A board of inquiry says a number of factors, including lack of an adequate preventative maintenance program, contributed to a deadly fire truck crash in Boston.
Lt. Kevin Kelley was killed in January 2009 when the ladder truck he was riding on lost its brakes on a steep hill and slammed into a building.
In a 127-page report released on Monday, the board cited 15 “causative factors,” including inadequate funding for preventative maintenance, insufficient manpower in the fire department’s maintenance division, and the installation of improper parts by outside vendors working on fire equipment.
The investigation was one of several into the accident
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino says the department has already implemented recommendations from previous reports, including the hiring of certified civilian mechanics.
Security camera image as Ladder 26 busts through fence before hitting the building. More pictures like this in the report.
Inspite of previous reports of traumatic injuries it has been determined that Bensalem Paramedic Dan McIntosh died of a heart attack.
Bensalem public safety director Fred Harran says Bensalem’s emergency workers are in mourning.
Emergency medical technician Dan McIntosh, 39 (right), is the first paramedic to die in the line of duty in the township’s history. McIntosh was responding to a report of a suicidal person on Sunday night. The patient ran away when McIntosh arrived to help. McIntosh suffered a coronary when he ran after the man. That patient is now being treated for his mental illness. No charges have been filed.
McIntosh, a 13-year veteran of the Bucks County rescue squad, leaves behind a wife and two young children. Our sincere condolences to all affected.
It happened again yesterday. A Houston Fire Department ladder truck was operating near power lines in front of Station 51 when three firefighters were shocked and the rig heavily damaged. An assistant chief says the use of the ladder on the ramp of the station is routine as firefighters check out the equipment each day. When the incident occurred the fire truck’s operation was being demonstrated to a newer firefighter.
Click the image for the Google Maps Street View of Station 51.
When the ladder briefly touched the power line, some sparks flew up and other firefighters came over to see what was going on, a Houston Fire Department spokeswoman said.
That’s when the tire exploded, causing the firefighters to suffer ringing ears and headaches.
Click the image to learn more about an August 5, 2008 incident involving Philadelphia’s Snorkel 28 in front of quarters.
In Wisconsin five firefighters from the Lake Geneva Fire Department have returned home after they were shocked when a tower ladder came in contact with a 72,000 volt power line. The tower was from the Delavan Fire Department operating at a 6-alarm fire on Friday that destroyed Mulligan’s Sports Bar and Grill in Delavan.
Click the image for pictures from the Delavan fire by Dan Plutchak at Walworth County Today.
According to news reports, Lake Geneva’s chief wants a full investigation of the incident. But Delavan’s chief says they already know what happened and doesn’t believe much could be done differently. Chief Gerald Edwards believes it was just a case of the operator of Delavan’s tower not being able to see the lines because of the smoke from the burning sports bar. Click here to read and watch the interviews with Chief Edwards and the injured firefighters.
Did snow storm play a role in decision not to transport little girl who died?: That’s what the grandmother of 2-year-old Stephanie Stephens believes happened. The actions of a paramedic and EMT called to the girl’s apartment in Southeast Washington continue to be reviewed. As we reported yesterday, sources indicate there wasn’t a signed release from the girl’s mother when no transport was made during the first of two responses on February 10. The latest information is in the story above, or click here to read more.
Shootout at the Pentagon: We have the radio traffic from the Arlington County Fire Department and our own video as the medic units arrived at George Washington Hospital following last night’s shootings at the Pentagon. Click here for our coverage and more at wusa9.com.
DeKalb County rekindle?: The same Georgia county where the chief and five firefighters were fired following a poor response to a fire that turned fatal had an interesting situation on Wednesday. There was fire through the roof of a Stone Mountain home after the fire department returned for the third time within 24-hours. The original call was apparently for a dryer fire. Watch the video and read more.
Bus rollover in Arizona: Emily Cyr posted a bunch of videos from the tragic bus crash this morning on I-10 south of Phoenix into our player at the top of the right hand column. Six people died and about 15 were injured. Here’s one of the clips and click here for details.
It’s open mic night at STATter911.com: This could have been me on any number of moments during my years behind a microphone on radio, TV and as a dispatcher. A Chicago Fire Department dispatcher working the radio yesterday forgot to close the mic before saying how she really felt. Click here to take a listen. Feel free to share a similar story in our comments section. Just make sure the expletives are deleted.
More from the arson to make a baby story from Vermont: This one just seems to get stranger and more complicated each time I check for an update. The police affidavit from Bennington indicates both 34-year-old Stacy Brown’s husband, Bennington fire-police captain Ralph Brown Jr., and her 26-year-old boy friend, Joseph Thomas, plotted to twice set fire to their home and use the insurance money to pay for surgery so Stacy Brown can become pregnant. All three are charged in the plot. It turns out that Thomas also had a fire department connection. An excerpt from TimesArgus.com:
Thomas told Plusch (Bennington detective) he had been a firefighter with the North Bennington Fire Department for two years and in Pownal for a year although, he said, he could neither read nor write.
Prior to this arrest, Brown was already on probation for driving with a suspended license. The latest charge has caused Brown’s suspension from the fire-police and will likely result in a swift termination, according Chief Tyler Hollister. Catch up on the story here, here and here. Also, you know Bill Schumm just couldn’t resist this story. Check out Firegeezer.
Fireground audio from Louisa, Virginia plane crash: A house was destroyed by the crash and fire that took the life of the pilot. A resident escaped the basement. We have the radio traffic and pictures here.
A small plane crashed into a house in Louisa County around 12:30 this afternoon killing the pilot.
The FAA tells 9NEWS NOW a Cessna 303 twin engine crashed into a home on Quiet Lane at Route 33 shortly after take off from Freeman Field/ Louisa County Airport.
The FAA says the plane’s registered owner is from Reston, however, they have not confirmed who was on board.
