Listen to the Montgomery County 911 calls

It isn’t like we live in California. Us East Coast folks aren’t so sure what that rumble means. Even if no one is hurt or property damaged, we need reassurance we aren’t alone. My former colleague from Channel 9 Scott Broom listened to some of the calls that came into the 911 Center in Montgomery County, Maryland just after 5:00 this morning. Here’s what he wrote:

Callers to 911 in the moments after the 3.6 magnitude earthquake that shook the capital region were bewildered by the shaking while equally surprised operators kept their cool.

“Yea, we felt it too,” a 9-11 dispatcher told one confused caller before asking to make sure no one was injured or needed medical help.

Another dispatcher told a caller asking if the shaking was an earthquake: “We’ve taken a lot of calls for it and we’re still trying to figure that out.”

No injuries or medical conditions were reported.

“So there was not an explosion or anything?” asked one caller who said he’d had experience with tremors. “I work for FEMA and I’ve been through an earthquake before, and I think that might have been an earthquake!”

Many of the calls to 911 started with a startled statement: “My house just shook!”

Click here and here for much more on this arson case & Jerry Engle

Watch May, 2009 interview with Jerry Engle

See video of Engle’s unique car

Video of the March 17, 2008 fire at 5413 Riverdale Road

Jerry, back in the day. Click the image to watch the other side of Mr. Engle.

In May of last year Jerry Engle told me he did not set fire to the vacant house at 5413 Riverdale Road on March 17, 2008, but instead blamed it on other firefighters Engle had turned in to Prince George’s County fire investigators. My guess is that those familiar with the long saga of Mr. Engle won’t be surprised to learn that Jerry didn’t tell me the truth that day (I know I am not surprised).

This morning the 46-year-old Engle entered a guilty plea on second-degree arson. Besides his time at Riverdale VFD (when the fire occurred), Engle had previously been a long-time member of Kentland VFD.  After leaving Riverdale he ran with both Bladensburg and Riverdale Heights. 

Co-defendant James Martinez, who was also a Riverdale volunteer and a career firefighter in Montgomery County, is scheduled for trial in a month.

Rather than tell the whole story of  Jerry Engle again (even I get tired of that stuff) you can listen to the interview (sorry, only Part 1 is available online) and follow the links to the extensive file available on STATter911.com.

 Below is the press release from the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney:

Prince George’s County State’s Attorney, Glenn F. Ivey announced today that volunteer firefighter, Jerome Engle, 46, of Bowie, pleaded guilty to second degree arson in connection with setting fire to a building located at 5413 Riverdale Road, Riverdale, MD on March 17, 2008.

Mr. Engle was a firefighter with the Riverdale Volunteer Fire Department.

As part of the plea agreement Engle faces up to 10 years in prison but could receive the guideline recommendation from the sentencing commission of 1 year in jail. The State’s Attorney will seek $200,000 restitution from Mr. Engle on behalf of the property owners.

“We expect our firefighters to battle blazes not burn buildings. Mr. Engle not only violated the public trust but also put property and people at risk. We are holding him accountable with today’s conviction,” said Glenn F. Ivey.

A sentencing and restitution hearing is set for July 1, 2010 in front of Judge Graydon McKee who oversaw today’s proceedings.

The co-defendant in the case James R. Martinez of Damascus is set for trial on July 22.

Investigation of this and similar incidents is on-going; anyone with information should contact the Prince George’s County Fire Department at 301-77ARSON.

Statement from Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department Chief Eugene Jones: 

“As the Fire Chief of this Department, I fully support the work of the States Attorney’s Office in reaching a guilty plea in this case of arson. I commend their staff as well as the Fire/EMS Department’s Fire Investigators for their due diligence in compiling evidence and building the case. I also want to acknowledge the volunteer leadership of the Riverdale Fire/EMS Station for their support and cooperation during this difficult period.

