It isn’t like we live in California. Us East Coast folks aren’t so sure what that rumble means. Even if no one is hurt or property damaged, we need reassurance we aren’t alone. My former colleague from Channel 9 Scott Broom listened to some of the calls that came into the 911 Center in Montgomery County, Maryland just after 5:00 this morning. Here’s what he wrote:
Callers to 911 in the moments after the 3.6 magnitude earthquake that shook the capital region were bewildered by the shaking while equally surprised operators kept their cool.
“Yea, we felt it too,” a 9-11 dispatcher told one confused caller before asking to make sure no one was injured or needed medical help.
Another dispatcher told a caller asking if the shaking was an earthquake: “We’ve taken a lot of calls for it and we’re still trying to figure that out.”
No injuries or medical conditions were reported.
“So there was not an explosion or anything?” asked one caller who said he’d had experience with tremors. “I work for FEMA and I’ve been through an earthquake before, and I think that might have been an earthquake!”
Many of the calls to 911 started with a startled statement: “My house just shook!”
It was a good thing Edmonton firefighter Brian McIntyre decided to start paternity leave before his son was born. It was June 2, a week before the due date, that McIntyre’s wife went into labor. There was no time to get Candice to the hospital, but standing by was a natural candidate to fill in as mid-wife. Here are exerpts from the Edmonton Sun:
“I worked the night shift before, got off in the morning and seven hours later…” McIntyre said, motioning to his sleeping six-day old son Ronan.
“I didn’t realize this was going to happen.”
Around 2 p.m. that Wednesday, McIntyre’s wife Candice laid out on the hardwood floor of their home, while McIntyre’s sister was on the phone with 911, yelling out delivery instructions to McIntyre.
After the baby was out, the 42-year-old firefighter grabbed a lime green shoelace off of Candice’s recently purchased Puma sneakers and used it to cut the baby’s umbilical cord.
The entire operation took just ten minutes and three pushes to bring blue-eyed Ronan into the world.
And despite battling fires and being faced with dangerous situations at work each day, McIntyre said delivering a baby was an entirely different challenge.
“It’s harder. I’ve never done it before,” he said. “There’s a lot of adrenaline in a short period of time.”
“I was a nervous wreck (but) right when I got into doing it I kind of forgot about everything else.”
The firefighter added that his friends and family have now started calling him “Dr. McIntyre.”
The family plans to save the shoelaces used to cut the umbilical cord and tell their son about his special delivery when he gets older.
“I’m still using the shoes too,” Candice said, adding that the laces have since been washed.
One of things I will miss in my departure from Channel 9 is WUSA9.com’s Emily Cyr finding gems like this one and posting them to the video player. This story should be played everywhere. People need to hear how 76-year-old Eva Rubino handled herself, talking to 911 while trapped inside a car with water rising over her chest as the vehicle was sinking in a canal. She is my hero.
Instead of panicking and screaming, Eva Rubino remained calm and did her best to answer the questions from the 911 call taker in Coral Springs, Florida. Providing the information in the manner she did may have meant the differece between life and death.
Diagnosed with two types of cancer, Rubino is accustomed to being in and out of the hospital. But this experience was a new one.
An adamant animal lover, she goes to Mullins Park in Coral Springs everyday around 3 a.m. to feed the cats and ducks. But on Thursday, mayhem broke out when she got in her car to leave.
“I put the car in reverse and the car took off,” she explained. “I tried to get the brakes to stop the car – at least to slow the car; the brakes didn’t move.” Her car plunged into a canal across the street.
Amazingly, she kept her wits about her and took the steps necessary to save her own life. The disabled woman – who is also blind in one eye – managed to call 911 and clearly tell the dispatcher her location and the situation.
Rubino very clearly listed exactly where the car was, “Right in front of Mullins Park, right in the water right next to the old library that’s closed.” After a moment, she added, “Please hurry, its getting higher.”
The first officers on the scene spotted Rubino’s 2001 white Hyundai fully submerged in the canal. Several officers formed a chain while other officers jumped in to rescue her. They used a center punch to break a car window and pulled her out.
Rubino was transported to Coral Springs Medical Center where she is currently listed in stable condition.
When asked why she believed she was able to survive the experience, she responded that God is keeping her around to hopefully reconnect with her family; she has not spoken to them in more than a decade. She has 14 grandchildren that she hopes to get to know.
The owner of a house that exploded in flames Monday along the flooded Cumberland River said she’s alive after being rescued by a man on a Jet Ski.
Leslie Bills’ Pennington Bend home caught fire while being enveloped by rising floodwater.
“We were just an island We were totally surrounded by water. So, here I am just calling 911 (asking), ‘What do we do?’ And they’re saying, ‘Stay on the line. Don’t jump into the river because of the undertow. Your house might blow up,’” said Bills. “About that time, we started seeing more smoke. (The 911 operator said), ‘Get blankets, put them into the water, get them wet, put them over you so you won’t burn. Be prepared for an explosion.’ Now, I’m thinking, ‘Do I want to burn, or do I want to drown?’”
Then, a locksmith named Bill Krauser came to her rescue on a Jet Ski.
“I look up and there’s an angel on a Jet Ski. God sent me an angel on a Jet Ski. I yelled at him, ‘Can you please check and see what’s coming out of that garage?’ He went and looked in and saw the fire had taken over and was getting ready to attack the cars. He said, ‘We have to get out of here.’ He said, ‘Jump on the Jet Ski,’” said Bills. “So, he jumps on his Jet Ski. I grab the dog, Juice, (and) get on the Jet Ski with him. We got 20 yards away, and ‘kaboom’ — the house blew up. This man saved my life.”
