Deputy State Fire Marshall Mike Turner says hot ashes from a wood burning stove caused the Scottsbluff house fire Thursday evening that claimed the life of 92 year old Sal Blanco.
Blanco's body was found in the kitchen area according to Turner.
Gering and Scottsbluff rural firefighters assisted the Scottsbluff fire department in fighting the blaze, which was reported at 8:23 p.m. at 1715 5th Avenue.
The video above is news coverage of Wednesday's hearing involving Macon-Bibb County Lt. Stephanie Burke, who was demoted from captain by Chief Marvin Riggins after learning of Burke's involvement in a September 18 hazing using a fake gunman at Station 108. The clip below has a longer, unedited version of the video that prompted the punishment. Chief Riggins narrates that video explaining why he believes Burke knew more than she admitted. At the bottom is the video that was posted to YouTube.
During testimony Wednesday, a former Macon-Bibb County fire captain denied that she had helped plan a hazing prank at a fire station.
Stephanie Burke also denied that she told another firefighter to video the prank. The video was later posted on the social media website YouTube, prompting an investigation and subsequent disciplinary action.
Earlier in the hearing, Fire Chief Marvin Riggins testified that Burke’s reactions on the video did not indicate to him “someone who is afraid.”
Burke took the stand Wednesday afternoon to say she knew about the stunt in advance, but didn't know the details.
In fact, one firefighter texted her to say he couldn't find anyone to play the role of a shooter, so the stunt was called off.
When the masked gunman entered the station house that day, she said, she was scared at first, but soon realized that the prank was back on.
Earlier, a Macon-Bibb fire battalion chief defended Burke. James Wallace was the first witness for the defense.
He says Burke was good at her job as captain and he would be glad to have her back in that role. He said demoting Burke to lieutenant for her role in the hazing stunt was too harsh.
Five firefighters were disciplined in the case.
Wallace today said he had heard scuttlebutt that a prank was in the works against a new private at Station 108. He says he did not know exactly what was happening, he'd just heard talk of it.
Wallace says pranking rookies had been a tradition at the fire department.
Wallace says he was on the other side of the building when the prank happened. He found out about it when he walked back across and everyone was laughing.
He said he saw the video that night and told them they would end in the chief's office for that. He says he thought that would end it.
Wallace says if he had to recommend discipline for Burke he would agree with a 20-day suspension but not demotion.
"Her, or any of them, I would take them back today," Wallace said when asked if he would be willing to have Burke serve as captain again.
Earlier in the day, Macon-Bibb's fire chief testified that Burke lied to him about planning the videotaped shooting stunt.
Chief Marvin Riggins was the first witness today against Burke.
He said he talked to Burke the day after the videotaped hazing stunt. When he asked her if she knew about the prank, Riggins says Burke told him she was as surprised as the rookies.
Riggins then showed an unedited version of the hazing stunt. He stopped it at several spots to point out Burke.
He says he can see Burke laughing with other firefighters while it happened. She put her hands over her ears just as the firecracker was set to go off, and she jumped up to give high fives at the end. The chief says those actions show she was not scared and had to know about what was happening.
Riggins says after initial interviews, three firefighters gave additional statements saying Burke was more involved than she let on.
Riggins says he asked her repeatedly if she was involved, and she said no.
During cross examination, Riggins says firefighter Justin hill came to him saying he did not feel safe or comfortable at station and was having sleep issues. He was one of the rookies at the firehouse, he said.
Capt Tom Musselwhite was the next witness for city. He was ordered by the chief to conduct a criminal investigation on the incident.
Musselwhite says after looking at the video frame by frame, there was no doubt everyone but the rookie was involved.
He says Burke laughed, moved away from the camera so you could see the rookie, and she clapped at the end.
Burke's hearing began just after 9 a.m. at Macon City Hall.
In his opening statement, Judd Drake the city's attorney, said Burke is guilty of improper conduct, breaking city guidelines, dishonest and disgraceful conduct.
Drake says video and testimony will show Burke failed to accept responsibility and was dishonest to the chief.
Burke's lawyer says the captain is a 25-year veteran of the department, who has never been never been disciplined and worked through the ranks.
She says Burke lost two months' pay and was demoted. They're asking the judge to overturn Chief Marvin Riggins' decision, restore her captain's rank and repay the days lost
Two firefighters have already had their appeal hearings. Josh Brewer who video-taped the incident was demoted and suspended. Christopher Hughes, who says he brought the gun used in the video, was fired.