The FAA reports that witnesses say the engines appeared to quit.
Police say one person inside the home was in the basement and got out safely.
As you will hear from the audio below by FireSceneAudio.com, Medic 1 in Louisa County called in the report of the plane crash and reported it had struck a house.
DC Fire & EMS crew under review after toddler dies: Several first responders with the DC Fire & EMS Department have been removed from contact with patients while the care they provided to a 2-year-old girl is reviewed. The investigation centers on exactly why the girl was not taken to the hospital during the first call for trouble breathing on February 10th. Nine hours later the child was transported after a second call to 911. She died the next day. This occurred during one of the major snowstorms that hit Washington. Surae Chinn has our story. Read and watch it here.
Firefighter accused of setting his home on fire twice in an effort to get his wife pregnant: I know that is a bizarre headline, but this is a bizarre story. Investigators in Bennington, Vermont say Capt. Ralph Brown Jr. needed money to pay for surgery so his wife could have a baby and decided insurance money was the way to finance the operation. The home caught fire twice. Now Brown, the wife, and another man are facing charges. Read more.
Three dead in 3-alarm Baltimore fire: The fire was reported around 2:00 AM in the 3500 block of Woodbrook Avenue. Two people escaped the home uninjured. Watch the video. Click here for details.
New Jersey firefighter’s decision to quit IAFF brings in the comments: Cherry Hill, New Jersey firefighter Michael Schaffer’s decision to quit the IAFF, rather than face charges over his activities as a volunteer, has people talking in our comments section (Schaffer himself joins in). The response was not unexpected. The only question was how long it would take before it got nasty and personal. Not long. Click here for the story and the comments.
Home of DC/Calvert County firefighter burns: Officials with the DC Fire & EMS Department confirm the home of one of its firefighters was destroyed in a two-alarm fire in Calvert County yesterday afternoon. The fire was at the home of Paul O'Conner in Bayview Hills. The Huntingtown VFD reports O'Conner, who is a member, used his radio to report the fire. Click the image for more details from TheBayNet.com and a series of pictures by Dennis Hook. The Maryland State Fire Marshal's office says the fire was started by a space heater used to dry materials in a shed under a wooden deck.
Another I-Team discovers firefighters make overtime: Contract negotiating time when money is very tight and suddenly everyone realizes the fire department is way over its overtime budget. This has happened in jurisdiction after jurisdiction across the country since the economy went south. We have run a bunch of stories that fit the pattern. The script goes like this. Political leaders say the OT is busting their budgets and often someone leaks the details to a newspaper or TV station. The news media runs the story showing how firefighters are all the top money makers in town. Someone claims there is something fishy going on. The IAFF points out if you hire firefighters and fill all the vacant positions you can then spend less on overtime. Then there is usually the call to lower minimum staffing requirements. Some of that is now going on in Clark County, Nevada. Check it out.
TIC save in New Jersey: Firefighters from the Sayreville Fire Department are getting credit for pulling a woman out of a fire last Thursday. They were aided by a thermal imaging camera. Here’s the story.
Scrambling to safety: Video from Chile as rescuers rush out of a building because of an aftershock. Check it out.
Former firefighter sentenced for 48 false calls: Caryn Sodaro will get a few more weeks in jail and have to pay $11,000 for her series of false suicide and other EMS calls. Officials say she called them in and then listened to the responses on the radio provided to her by the fire company where she volunteered in Weld County, Colorado. Here are the details.
Three days after the devastating earthquake struck Chile, the country is still reeling from frequent and powerful aftershocks. One strong tremor was felt Tuesday morning during a police news conference in the hard-hit town of Concepción. CNN cameras were rolling on a group of rescue workers as the building the crew was searching began to shake. Rescuers quickly began jumping from a hole carved in the side of the 15-story building, where some people are feared trapped.
The video above is from Tuesday in Sellersburg, Indiana. Here are details from the AP:
A fire that started in a bowling alley spread to destroy several neighboring businesses in a southern Indiana strip shopping center.
No injuries were reported from Tuesday’s fire at the Silver Creek Plaza in Sellersburg. Flames burned through the structure’s roof, sending huge plumes of black smoke into the sky.
The cause wasn’t immediately known. Building owner Hellen Bridges says renovation work was being done on the closed Silver Creek Lanes bowling alley about 10 miles north of Louisville, Ky.
The view from the ground in Sellersburg.
Sellersburg Volunteer Fire Department president Mark Ball says the blaze shot rapidly across an attic and had too much of a head start for firefighters to control. The fire also destroyed a bar and grill, a bakery, a sandwich shop and a hair salon.
Click the image for more photos from Fond du Lac’s fire by Justin Connaher at FDLReporter.com.
An early morning fire has caused extensive damage to Last Stop Bar and Lanes — formerly West Side Lanes — in Fond du Lac.
City fire and police departments responded to a call at 4 a.m. today reporting smoke in the area and a possible fire at the business, located at 350 W. Division St. Upon arrival, firefighters found the building interior engulfed in flames and immediately went into a “defensive operation,” according to Fond du Lac Fire Chief Peter O’Leary.
Firefighters used aerial ladders to battle the fire from the outside. At 5:45 a.m., flames were visible through the roof at both the north and south ends of the building, as well as through a glass door on the structure’s east side, a witness said.
Nearby homes were evacuated, but did not sustain damage.
By 8 a.m., O’Leary said 35 firefighters were on the scene. The fire was under control, but O’Leary said it would be several hours before firefighters and investigators could safely enter the building.
Three of seven Detroit children died in a house fire while their mother went to the store Tuesday evening, according to investigators.
The Detroit Free Press featuring a Dennis Walus photo from the deadly fire. Click the image for more Detroit pictures from Dennis.
When Detroit Fire Department crews arrived at 4956 Bangor around 6:30 p.m., flames were shooting from the two-story, single-family home, Fifth Battalion Fire Chief Gary Lauer said today.