Something tells me the phrase “I love you” is not in any of the EMD or EFD type protocols in use in 911 centers around the country. Matthew Whaley said just that to the woman reporting a house on fire in February and he is now Cocke County, Tennessee’s “Dispatcher of the Year”.
In the story above you will see there is a perfectly good explanation. The woman on the other end of the line was Whaley’s wife Laura. She was reporting their home was on fire. Matthew Whaley determined the wife and kids were safe, made sure the call was properly handled and then continued to complete his shift, handling everyone else’s emergency. Find out more in the story above.
It isn’t letting up in Flint: More vacant building fires in the troubled Michigan city in the wake of fire and police layoffs that started on Thursday. This one is from last night around 10:00 PM at the corner of Oak and Court. Click here for video of a Sunday afternoon fire and details from WJRT-TV. Two more of the fires from early Sunday morning are here and here. And here is one from Saturday. With the city officials openly speculating that the layoffs and the fires are connected, you can’t help think of the early 1980s when Boston was the “arson capital of the world”. That long, ugly and devastating episode had its origins in a group of fire buffs reacting to the layoffs of hundreds of Massachusetts firefighters and police officers. A little history lesson.
Family told for the second time in two days that man was dead: Relatives of George Waters first heard on Friday that the 70-year-old man was dead. That turned out not to be true. Then they heard the same news on Saturday from the Prince George’s County Hospital Center. This time the news was correct. The Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department has two reviews underway looking at why this happened. Two paramedics are sitting on the sidelines as this is sorted out. It is the second such incident for PGFD this year. Here is the latest story. Here is our initial coverage.
Florida chief says better info from 911 might have shaved minutes off door removal to help dying woman: This is a very interesting story from North Fort Myers. Chief Larry Nisbet of the Bayshore Fire Department believes if his firefighters had the same information they had at the 911 center, the crew wouldn’t have waited to remove the front door and help a dying 72-year-old woman. The director of Lee County’s 911 says no policies need to be changed. Here’s the story.
Cops cite firefighter at scene: Not a lot of details of what went wrong at a domestic violence call in Leadville, Colorado leading to a firefighter charged with obstruction. Read what we know.
Listen as firefighters report tornado touchdown: Violent weather yesterday in and around High Point, North Carolina. We have video and pictures along with FireSceneAudio.com‘s radio traffic as things get pretty busy for the 911 center. Here is our coverage.
Jumper from Montgomery County, PA fire: PhillyFireNews.com has a series of pictures from a house fire early Saturday morning in Lansdale. Click here. Read more about the fire.
Raw video, lots of pictures and memories after 5-alarm fire: In Sacramento they are mourning the loss of Iceland, a 70-year-old skating rink. Check it out.
“Useless” firefighter video draws comments: I put this video up to stimulate a little discussion, and it did. A citizen somewhere called the fire department “useless” for laughing off a suggestion they get a cat down from a power pole. The power company ended up handling it. There isn’t anyone arguing the fire department should have done the job, but there are a few making the case that the customer service and PR component might have been better handled (based on the impression of the unknown videographer). Here are the video and the comments.
Friday was Mid-Atlantic train derailment day: We started with the dangling locomotive that almost went into the drink in Chesapeake, Virginia because the bridge was in the “up” position. Click here. That was followed by a derailment in Maryland. While it was posted in our player, we never got to mention the Howard County incident. Here’s that video. Doug Walton at his Howard County blog has details and close-up pictures of the wreckage in Patapsco Valley State Park near the swinging bridge (I used to love that place as a kid).
How can a geezer be only three-years-old?: That’s a lifetime in blogger years. Bill Schumm just celebrated three years at the helm of Firegeezer.com. Congratulations to Bill. What do you get for the third anniversary? More links, of course. There’s lots to choose from, so just scroll down. The most interesting to me is the fire engine in Croatia that lost a battle with a tram. Click here for that one.
Fire in Virginia Beach: We have an early series of still pictures from an apartment fire with an arts store down below on the oceanfront. Click here. Since our posting, FireRescueTV.com added some video to those pictures. Click here.
Early video in Milford, Massachusetts: Cameras were on the scene as a man came out a third floor apartment window while fire raged down below. The three-alarm fire has lots of video and pictures to document it. Here it is.
Apartment fire in Hobart, Indiana: Report of a number of injuries at this fire on Sunday near Hickey and Liberty.
A 911 call in February during which a sick woman died because she couldn’t unlock the front door to her home has prompted the Bayshore Fire Department to try to revamp its policy for such situations.
Bayshore Fire & Rescue Chief Larry Nisbet said he reached out to local fire departments as well as peers from the Executive Fire Officer Program, a federal firefighter training course. He found that few departments have a policy written for forcible entry on medical calls.
“I was kind of surprised. I thought there would be more out there,” he said.
Norma Stucki.
Nisbet said he will be meeting with other local fire departments in coming weeks to put together policies for emergency situations.
The policy review stems from a 911 call Feb. 23 from Norma Stucki, a 72-year-old who was in her upstairs bed coughing and sick.
She told the dispatcher she was home alone in her two-story house at 11500 Bayshore Road in North Fort Myers. She said she would unlock the front door, but she never got there.
EMS and fire crews arrived seven minutes after being dispatched. Because the front door was locked, crews waited outside 14 minutes until a Lee County sheriff’s deputy arrived. When firefighters finally unhinged the front door, Stucki was dead, pronounced so at 12:08 a.m.
Nisbet said an internal review of the call found firefighters acted properly based on the information provided. He said they were taking off the front door’s last hinge when the deputy arrived.
“The guys had acted appropriately based on what they were faced with,” he said. “The information we got from dispatch was a little vague.”
