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A quick exit: Take a moment to watch this interesting slide show from Lake City, Florida taken on Monday night. It is from Patrick Scott Pictures. It shows Lake City and Columbia County firefighters battling a fire in a work shop and an adjacent mobile home. Two firefighters had taken a line into the mobile home and the door shut on the hose. The fire intensified and one firefighter went out the window. He and others worked on getting the second firefighter to safety. Everyone is okay. Click here to see the entire sequence.

Latest on FF McGown: Click here for the most recent official update on the condition of PGFD’s Daniel McGown, who was burned Wednesday in a house fire. We are told in that FF McGown was up again last night for another walk around. Expect more information later today.

If you haven’t heard the fireground audio you can click here.

Two investigations are underway. One to find the arsonist responsible for setting the fire and the other an internal look at how the injuries to McGown and two other firefighters occurred.

Latest on FF Ayers: Also at the Washington Hospital Center being treated for facial and head trauma after injuries at a barn fire is Baker Heights, West Virginia Firefighter Kenneth Ayers. FF Ayers remains in critical condition. The Herald Mail’s Matthew Umstead has the latest and a look at the series of arsons in Berekely County. More information from Edward Marshall at The Journal.

Prosecutor calls fire investigators unprofessional: “We will never know for sure whether those children died in a meth lab fire because they botched the investigation.” Those are the words of District Attorney Bret Burns about a fire in Ringling, Oklahoma that killed two sisters and their adult cousin. A spokeswoman for the state fire marshal’s office defends the work of the investigators. Read the details in an article by Ron Jackson in the Oklahoman.

The national registry … for arsonists: This one wouldn’t really keep track of your qualifications (well, actually in a sense it would). It would be a database of convicted arsonists and their criminal histories. Click here for the story.

Pattern developing?: Firegeezer takes a closer look and some thoughts about the story getting much play from Minnesota. John Berken was a paid, on call firefighter from Forest Lake who is now an accused arsonist. The mayor overruled the fire chief’s decision to fire Berken after the background check showed a variety of issues including making a bomb threat, theft and check forgery.

While Berken appears to have a longer list of problems, this one seems to have some similarities with the cases of former Prince George’s County, MD firefighter Michael Murphy and Coatestville, PA firefighter Robert Tracey. Like Berken both men had convictions for financial crimes but kept their jobs as firefighters. In Tracey’s case, while he separated from Anne Arundel County, MD at the time of his conviction, he stayed on a volunteer in Coatesville and was eventually hire by that department.

A must read …. the best story of the day: You can’t make this stuff up any better than this. In Watsonville, Calfornia Officer Juan Trujillo was having a pretty good day. A man he was about to pull over for reckless driving pulled into the driveway of the home. The officer confronted Jose Palamino and recognized him as a wanted parolee. The officer noticed smoke coming out of the rear of the house where they had stopped. He quickly put Palamino into the police car. The officer went inside the home bringing three people, including two children to safety. So far, so good. But when he got back to the police car Palamino was gone having convinced a seven or eight-year-old girl to let him out of the police car. An article in the Santa Cruz Sentinel by Donna Jones also looks into why Palamino stopped at that house and how the fire started.

Memorial defaced: In Massachusetts the Leominster Firefighters Memorial, dedicated less than a year ago, has been defaced with spray paint. Someone put the word “sickology” on the memorial. Read more from Firefighting News.

Read entire report on the LODD death from Volusia County, FL: Click here for a much better copy of the report looking into the November 2007 death of Firefighter John Curry during a training exercise. Here is our previous coverage.

Glenn Gaines profile: Susan Nicol Kyle at Firehouse.com takes a look at what Chief Glenn Gaines is doing as the new Deputy U.S. Fire Administrator. Actually. at the moment he is deputy to himself until an appointment is made to fill the top spot. Check it out.

Firefighter’s home burns: This one happened in Rutland, Vermont. Click here to read the story.

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3-alarm commercial fire in Illinois: Another Steve Redick (click here for his still pictures and book) video. This time from Elmhurst on Tuesday. $2 million damage at the strip mall. Firefighters got pushed back from an interior attack by the large amount of fire. Read the details.

Backdraft in Pittsburgh caught on video: As firefighters made entry into the second floor of an older apartment building there was a bit of an explosion early Wednesday morning. Fire officials say it was caused by a backdraft. Click here to watch the video and read the story.

Two-alarm grocery store fire in Prince George’s County: We have pictures and details from the fire late Wednesday morning in Riverdale. Click here.