“There was nobody on the scene telling us there was anyone inside,” Lauer said. “The way it was burning was like it’s a vacant house. But somebody finally said, ‘There’s three girls upstairs.’ ”
Three brothers had already jumped out of a second-floor window with an infant, Lauer said. Investigators were unclear about the age of the oldest boy today, thought to be between 10 and 12 years old.
But the girls, between 3 and 6 years old, remained trapped.
“They … found the girls pretty quickly,” Lauer said. “But the smoke and the heat and the fire was so intense, they were in pretty bad shape when we found them.”
The mother arrived at the home shortly after the fire broke out, hysterical about the tragedy, Lauer said.
“At the time there were no adults at home,” he added. “I’m just going by what was said at the scene, that she had gone to the party store.”
An aunt took the boys to Children’s Hospital of Michigan, and they’re expected to survive. The condition of the infant, who was being given CPR before being transported to the hospital Tuesday night, was unknown this morning, Lauer said.
A space heater was found in the home, but Lauer said the cause of the blaze hasn’t been determined.
Officers from the department’s Arson Investigation Unit are expected to continue searching for a cause today.
Detroit’s Ladder 13, hit by a train yesterday, was caught on video when it crashed last year: In July, Ladder 13 went out of control as it made a turn at Lawndale and Vernor. The video above is from a security camera that caught the collision. Click here for our coverage of that story.
Detroit commissioner blasts Ladder 13 driver & union blasts commissioner: If you checked with us at all yesterday afternoon and evening you have seen the pictures and video of the aftermath of Ladder 13’s collision with an Amtrak train. It isn’t just the executive fire commissioner and union president who have opinions about this one, we have received a few comments. Click here for our extensive coverage of the wreck.
The most bizarre fire story you are likely to see in some time: In the UK a fire engine crew member was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter by negligence. His crime – he blew the lights and siren causing a stampede of Holstein Friesian cows that ran over Harold Lee, a 75-year-old farmer from Somerset. According to the Daily Mail, “Mr Lee’s son Andrew claimed the incident could have been avoided had the fire crew waited for just a few minutes as the cows were safely herded off the road.” Here’s the entire article.
Firegeezer Bill Schumm thinks this isn’t the United Kingdom’s only recent trip through the looking glass when it comes to the fire service. Check out Bill’s view.
Fairfax County still on standby for Chile: I spent some of yesterday afternoon watching the mobilization of Virginia Task Force 1 at the training academy for the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department. While the USAR team hasn’t been officially activated they were following USAID orders to get a 52 member team (with 4 search dogs) together and ready to deploy. Here’s the story. As of 8:00 this morning everyone is on 4-hour standby waiting for word from USAID. Here is a slide show from Fairfax County yesterday and here is the video (also in our player to the right). By the way my favorite image from yesterday was not captured by a camera. It was of a firefighter in uniform preparing his gear for deployment, talking on the cell phone and changing his toddler son’s diaper all at the same time. Now that’s multitasking. Also, here is some video from Califronia Task Force 2 doing the same drill.
Trying to explain brown-outs to the public: In Springfield, Illinois the local paper is trying to let the public know when the local fire station might be part of rotating closures. They are finding the answers a bit more complicated than expected. Check it out.
Comment number 15k: Yesterday morning we posted our 15,000th comment since starting STATter911 in May of 2007. It was from JasoninVA responding to a recent posting of a video from Gary, Indiana-
Good comment Chris. Now for those that want to pick this and every other video they see apart. Are you serious? Do you live in a dream world where every fireground goes perfect? It makes no difference whether you are from NOVA, DC, PG, Southern Va. or Western Md. We all have our own highlight reels and those that we wish we could go back to quarters and start again from the beginning. Sure, there were some questionable ops, but then again, I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t taken a window or two (or 20) w/o PPE as the wagon driver because the truck was delayed or cut a roof without a roof ladder. This is not an attack on anyone but more of an observation. With the age of technology, you never know who is there and watching. Pictures and videos are on the internet before you can even get back in quarters. Before we get on a “holier than thou” kick, you may want to think about something. The next video on here may be you doing something that “The Book” says isn’t safe and then you will find yourself justifying / defending your actions.
If you go to that entry and scroll down to comments you will see one by me. I think I actually ask some thoughtful questions (I don’t have any of the answers, but I sure can ask questions) on this whole topic of people pointing out issues in the fireground videos we post. Click here to see it all.
“I’m very upset,” said executive fire commissioner James Mack. “I’m going to make it known that this is not acceptable and we’ll do some training.”
The truck was struck by a commuter train late this morning in southwest Detroit.
“The fire truck was parked right on the tracks,” said Willfrido Gutierrez, 27, whose Monte Carlo was struck by the tractor trailer. “I tried to get my wife and kid away from there and I heard a huge explosion.”
Photo by Andre J. Jackson, Detroit Free Press.
The four firefighters jumped in the rig and tried to get it off the tracks in time, but were unsuccessful. The truck, Ladder 13, was T-boned by the westbound train and crushed like an aluminum can and dragged a considerable distance before coming to rest on the tracks.
The driver was treated and released at a local hospital and will be off-duty.
The same ladder truck had been involved in an accident earlier this year, but Mack was unsure if it was the same driver.
“It was a $600,000 truck,” Mack said. “We’re trained professionals. We should always be thinking. I don’t think the citizens of Detroit are pleased that he parked on the tracks.
“I’m very upset. This was a disservice to the citizens. It’s their fire truck — they paid for it.”
The commanding officer of the ladder truck was Lieut. Gerard Martinez, according to a fire official speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak.
“Right now I can’t say anything about it,” Martinez said when reached by telephone at the fire house.
The head of the Detroit Fire Department is red hot about firefighters parking a $600,000 ladder truck on railroad tracks before it was hit by an Amtrak train today.