Firefighters allegedly staged the stunt as a hazing prank, and the video was posted to YouTube.
The Roosevelt Hotel burned a little more than 48 years ago in Jacksonville, Florida. While I was vaguely aware of the fire I had never seen this footage before. It is more than 11 minutes of film, apparently shot by local TV crews on Sunday, December 29, 1963. The fire left 22 people dead and injured more than 100, including 20 Jacksonville firefighters. Among the dead was Assistant Fire Chief James Romedy, who apparently suffered a heart attack while directing rescue efforts. The film was uploaded yesterday to the YouTube Channel for IAFF Local 122. The union dedicated it to Chief Romedy.
Spend a few minutes watching the film, particularly the daring ladder rescues with ground ladders used to extend the reach of the ladder trucks. One of the ground ladders comes crashing down at 3:55 in the film.
This fire occurred a little more than a month after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The hotel was packed with guests in town for the Gator Bowl held the day before the fire, where the University of North Carolina beat the Air Force Academy 35-0.
The fire started shortly before 7:30 am in the ballroom ceiling on the first floor of the 13-story, 300 room luxury hotel. Firefighters arrived on scene to find people hanging out of windows by tied-together bed linens. The United States Navy suppled eight helicopters for rescuing victims trapped higher than aerial ladders could reach. These victims were air lifted to neighboring parking garages for treatment by rescue personnel. A Second Alarm was struck at 7:47am, followed by a Third Alarm at 7:50. A Fourth and General Alarm was sounded at 7:57am.
The fire was extinguished within two hours. In all, 475 people were rescued. 21 people were found dead in their beds during a secondary search of the hotel.
Among the distinguished guests in the hotel at the time were Norm Sloan, the head basketball coach at the University of Florida, and 1963 Miss America Donna Axum. Axum was treated for smoke inhalation and burns to her throat and nose. She was bed ridden for several days.
The Buffalo News has spent the last two days providing a critical look at the operations of Rural Metro in Western New York. Today's story is about the 2009 case where an ambulance crew was convicted of a pair of arsons and suspected of others.
Reporters Dan Herbeck and Matthew Spina make a case, after talking to co-workers of the arsonists and fire investigators, that Rural Metro did not take information it had to the office of the Buffalo Fire Marshal.
According to the article, Rural Metro employees became suspicious about the pair because of text messages and other clues and reported the concerns to management. The company says it did its own six-day investigation and reported the findings to the Buffalo Fire Department. But now-retired Lt. Salvatore Colangelo, who was in charge of the Buffalo Fire Marshal's Office, says he doesn't recall any such contact:
"We investigated this thoroughly," said John M. Rusinski, the company's risk manager, who also is a volunteer firefighter in West Seneca and who recently joined the Town Board. "It was a he-said, she-said. … We did our due diligence," he insisted.
Rusinski said he called the Buffalo Fire Department on May 18, 2009, to make officials there aware of the suspicions and his inconclusive findings.
But by that date, the Buffalo Fire Marshal's Office already had begun its own investigation after receiving a tip about the Rural/Metro EMTs from another Rural/Metro ambulance worker, according to the man who headed the office at the time, now-retired Lt. Salvatore Colangelo.
In yesterday's paper, reporter Spina looked at claims from employees and former employees that Rural Metro in Western New York is being investigated by federal officials for its billing practices. Rural Metro is facing similar scrutiny elsewhere in the country.
On November 30, DC Fire & EMS Department Chief Kenneth Ellerbe really stirred things up by officially telling DC City Council members he wanted firefighters to move from four platoons of 24/72 to three platoons on 12-hour rotations with three shifts of day work, followed by three shifts of night work, followed by three days off (3-3-3). Since then, there has been a lot written about this subject in the Washington Post.
It started with a Post editorial generally supporting the chief's plan. That was followed by an op ed piece by IAFF Local 36 President Ed Smith who supports the status quo of 24/72 and believes 12-hour shifts would not save the city money and would cause firefighter fatigue. Then Marcus Rosenbaum, the brother of former New York Times reporter David Rosenbaum, had an op ed piece saying both the 24/72 and 3-3-3 shifts were not compatible with having alert firefighters, paramedics and EMTs working the streets of the Nation's Capital.
Firefighters would work a 48-hour week, while EMTs and paramedics would continue to work 42 hours. Additionally, EMT and paramedic start times would be adjusted to increase the number of employees on duty to provide “peak load staffing” of ambulances during our busiest times.