More firefighter YouTube videos cause trouble: This time the investigation is underway in Milwaukee. Two firefighters have been suspended with pay for shooting what officials describe as a derogatory and inappropriate video at a city firehouse. Click here for that story.

The investigation into the Cincinnati videos that caused similar concerns was finished last week with the movie makers identified. No details on what the penalties might be. Here is the most recent story we could find.

Former union president accused in prostitution ring is officially fired from Omaha fire department: The only job left of the the three Darren Bates used to have is as a member of the Council Bluffs, Iowa City Council. The firing of Bates as a Omaha Fire Department captain in connection with his arrest on soliciting a prostitute is an interesting development. Bates hasn’t even been convicted of a crime. His trial is set for May. Read the story. Watch the story.

Whistle blower speaks out on Seattle mess: The deputy chief busted to battalion chief said he had no choice but to blow the whistle on the problems he saw with the inspection contract at Qwest field. The latest article has the mayor’s office backing off a bit on their support for the Fire Chief Gregory Dean. Watch the interview with Battalion Chief Jim Woodury. Read the update.

Survival skills: Learning them came with a price in Green Bay earlier this month. The local press is reporting that the training exercise left one firefighter with a broken leg, fractured ribs and dislocated shoulder. A second one cut his head and sprained a thumb.

Background checks and the accused Coatesville arsonist’s MD connection: It turns out there was a reason for the Anne Arundel County patch spotted by STATter 911 readers looking at the news reports about the arson arrest of Robert Tracey. Tracey was a member of the Anne Arundel Fire Department. No official word on why he left, but Tracey’s departure coincides with his guilty plea on bad check charges. The current assistant chief at Coatesville talks about background checks. We also look at another case and provide a link to some background check guidelines. Click here.

Hollywood on the Potomac: The fireball was a couple hours late but it appeared on the scene around 2:00 PM on Wednesday as a DC fire boat crew stood by in the Potomac near the Key Bridge. Arlington Fire Department crews watched from the Virginia shore. We have the raw video, two angles, slow motion and details from the new TV show being filmed in Washington. Kind of wimpy for Hollywood standards, but it still makes some Washington types nervous. Click here to see it.

SC firefighter tells TV station about being robbed and kidnapped: Taylors firefighter Mike Polston says was loading groceries into his car at Wal-Mart when a man with a knife abducted him. Read the details.

Houses fell down then, too: Some film from more than 40 years ago of a collapse during a house fire. Click here.

And elsewhere on the web: Firegeezer is gambling that people want to see an update on the Joliet, IL casino fire.

Firefighter Spot, among other new stuff, has some nice still pictures from the Bronx 3rd-alarm that we linked to the other day.

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Accused arsonist Robert Tracey Jr.

Read “Graham’s Rules For The Improvement of Background Investigations” from GordonGraham.com

It has been a tough week for the public image of a firefighter. In two very high-profile arson cases investigators didn’t have to go far to make an arrest. First was the tragedy on Long Island where a family of four died in a fire. Probationary firefighter Caleb Lacey is charged with the murders. Relatives of the victims are claiming the motive for the attack was jealousy.

In Coatesville, Pennsylvania it isn’t a new firefighter in trouble. It is a veteran. When the first stories came out on Monday evening about Robert Tracey there were quotes from an attorney who represented the firefighter in a previous legal matter. It was discovered that two-years-ago Tracey had entered a guilty plea and was on probation for writing bad checks.

Some noticed an Anne Arundel County Fire Department patch being worn by Robert Tracey in one picture. It turns out he was employed and then separated from Anne Arundel within a month of his guilty pleas.

From Philly.com:

A human-resources worker at the Anne Arundel County Fire Department in Maryland said Tracey was terminated from its department; however, she declined to give dates, referring the matter to a spokesman, Battalion Chief Matt Tobia. He said that Tracey worked for his department from April 2006 until April 2007 but that he could not discuss Tracey’s departure.

There are a lot of questions to ask about the bad check charge. Is it relevant? Should that have been a warning to the Coatesville Fire Department? Did the department know about it? If not, should they have known?

You may recall a story from November, 2008 that on the surface seems to have some parallels. It was about a career firefighter in Prince George’s County arrested for setting a fire on his way to work. We soon discovered that five-years-earlier Michael Murphy had been picked up for credit card misuse. Murphy was given probation for his guilty plea on a theft charge. The Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department fired Murphy but the firefighter won has job back through an appeals process.