One firefighter — who was trying to drive the truck off the tracks when it was hit by the train – was treated and released at an area hospital, said Executive Fire Commissioner James Mack. Another firefighter initially parked the truck to wash away gas from an 11:30 a.m. accident in the intersection of Lonyo and John Kronk next to the tracks, he said.
“I’m very upset,” he said, standing in front of the mangled red truck body, a gold #13 on the side. “I think about the citizens when I’ve got a fire truck out of service. This is their fire truck. They pay for it. It should be in service and they should be careful.”
One person was taken off the Amtrak train on a stretcher, but did not appear to be seriously hurt.
“I wish the commissioner would express relief that no one was seriously hurt or injured in this accident,” said Dan McNamara, president of the Detroit Fire Fighters Association. “No one — firefighter, civilian, or otherwise — in an accident was hurt. That’s our No. 1 concern.”
Beyond that, he said, “We’re going to sit back, make sure everything’s going OK and moving forward properly and see how things unfold. We’re not going to knee-jerk react.”
In the original car accident, Wllfrido Gutierrez, 27; his wife, Anna, 24, and their 3-month-old baby Suri were northbound on Lonyo crossing Kronk when they collided with a semi-tractor trailer eastbound on Kronk.
The couple and their baby were fine, Gutierrez said. Anna sat back down in the car with the baby while firefighters from Ladder 13 fire station on Lawndale at Lafayette at Lawndale washed gas away.
But then the crossing gate bells began to ring.
Gutierrez’s uncle, Bernabe Gutierrez-Amana, 39, of Detroit, who had come to the scene to help, looked up.
“We hear a noise, the train was coming, about 20 yards away,” he said. “I grabbed my nephew’s wife and run — fast. I go, ’Run!’ She didn’t know what to do. And when I looked back, there was big dust. It sounded like an explosion.”
Bob McLean, 41, of Redford Township, who was driving nearby, saw the train hit the fire truck, pushing it off the tracks.
Click the image for the Google Maps Street View of the area.
The fire truck was parked across all three railroad tracks, and the Amtrak train came … with the horn going and they couldn’t move it. And the train just crunched it. It flew up over top of it, the train. I never heard nothing like it in all my life.”
The train, which was heading to Chicago, wasn’t evacuated. At 2:09 p.m., the engine, pulling seven silver cars with blue and red stripes, softly blew its whistle twice and pulled away, heading west to the Windy City.
Bill Harrigan is a retired freelance TV news photographer who worked the overnight hours covering Eastern Massachusetts from 1981-2007. Harrigan has his own extensive video library of the stories he covered over that 26-year period. You can click here to read more details about Harrigan and see his story log, here.
A twin-engine cargo plane crashed into a residential neighborhood three miles short of Logan Airport early this morning, killing the pilot and setting off a nine-alarm fire.
The fire gutted three houses and seven automobiles. Three of the 18 residents of the houses were hospitalized with burns, one of them in critical condition.
The plane, a Piper Seneca, was carrying bank notes, checks and financial papers from Teterboro, N.J., when it veered off course and dived into a three-story wooden house in the Dorchester section at 1:08 A.M., shaving off the front of the building. ‘It Was Like a Meteor Hit’.
Three family members, including a young girl, died in a house fire here this morning, officials said.
District Chief John Novak of the Toms River Fire Department said he and Chief Gary Dye of Toms River Fire Company One arrived at 32 Pine Hill Road shortly after a 6:36 a.m. 911 call reported the blaze in the two-story single family home there.
Novak said when a neighbor told them three people might still be inside the burning house, a Toms River police officer forced open the front door and found the first victim, a man, near the entrance. He was dead, Novak said.
Novak said he and Dye could go no further until engines with hoses arrived. When they did, firefighters from Toms River, East Dover and Pleasant Plains fire departments knocked down the blaze and began searching the house, he said.
“Because the stairs had burned away, access was compromised,” said Novak.
But firefighters were able to enter the house with a ladder raised to a bedroom window. Novak said when they searched the second floor, they found the bodies of two females: a child under a bed and an adult in a bathroom. The victims are believed to be immediate family, he said.
A call for a Medevac helicopter requested to fly out possible burn victims was canceled when rescuers determined all three victims were dead, Novak said. Officials are not releasing the victims’ names until next of kin can be notified, he said.
New Hampshire firefighters say a blaze that started in an unoccupied oceanfront hotel and was fanned by winds near hurricane force destroyed an entire block before it was put out.
Fire Capt. David Lang says the fire erupted late Thursday or early Friday in the unoccupied three-story Surf Hotel in Hampton, a densely populated community along the Atlantic coast an hour’s drive north of Boston. He says flames from the wood-frame building quickly spread to another four buildings on the block.
Click the image for the Google Maps Street View.
There have been no reports of injuries.
Hampton is home to Hampton Beach State Park, a popular summer destination. The Surf Hotel is on Ocean Boulevard, which is lined with hotels, condos, restaurants and arcades. The strip is central to the region’s bustling summer economy but usually is quiet in the winter.
Click the image for Bing's Bird's Eye View of the block.
Very early video in Tempe, Arizona: A neighbor grabbed his camera as he escaped a neighboring apartment from this February 16th fire at the Worthington Place complex on Hardy Drive in Tempe. He began rolling before the arrival of firefighters. A man and a woman who escaped through a second floor window were injured. The man, Alan Schuler, was seriously burned. He is a member of an improv comedy troupe. The fire occurred just after midnight.
Two firefighters struck by EMS captain in Fairfax County: An EMS supervisor pulling up to the scene of a cyclist struck in Herndon, Virginia last night hit two firefighters already treating the patient. The SUV, driven by EMS 401, was described as “slow moving” at the time of the collision. One of the firefighters was flown to a trauma unit, but both have since been treated and released. We have pictures & video from the scene, along with the radio traffic. Click here.