To the citizens and residents of Prince George’s County; this heinous act is a result of the actions of individuals and should not be a systemic assessment of our Department. Our combination, volunteer and career, Fire/EMS Department strives to provide the very best in fire and emergency medical services possible and are dedicated and committed to keeping our County safe from the perils of all hazards.

One person has been deemed guilty for his actions and a second person is soon to have his day in court.“

Early video from Edmonton house fire: A neighbor got to the scene with a camera before firefighters arrived at this house fire on Manning Drive in Miller. Click here for Part 2 which shows the initial attack.

Virginia USAR dog is injured and dies during training: The news just came out yesterday about an incident Friday during training of Virginia Task Force 2. A search dog known as Win received a puncture wound while looking for a “live” victim. Win died later in the day. Here’s the sad story. 

Fire Station One just opened in Silver Spring, Maryland. It is the old firehouse at 8131 Georgia Avenue (the new one is across the street). The restaurant held a fundraiser last night for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF). Click the image to read more about the eatery & brewery that is the dream of Jeremy Gruber, a retired Montgomery County Firefighter/Paramedic. Full disclosure- In his "retirement" Dave is doing work for NFFF. More on that later.

Fire & explosion cuts power for thousands: Lights flickered all over Denver Monday evening. We have news coverage and home video from the electrical substation explosion and fire. Click here.

Dramatic rescue video: A TV news crew was rolling when citizens and a rescue team got a man out of an SUV in the Nisqually River in Mt. Rainier National Park. Watch the rescue.

Florida firefighter isn’t good around lightning, or is he?: We mentioned this yesterday, but you can now listen to the story of Mike Brasol a Volusia County firefighter who for the second time in his life had a close call with lightning. Watch the story.

Demotion after claiming female firefighters are ”OTWOS”: That stands for “oxygen-thieving wastes of space” and it is why a part time station officer in Whyalla, Australia was demoted. George Dunbar lost his appeal. Here is an excerpt from WhyallaNewsOnline-

He was also reported to have referred to women as “cannon fodder”, made remarks about the size of their bottoms and allegedly stated that they should “self-explode at a certain age”.

Flying hydrant: In Meyersdale, Pennsylvania the message came over the radio during a house fire yesterday, “I lost the hydrant, she blew boys”. It was one of two holes in the ground from a main near the fire on High Street. No one was injured from the airborne hydrant. Click here to read the story.

No hydrants, flying or otherwise: Firegeezer Bill Schumm takes a look at the water-supply problems in Booneville, Iowa during a fire Sunday night. Read Bill’s story and watch the video.

And it continues: The Boston Globe is urging the City Council to hang tough against firefighters and vote against anything that has the city paying for the right to do random drug testing. Click here for the editorial. The impasse continues in this four year journey for a contract. Here’s the latest.

More lawsuits in Charleston: As the third anniversary of the Sofa Super Store fire approaches four more former firefighters file suit over the trauma of losing their nine colleagues. Glenn Smith has the latest in the Post and Courier.

You have watched and read the battles concerning EMS in the Nation’s Capital over the last three years here at STATter911.com. I have been covering the very same issue from my first days at Channel 9 25 years ago and before that at WTOP Radio. But the problems precede my reporting.

The video above has two stories from the late Bob Strickland in 1976 reporting on difficulties during the early stages of providing ALS in Washington, DC.

Below is a half-hour special (in two parts) by reporter Steve Gendel that takes a wider view. Besides the District of Columbia it covers the suburbs in Maryland and Northern Virginia. When you look at the credits you will see the name Tad Dukehart as the photographer for the broadcast. Tad retired from Channel 9 and is now a volunteer firefighter in Wisconsin.

You will also see the name Rich Adams. Up until his death in 1996 Rich was a columnist on EMS issues for Firehouse Magazine and was a member of the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad. Rich was also the editorial director at Channel 9. In that role Rich helped pushed the fire and EMS community to improve EMS in the region. There were many other similar public safety issues where I believe my friend Rich left a lasting mark. He is greatly missed.