The result would be more personnel available during each shift, reducing the need to pay overtime to fully staff fire trucks and ambulances during vacations, illnesses and training. Over several years, the department would be able to reduce staffing through attrition, eventually reaching the optimal number of personnel to meet our service obligations — without closing fire stations or cutting services. We think the savings from this strategy could exceed $30 million annually by fiscal 2017.
There are arguments to made regarding how 24- and 12-hour shifts affect job performance. But working 24 hours straight is too long for employees of the department, given our extremely heavy call load.
My priority as chief remains utilitarian: providing the best possible service at the best possible price.
Some of our employees may consider the changes we are discussing to be a hardship, but this department’s commitment to D.C. residents remains unchanged. I remain hopeful that executive managers and the labor organization can come together to accomplish this.
Chief Ellerbe received a lot of positive reaction from members of the City Council when his plan was first presented. But many firefighters continue to criticize the chief in comments sections of various websites and on Facebook about the shift plan, his banning of outerwear with the DCFD logo and other issues.
One of the most recent criticisms came from the blog, Raising Ladders. Written by a DC firefighter and paramedic, the latest column focuses on comment cards that are to be handed to patients the department comes in contact with. Below is the real card and below that a modified version posted on Raising Ladders. Click here for the commentary that goes with the cards
WJBK-TV reporter Alexis Wiley, who did a follow-up report Monday night on Saturday's deadly house fire in Detroit where police took 13 minutes to respond to an unruly crowd, said that firefighters were outraged. But is anyone else outraged and is any reporter going to ask the right questions and demand some answers about this incident?
I am sure this slow response isn't the fault of police officers not wanting to help firefighters in trouble. One of my Detroit friends tells me the cops on the street are taking the heat for this. They shouldn't be.
The indication from the police spokesperson over the weekend was that this was resource related, calling the response time "appropriate" based on call volume and travel time.
In this latest story, Alexis Wiley used the same audio we shared with you on Sunday and highlighted the same clips we noted of Chief 5 calling for help at various points. The Monday response from the Detroit Police Department is pretty much the same as on Saturday. Wiley reports a spokesperson told her, considering the runs that police were already handling and the travel times "13 minutes is pretty good".
"Pretty good". "Appropriate". For firefighters in trouble?
Isn't anyone going to ask the police would this be pretty good and appropriate if it were a police officer in trouble? Many of our readers have asked that in the comments section and on Facebook after learning of this incident and the one New Year's Eve where Medic 9 was broken down with gunfire all around them.
There are other questions that I would hope some reporter would ask. Did the fire dispatchers do their jobs properly and relay the urgency of the request to police? Did the police dispatchers prioritize the call properly when given to them? Does anybody care? Shouldn't Charlie LeDuff be stalking city officials until he gets answers to these questions?
I am not naive about the lack of resources Detroit has been dealing with across the board in public safety. It's horrible. But have the standards become so low that everyone accepts that this is a "pretty good" or "appropriate" response?
Shouldn't a firefighter, or paramedic in trouble call be given the same priority as a police officer in trouble call, or at least damn close to it?
As in the New Year's Eve incident with Medic 9 broken down and surrounded by gunfire, members of the Detroit Fire Department were again left waiting for Detroit police officers during a tense situation. It happened at a fire near Burlingame and 12th Saturday around 9:00 PM. According to news reports, firefighters rescued an elderly person and a child from the home, but a man and woman in their 60s died in the fire.
The audio above is compressed and not in real time, but the Detroit Police Department says it took 13 minutes to get an officer to the scene. At 3:45 on the recording you hear Chief 5 ask for police. At 4:26 he is told no scout is available. At 5:07 the chief wants an ETA for arson or homicide because of an unruly civilian. He is told the ETA for an arson car is 30 minutes and the dispatcher would try again for a scout car.
At 5:41 the Chief 5 transmits the following: "Central, one way or another I am going to need police on the scene. We are starting to get a crowd of unruly citizens and they are starting to come after the firefighters."
Police were called to the scene after a riot broke out. Some say the police response was too slow.
Detroit Police tell us it took officers 13 minutes to get there. They say considering travel time and other emergencies in the city that night, the response time was acceptable.
"Acceptable"? Thirteen minutes is acceptable when firefighters are under attack? Really?
How about "unavoidable", possibly, because DPD has the same limited resources as DFD? But I don't see how you can ever call that an "acceptable" response time in this situation.