What happens in Las Vegas leaves Las Vegas: This includes a memo from City of Las Vegas Chief Greg Gammon. Firefighter Nation alerted us to this story from the Review-Journal. The paper’s Lawrence Mower reports, “The Las Vegas Fire Department chief is urging his firefighters to avoid spending time at the gym during work hours and not to ‘abuse sick leave’ as his department battles poor public perception during its stand to avoid pay cuts and layoffs.” There is much more. Read the memo. Read the article.
Lots of opinions on the border war: It seems like I spent most of yesterday moderating comments about the story of the dispute between Anne Arundel County and Calvert County’s Dunkirk VFD. More than 50 comments so far. If you missed the update, Dunkirk’s wagon driver, David Stream, has been charged by Anne Arundel County police in the February 14 collision with Tower 40 that has brought many issues to the surface. Stream is also a career firefighter in Prince George’s County. Here is our coverage and all the comments.
Driver of ambulance responding to his own burning home charged: Ron Young alerted us to this follow-up to a really tragic story. Joseph Sims Jr. has now been charged with careless driving in the crash that occurred while he was responding in a Middle Township, New Jersey ambulance to a fire at his own home. That fire trapped and killed Sims’ elderly father. Officials say Sims responded on his own with lights and sirens and not in an official capacity. That played a role in the decision to charge. Read the latest. Click here for our earlier coverage of the crash and the fire.
Three UK fire officials in custody over deaths of four firefighters: The November, 2007 fire at a vegetable packing plant in Warwickshire has resulted in the arrest of three men described as fire service staff and members of the union. The three turned themselves at a police station to be ”questioned on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter and offences under health and safety laws.” More from the BBC.
53 days later, burned Modesto firefighter walks out of the hospital: Fire Engineer James Adams is now home and his colleagues who were by his side through his ordeal made sure Adams’ departure from the burn unit was celebrated. Adams had been there since New Years Day when he and Firefighter Jason Clevenger fell through the roof of a burning home. Read the story. Watch the raw video. Click here and here for our previous coverage of this story.
Chief cuffed: The other story that has people talking is the February 15th incident where a battalion chief was handcuffed by a member of the California Highway Patrol at a crash scene. If you didn’t see the latest version of our story we added interviews with the CHP spokesperson and the Montecito fire chief. Click here for our coverage.
Restaurant fire in Guatemala: Posted yesterday, there is no date on this fire in Xela. Listen to the crowd reaction.
Crash between two Maryland fire trucks exposes deeper mutual aid issues: If you read all of the emails and statements coming from both sides of the Anne Arundel – Calvert border you will likely draw the conclusion that the crash of Tower 40 and Engine 51 on February 14 is only a symptom of a greater problem. There are accusations from the leadership of both the Anne Arundel County Fire Department and the Dunkirk Volunteer Fire Department that the other side is responsible for their relationship woes. We have a lot for you to read and to see. Click here for our coverage.
Our friend Steve Skipton took in this fire in Camden, New Jersey on the way home from work last night. He has more pictures from the blaze on Mt. Ephraim at PhillyFireNews.com. Click the image.
Fireground audio and pictures from 3-alarm PGFD fire: A fire yesterday afternoon tore through the garden apartment building on Mistletoe Springs Road. We have pictures from Mark Brady and other sources and radio transmissions from our friends at FireSceneAudio.com. Check it out.
$300,000 severance package for fire chief who makes more than the governor: Chief Scott LaVielle’s salary running the North Highline Fire District in King County, Washington was $186,370. LaVielle was responsible for two station’s and 35 employees. By contrast, Seattle’s Chief Gregory Dean, managing 32 stations and 1155 employees, makes almost $13,000 less. I am also guessing that Chief Dean doesn’t quite have Chief LaVielle’s golden parachute. In this tough economy LaVielle’s position has been eliminated, but he walks away with a severance package worth $300,000. Keith Ervin at The Seattle Times takes a look at how this came about.
City stalling on funeral bill because more than 40% was for booze: City officials in Buffalo say they aren’t backing down from their refusal to pay for almost $11,000 in alcohol that was part of the $25,000 bill submitted by IAFF Local 282 to cover expenses for the funerals of Capt. Charles “Chip” McCarthy and Firefighter Jonathan Croom. Union says the city is breaking a contract and the law. Read the story from WKBW-TV.
Ops chief is cool under fire: Reno’s Joe Durousseau deftly landed his Cessna 172 in the middle of traffic on I-80 yesterday. The operations division chief was returning from a humanitarian mission to Mexico when the plane had engine problems. No one was hurt. Read the story. Watch the story and the interview.
Volunteer firefighter guilty of speeding to a fire: In Erin, Tennessee, volunteer firefighter and alderman Brian Richardson has been found guilty of going 77 mph in a 30 mph zone while traveling in his own vehicle to a fire. But there is so much more to this story. Richardson blames it all on politics and an ongoing conflict between the cops and firefighters. The story gets somewhat complicated to follow, but I will let you figure it out. Click here.
Suburban chiefs say layoffs will impact mutual aid: Concern around Flint, Michigan, with the latest fire department cut backs, that mutual aid to the suburbs will be less mutual. Read more.
Flames shot through the roof of an apartment building in Laurel Monday afternoon causing a part of the building’s roof to collapse. No injuries were reported, but a number of residents were displaced.
Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department officials say that they received a call around 2:50 PM for a fire on the third floor of a 3-story garden apartment complex, located in the 13000 block of Mistletoe Springs Road. When firefighters arrived, they found flames on the third floor extending though the roof.
Fire officials report the bulk of the fire was knocked down at 4:00 PM.
The cause of the fire is still being investigated.
PGFD has not provided a dollar estimate on the loss.