Nisbet said certain information, if relayed to firefighters, might have prompted them to move more quickly. He said if they knew they were at the right house – a ringing doorbell could be heard on an audio recording of Stucki’s 911 call – and if they knew the dispatcher lost contact with the caller, they might have unhinged the door without waiting on law enforcement.
“If some of the information was relayed, we could have gone in there,” he said. “I know my guys, they’re just crushed by this call.”
Ron Stucki, Norma Stucki’s husband, said a policy change won’t bring back his wife. He said he believes more responsibility should fall on dispatch for not properly relaying information to those on the scene.
“My response is I’m angry as hell,” he said. “They had a right to go in – they were called by 911.”
Diane Holm, public information officer for Lee County Public Safety, said the department believes medics acted appropriately. She said a sign on the door that read “Forget about the dog, worry about the owner” with a picture of a gun concerned them, so they called for deputies.
She said the department has finished reviewing the case and hasn’t made changes to policy. But Holm said the department this week hired a deputy director and operations chief – both promoted from within – so it’s possible that could spark a review.
Matt Rechkemmer, the county’s 911 program manager, has said the dispatcher followed policies. He said Friday no dispatch policies will be changed.
TV station KDKA in Pittsburgh broke this story Tuesday of a man who died during the February 6 snow storm waiting for EMS crews who showed up way too late despite 10 calls to 911 over three days. Yesterday, in a rare admission by city officials, they believe it is likely Curtis Mitchell would still be alive if things were done right. Here are excerpts from the station’s latest story:
Emergency officials say they’re sad, angry and sorry.
Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Michael Huss is convinced that if EMS did the right thing, Curtis Mitchell might still be alive.
“It’s unacceptable. You’ve got to get out of your truck and you got to go there,” Huss said during a news conference.
“As Dr. Roth tried to explain, that was work in force on some calls where we didn’t get the ambulance back in the neighborhoods because we didn’t want to get it stuck.
“I understand that. But you get out of that damn truck and walk to the residence. That’s what needed to happen here. We could have carried him out across the West Liberty Bridge.”
City leaders admit a significant number of mistakes. Twice, paramedics asked Mitchell to walk to an ambulance in 15 inches of snow.
They did not walk to him.
Mitchell, 50, and his wife, Sharon Edge, called 911 10 times over nearly a three-day period. EMS never reached him and he died.
“He didn’t have to die and the way he died, he was in pain, a lot of pain and he shouldn’t have had to die like that,” Edge said. “When you pass away, you [are] supposed to go in peace and I don’t think my man went in peace.”
KDKA-TV ‘s Marty Griffin listened to the 911 calls.
Mitchell: “My stomach is bothering me real bad.”
911 Operator: “I’m sending paramedics. Help is on the way.”
Later, Mitchell spoke again with 911.
Mitchell: “I need a paramedic man. I need ‘em … bad. My stomach is messed up real bad … It’s killing me.”
In another call, they asked Mitchell to walk to the EMS vehicle.
Mitchell: “Okay listen. I can’t make it up there man. He wants me to walk up across the bridge. I can’t even walk up and down my steps man.”
Transcripts obtained by the KDKA Investigators point out a desperate wife.
Edge: “He’s getting worse … His pain is getting worse … He now has shortness of breath.”
911 Operator: “I have an ambulance waiting way up the street. Can’t come to the house. Too much snow.”
Edge: “I can’t take him to [the] ambulance.”
EMS Driver (first time): “Tell him we’re here. If he can walk across the bridge we’ll be glad to treat him.”
EMS Driver (second time): “If he wants to ride to the hospital, he’s gonna have to come to the truck.”
In her final call, Edge told 911 that it was too late for her husband.
Edge: “Oh God! He’s dead … Oh God! I’ve been trying to get an ambulance here for three days.”
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.
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.
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.
A 24-year-old father remains jailed under observation as his 2-year-old son continues on what officials said likely will be a long and painful recovery from burns caused by falling into a fire pit.
Michael David Bargeron
Michael David Bargeron of Palm Bay was arrested Friday after police said he wrestled with the child near a burning fire pit during a New Year’s Eve party at his Johnston Road home. He remains held on a $50,000 bond and will face a Feb. 23 hearing on the charges, officials reported.
Detectives said Bargeron appeared to be intoxicated and had called 9-1-1 in a bid to find out whether his child was at the hospital. The child’s mother, Bargeron’s wife, already had grabbed the burned child and rushed him to the hospital about 1:30 a.m. Friday, officials said.
“Do you have any record of a 3-year-old checking in,” Bargeron asked a Palm Bay 9-1-1 dispatcher at one point during the call. The dispatcher told Bargeron to “sober up” and clarify his request.
“He was described as extremely intoxicated at the time of the incident,” said Yvonne Martinez, spokeswoman for the Palm Bay Police Department.
“Basically, he didn’t know where his son was or where the incident occurred.”
Witnesses told police Bargeron was dismissive of warnings at the party as he played with the child near the rising flames.
Police said the child then fell into the pit, but Bargeron failed to pull him out. The child suffered burns on his hands, arms, stomach and buttocks, Martinez said.
The Department of Children and Families also is investigating the incident. Bargeron’s other child, a 15-month-old, was in the custody of the mother’s family members.
Stick this in your stocking – layoff notices go out two days before Christmas: Thirty-eight firefighters are among 100 in public safety who were sent layoff notices yesterday from the city of Cleveland, Ohio. The mayor says force reductions are planned for January 11 if a four-percent pay cut isn’t agreed to by the unions. There would also be reductions in rank for supervisory personnel. Read the details.
Early video from commercial fire in Pennsylvania: Click here for the raw video of a fire yesterday evening in Ephrata Township.
Firetruck rollover in France: Firegeezer has the picture and story over a crash that killed one firefighter and injured two others. Click here.
