task Force 2 out of Virginia Beach is also in Haiti. Click here and here to follow their work.

Click here and scroll down for our previous coverage on the earthquake in Haiti

Read more on the rescue of Rick Santos

VAFireNews.com is also keeping tabs on Virginia USAR teams

Ohio team sits on the ground for another day after flight is canceled

The latest number we have on people found alive buried under earthquake rubble in Port au Prince, Haiti by Virginia Task Force 1 is 14. The hard and sometimes frustrating work by all of the USAR teams continues as the hours slip away.

In the video above is one of the survivors from the Hotel Montana. There, the crew from Fairfax County joined colleagues from France in searching for those who could still be alive. One of those they found was a neighbor from the Washington area, Rick Santos. Santos, from Silver Spring, Maryland, is the President and CEO of IMA/World Health.

Here is some more information that Fairfax County officials distributed Sunday morning to various interested parties:

The two teams from Virginia Task Force 1 (USA-1 & USA-5) are now combined into one. Apparently this was necessary due to transportation and fuel issues, but has helped in the management of the resources and enhanced the team’s capabilities.
The last live victim removed by VA-TF 1 involved a 26-hour operation at the University of Port-au-Prince. It was completed at 9:00 PM Saturday. The patient was in critical condition.
The operation at the Hotel Montana has been completed.
Satellite telephone reliability is a continuing problem, but the radio system has worked well.
VA-TF 1 along with CA-TF 2, FL-TF 1, and FL-TF 2 are still working out of the U.S. Embassy.
NY-TF 1 and VA-TF 2 are set up at the airport.
It is possible, but not certain, that teams could be used for “humanitarian efforts” once things switch to a recovery operation.

News reports here and here indicate California Task Force 2 located six victims in the rubble at two different locations. The video above and below follows their work at a collapsed building where the team heard tapping within the debris.

Here are excerpts from a Sunday CNN article with more details on the work by USAR teams:

Even now, survivors still emerge from under mounds of concrete. By Saturday, American search teams had pulled out 22 people from collapsed buildings.

Early Sunday, a man and a teenage girl were found alive in the rubble of a grocery store housed in a three-story building that had collapsed. A joint New York police and fire urban rescue team found them. Both were taken to a U.N. hospital at Port-au-Prince’s airport, where the girl, about 13, was treated for leg injuries and the man treated for undetermined injuries.

The team was trying to reach three others who were still trapped, according to a statement Sunday from New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne. The five survived on the grocery store’s inventory of food and water, authorities said.

Nearly 30 international rescue teams continued to comb the disaster areas for more survivors.

Posted by dave statter on January 17, 2010 • Filed under: Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Haiti Earthquake, Los Angeles County Fire Department, Major Incidents, Mass Casualty Incident, News, Videos • Tagged: CA - TF2, California, California Task Force 2, CATF 2, day care center, debris, earthquake, Fairfax County, Haiti, Hotel Montana, IMA/World Health, Los Angeles County, Maryland, Port Au Prince, Rick Santos, rubble, Silver Spring, urban search and rescue, USAR, VA - TF2, VA- TF1, VATF 2, VATF-1, Virginia, Virginia Beach, Virginia Task Force 1, Virginia Task Force 2

Update on USAR teams. Fairfax County’s Virginia Task Force 1 and other teams involved in multiple successful rescues.

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Firegeezer has the list of deployed USAR teams

(Note: Please check the video player to the right. When new videos come in involving USAR teams, WUSA9.com’s Emily Cyr and Jillian Coyle are adding them, often before I am able to catch up with the details. You will also see other fire & EMS related videos in the player from the DC area and around the country.)

It is clear the urban search and rescue teams on the ground in Haiti are making progress. We have been keeping tabs of our local teams from Fairfax County, Virginia, but there is good work being done by many.

The first team from Virginia Task Force 1 is designated as USA-1 Heavy. It’s 72 personnel have been very busy. We told you about and showed you yesterday the rescue of the security guard at the UN building.

Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department spokesman Dan Schmidt tells us the same team successfully completed at 1:00 AM a 17-hour rescue of a woman at the Hotel Montana in Port-Au-Prince (part of that operation is seen on the video above).

They then went on to assist the French team with the rescue of four people (a fifth was being worked on late this morning). A portion of the team was also assisting the group from Spain on rescuing two people from an elevator shaft.

Team two is known as USA-5 USA-1 Medium. It has 42 36 people on the team. They arrived in Haiti early this morning and Schmidt confirms they are also using the US Embassy as a base of operations (considered a plus for security and coordination).

More as we know it.

USAR team rescues a woman earlier today.

Posted by dave statter on January 15, 2010 • Filed under: Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Firefighting Operations, Haiti Earthquake, Major Incidents, Mass Casualty Incident, News, Rescues, Videos • Tagged: Dan Schmidt, Fairfax County, firefighter, Haiti, Hotel Montana, Port Au Prince, rescue, trapped, UN, United Nations, urban search and rescue, US Embassy, USAID, USAR, VA- TF1, VATF-1, Virginia

Quick Takes

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Second crew from Fairfax County, Virginia headed out: Above, a second team from Virginia Task Force 1 heads to Haiti. This is the first time Fairfax County has had two such teams deployed on the same international incident. This latest group is made up of 42 members. In case you missed it, click here for our coverage of what the first team did in Haiti yesterday.

Kentucky mayor first refuses, then changes his mind, about letting firefighters be part of Ohio USAR’s deployment: Worried that the federal government will only reimburse 70% of the overtime expenses to pay for those who would be needed to staff stations back home, Lexington, Kentucky Mayor Jim Newberry at first declined to send firefighters to Haiti. He later had a change of heart and nine firefighters are on standby. Read that story. Meanwhile, there has been some delay in getting Ohio Task Force 1 on a flight to Haiti. Here are the details. Click here for video of the Ohio team getting ready.