More video from Baltimore fifth-alarm: A large, mostly vacant warehouse burned Sunday morning in the Clipper Mill Industrial Park along the JFX. Firefighters used the highway as a vantage point to lob water onto the fire. The video above is from Michael “FirePix1075″ Schwartzberg. His still pictures can be seen here. We also have more details and news video posted. Click here for our coverage. Also, as we first mentioned while the fire was burning, the industrial park is where Firefighter Eric Schaefer died in 1995 after a wall collapse during a nine-alarm fire. The Sun’s Peter Hermann looks back at his coverage of that tragedy.
Fatal fire in Bailey’s Crossroads, Virginia: The way relatives describe it, firefighters weren’t likely to save 52-year-old Andy Wang from Saturday morning’s house fire on Paul Street, no matter how fast they got there. Wang’s nephew tells STATter911.com, he smelled smoke and traced it to a basement bedroom where he saw his uncle sitting on the bed on fire. The nephew made sure six other relatives escaped the house. The closest firehouse to Paul Street is Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department Station 410 about 1.3 miles away. At the end of last week, Fairfax County decided not to staff that station overnight following the collapse of the roof over the bay area two weeks ago. For much of the two weeks, Engine 410’s crew had been using the Rehab Unit outside the station as its quarters. The engine is now with Truck 410 at Station 428 during night time hours. The Seven Corners firehouse (AKA Buffalo Ridge) is about two miles further away from the house on Paul Street. Officials say it took five minutes for the first unit to arrive on the scene. Firefighters we have talked to are very eager to again have coverage within Bailey’s Crossroads 24-hours-a-day (they spend most of the daylight and early evening hours in the first-due). Spokesman Dan Schmidt says the hope of county fire officials is that most of the living area at the Bailey’s Crossroads firehouse can be occupied during the next week or two, with a tent outside for apparatus. Click here for the fireground audio from Sunday’s fire.
This sure is different – chief cites grant competition for not allowing newly promoted career captain to be volunteer firefighter: This is a really interesting article from Fargo, North Dakota. The Fargo Fire Department recently promoted Joe Mangin to captain, but Mangin was told to accept that position he would have to resign as a member of the Casselton Volunteer Fire Department (where he had previously been assistant chief). The reason given is that Casselton competes with Fargo for grant money. At least three other Fargo captains are volunteers in North Dakota departments, including two who are chiefs of their departments. The explanation is those departments don’t compete with Fargo for funding. Here’s the story (may require log in).
Steve Skipton and Ron Trout have lots of photos of the two-alarm fire at Philadelphia International Records. Click the image to take you to PhillyFireNews.com.
The Philadelphia sound is a little smoky: It is where Chubby Checker recorded “The Twist”. It is also where songwriters Gamble and Huff developed the Philadelphia sound. A fire severely damaged the offices of Philadelphia International Records on Broad Street Sunday morning (see picture at left). Firefighters did their best to save Gold Records on the walls and other memorabilia. Read more about this legendary company at Philly.com. I am assuming their knowledge of the music industry surpasses their understanding of the fire service, considering this line in the story – “More than 100 fire personnel from Ladder 5 and Battalion 1 at Broad and Christian Streets responded to the two-alarm blaze … “. Damn, that is one crowded firehouse.
Lost ambulance reports: The Anne Arundel County Fire Department has been dealing for some time with lost ambulance reports from a now abandoned computer database and is also having problems with the software that replaced it. The impact includes failing to provided monthly patient-care reports to the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS). MIEMSS provides free software to the large majority of Maryland’s counties that does the same job. Here’s the story from The Capital in Annapolis.
Four-alarms in Orange, New Jersey: A fire Saturday damaged nine homes. We have lots of video.
Arrests in Texas church arsons: Firegeezer has the details on two people charged with setting as many as ten churches on fire east of Dallas. Click here.
Reverse Ricci now before the Supreme Court: 6000 African-Americans sued following a 1995 test for the Chicago Fire Department unfairly screened out minority applicants. Their case was thrown out because they may have waited too long to file suit. That issue and more is now before the Supreme Court in a case that had already been before Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Read the story.
As of 10:25 PM Baltimore City Fire Department units were still battling a fire in a large vacant warehouse in the 1700 block of Union Avenue. Master streams were shut down and some limited interior operations were being done in an office area to reach some of the fire.
The call came in at 6:30 this morning. The location is adjacent to the light rail tracks on the west side of the Jones Falls Expressway in the Clipper Mill Industrial Park area (Between Woodberry and Hampden). This industrial park is where Firefighter Eric Schaefer was killed during a wall collapse at a building fire on September 16, 1995.
That is the 41st Street Bridge on the north side of the building and the Jones Falls Expressway (JFX, I-83) to the east. From the WBAL-TV tower cam shot it appears the south side of the building burned. Click the image for Bing's Birds-Eye-View.
That location is just down the street from TV Hill where a number of the city’s television station’s are located. WJZ-TV reports one of its photographers was on the scene before the fire department (watch for that video later today). Here are excerpts from the station’s website:
Over 100 firefighters are on location battling the five-alarm blaze. There are also 45 fire suppression, EMS, command and support units on the scene.
“We have employed exterior operations, being that we have ladder pipes in place. We’re extinguishing the fire from outside the building, not sending our members in for them to become victims themselves,” said Kevin Cartwright. “We’re making headway on extinguishing this fire.
According to residents in the area, the building has been mostly vacant for 12 years, although there are some offices inside. Residents say there have been several small fires in the building in the past year.
Police have shut down several roads in the area. Two lanes of the JFX south of Coldspring are shut down. The light rail station at Union Avenue is closed. The 41st Street bridge and several side streets near Union Avenue are also shut down. Delays are likely if you travel in this area; drivers are advised to avoid the area if possible, but if you have to drive in the neighborhood, be prepared to use alternate routes.