An orange jumpsuit may be in your future: I wonder if the owners of an Oakland, California fortune cookie company left behind that message after vacating the building that used to house the business. It seems a marijuana grow operation took over the Chinatown spot. A fire in the building brought the discovery. Here are some details.
Firefighters didn’t need a fortune cookie to help make this discovery: A fire in a mobile home brought a little something extra. Just outside firefighters found what is being described as the first still discovered in Etowah County, Alabama in more than a decade. Read more.
Replacement for chief who quit over layoffs: Remember the story in Saratoga Springs, New York where both the police and fire chief announced their retirements over concerns about safety following budget cuts? Fire Chief Robert Cogan’s last day is Friday and his replacement, Bob Williams, is a third generation firefighter whose father was once chief of the department. Read the details.
Click the image from KLAS-TV in Las Vegas to watch the station's live coverage of a large fire in an apartment complex yesterday morning.
Baltimore 2nd alarm (and rally info): This fire on Ostend Street Friday morning left one firefighter with minor burns. Firefighters point out the closest engine company, Engine 55 in Pigtown, was closed for the day. The rotating closures and the budget cuts are behind today’s rally as firefighters march from the Baltimore City Fire Museum (old Engine 6 on Gay Street) to City Hall at 5:00 PM. IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger is scheduled to join IAFF locals 734 and 964 (officers) WJZ-TV has the story.
VIDEO ADDED – DC & Sarasota officials signed ageement to allow new Florida chief to remain District employee: STATter911.com now knows what happened to allow Sarasota County Chief Kenneth Ellerbe to stay on the rolls of the DC Fire & EMS Department in able to enhance his retirement pay. We even know a DC assistant fire chief and the city’s head of human resources approved Kenneth Ellerbe’s leave without pay status. What we don’t know is why this was allowed to happen, especially since Chief Dennis Rubin originally declined to sign the deal. We are also trying to determine the benefit for the city to engage in a formal personnel exchange arrangement to fill a fire chief’s slot in Florida. The DC Fire & EMS Department and the DC Department of Human Resources aren’t exactly filling in the blanks on a lot of unanswered questions. One question from a STATter911.com reader is one we hadn’t thought of: Will the DC Fire & EMS Department now offer this arrangement to every firefighter who may be almost a year short in reaching retirement age? Click here for the latest, including Wednesday’s 6:00 PM report for TV.
Also in Sarasota County, Florida, a 911 problem causing a 20 hour delay: Listen to the audio and read the details on why help wasn’t sent to a man later found dead in North Port, Florida. Click here.
Construction workers make rescue at Beltway vehicle fire: Raw video from the air, pictures from the ground and the story from Scott Broom on yesterday’s save after an SUV crashed and burned on the Capital Beltway near College Park, Maryland. Construction workers pulled a woman from the burning vehicle.
Rape charges dropped against Bourne, Massachusetts deputy chief: Paul Weeks is eager to go back to work and his bosses want him on the job as soon as possible. The rape charge against the deputy chief has been one of many dramas involving Bourne’s fire department in recent months. While the papers say they don’t identify rape victims, the victim in this case declined to prosecute citing “marital privilege”. Read more.
NEW – Developer on home confinement after off-duty firefighter shot: We were a little late in telling you about the arrest in the off-duty shooting of a Milton, Massachusetts firefighter in an apparent road rage incident. Read about the charges against a well known developer.
Anthropometry, a word Dave has never heard before: Ann who? Dave showing his ignorance on reading an interesting press release from the Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service. MCFRS will be working with NIOSH in using anthropometry to to “improve the fit and performance of equipment that interfaces with the body”. Anthropometry “is the science of measuring the human body”. Read the release.
Fire chief and city sued by landlord: Readers in Utica, New York alerted us to this story about a fire in September that killed four people, but Firegeezer already had this interesting case well covered. Click here.
Firefighters replace money stolen in Salvation Army robberies: IAFF Local 660 in Charlotte, North Carolina has donated $6000 to make up for some men going around to Salvation Army kettles trying to steal Christmas. Read the story.
It was an urgent call for help that didn’t receive an urgent response.
After Brian Wood, 55, crashed his pickup into a pole on Friday, he got out and sat down nearby. A motorist saw him on the ground and called 911, but since he couldn’t remember the exact name of the road, the North Port Police Dept. (NPPD) call-taker never dispatched an officer.
Twenty hours later, when officers finally arrived after a second 911 call, they found Wood had eventually died from his injuries.
“I’m trying to think if it’s Lovebird or Lovesong,” Mark Minisci Jr. told the 911 operator, trying to remember the name of the street. He even provided directions.
But the crash was on Lovering Ave., and the frustrated call-taker told Minisci that the NPPD system “doesn’t work like that” and she “(had) to have something.”
Chief Terry Lewis took responsibility for the mistake on Tuesday, calling it either human error or a policy problem.
“A police officer,” Lewis said, “should be sent to talk to people…we need to do everything we can to make sure these mistakes don’t happen.”
Part of the problem was that the 911 operator from the Sarasota Sheriff’s Office never told the NPPD call-taker what the emergency was, but Lewis said she should have asked better questions. He says there is nothing wrong with the 911 system.
The call-taker is on paid administrative leave, pending the outcome of an internal investigation. Lewis says the investigation should also help his department prevent similar problems in the future.
“No, this was not the result of budget cuts. Based on the distance of the current stations we are still within a great safe zone as far as responsiveness. It’s not because of the rotation.”
Those are the words of Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon from her response to WJZ-TV following the death of a man inside a burning rowhouse on Presstman Street early Wednesday morning. The closest truck company to that home was shut due to the city’s rotating closure policies.