“It was an ugly scene,” (Detroit Fire Arson Investigator Patrick) McNulty said, adding that close to 100 police officers were there when he arrived at 9:45 p.m. “The firemen felt like they were close to turning the water on people. They’re outnumbered. There were a lot of people out there. And once police arrived, things calmed down pretty quick.”
Dan McNamara, head of the firefighters union, said Saturday night that no police officers were initially available when firefighters called for help.
“We’re unprotected out here,” McNamara said Saturday night.
Marcus Rosenbaum has written a column for The Washington Post about Chief Kenneth Ellerbe's proposal to do away with the current shift for firefighters of 24/72 and replace it with 12-hour shifts of three days, three nights and three off (3-3-3). Rosenbaum's brother David was a former New York Times reporter who was beaten on a Northwest Washington street six years ago. David Rosenbaum's treatment by the Metropolitan Police Department, the DC Fire & EMS Department and Howard University Hospital was found to be greatly flawed and highlighted problems with the way EMS was delivered in the Nation's Capital.
Following David Rosenbaum's death, his family dropped a lawsuit against the City in exchange for a task force to lead the way to major improvements for EMS. The task force called for "shorter shifts for all employees . . . to ensure the goal of having alert and awake employees who can provide competent patient care.”
Chief Ellerbe has cited the report in justifying both his shift change plan and the recent controversy over the department's logo.
Marcus Rosenbaum, pointing to studies done on performance for those who are sleep deprived, believes that 24-shifts are not safe when it comes to patient care. But Rosenbaum says the studies also show that Chief Ellerbe's plan is not the way to go either. Rosenbaum thinks both sides need to come together and approach this with open minds so they can develop a schedule that does not include extended work hours that can cause sleep deprivation.
Here are some excerpts from this latest opinion piece on the shift change issue:
Sleep deprivation leads to underperformance and serious mistakes. In fact, in 2008 the National Institute of Medicine recommended that doctors-in-training should not work more than 16 hours in a row, should not be awakened to treat patients and should not even drive home if they have worked longer than 16 hours. And a 2009 article on shift work in the journal Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports concludes that firefighters’ performance “is likely to be significantly degraded” on shifts like those used in the District.
Setting aside whether it’s proper for anyone to be paid to sleep during work hours, people who have life-and-death jobs need adequate sleep, whether they are doctors or airline pilots or firefighters or EMTs. That’s impossible in a busy firehouse. “If you’re waking up every two hours,” says Charles Czeisler, director of the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School, “you might as well be up all night.”
Shorter shifts are the only way to ensure that our emergency workers get enough sleep. But this doesn’t mean that Chief Ellerbe’s 3-3-3 plan is the right way to do it. Indeed, Czeisler thinks it’s perfectly horrible. First, he says, no one should work six 12-hour days in a row. Ever. Twelve-hour shifts make people “chronically sleep-deprived”; six in a row is a disaster. (Ellerbe says that built-in, rotating extra days off would rarely require anyone to work six days in a row, but to avoid it they would have to forgo quite a bit of overtime pay.)
Second, Czeisler says, no one should have to work three day shifts followed by three night shifts. Instead, people should work days for an extended period, followed by nights for an extended period. “You don’t want to be jerked around from one shift to another,” he says. If you are, your biological clock can never get set, and your body is always out of sync; you’re working below your ability no matter what shift you’re on.
Firefighters racing to save a man's life put on a display of brute strength this morning when they teamed up to lift a 3,200-pound car off pedestrian who was pinned to a Northeast Portland street.
"It was pretty impressive," said Tommy Schroder, a firefighter who was on his way to work and heard the call on his radio. "I had arrived just after the accident and watched these guys get around the car and lift it up."
Firefighters with the city’s Heavy Rescue unit arrived and a paramedic crawled under the vehicle to begin treating the injured man. Because of the man’s serious injuries, firefighters realized they didn’t have much time to use equipment to free the victim. Eight firefighters lifted the 3,200-pound vehicle as two firefighters moved the pinned man to an awaiting ambulance.
“It wasn’t pretty, but it worked,” said firefighter Mick Held, a 16-year Portland Fire Bureau veteran.
An arriving paramedic determined that the man had grave injuries. Firefighters made a quick decision to forego some safety procedures and simply lift the Chrysler PT Cruiser off the man, said 16-year veteran firefighter Mick Held.