Back to Coatesville. The man who recently replaced Robert Tracey as volunteer assistant chief spoke about some of these issues with reporters, including Jennifer Miller with the Daily Local News. Here are excerpts from the article:

After the arrest, Pacana said Tracey was immediately suspended from the company pending the outcome of the charges. Additionally, Pacana said the company intends to review its volunteer hiring policies and procedures in light of the arrest.

In 2007, Tracey pleaded guilty to writing back checks and was put on probation for one year, court records state.

(For some good rules on background checks for all firefighters check the link at the top of the page. It is from retired California Highway Patrol Commander and attorney, Gordon Graham. Many of you know Graham as Chief Billy Goldfeder’s partner on http://www.firefighterclosecalls/.)

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Video and radio traffic from three-alarm fire in PA: A Tuesday afternoon fire destroyed two businesses and a home in Macungie. The video above is from News Working, where you will find more details and pictures. Also check out The Morning Call.

Newspaper has internal report saying test showed assistant chief was drunk when he crashed FD vehicle: The latest on the controversial November 30 wreck involving Montgomery County, Maryland Assistant Chief Greg DeHaven. The Washington Post has obtained an a “confidential” fire department report and has a statement from Chief DeHaven. Click here for the details.

Update on DC EMS call where family claims medic told man he had acid reflux: The Washington Post is on a roll this morning. Elissa Silverman also has some interesting internal documents on the call from December where Edward Givens died of a heart attack in Northeast. Relatives claim the paramedic said Givens just needed an antacid. Here’s the latest.

Update on South Milwaukee chief: Unless the South Milwaukee Police and Fire Commission has a different view, Chief Jay Behling’s bosses think he served his time for uttering a racist remark. Here is an update on the union’s claims that Behling is a repeat offender.

Wife of accused Coatesville firefighter-arsonist speaks but is too embarrassed to say where her husband really was: An excerpt from a story by WPVI-TV on Coatesville FD’s Robert Tracey’s arrest and what Tracey’s wife has to say about it -

“He is telling me he didn’t do it, he said he was in the area but it wasn’t him. I’m not going to say what he was doing in the area.”

Tracy March-Tracey says while she worked late Friday night her husband, Robert Tracey, left their young children home alone to go out in the night. She won’t say why saying it’s just too embarrassing.

Accused Long Island firefighter-arsonist in court “blowing kisses”: Click here for details of Long Island former probationary firefighter Caleb Lacey’s day in court charged with the arson that killed four members of the same family. Relatives of the victims were not happy with what they saw of Lacey.

It ain’t over until it’s over: The City of San Diego is appealing the award given to firefighters who were ordered to appear in a gay pride day parade. Read the latest.

Over on the Geezer channel: Bill has some closeup reports from a Firegeezer regular on the eruption of Mt. Redoubt in Alaska. And Mike Ward looks at the passing of an educator who had a big impact on Northern Virginia firefighters.

In the better late than never department: Friday was the public safety awards event in Montgomery County, MD. A scheduling conflict kept me away, but I failed to note that three gold medals were handed out in the fire department. Lt. Patrick Mitchell got his for the River Road water main break rescues. Lt. Curtis Warfield and FF John Klavon received their awards for the rescues of the triplets in Bethesda. Click here to read the entire list of winners. Congratulations to all.

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Fireground audio and video from Detroit: More from Steve Redick’s recent trip. This is a house fire with exposure problems on Friday.

Another firefighter charged in a major arson case: On Long Island it was a probationary firefighter accused of killing a family of four. Late yesterday, word broke in Pennsylvania that a man listed as a “staff” captain of the Coatesville Fire Department has now been charged with the two latest arsons in a series of fires terrorizing the city. Robert Tracey Jr. has been associated with Coatesville FD for 25-years. Until February he was the volunteer assistant chief. The department confirms he resigned to become a career firefighter at Coatesville. This morning we updated our story with new links, pictures and videos, including the full statement from the Coatesville FD. Click here.

Fire chief dies, his two brothers hurt, in grain elevator fire: Chief Nolan Schmidt of the Hydro Fire Department in Oklahoma died yesterday trying to put out a soybean fire in a grain elevator. His brothers, Assistant Chief Warren Schmidt and Capt. Paul Schmidt, along with firefighters Allen Entz and Kyle Nonast were injured. Watch the story here and here. Read the story.