Two days ago we gave you some insight into the problems in Detroit, Michigan, its dilapidated firehouses and how money that was allocated to fix up the stations was squandered. Now, comes the NIOSH report on the death of Firefighter Walter Harris and its focus on other parts of the infrastructure of a very troubled city.
I happened to get up early on Saturday, November 15, 2008 and the first thing I saw on the computer was someone alerting me to a LODD in Detroit. Trying to get out as much information as I could get my hands on about Firefighter Walter Harris’ death, I have to say I was stopped in my tracks when I came across a then seven-month-old video on The Detroit News website. I think I realized it before the paper did that Walter Harris was featured in that story. What stuck me, besides the oversized personality of Harris that seemed to come right through the lens, was this quote which I originally posted that morning as a caption for the picture above:
“Breaks you heart. Breaks your heart. Breaks your heart. I am sure every guy here would say the same thing: breaks your heart. And all of these guys here man, do whatever they can for the people here in the city”. The words of Firefighter Walter Harris in an April, 2008 interview with The Detroit News on the decay, the vacant buildings and the state of the fire department.
I am sorry to say I can no longer find that video on the paper’s website or elsewhere. It gave very good insight into what the firefighters of Detroit face and how, as firefighters tend to do, they make it work despite unbelievable problems and neglect. A regular STATter911.com reader, Paul Bassett, recently put together a video of images from Detroit that focuses on the firefighters and the crumbling city.
It was one of those vacant buildings that Walt Harris talked about that took the 38-year-old firefighter’s life. With the NIOSH report. we go from the emotional and anecdotal to the clinical view of why Harris died. Click the link to read the whole report. Below, are conclusions published by NIOSH:
ensure that the incident commander conducts a risk-versus-gain analysis prior to committingto interior operations in vacant/abandoned structures and continues the assessment throughout the operations
ensure SOPs are developed for fighting fires in vacant/abandoned buildings
ensure that the incident commander maintains close accountability for all personnel operating on the fireground
ensure that a separate incident safety officer, independent from the incident commander, is appointed at each structure fire
ensure that a respiratory protection program is in place to provide for the selection, care, maintenance, and use of respiratory protection equipment, including PASS devices.
be aware of programs that provide assistance in obtaining alternative funding, such as grant funding, to replace or purchase fire equipment that can support critical fire department operations.
Additionally, municipalities and local authorities having jurisdiction should:
develop strategies for the prevention of and the remediation of vacant/abandoned structures and for arson prevention.
Although there is no evidence that the following recommendations could have prevented this fatality, NIOSH investigators recommend that fire departments:
ensure that an EMS unit is on scene and available for fire fighter emergency care at working structure fires
develop inspection criteria to ensure that all protective ensembles meet the requirements of NFPA 1851, Standard on Selection, Care, and Maintenance of Protective Ensembles for Structural Fire Fighting and Proximity Fire Fighting
A pilot furious with the Internal Revenue Service crashed his small plane into an office building that houses federal tax employees in Austin, Texas on Thursday, setting off a raging fire that sent workers fleeing as thick plumes of black smoke poured into the air.
A U.S. law official identified the pilot as Joseph Stack and said investigators were looking at an anti-government message on the Web linked to him. The Web site outlines problems with the IRS and says violence “is the only answer.”
Federal law enforcement officials have said they were investigating whether the pilot crashed on purpose in an effort to blow up IRS offices. The Web site featured a long note dated Thursday denouncing the government and the IRS in particular and cited the Austin man’s problems with the agency.
All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing.
At least one person who worked in the building was unaccounted for and two people were hospitalized, said Austin Fire Department Division Chief Dawn Clopton. She did not have any information about the pilot. About 190 IRS employees work in the building, and IRS spokesman Richard C. Sanford the agency is trying to account for all employees.
Flames shot out of the building, windows exploded and workers scrambled to safety after the blast. Thick smoke billowed out of the second and third stories hours later as fire crews battled the blaze.
“It felt like a bomb blew off,” said Peggy Walker, an IRS revenue officer who was sitting at her desk in the building when the plane crashed. “The ceiling caved in and windows blew in. We got up and ran.”
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Lynn Lunsford initially said the plane was identified as a Cirrus SR22, but later said it might be a Piper Cherokee.
“It’s so destroyed that it’s hard to identify,” Lunsford said.
He said FAA has confirmed that the plane that took off from an airport in Georgetown, Texas, and that the pilot didn’t file a flight plan.
In a neighborhood about six miles from the crash site, a home listed as belonging to Stack was on fire earlier Thursday. Authorities in Austin would not comment on the house fire Thursday afternoon.
Our video player to the right: If you had been paying attention to the videos that pop up near the top of the right hand column you would have seen this one before I did. It is from a house fire in Montgomery County two-days-ago shot by 9NEWS NOW’s Greg Guise. Click here to read more. WUSA9.com’s Emily Cyr and Jillian Coyle are constantly adding videos that involve fire and EMS from the Washington area and around the country. Make sure you check it out. The 30 most recent stories are always in there.
Question for fire & EMS in the Washington area: Are you still finding big response problems in the aftermath of the blizzards? Especially in trying to get around on area roads. Let me know. Be specific about the problem(s). You can email me at dstatter@wusa9.com.
Fire department is tapped as solution to Pittsburgh EMS problem. Plus more on botched snowstorm response: Following the failure to get help to Curtis Mitchell during a snowstorm, Pittsburgh officials on Wednesday began routinely dispatching firefighters to EMS calls in the city. Disciplinary action is also being considered in the case. Here is the latest.
The Fire PIO has a look at the public relations end of owning up to such a controversial incident. I am a little more blunt than Jeff Bressler and don’t use a lot of the PR terms and techniques that he so nicely analyzes. As I have pointed out before, from my experience covering these situations, the only way to get out from something like this is to come clean quickly and thoroughly. If Pittsburgh officials told only part of the story and more starts dribbling out, they will likely lose any good will that came from their very direct response to the incident.