"We were putting a plan together and realized how many of us were there," Held said. "We had two firefighters with the patient to help pull him out from beneath the car. And then eight of us lifted the car off of him. It wasn’t pretty but it worked."
Make sure you take some time to sit down and watch this video from the Chicago Fire Department and the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. It is a good way to start the new year.
It was produced and directed by the extremely talented Rob Maloney and managed for NFFF by JoEllen Kelly (I would call her the executive producer).
A special, special thank you from Rob, JoEllen, the leadership at NFFF and me to our regular STATter911.com contributor Steve Redick. Steve, graciously opened up his video library to Rob and NFFF for this project.
Of course, these stories could not be told without the cooperation and compassion of Commissioner Robert Hoff, IAFF Local 2, the men and women of the department and the survivors of fallen firefighters from CFD.
A five-year-old girl who nearly died during an asthma attack November 28th thanked the three Prince George's County firefighter/paramedics who's quick action saved her life.
Christina Luckett handed out personalized plaques featuring her picture and photo to firefighter/medics Edward Scott, William Philpott and Clinton volunteer firefighter Ashley Butler as she met the rescuers inside the firehouse.
The trio also received Emergency Service Awards from Prince George's County fire chief Marc. S. Bashoor.
The rescuers took the unusual step of racing Christina to Southern Maryland Hospital in their fire truck while performing CPR, rather than waiting a few extra minutes for an ambulance to arrive. She had stopped breathing and had no pulse.
She was released from the hospital 3-days later and has fully recovered.
"Thank you!" Christina exclaimed before the formalities. "They helped me feel better."
Engine 31 went on location with fire on the 1st floor of a 1 story dwelling. B-43 reported a 2nd dwelling involved and requested additional equipment (E22, E34, L15) to the scene. B-43 ordered all crews out of the main fire building to regroup and interior operations resumed.
Firefighters came to the rescue of two police officers outnumbered in Mariners Harbor today (Tuesday), in a scene so chaotic that New York’s Bravest employed a truck-mounted deluge gun — a water cannon — to fend off the marauding group of teens.
The scene unfolded at about 3:30 p.m. in front of 83 Harbor Rd., where a large group of teenagers had amassed to confront a teenage girl who lives in the residence.
By the time it was over, two officers were sent to Richmond University Medical Center, West Brighton, for treatment, and nine teens ended up under arrest, said Inspector John Denesopolis, the 120th Precinct's commanding officer.
It all started as a group numbering about 50 that started yelling. Someone called 911 and a couple of officers were dispatched.
They were apparently overrun by the crowd and the officers were reportedly knocked down.
It all unfolded on the same block as an engine house. The crew got in their truck and used the cannon to disperse the crowd. Back-up arrived and police reportedly arrested nine teens.
The Maryland Fire & Rescue Institute has been working with TRX Systems in the development of the Sentrix Tracking Unit. Science Nation reporter Miles O'Brien (formerly of CNN) takes a look at this system, which promises to operate deep inside a building where GPS will not work.
With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), electrical engineer (and CEO Carol) Politi and her team at TRX Systems are developing a portable device called the Sentrix Tracking Unit. It straps on like a belt and consists of a suite of sensors. "The sensors include accelerometers and gyroscopes. Those are sensors similar to what you have in your Wii for example–pressure sensors ranging sensors. It allows us to create a picture of what a user has done," says Politi.
"The sensors monitor the movement of the user," explains Ben Funk, vice president of Engineering at TRX. "So when the user moves forward or backwards, left or right, it determines how far a person moved in each direction."
While I was quite busy yesterday gathering material for a very, very special Thanksgiving Day message that will soon be posted (in it I will reveal something that may shake the world of fire and EMS blogging) two of my blogging colleauges were actually finding dramatic must see videos.
Above is video from Anthem, Arizona that Firefighter Spot posted showing a burning box truck running into the fire engine that was working on extinguishing the flames.
Our friend Steve Redick (click here for Steve's books & photographs) took one his trips out of Chicago to Detroit to be there for Devil's Night. Steve shot a bunch of fires. These were all day time fires and give you a good view of Detroit firefighters in action.
On Monday, while engine 1 was away from the fire station on Calhoun Street, someone broke in through a bathroom window, ransacked the firefighters lockers and stole several items.
Yesterday’s burglary closes a month that has seen several criminal acts against firefighters. As firefighters battled a major blaze on Genesee Street that injured four of their own Oct. 15, members of a large crowd that had gathered tried to steal a power cutting device from the back of an engine. They were foiled by firefighters and police.