Miracle on the Hudson anniversary: If, like me, you are needing of a momentary diversion after three days looking at the devastation and tragedy that is Haiti, click here for the FDNY radio traffic from the afternoon of January 15, 2009. Here’s some video of Flight 1549′s ditching in the Hudson River. Also, check out our look back at another river airplane incident that occurred 27 years and two days earlier and how it may have had an impact in a number of ways on the amazing survival story in New York.

This calendar photo featuring a Houston firefighter has become an issue along with the chief's handling of a "team building session" on a firefighter's first day back after making racism and sexism claims.

UPDATE – Mayor scolds Houston fire chief over his welcome back for female firefighter who made accusations about graffiti: Chief Phil Boriskie decided to have a “team building session” at Station 54 as Firefighter Jane Draycott returned to the firehouse for the first time since last summer when she made accusations about racist and sexist graffiti inside the women’s locker room. The four-hour meeting with the chief, his command staff, a psychologist, Draycott and co-workers apparently didn’t go so well. Draycott says the men brought up rumors, grievances and questioned her sanity. Draycott went home. Mayor Annise Parker questioned the chief’s judgment, saying she doesn’t condone and won’t tolerate what happened at Station 54. Critics are also pointing to other concerns about sexism, including a calendar to raise money for HFD’s Pipes and Drums that has “a scantily clad and nearly bare-breasted female firefighter”. Read more. There also more about a letter read at the meeting. Click here to read and watch that story.

Rhett Fleitz at FireCritic.com has posted a completely different view of the calendar and an interview with the woman appearing in the picture at left. Click here.

Fatal ambulance crash in New Jersey: Firegeezer and Firefighter Close Calls are on top of the story from yesterday where an ambulance in Warren County, New Jersey hit a tree, killing a patient and trapping the crew.

New study questions immobilization protocols: Johns Hopkins researchers have data that shows it may not be a good thing to take the time to immobilize a gunshot or stabbing victim. Click here for the details.

More on Baltimore’s doomsday budget: We told you yesterday about Chief Jim Clack briefing some firefighters on the possibility of closing a lot more companies and laying off scores of firefighters come July 1. The Baltimore Sun has more on the issue today.

Click the image for fireground audio and raw video from yesterday's gasoline tank truck fire in Montgomery County, Maryland.

Pittsburgh union prez admits firefighters have “stumbled” tarnishing the department’s image: We have heard from management on the recent arrests of Pittsburgh firefighters for drug, alcohol and violence charges. Now it’s labor’s turn. Click here.

Detroit firefighter accused of insurance fraud after fake incident report filed: Police indicate the firefighter was trying to cover for an off-duty accident where he hit a parked vehicle and fled the scene. Investigators believe the firefighter created a fake fire department incident report to send to his insurance company. Read more.

Two-alarms in Jacksonville, Florida: Video from an apartment fire on Saturday.

Audio roundup: Besides the fire in the District of Columbia above, FireSceneAudio.com has two more fires from yesterday, a 3-alarm blaze in Worcester, Massachusetts and a fire in Chicago.

Posted by dave statter on January 15, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Apparatus Wrecks, Baltimore City Fire Department, Chicago Fire Department, Command & Leadership, DC Fire & EMS Department, Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department, fire, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Firefighting Operations, Fires, HazMat, Major Incidents, News, Quick takes, Rescues • Tagged: Air Florida, ambulance, Baltimore, calendar, Chicago, Chief Phil Boriskie, Dave Statter, DC, Fairfax County, FDNY, firefighter, FireSceneAudio.com, Flight 1549, Flight 90, Haiti, HFD Pipes & Drums, Houstou, Hudson River, Illinois, immobilization, James Clack, Jane Draycott, Jim Clack, Johns Hopkins, Kentucky, Lexington, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mayor Annise Parker, Mayor Jim Newberry, New Jersey, Ohio Task Force 1, Station 54, study, Texas, urban search and rescue, USAR, VA- TF1, Virginia, Virginia Task Force 1, Warren County, washington, Worcester

UPDATED: Watch video as Fairfax County USAR team makes rescue from crumbled UN building in Haiti. Security guard was below three collapsed floors and assisted in his own extrication. Fairfax to send a second team.

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Click here for slideshow of Fairfax County’s USAR team making rescue in Haiti

STATter911.com has learned the United States Agency for International Development has activated a second urban search and rescue team from Fairfax County, Virginia. Virginia Task Force 1 is now gathering a 42-member team at the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department’s training academy. The first team of 72-members from Fairfax has been on the ground in Port au Prince and has made at least one rescue. This is apparently the first time two teams have been employed from Fairfax County for an international response.

A man walked out of the collapsed United Nations building in Port au Prince, Haiti today thanks to the firefighters from Northern Virginia. Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department’s Lt. Mike Davis told CNN word came in overnight of someone trapped alive in the building. A four-person recon team confirmed the victim and called for a 15-person rescue squad.

A camera then confirmed the victim’s location and Lt. Davis said the crew began de-layering almost three floors of concrete in an effort to free the man. The man’s escape was hampered by a chair that blocked his way out. Firefighters were able to pass him a Sawzall to cut up the chair. Rescuers say the man walked out of the wreckage on his own.

The rescued man is a United Nation’s security guard from Estonia.

Virginia Task Force 1 arrived in Haiti at 4:00 PM on Wednesday. They have set up a base of operations at the American Embassy compound.