We are not sure what investigation into the response to the fire, if any, Mayor Dixon is using to come to her conclusion. Clearly there were a number of factors involved in this response, including crews being sent to the wrong location based on a call taker not hearing the correct address from a woman trapped in the home.
Baltimore City Fire Chief Jim Clack has pretty consistently told the news media in Baltimore and in previous emails to STATter911.com that rotating closures do have an impact on response times. He has also indicated response times have gone up some since the closures started.
On Wednesday, Chief Clack told the Baltimore Sun the department is still reviewing the response to the fire, but indicated the first truck company’s arrival on the scene likely would have taken longer than the closed Truck 18:
The search-and-rescue company nearest the Davis’ home,Truck 18, was closed overnight. Had it been in the station when the call came, the truck could have arrived in about half the time the first unit took to arrive, said Fire Chief James S. Clack.
On Thursday Chief Clack modified that statement a bit. Also from The Baltimore Sun:
Also yesterday, Clack said that if the truck had been in operation, it might not have arrived at the fatal fire earlier than other units because it would have been sent to the incorrect address after a garbled initial call. That was a change from his initial assessment of the fire response.
If units had gone to the right address initially, the closure of the truck “would have affected our response time,” he said.
Right now, City Council members and the mayor are trying to now come up with money to end these closures for the rest of the fiscal year.
Isn’t this usually how it goes with rotating closures? Of course it is.
There is plenty of case history in Baltimore, in Washington and around the country where a fatality near a closed company allows those who hold the purse strings to suddenly see the light. In this case, to be fair, just hours prior to the deadly fire, city leaders were finally starting to address the idea of finding overtime money for the department to stop the rotating closure policy. But now, all indications are it is THE priority.
IAFF Local 734, in a press release yesterday afternoon, called the closures “firehouse roulette” and is telling citizens the mayor and the fire chief “have placed a price tag on yours and your neighbor’s lives”.
You don’t have to be a genius or the Amazing Kreskin to have predicted a while ago that this was exactly how the story of rotating closures in Baltimore would play out. Even a lowly blogger living 40-miles-away saw this coming. Here’s what we wrote one year and two-days before the fire on Presstman Street occurred after learning that rotating closures were in store for Baltimore:
Having covered three rounds, in three different decades, of what union officials called “firehouse roulette” in Washington, DC, there is a lot of precedent you can point to indicating how this policy is likely to play out. In fact the City Paper article talks about a previous Baltimore City rotating closure policy:
In 1995 and ‘96, BCFD tried to keep overtime costs down by closing some firehouses during certain shifts. Such “rotation closures” became controversial when fires broke out near firehouses that were temporarily shut down.
True, these are fiscally much more difficult times than any but the eldest among us have seen. But it all comes down to how much heat the political leaders can take when the inevitable headlines appear.
That 1998 Baltimore City Paper article I was referring to is from 1998 and gives the details of the cuts the Baltimore City Fire Department endured in the 1990s. It is well worth reading.
Lots of fire and lots of video: A Sunday afternoon fire that burned well into Sunday evening in Jonesville, Michigan. The fire spread from a restaurant to a furniture store. Click here for much more video.
James R. Beavers of Elgin, Illinois after his run-in with firefighters and the man who took this picture, Bill O'Neill at Elginet.com. Truly a story you don't want to miss.
Must see video of accused arsonist fighting with firefighters who just saved his child: Firefighters in Elgin, Illinois rescued a toddler who was in a high chair inside a burning home. The child’s dad, James Beavers, is seen on the video giving grief to firefighters as and after the kid was brought out of the home. Firefighters appeared quite restrained as Beavers started doing a little pushing and shoving. Police arrested Beavers and then charged him with arson. Click here for our coverage.
More must see video – Workers caught in explosion at Utah refinery: The U.S. Chemical Safety Board has shut down the Silver Eagle plant. They released multiple videos of the blast. Click here to watch the clips.
Three-year-old boy pulled his burned sister from a fire: Pretty unbelievable story. The mother of the children died in the same blaze in Arizona. Click here to read the story.
Things changing quickly in New York: The deadly fire was on Wednesday in Crown Heights, killing a father and his two children. By Thursday morning union leaders were again blasting city officials for a delay in the dispatch, calling it another example of what happens when you cut fire dispatchers out of the call taking process and leave it to the police. They called for the 911 recordings to be released. The city denied there was a problem and released the audio on Friday. By Friday afternoon it was announced fire dispatchers would be brought back into the process to “consult” with police department workers who were taking the 911 calls. This concept begins tomorrow. The New York Times has a report and Billy Goldfeder gives his analysis at FirefighterCloseCalls.com.
Pharaoh curses firefighters: At least it probably seemed that way to a group of Australian firefighters and their families. They were part of an annual event at Melbourne’s Luna Park when they became trapped upside down on the ride Pharaohs Curse. The firefighter’s on-duty colleagues were called, but the ride eventually decided to cooperate and brought them down after about six-minutes. Read the story.
Have you seen me? This Dalamation has been missing from Sacramento Fire Station 2 for three days. It isn't possible the pooch left on its own. Click the image to read more about the missing dog at SacramentoPress.com
I wonder if he fights with himself at the scene about whether to clear the roadway?: The new fire chief for South Carolina’s Clearwater Fire Department is Aiken County Sheriff Michael Hunt. Read more.
Definition of firefighter came into play as killer gets life sentence: In case you missed it on Friday, a judge has found Joseph Taye guilty of first degree murder. Taye, a paraplegic, ran down Firefighter Michelle Smith at the scene of an accident in Delaware last year and left the scene. Because the judge ruled that Smith was a firefighter at the time, even though she was handling EMS duties, it is a mandatory life sentence for Mr. Taye. Read the latest.
