Hobart, Indiana apartment fire: Fire at dawn on Tuesday with people jumping, including a woman who is eight-and-a-half months pregnant. You can read details here.
And Dave also hiked barefoot five miles through two foot snow drifts just to get to school each day: I just want you to know I left the warmth of my rustic cabin at Grant Grove in California’s Kings Canyon National Forest and hiked in the dark through bear infested woods in air that is almost too thin for human survival to get to the Internet connection at the John Muir Lodge so I can bring you today’s pearls of wisdom. I hope you appreciate me more now and stop sending those nasty comments. When my son Sam and I checked out the lodge earlier in the evening we found 15 or so people hunched over computers in the warmth of WIFI hotspot. We both had the same observation as we walked out. It was all men. Not one woman was geeky enough to do this in such a spectacular location with beauty all around you. I am particularly geeky because the only shot I am sending you from here is the one to the left. Apparently someone needed a little medical attention around 8:00 PM. We will be in nearby Sequoia National Forest the next two days.
Arrangements for Firefighter Christopher Wheatley: Firefighter Close Calls has all the details on how the Chicago Fire Department will say goodbye to Firefighter/Paramedic Wheatley.
Alarmed in Haverhill, Massachusetts about alarms that don’t work: A Boston TV station is reporting that dozens of red master boxes in commercial structures in Haverhill that were supposed to be alerting the fire department have not been working properly for two years, but the businesses weren’t notified. Here’s the story (thanks to our friend Emily Cyr).
New study says four is better than three: San Diego State University released its study yesterday saying that four firefighters on an engine company is the safest and most effective way to deal with California wildfires. Click here to read the study. Read more from SignOnSanDiego.com.
Attorney explains shoplifting charge against Houston FD’s Jane Draycott: As we told you yesterday the female firefighter who made headlines after saying she found racist and sexist graffiti sprawled in the women’s locker room at a Houston fire station has been charged with shoplifting while in uniform. Now comes word from her lawyer about the pressure Jane Draycott has been facing that may have triggered this most recent incident. Here’s the story.
Back home again for an educational opportunity: We mentioned it before, but there is still room available at Brunacini’s Hazard Zone Management Conference that will take place at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana on October 18th to 20th, 2010. Click here to register and learn details about the conference.
Roof operations in Detroit: This January house fire video has been making the rounds, including The Bravest Online and Firefighter Spot, so I thought I would join in after it was sent along by one of our very loyal readers.






























Quick Takes
1 commentMedic unit stolen this morning: A TV station was on the scene when police recovered a Columbus, Ohio paramedic ambulance and took a man into custody. Check it out.
“It was disgusting Lorain politics at its best”: The words of the fire chief of Lorain, Ohio after the City Council killed a deal to save the jobs of four firefighter. Chief Tom Brown says the budget cuts could mean days when only two of the city’s four stations will be open. Here’s the story.
Fire chief and deputy get to sue over “toxic comments” made to website: Firefighter Nation’s Bill Carey found this very interesting story from Halifax, Nova Scotia where two top fire officials have the court’s okay to go after their “anonymous” enemies. The lawyer for the chief and deputy chief says he now has information on who made the posts thanks to previous rulings that forced a newspaper and Internet providers to cough up the data. The comments centered on allegations of racism. Here’s the story.
Fire chief’s actions on medical call brings suspension: A man in Carlisle, Iowa tells KCCI-TV the person helping his diabetic wife was slurring his words and didn’t seem to know what he was doing. The man who responded to the 911 call is the chief of the Carlisle Fire Department. He’s now been suspended. Check out the story. Watch the video.
A ‘far cry’ from Ricci: That’s what a federal judge wrote in ruling against a white firefighter from Mount Vernon, New York who had filed a discrimination case. Read the details.
Collapse in Orlando caught on video: Two firefighters were injured at an apartment fire yesterday. Firegeezer has the story and the video.
Another DeKalb County firefighter wins his job back: WSB-TV reports a second DeKalb County firefighter has won his job back after being fired for his role in the botched response to a fire that killed an elderly woman. Click here for the latest.
Former firefighter witnesses murder of police officer: Bill Langevin ran to the side of Sgt. Joe Bergeron Saturday after seeing the Maplewood, Minnesota police officer being shot in the head. Langevin spent four years as a St. Paul Police Department officer and twenty more as a firefighter for the city. He got on the officer’s radio, called for help and provided a description of the killers. Click here to read the story and here to watch it.
Houston fire captain critically wounded at birthday party: Senior HD Captain Ricky Johnson, assigned to Station 74, was shot in the lower abdomen while attending a birthday party off-duty. A neighbor, complaining about the noise, killed the man throwing the party for his wife and wounded another man. Click here for more.
Missing equipment? Check eBay: That seems to be the pattern these days. In Sheboygan, Wisconsin a lot of the $20,000 in PPE and other fire & EMS equipment that was missing was being sold on line. A now former firefighter has been charged. Here’s the story.
Punishment for firefighter who lost equipment seen as too harsh: In Toledo, Ohio an arbitrator ruled a firefighter gets 80 percent of his wages back after being docked 120 hours for leaving a radio on the running board of a rig. The firefighter also is no longer required to pay for the lost radio. Here’s more.
New head of internal investigations in Los Angeles: Following a 220 page report critical of how discipline was documented and handled in the Los Angeles Fire Department, a new boss of the Professional Standards Division has been announced. She is Assistant Chief Roxanne Bercik, a 26-year veteran who most recently ran the Homeland Security Division. Read more.