The apology by city officials in the Mitchell case reminds me of how DC handled a story I broke in the mid-1980s during the Marion Barry administration. City Administrator Thomas Downs immediately held a press conference and apologized to a family on Fort Totten Drive, NE whose son had called 911 about a dying parent. The dispatcher at one point told the boy to “grow up”. Obviously there are also parallels to DC with the latest developments. It was the inability to get DC EMS units to patients in a timely fashion (for a variety of reasons) that resulted in the fire department being dispatched on all EMS calls in the Nation’s Capital.
Snowstorm puts strain on Fairfax County: The Washington Post’s Greg MacDonald takes a look at the impact on the back to back blizzards on the budget, staff and equipment, including the loss of the Bailey’s Crossroads station after the roof collapse. Check it out.
DeKalb chief forced to resign: That’s the story from David Foster’s lawyer. Foster’s “resignation” came just after the firings following the botched response to a house fire. There is now a battle over a severance package and a lot more detail about the relationship between Foster and his boss. Click here for the story.
Union responds to overpaid complaint: We told you yesterday about a Clark County, Nevada commissioner who said the average $180,000 compensation package for firefighters was too much. Now the union responds saying the figure is inflated by overtime which firefighters have no control over. Here is the latest.
Out like Flint: What is left of the Flint, Michigan Fire Department will be even smaller in two weeks. Today, 23 firefighters are getting their layoff notices. This will leave the city with only 65 firefighters and the closing of one, if not two more, fire stations. This comes days after response questions about last weekend’s fire that left four children dead. Click here for the story.
Reducing staff in Bloomfield, NJ: Career and volunteer firefighters came out strongly against a plan to reduce minimum staffing and possibly close a fire house. Read the story.
It may be a year before Minnesota firefighter walks again: But Cory Broich is home and recovering with his wife and five kids three weeks after being struck by a car in Clearwater, Minnesota. Click here to read and watch the story.
Assistant chief fired after being found driving a stolen vehicle: I haven’t sorted through all of this one from the St. Louis area just yet, but it is a bit unusual. A man is getting back his 1995 Crown Vic more than three years after it was stolen. Pine Lawn Police say it was being driven by Northeast Ambulance and Fire Protection District Assistant Chief Robert Manuel. Manuel claims he got it from a salvage yard. Still, the chief was fired after being charged with driving with a suspended license, having no proof of insurance and displaying a tag belonging to another vehicle. Here’s more.
Reporter Marty Griffin, who broke the Pittsburgh EMS story, reports that disciplinary action is likely in the case. Griffin is reporting significant changes in EMS dispatching following the death of Curtis Mitchell. Mitchell and his wife attempted to get help via 911 10 times over more than two days during the snow storm two weekends ago. He died by the time an EMS crew got to him. City officials were very blunt about the terrible response to this call for help.
Pittsburgh firefighters are now responding to calls considered less of a medical emergency.
Since the policy went into effect Wednesday, firefighters have gone out on more than 20 calls.
“We’ve been open to EMS’ vast call volume whereas in the past it was just strictly life-threatening situations – difficulty breathing, stoke, heart attack, altered state of consciousness,” Pittsburgh Fire Lt. Marc Kelly said. “But now, we share more of EMS’ humungous call load. They have so many calls. We were never part of that before. Less critical.”
Family members of Mitchell are preparing some sort of litigation.
“We don’t have the expertise to judge the critical calls and the non-critical so we go on them regardless of it and the experts will advise us,” Kelly said. “Because the medics get there eventually and they help so we’re available, willing.”
‘You’ve got to get out of your truck and you got to go there’: No, this isn’t a comment about the DeKalb County, Georgia house fire that cost firefighters their jobs. This is the public safety director talking about Pittsburgh EMS. A pretty unbelievable story where an EMS crew wanted the patient, a man who died following 10 unsuccessful calls to 911 over three days, to walk to them during a snow storm. City officials believe Curtis Mitchell would still be alive if things had been done properly. Here’s the story.
Two-alarm school fire in Fairfax County: A fire Tuesday morning destroyed a pre-school attached to the Highview Christian Fellowship Church in West Annandale. Twenty children along with teachers escaped the fire. Two of the staff suffered minor smoke inhalation. We have the fireground audio from FireSceneAudio.com. Click here for a slideshow and here for my story.
PGFD animal rescue: Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department video and pictures from a rescue operation in a storm drain that brought a dog to safety. Click here.
Must see mayday video: This is a follow-up to a story we brought you at the end of January of a firefighter bailing out of a second floor window during the search for an elderly woman at a Randolph, New Jersey house fire. Helmet-cam video of the firefighter’s escape is now posted. Check it out.
Going out in style: A UK firefighter on the final day of his 25-year career rescues a woman from her burning bedroom. Read the story.
The fireground audio that goes with the picture of the day: If you have seen the picture of the infant being dangled from a window of a Bronx apartment building, you will want to listen to the radio traffic that goes with it. Click here.
‘We cannot continue to pay them at the rate we are paying them’: The words of Clark County, Nevada Commissioner Steve Sisolak who says firefighters make too much. He says on average benefits and salary equal $180,000. Click here for the story.
Boston lieutenant in road rage has past: We first told you yesterday about what police believe was an alcohol fueled road rage incident involving off-duty Boston Fire Department Lt. Paul Souza. Boston.com reports this isn’t a first for Souza.
Riding with Engine 16: Reporter Surae Chinn gets a close-up view as DC firefighters try to navigate the snow clogged streets of the Nation’s Capital. Here’s the story.
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.”
Lt. Kevin Kelley was killed in January 2009 when the ladder truck he was riding on lost its brakes on a steep hill and slammed into a building.
Click here for WJZ-TV video
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