Video from DC second-alarm: Chris Oliphant sent us video from Saturday’s house fire on 47th Street, NW. Click here.
Philly fire injures 14: Five-alarms needed for the large apartment buildingfire Sunday morning in Lawncrest. Check it out.
Just aim for the lights: Firegeezer has the story of a suspected drunken driver hitting an ambulance head-on. No one was hurt in the Knoxville, Tennessee collision.
Boardwalk blaze: Click here for video and pictures of a three-alarm fire on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City. (But it took the better eyesight of Firegeezer Bill Schumm to notice the business next to the one with all of the red stuff coming out of it had a sign saying Hot Spot.)
Frustration in Maine over firefighter/arsonists: We told you about two firefighters in Maine charged with arson a few days apart. WCSH-TV takes a look at the bigger picture.
3-alarms in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania: Another NewsWorking.org production. The fire was at 1992 Gatewood Lane just after 10:30 last night. Here’s some of the description with the clip- Engines 6, 9, 7, Ladder 2 & 205 respond with a possible elderly female inside. Engine 6 arrives and reports a working fire in a two-story E/O/R. 205 strikes a second alarm as fire rapidly extends vertically and into the common cockloft. Tower Ladder 2 immediately goes to the roof and opens up two vent holes. But the fire already extended 4 houses in from the end. 205 strikes the third alarm while interior crews make quick work in the exposures pulling down ceilings on the second floor and darkening down the fire in the common attic. Searches came up negative and the fire was put under control by 2350 hours.
A mini-van roll over in Prince George's County Thursday afternoon trapped three teenagers, including one with potentially life threatening injuries. PGFD's Mark Brady says it took about 30-minutes and two heavy-duty rescue squads to untangle the passengers from the wreckage. The picture is from firehouseguy on thewatchdesk.com. Click the image for more pictures.
Must see video of collapse during service station fire: Click here for early video of a Millburn, New Jersey Exxon that burned and collapsed yesterday morning.
UPDATE- Audio released by city in fatal Brooklyn fire: City officials respond to union claims and release audio from the 911 calls reporting Wednesday’s Crown Heights fire that left a father and two children dead. Click here to listen to the call and read the transcript. In response to the release, union officials says all of the audio was not released and believe the call takers are not capable of getting the necessary information. City Council now says it will look into the matter. Click here to read and watch the earlier story.
Plea deal for former Coatesville assistant chief accused of arson: It surprised the judge, but it appears neither side wanted to go to trial in the case of Robert Tracey. He’s the former assistant chief in arson plagued Coatesville, Pennsylvania. Tracey walked away with the 242 days he has already served after entering the guilty plea on two counts. Here’s the latest. Click here and scroll down for all of our previous coverage on Tracey, who had also been a firefighter in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
Firefighter who shot at man for bad bicycle safety enters plea: Charles Diez is the now former Asheville, North Carolina firefighter who didn’t like how a child was being towed behind a bicycle. So Diez fired a gun at the child’s father’s head. It cracked the guy’s bike helmet and now has left Diez with a 120 day jail sentence. Click here.
Union claims another dispatching error caused delay in deadly fire: New York officials disagree and say that was not the case in Wednesday’s fire that killed a father and two children in Brooklyn. Read here and watch the story. City Council now says it will look into the matter.
It’s a skill that might have served him well as fire chief: Hartford’s fire chief retires to get degree in psychology. Read the story.
Union claims layoffs only saved $21,000: A dispute in Akron, Ohio, over how much money has been saved by the layoff of 38 firefighters.
Fire investigators believe a fire that killed two toddlers and their father may have been started by burning incense in a bedroom.
Investigators also uncovered evidence that 42-year-old Myrtel Jean tried to put the fire out first instead of calling 911. They say there were no smoke alarms in the Crown Heights, Brooklyn residence.
Jean and his children, 1-year-old Sebastian and 2-year-old Fabrice, died in the blaze. Their mother was not home when the fire broke out around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The firefighter’s union said precious minutes were wasted because a new city dispatch system sent them to the wrong place. FDNY officials disagreed. They said companies responded near an intersection given by 911 callers.
A streaking meteor the size of an oven briefly illuminated parts of the Utah sky to daylight-level conditions early Wednesday, surveillance footage shows.
The video from outside security cameras at the University of Utah’s Milford observatory shows a blinding flash of light around 12:07 a.m., followed by clear images of the meteor streaking away.
“It looks like a shooting star on steroids,” said Seth Jarvis, director of the Clark Planetarium in Salt Lake City.
He estimated that the fireball was about the size of an oven and was traveling at about 80,000 mph. It broke through the Earth’s atmosphere and was probably around 100 miles above the ground when it became visible, he said.
It almost certainly broke up before it reached the ground, he said.
Utah scientists on Wednesday said it’s likely the meteor was associated with the annual Leonid meteor shower.
Dave Kieda, chairman of the school’s department of physics and astronomy, said meteor sightings aren’t uncommon, but to see one this large — and to get much of it on tape — is unusual.
Scientists with expertise in meteors will use the footage to help estimate its size and trajectory.
“We just got lucky and had a surveillance camera pointed in the right direction,” said Wayne Springer, an associate professor of physics and astronomy. Springer has been working at the university’s new observatory, which is perched on Frisco Peak, about 175 miles south of Salt Lake City.
After hearing news reports about the meteor Wednesday morning, Springer cued up the surveillance tape.
“And lo and behold there it was, this big flash of light,” he said.
“What elephant? I don’t see no elephant.” That was a line from Jimmy Durante (ask your parents, grandparents or Firegeezer). Luckily Bill Carpenter did see the elephant and swerved while driving with his wife on a road in Enid, Oklahoma.