The best fire safety system?: This video was shot Monday morning at a fire in the largest market in Yangon in Myanmar. Hundreds of shops were destroyed. There were no injuries reported despite the people who appear to have been trapped on the roof. The fire raged for 10 hours. At one point it was thought to be under control but gas tanks in a fourth floor restaurant then exploded. In February an official declared the building had the best fire safety system. Read that story. Also check out 3:30 in the video. It is a place where they still ride the back step.

Chief saves family and firefighter calls for evacuation just before the collapse: If you haven’t seen it make sure you check out the story from a fire early yesterday in Everett, Massachusetts. Click here.

One of the notes left to throw off investigators looking at a string of fires set in the Swansea, South Carolina area. Investigators say Lexington County volunteer firefighter Larry Williamson has confessed to the fires. Click the image to read and watch the story.

Memories of the way we were: If you really want to laugh check out the standup from Dave during a 1985 PGFD hazmat story. Some familiar faces are in the video. Just don’t look at it while you are eating breakfast. Click here for the video.

North Carolina POV response fatal crash results in charges: The Union Fire Department volunteer involved in the fatal crash Sunday that killed a 76-year-old woman returning from church is facing charges. Forty-one-year-old Terry Allen Moore has been charged with misdemeanor death by vehicle. Witnesses told Trooper C.F. Rogers of the North Carolina Highway Patrol that Moore had passed a number vehicles as he drove his pickup to a medical call. As he passed another vehicle the woman was making a left turn into her driveway. Here is more from the Salisbury Post:

Rogers said while Moore had a flashing red light in his vehicle, it gave him no authority to break state motor vehicle laws.

Rogers said drivers aren’t required to move out of the way for a firefighter in his or her personal vehicle with a red light, although most drivers do as a courtesy.

Chief down but not out: Firegeezer has the update on the story we brought you  few weeks ago from Carlisle, Iowa where Fire Chief/Paramedic Scott Burger is accused of showing up intoxicated at a medical call. The chief is getting a six-month vacation. Click here for coverage from the Geezer.

Fire Station One: My son and I walked by the old firehouse on Georgia Avenue in downtown Silver Spring, Maryland about six weeks ago and wondered when it would be opening. This week is the soft launch of the new restaurant in the old Silver Spring VFD building. Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service Station 1 is now across the street from Fire Station One, the restaurant. Click here to read details.

Volunteer says he will resign over ambulance fee: Speaking of the Silver Spring VFD, one of its members says he is resigning because Montgomery County is implementing an ambulance transport fee. Darian Unger says it is wrong to charge for what he provides for free. The volunteer association is working on a petition to put the issue before voters. Read more.

Getting the word out about burglar bars: WTSP-TV’s Reginald Roundtree plays the victim behind burglar bars as he waits to be rescued from a house fire by St. Petersburg, Florida firefighters.

Early video of house fire in Tinley Park, Illinois: A neighbor boy with a camera catches this one before firefighters arrive. Listen to the questions asking where is the fire department (did they call?). You can read a few more details about the fire here.

Fire engines, but no fire department: I urge you to take a few moments to watch the videos and read the information about the state of fire protection on Mudge Island in British Columbia. It is a place with two fire trucks and no real fire department. But the citizens have taken the matter, and the hose lines, into their own hands. Some of our readers find what they see inspiring. Other think it is ridiculous. Either way it sure is interesting. Click here.

Another police chief makes the case for taking over the fire department: In Auburn, Maine the acting fire chief feels the bosses showed disrespect toward him and the fire department for failing to include the fire service perspective in the city’s study of combining the police and fire departments. That job went to the police chief who says it could work just fine having public safety officers showing up at fires, putting down their weapons and going in to fight a fire. Watch the story.