“The firefighters’ union wants a lot more money than the city can afford to pay at this time”: That quote could come from most cities these days. But the words belong to Boston Fire Commissioner Roderick Fraser Jr. as he makes the case to a TV reporter against some of the “perks” firefighters receive. These include hazardous duty pay, night differential, uniform allowances and much more. Read the story. Watch the story.

Budget is balanced, but furlough still requested and rejected: In Haverhill, MA, firefighters are joining cops and teachers in turning down a one-day furlough. Despite the budget being balanced, Haverhill leaders are asking for the concession to be fair to other city workers. Read more.

And to save money in Columbus, Ohio, a return to the basics?: Basic, as in basic life support. Citing statistics on patient outcome, a committee in Columbus, charged with saving the city money, thinks it may be time to turn the clock back 40-years and scrap ALS. Here’s the story.

Fireground audio and helmet-cam video from Florida: Click here for an up close and personal view of a fire yesterday in Jacksonville.

Divorce, mutual aid style: After years of working side by side together two fire departments in the Lake Charles, Louisiana area are going separate ways. There’s the usual it’s not you, it’s me. Some concern about finances. Now there are worries about response times. Read the story. Watch the story.

The fire SUV has become just too much of a status symbol: In Kansas City, Missouri a quick thinking firefighter was able thwart a woman’s attempt to steal a battalion chief’s vehicle from a fire station on Sunday night. Click here for details.

I am sure that cat was getting a good laugh taking in this picture: If that is what Rocky the dog was chasing when he got his head stuck in a tree. Real stuck. There are pictures as North Carolina’s Harlowe VFD ticked off tree huggers everywhere, but made PETA very happy. See for yourself.

A firefighter really saves the day as Spiderman: Call me a sentimental sap, but take a second to read this story from Bangkok. Maybe it is today’s antidote for all of the lousy news we read and hear.

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Image above from WFMZ-TV. Click here to watch the story.

More from Philly.com

More from Firefighter Nation

Watch 11:00 PM story from KYW-TV

Watch 11:00 PM story from WPVI-TV

Read entire fire department statement about the arrest

Until late last year Robert Tracey Jr. was a volunteer assistant chief with the Coatesville Fire Department. He has been associated with the department for about 25-years. More recently Tracey is listed in the department’s website under “staff officers” as captain (specifically as Captain 43 on West End Fire Company 3′s site). A fire department statement confirms in February Robert Tracey resigned as assistant chief “to become a career firefighter with the City of Coatesville Fire Department”.

Now Bob Tracey is an accused arsonist and suspended from the fire department. He was put in handcuffs at the West End Fire Company on his 37th birthday.

Tracey is the latest person to be charged in a series of fires terrorizing the community. One of the victim’s in the arson spree was Robert Tracey’s mother.

In the statement released Monday night, Coatesville’s current assistant chief, Robert Pacana, wrote:

No words are sufficient at conveying the anger, frustration and disappointment that the officers and members of the West End Fire Company feel regarding these allegations. Should Mr. Tracey be found guilty of these charges in a court of law, he will have betrayed not only the trust of Company, but also the sacred trust of the community that he served.

The fires occurred just a short distance from where Tracey lives with his wife and five children. Investigators say Tracey did not respond on the two fires he is accused of setting.

According to Philly.com Tracey pleaded guilty in March, 2007 to a bad-checks charge. He received a sentence of 12 months’ probation.

From the AP:

A firefighter whose mother was displaced in a December arson about 35 miles west of Philadelphia was charged Monday in two small trash fires set Friday night.

Captain Robert Tracey Jr.’s listing on the Coatesville FD website. Click the image to enlarge.

Tracey was identified by multiple witnesses who saw him running from the scene of Friday’s fires, Carroll said. He was taken to Chester County Prison in lieu of $2 million bail.

S. Lee Ruslander II, a lawyer who represented Tracey in a previous case, declined to comment when reached by phone late Monday night but said he might comment when reached at his office Tuesday.

Chester County’s Daily Local News snapped this picture of a smiling Robert Tracey Jr. at at one of the arsons. Click here for the paper’s coverage of this story.

On December 23, 2008 there was a suspicious fire at the home of the mother of Robert Tracey Jr. Here is what Jennifer Miller, a staff writer with the Daily Local News, wrote at that time:

Among the people displaced by the fire was the mother of Coatesville Assistant Fire Chief Bob Tracey.

Tracey also urged residents to be vigilant of activity in their neighborhoods.