Carpenter believes if it had been a direct hit they would have been a goner with 4500 pounds of elephant coming through the windshield. Instead it was a glancing blow that cracked the animal’s tusk as it ripped through the side of the SUV.
Imagine you are on the receiving end of the 911 call and hear that someone has just hit an elephant with their vehicle on U.S. 81.
The elephant is Kamba, who escaped from a traveling circus that had come to town. Since the Carpenters are okay, the serious side of all this comes from In Defense of Animals which believes the circus life has not been good to Kamba and cites a previous escape during a tornado in Kansas.
Chester City Firefighter Bob Butler. Photo by Rikard Larma via Metro International. Click the image to read his story.
The American flag controversy deepens: One firefighter, James Krapf, has been suspended for two days (so far) because he won’t obey the Marine veteran fire commissioner’s order to take the flag sticker off of his locker. Another firefighter, Bob Butler, wears the stars and stripes upside down on his cap.
The comments on this one are divided. Most think Firefighter Krapf is doing what is right and standing up for our flag and our country. There is also strong opinion that the firefighter should be following orders, including this one.
In his commentary, Billy Goldfeder makes the point that this may really be about other issues within the department. Either way he worries that the distraction and national attention will impact the job that these firefighters are there to do. Check out his thoughts.
Chief Reason agrees it may not really be about red, white and blue, but instead, black and white.
There is a rally to support Firefighter Krapf this morning at 9:00.
The story that never ends – Read IG report into how Montgomery County handled assistant chief’s wreck: Remember the case of former Montgomery County, Maryland Assistant Chief Greg DeHaven. The crash of the fire department SUV he was operating into a police car and three other vehicles on the side of I-270 continues to make news almost a year after it happened. The controversy stems from police officers not charging Chief DeHaven with impaired driving despite testing ordered by the fire department showing his blood-alcohol level at .143 three hours after the crash. Now an IG’s report says investigators for the fire department never interviewed the six witnesses on the scene who all suspected alcohol use. The IG is also expected to report on the police department’s role. The police chief has said an internal report, not publicly released, showed his officers handled the situation properly. Miranda Spivack has the latest story from The Washington Post. Click here to read the report and the recommendations for the Montgomery County Department of Fire & Rescue Service.
Water not a problem at this Chain Bridge Road fire: PIO Pete Piringer made it clear in his Tweets from the scene that the water supply was not a problem at a house fire Saturday on DC’s Chain Bridge Road, NW. Just up the street on July 30 the mansion of a former school board president was destroyed as firefighters spent the better part of two hours trying to get an adequate water supply. Mayor Adrian Fenty, Chief Dennis Rubin and WASA Chairman William Walker will give an update and release the investigative report from the mayor’s office looking at the first Chain Bridge Road this morning at Engine 20 in Tenleytown. The last two times the chief and the chairman got together to talk publicly about these same issues it left some council members quite frustrated.
Rescue in Cumberland: My old friend Jeff Alderton at the Cumberland Times-News has a story worth reading on the rescue of a woman from her burning home Friday morning. An off-duty lieutenant spotted the fire and along with others tried to get in. On-duty crews got there and made the grab. The woman is in critical condition.
Early video, lots of rescues, two badly burned in weekend apartment fire in Prince George’s County: PGFD crews plucked a lot of people off balconies, including a man and a woman who were seriously burned, during Saturday’s fire in what used to be called Springhill Lake. Also, a family of six jumped to safety. There is some early video along with still pictures and details. There are also lots of comments, including one writer who was quite critical of your editor, his motivations and the blog’s content. Click here for everything.
Well, they are advertised as high visibility: The NSW Rural Fire Service in Australia ordered the yellow T-shirts for safety, so the firefighters can be seen. Female firefighters in Australia say they are being seen alright, just not in the way they would like. Clearly the shirts were ordered by a man. Check it out.
Ladder overturns: Lots of pictures from Quebec where four firefighters were slightly hurt after their truck tipped on its side on a curve while responding to an alarm.
Bone drill: When you can’t find the vein there are other options. Firegeezer looks at the bone drills being used by a Nebraska fire department.
Now Dave is just being silly: More than a year-and-a-half after I discovered it, the Gregson Street Guillotine in Durham still gets my attention. We revisit the box truck killer.
The director of emergency management in Warren County resigned Friday in the wake of an investigation of his department after a 911 dispatcher was accused of sleeping just prior to answering a call in a high-profile murder case.
Frank R. Young, 53 had worked for the county for more than 20 years. His resignation takes effect on Tuesday.
Young, who lives in Hamilton Township, was not in the office Friday and could not be reached for comment.
His resignation came two days after county officials revealed that dispatcher Ron Kronenberger apparently came out of a sound sleep and wasn’t making sense when he answered the 911 call of Ryan Widmer reporting his wife Sarah’s drowning in their bathtub in 2008.
Widmer was convicted of murder for killing his wife but was granted a new trial for reasons unrelated to Kronenberger’s actions. His murder conviction was set aside because of juror misconduct.
County commissioners would not say directly that Young was forced out but hinted that he was.
“It don’t take a rocket scientist to review the surroundings of this situation,” Commissioner Mike Kilburn said.
Commissioner Dave Young (no relation to Frank Young) was irate this week when he found out that dispatchers may have been sleeping on the job and especially that the Widmer case was involved.
He questioned why it took nearly six months for communications center officials to investigate the allegation against Kronenberger when it surfaced in a training session in April.
Frank Young notified County Administrator Dave Gully about the investigation in late August, according to county records. Commissioners didn’t learn about it until Gully shared a report of that investigation earlier this week.
“They told Gully they were investigating disciplinary problems inside of there, including with Ron Kronenberg. But no one said, ‘And by the way, it relates to a murder trial call,’” Dave Young said Friday.