On Oct. 21, a city teen hurled a large concrete block at firefighters pumping water out of a basement on Kirkbride Avenue. No injuries were reported.
(Special thanks to reader Aaron Krontz for alerting us to this incident.)
INCnow.com reports this is video shot by videographer Aaron Dohring of a wall collapse during a fire at the Momper Insulation Company at 2431 W. Main Street. The fire was reported around 11:30 this morning. Two firefighters caught in the collapse were quickly pulled free and are reported in good condition. One refused treatment and the other was taken to a local hospital.
Above is a frame just as the first debris falls. Three firefighters are seen here with the fourth in front of them operating a line into the bay door. The stream is visible above and to the left side of the head of the firefighter on the left. The firefighter on the right (the officer?) points and moves forward as the wall collapses. That firefighter and the one on the line are in the middle of it as the wall comes completely down, less than two seconds after this frame.
The fire escalated and firefighters were pulled out, Willis said. After firefighters were out of the building a side wall of the building collapsed and a firefighter who was on the perimeter of the building was injured, Willis said.
It is unknown how serious the firefighter's injuries are.
In the fireground audio below from firefighterdispatch on YouTube the evacuation occurs around 9:30. The collapse is reported at 23:15.
Besides multiple collapses, another issue has been the concern about hazardous materials and toxic runoff. Below is video from a press briefing about the fire.
Tennis anyone? Click the image to see the WPLG-TV report.
WPLG-TV reported yesterday "The Village of Key Biscayne has launched a massive investigation after Local 10 cameras spotted on-duty firefighters playing tennis outside the village limits."
First of all, what in the world is the fascination by TV reporters and anchors these days with the word "massive"? Something tells me this is not going to be a "massive" investigation. Yes, it will be looked at and dealt with. But come on, massive? They cheapen the story with hype that is completely out of perspective with reality. Some consultant must be telling news operations to use that word because I hear the phrase "massive fire" an awful lot in stories around the country (and 90 percent of the time it ain't massive).
But I digress. The point of the story is that the entire shift of Key Biscayne Fire Rescue was found by the reporter and videographer playing tennis a little less than a mile outside the Village limits on October 20 at the Crandon Park Tennis Center. The officer in charge has now been asked to write a report to interim Village manager John Gilbert. Gilbert is still listed on the Village of Key Biscayne website as the fire chief.
If the firefighters were doing what they were supposed to as part of PT, they probably shouldn't have run from the cameras the way they did. The reporter says they gave the indication they were responding to a call on the radio, but Village officials say that was not the case.
Gilbert confirms there was no specific policy the crew violated, except possibly using common sense. It looks like there soon will be policy. The report indicates the firehouse has a gym and basketball court.
This is another good reminder that cameras are everywhere. Make sure you can justify your actions and don't have to run from them. Whether you like it or not, little things that everyone used to get away with will likely come back to bite you on the local newscast or YouTube.
Here's an excerpt from WLPG's article:
"I think there was an extreme error in judgment. I was not aware this was taking place," said interim Village manager John Gilbert, who started the fire department 18 years ago.
"There will be an investigation. We will get their side in what they did and why they did it, and I will make some decisions on what happens next," Gilbert said.
Key Biscayne Mayor Frank Caplan expressed concern that firefighters on duty were playing tennis outside their jurisdiction, which might have had life-or-death consequences in a true emergency.
"There would be a delay in response time, which there surely would be if a call came in," said Caplan. "Absent other coverage on the island, there would be a delay."
Point A is the Village of Key Biscayne Fire Rescue station. Point B is the Crandon Park Tennis Center. Google Maps indicates they are 1.5 miles apart on the same road. It appears the firefighters were playing tennis about .8 miles north of the village limits.
Above is police dash-cam video of a crash that injured two Goose Creek, South Carolina firefighters early Wednesday morning. One firefighter suffered a broken ankle and the other has a broken leg after being hit at the scene of an a single car accident on U.S. 176. Both firefighters were released from the hospital on Wednesday.
In the video, a police is telling the woman in the first crash that he is going to have to charge her when a car driven by Jessica Lanier plows through the scene. Lanier was charged with DUI and had bond set at $997.
According to an incident report, two firefighters wearing reflective fire gear were walking towards an emergency vehicle when the suspect's vehicle struck both of them. The force of the impact then flung both of the victims onto the left side of an emergency vehicle.