Bourne’s back: For a while the Bourne Fire Department in Massachusetts just stayed in the news as the department dealt very publicly with a series of problems (click here and scroll down). The recent quiet from Bourne has now been broken. Two paramedics are claiming an on-call firefighter drove his personal vehicle recklessly through a crash scene on the way to a fire call. The medics says they were almost struck while tending to a patient. Here is the story.

Probation in hazing incident: A judge has given a year probation to three Connecticut firefighters and another person after a hazing incident we had told you about. This is where a 14-year-old member of the Quaker Hill Fire Department, who had pulled a chair out from underneath a firefighter’s girlfriend, found himself bound to a backboard, gagged and shot with an air gun. Here’s the update.

Consulting firm fired because it had never recommended layoffs: In Palo Alto, California a consultant was dropped midway through a staffing study of the fire department. Council members were shocked to learn the firm had never recommended layoffs in any of its previous studies. According to MercuryNews.com, some on the council were hoping the study would pave the way for cut backs. The official reason for the dropping of the consultant is a “conflict of interest”. Check out this line from the article – “they were surprised to learn at an April 20 finance committee meeting that consulting firm Emergency Services Consulting International was affiliated with an international fire chiefs union.” I knew those fire chiefs would eventually unionize.

What happens in Las Vegas may be shared with Clark County: With both Nevada jurisdictions in battles with firefighters over budget issues, leaders hope to share services like hazmat and heavy rescue in an effort to save money. Here is the latest.

CFSI: The Congressional Fire Services Institute’s National Fire and Emergency Services Dinner and Seminars start today. Click here for details.

It is Bonanza time: May 7 is the start of the two day Bonanza Extravaganza put on by the Professional Firefighters of Hagerstown, Maryland (IAFF Local 1605). This event, involving music, gaming, big money prizes and much more has become a real happening. The union says, through a foundation set up to handle the profits from the event, firefighters have given away hundreds of thousands of dollars to non-profits in the community and  ”a $40,000 donation to Children’s Village that funded every second grader in Washington County to be able to attend a two day fire and police safety educational program”. Click here to read more background information on the event.  Here’s the website.

Another fired DeKalb County, Georgia firefighter makes the case for reinstatement: William Greene goes public in his efforts to get his job back after being fired with four others following a botched response to help an elderly woman who said her house was on fire. Greene says he was not given complete information by dispatchers. Read the story.

Mayor’s fund raiser attracts firefighters: We have shared with you a number of stories about the relationship between North Providence Mayor Charles Lombardi and his firefighters (click here and scroll down for a recap). If you have read any of them you know that if a large group of firefighters showed up at a fund raiser for Lombardi it wasn’t because they were invited. There were about 250 firefighters with picket signs outside the restaurant last night. Click here for the story. Watch the video.

Three-alarm church fire threatens hotel: The two buildings are connected in Portland, Oregon. Firegeezer has the story.

How sad: During a retired firefighter’s funeral in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, burglars broke into the home the firefighter shared with his brother. Read more.

Union called out for stealing story of 1953 fire: A paranormal researcher who had written a story in 2008 on the 55th anniversary of a nursing home fire that killed 33 people says IAFF Local 2427 reposted that same story on its site. The author says her name wasn’t on the story but credit inhstead was given to someone affiliated with the union. Here’s the story about the story, that we are crediting to TampaBay.com.

Man’s duck story apparently doesn’t hold water: The man admits he set the fire inside the Ride the Ducks building in Seattle. But the story about why he did it might quack you up. (Seriously, what kind of an idiot writes this junk?) Here’s the story.

NIST staffing and response study out this morning: I am not sure NIST’s efforts will have much meaning on Mudge Island (see here), but a lot of fire chiefs are hoping it will help put things in perspective when the boss says cut. We spent a frigid day in January of last year at the Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service Training Academy when this study was first publicized (above). Christopher Naum has one of the more detailed looks at what it is all about on his Command Safety blog. Expect more at Command Safety (and here) later today.