Commissioners have since called for hiring an independent consultant to conduct a management review of the communications center and to install security cameras at the dispatch center.
“I think I’ve been pretty public saying what was going on in the dispatch center was not acceptable. Some of those things border on ridiculous,” Dave Young said. “We said there were going to be changes at the communications center, and we are accepting Frank Young’s resignation.”
In his letter to commissioners, Frank Young said “the time has come to pursue other goals in my life.”
He apologized for the short notice and said, “I believe this step is a positive one for all.”
He recognized his staff as “the finest people in the world.”
“Without their friendship, support and daily understanding my job would have been much more difficult,” he wrote.
Gully said Frank Young, who made $76,141.26 a year, will be paid about $12,000 for accumulated sick and vacation time. The county also has agreed to continue his health and life insurance benefits through the end of the year.
Gully has recommended that commissioners appoint John Bruce – former West Chester police chief who had problems of his own before he left that job – as interim director of Warren County Emergency Management Services effective Tuesday. Bruce’s annual salary would be $75,000.
Commissioners will have to vote on the resignation and the appointment during their next scheduled meeting Tuesday.
Bruce stepped down from West Chester Police Department’s top position last December after he was part of an internal investigation suggesting he told his nephew, who was applying for an officer’s position, and a potential police cadet to lie about past drug use and minor scrapes with the law.
Bruce denied any wrongdoing and a report found that he had not violated township policy.
However, the Fraternal Order of Police issued a no-confidence vote a month before his resignation. Members questioned Bruce’s ethical standards and raised concerns about how his actions would affect public perception of the department.
While the circumstances are very different, a lot of people in Washington were reminded yesterday of the crash of Air Florida Flight 90 into the icy Potomac River. Tuesday was the 27th anniversary of that tragedy. Seventy-eight people, including four who were in their vehicles on the inbound 14th Street Bridge, died in that accident in the middle of a snow storm at 4:01 PM on January 13, 1982.
While the crash into the Hudson was a ditching of a commercial jet by a skilled crew after an apparent catastrophic engine failure (possibly due to a bird strike), the Potomac crash was blamed on the actions of the crew. Among the most significant findings by the NTSB were that the Flight 90 pilot and co-pilot failed to have the anti-icing system turned on prior to take off. This resulted in a sensor icing over and in turn providing high false thrust indicator readings. The jet took off with inadequate power to stay airborne. It crashed just north of National Airport.
Five people were plucked from the icy Potomac by the US Park Police Eagle helicopter crew of Donald Usher and Gene Windsor. The video above, from a story I did for Channel 9 in 1992, was shot by photographer Bruce Bookholtz. My friend Bruce is retiring at the end of this week. Bruce also had been at National Airport before the crash doing a story on the snow storm with reporter John Goldsmith. It turned out they had shot video of Flight 90 at the gate.
One story that wasn’t publicly known until I reported it on the 20th anniversary, is that the actions of another US Park Police pilot possibly saved the day. In 1982, US Park Police did not supply a snow plow for the hanger in Anacostia Park. Pilot Ron Galey took the call about the crash. As Usher and Windsor got the chopper ready. Galey jumped into his own snow plow equipped pickup truck and cleared a path for the helicopter’s take off. Without that effort, the helicopter may have arrived too late for the rescues.
There were a number of heroes that day. This includes Arland Williams, believed to be the sixth passenger who survived the initial impact. The other survivors say Williams repeatedly passed the life ring from the helicopter to his fellow survivors. Williams drowned by the time the helicopter came back for him. The inbound 14th Street span is now named for Arland Williams.
The other story from that day that has always touched me is of Roger Olian. Olian was then a sheet metal worker on the way home from his job at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital. Olian saw the survivors flailing in the frigid waters before any rescuers arrived. Feeling he had to do something, Olian jumped in and swam toward the middle of the river. While he didn’t save anyone, the survivors all cited Olian’s act as giving them hope they soon would be rescued.
Olian’s actions were somewhat overshadowed by Lenny Skutnik who also jumped into the river. Skutnik grabbed survivor Priscilla Tirado who had been brought close to the shore by the helicopter, but couldn’t make it in on her own. Skutnik was recognized later that month during President Ronald Reagan’s State of the Union address. It began the tradition of honoring heroes during the event. Anyone willing to bet that US Airways Pilot Chesley Sullenberger will be honored at President Barack Obama’s first State of the Union address?
The Air Florida accident had a significant impact on regional cooperation among the fire departments in the Washington, DC area. There was much criticism about the lack of coordination between Virginia and DC emergency crews.
Among the loudest critics was Channel 9 Editorial Director Rich Adams. Rich, also a columnist for Firehouse Magazine, did many on-air editorials prodding local fire service leaders to do better regional planning. The incident has long been cited as an early catalyst for radio interoperability, two decades before the phrase became a mantra following September 11.
Within a half-hour of the crash into the Potomac, the area’s subway system, Metrorail, suffered its first fatal accident. It happened just north of the 14th street bridge in a tunnel south of the Federal Triangle station. Three people were killed and 25 were injured.
Below is part 1 of Seconds from Disaster, a National Geographic documentary on the crash of Flight 90 and the errors made in the cockpit. Click here for the other parts.
The emergency landing of United Flight 232 in Iowa on July 19, 1989 is often cited as one of the best examples of how crew resource management should be done. Pilot Al Haynes and his crew (including an off-duty pilot on board who offered a hand) were hailed as heroes in doing what might have seemed impossible in landing a severely crippled jet, saving the lives of 185 of the 285 people on board. Will Flight 1549 Pilot Sullenberger and his crew now be the ones used for the textbook example of excellent crew resource management?
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