On Marco Island, Florida, Chief Michael Murphy is calling for state investigators to look further at what the fire department discovered in its own report into why it took almost an hour before an ambulance was ready to take 80-year-old Paul Anderson from an urgent care facility to Naples Community Hospital after he suffered a stroke on October 2. Anderson died at the hospital. The Marco Island Fire Rescue Department report concluded "that the system failed to meet the needs of our residents and did not meet the expectations of service that our residents and businesses should expect.'
Here's part of the report's summary:
On the morning of October 2nd a Marco Island resident brought his friend who was not feeling well to the NCH Marco Island Healthcare Center. The patient was checked into the facility for evaluation. The patient needed transport to the Naples Community Hospital for treatment. As described in the Deputy Chief’s report numerous efforts were made by the friend personally, the NCH Marco Island Healthcare Staff through 911 calls and our own personnel to obtain emergency transport for the patient all of which were hampered and delayed. The one critical issue was the fact that an ambulance owned by Naples Healthcare System was not staffed at 800: AM and the crew did not arrive until after 9:00 A.M. This issue became compounded by the actions of other agency personnel not on the scene, following directives in some cases, making phone calls, making assumptions despite seven requests resulting in delaying and cancelling, the ambulance in our station, an ambulance coming from Isle of Capri, and the Medflight Helicopter. In addition, a needed medication requested by the NCH Transport Medic in charge of the call was not on the NCH Transport ambulance or on our Fire Unit and had to be retrieved from the NCH Marco Island Healthcare Center for her to administer in treatment of the patient. However the medication is carried on Collier County EMS ambulances.
NBC2 uncovered NCH is supposed to have a paramedic on staff during hours that coincide with the urgent care center's hours; but the day Anderson was taken there, a paramedic wasn't scheduled to work until an hour after the office opened.
"I'm not clearly pointing the finger at NCH in this issue. There are multiple failures to the system that resulted in this case," Murphy said. "There were potentially violations of a COPCN, there were potentially violations of Duty to Act with response to 911, and I think our citizens deserve an answer."
The Connecticut Post's Anne M. Amato sure has a unique story from Shelton. The state of the radio system used by the Shelton Fire Department has become a campaign issue with current Mayor Mark Lauretti strongly disputing claims of just how bad the system is. On the other side of the issue is Lauretti's opponent, Chris Jones, who is a volunteer firefighter in Shelton.
To solve the radio issues the city applied to FEMA for a $1 million grant. One line written by the city grant writer reads, "Safety cannot be guaranteed with odds of 50/50, for if our luck runs out, we could be faced with tragedy."
So how will FEMA react when they find out the mayor indicated in some very strong language that what the city wrote on its grant application is a lie.
But Mayor Mark A. Lauretti Monday disputed the claim that the radio system fails that often, even though that's the number cited in the federal grant application.
"That's bull—-," the mayor said.
"I know the equipment is old and has shortcomings and needs to be replaced, but I don't agree that it fails 50 percent of the time," he said. "They put that in the grant application, and I don't believe it's true."
Chris Jones, a city firefighter who is challenging Lauretti in the November election, said he's seen the radio failures firsthand.
There is no information about when and where this occurred, but it is an interesting bit of video at a vehicle fire. The driver of one of the cars passing the car carrying the videographer must have had his or her eye on the fire and missed seeing that big red thing with the hose attached. The camera was pointed the wrong way when the actual collision occurs, but it is still worth watching.
Regular contributor Bill Rohrer of NewsWorking was on the scene just before firefighters arrived around 7:30 this morning as smoke poured from the Blue Fox Hotel and Bar in Whitehall, Pennsylvania. Bill tells us one person died and six civilians and two firefighters were injured. News reports indicate the structure was built in 1901 and was once known as the North Coplay Hotel.
The box was transmitted at 0734 hours for a structural fire with people trapped at the Blue Fox Hotel and Bar located at 5834 Coplay Road. Engines 5, 4, 14, Ladder 6, Rescue 8 under the command of Chief Benner (16) respond.
Assistant Chief Kunkle (4A) arrives and finds smoke pushing from the 3rd floor of the 3-story structure. A restaurant / bar is located on the 1st floor with rooms on the upper floors. Kunkle finds a man, who fell down a flight of stairs, laying at the bottom and removes his unconscious body to the porch where EMS crews from Cetronia begin working on him. Paramedics rush him to an awaiting ambulance, where he then goes into cardiac arrest. Kunkle special-calls Squrt 3 from the Hokendauqua station.
Police were already on-scene assisting the residents out of the building and throwing ground ladders to the 1-story roof in the rear where people were jumping onto the roof. One person on the roof was injured and needed to be rescued with the tower ladder.
Rescue Engine 5 arrives and goes to the second-floor for a search, taking with them a 1 3/4" hand line. The primary search of the second-floor comes up negative and the crews find no fire. They pull the ceilings down and find heavy smoke. Engine 4 arrives and backs up engine 5.
Another crew enters the first-floor and find a fire in the kitchen to the rear of the bar. A second hand line is stretched to the third floor along with the first hand line via an interior stairwell. Crews start attacking the fire, but the two hand lines were no match for the fire.
Outside, Tower 6 arrives and immediately goes into service to the rear to remove the victim on the one-story roof. His injuries appeared to be minor, with leg and back pain.
The fire appears to had a good start before the firefighters arrived. and with the old construction, extended through the walls and voids that were made during renovations of the old hotel.
Northampton Ladder 42 was special-called to work the Alpha Delta corner, while two engines from North Catasauqua were in-service on the Charlie (west) side with master streams.
About an hour and a half into the call, fire started venting from the building. Within 4 hours, the building was a total loss.
A tanker task force was called to assist in supplying tower ladder 6, as the pressure from the hydrants were severely strained from being on the same main.
Overall, companies from two counties assisted in battling this blaze. 1 person was killed, 6 civilians transported to area hospitals along with 2 firefighters. The fire was brought under control about 4 hours later.
Authorities have not identified the man who died, but said he died after he managed to escape from the brick and stucco building at 5834 North Coplay Road after the fire started around 7:30 a.m.
Whitehall Township Mayor Edward Hozza said medics from Cetronia Ambulance tried to revive the man, who was transported to Sacred Heart Hospital and eventually died.
Investigators still aren't sure how the fire started, but believe it may have began on the first floor of the building and spread up to the third floor through the walls, Hozza said. The mayor said fire officials don't suspect foul play.
Three firefighters, including a fire lieutenant, were taken to an area hospital Thursday after they were injured during a rescue mission in East Rock Park, police and fire officials said.
The female hiker became trapped on a ledge on the face of the mountain around 3:30 p.m. Firefighters who had made visual contact with the woman said she appeared to be uninjured.
Lt. Jay Schwartz was seriously injured; he lost his footing and fell, according to (New Haven Fire Department) Chief (Michael) Grant. He is believed to have suffered a compound fracture to his leg. A falling rock struck a second firefighter. Both were transported to the hospital for treatment.
So was a third firefighter who had been suspended from a rope for some three-quarters of an hour. He was being sent to be examined, as a precaution.
DC Fire Chief Kenneth Ellerbe now gets his say. His views on going to 12-hour shifts for firefighters. Plus the chief is getting a lot of heat. Read the comment cards.
33 commentsRead entire opinion by Chief Kenneth Ellerbe
Previous coverage of Chief Ellerbe's plan here, here, here and here
On November 30, DC Fire & EMS Department Chief Kenneth Ellerbe really stirred things up by officially telling DC City Council members he wanted firefighters to move from four platoons of 24/72 to three platoons on 12-hour rotations with three shifts of day work, followed by three shifts of night work, followed by three days off (3-3-3). Since then, there has been a lot written about this subject in the Washington Post.
It started with a Post editorial generally supporting the chief's plan. That was followed by an op ed piece by IAFF Local 36 President Ed Smith who supports the status quo of 24/72 and believes 12-hour shifts would not save the city money and would cause firefighter fatigue. Then Marcus Rosenbaum, the brother of former New York Times reporter David Rosenbaum, had an op ed piece saying both the 24/72 and 3-3-3 shifts were not compatible with having alert firefighters, paramedics and EMTs working the streets of the Nation's Capital.
This weekend Chief Ellerbe gets his say in the Post. Here are excerpts:
Chief Ellerbe received a lot of positive reaction from members of the City Council when his plan was first presented. But many firefighters continue to criticize the chief in comments sections of various websites and on Facebook about the shift plan, his banning of outerwear with the DCFD logo and other issues.
One of the most recent criticisms came from the blog, Raising Ladders. Written by a DC firefighter and paramedic, the latest column focuses on comment cards that are to be handed to patients the department comes in contact with. Below is the real card and below that a modified version posted on Raising Ladders. Click here for the commentary that goes with the cards