 Raw video from WUSA9.com‘s Greg Guise. Interview with Assistant Chief Scott Graham, Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service.

Click here for slideshow from the fire

One firefighter was transported to the hospital with what are described as non-life threatening burns following a house fire this afternoon in Montgomery County, Maryland. The fire was reported just after 2:00 PM  in the 4900 block of Jamestown Court in Glen Echo.

 Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service Captain Oscar Garcia says there was a report of children trapped, but that proved not to be the case. The initial search was conducted by an EMS crew that was first on the scene.

By George VanDaniker WUSA9.com:

A firefighter was injured early Saturday while fighting a blaze in a Rockville home that caused more than $1 million in damage and displaced three adults.

Assistant Chief Scott Graham of Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Services said 70 firefighters were dispatched at 12:36 a.m. to 10107 Lakestone Place. Firefighters found heavy fire on the second floor and going through the roof.

A firefighter suffered minor injuries when a ceiling collapsed, and she was transported to a local hospital.

Firefighters were forced to evacuate the home and fight the two-alarm blaze from outside.

The Red Cross assisted the three displaced adults.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) along with the the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) Fire Chiefs Committee unveiled the subway system’s new battery-powered, portable response and recon vehicles today. The emergency management types at WMATA have been telling us for some time about this new capability and their efforts to train area fire departments on the use of the new carts.

We have posted four videos showing and describing the Mobile Emergency Response Vehicles (MERVs). Below, are clips of the vehicle being  assembled and a ride on the rails photographed by 9NEWS NOW’s Greg Guise. At bottom, is raw video of the press conference with Arlington County Fire Department Chief Jim Schwartz.

At top, is the story for 9NEWS NOW by Bruce Leshan. That story includes Vito Maggiolo video and 911 calls from an April, 2000 incident where a train filled with 250 pasengers was sent to check out a report of smoke in a tunnel. They became trapped by an electrical fire. Bruce also wrote the article that follows:

Firefighters from across our region are showing off a new battery-powered rail cart that could make all the difference if there’s another Metro crash.

The $20,000 carts were designed in Britain to speed firefighters to emergency scenes deep inside the London Tube. The DC region is the first in the U.S. to get them.

Firefighters say there have been many incidents when they could have used the carts in Metro.

“We can’t breath!” a desperate passenger pleaded to rescue workers 10 years ago, while hundreds of passengers were stuck in a stopped train in smoky Metro tunnel.

“It took about an hour for the firemen to get there,” Susan Little told 9NEWS NOW.

Firefighters say the 26 “Mobile Emergency Response Vehicles” will help them speed into crises far faster.

“The other day, they put it together and had it going down the tracks in one minute and four seconds,” said one Arlington firefighter, as he watched the cart zip down a rail line at a Metro Yard in Alexandria.

Firefighters have carts now, but you have to push them. Loaded down in turnout gear, it can take them an hour to get to a scene. With the cart, they can go twelve miles an hour and get to a scene in minutes.

After the Sarin gas attacks 15 years ago in the Tokyo subway, British security officials asked rescue workers to invent a vehicle to get passengers out from deep under London in the tube.

The carts were used extensively after the terrorist attacks on the London subway in 2005.

Arlington Fire officials say they sure could have used one in a drill that had a train stuck under the Potomac between Rosslyn and Foggy Bottom.

“In that one, it took 45 minutes to an hour to get to the victims,” says Arlington Battalion Chief James Daugherty, who’s been leading the project. “With a cart like this, five to ten minutes at most.”

In London, firefighters are actually drilled on driving the subway trains, so that if the operator is incapacitated in a poison gas attack, the rescuers can pull up in the cart and drive the train passengers to safety.

The carts were paid for with a $860,000 grant from the Department of Homeland Security.

STATter911.com’s previous coverage of this story

Russell Dawson admits, “It has not been a pleasant time to be chief”. Chief Dawson and the Rockville Volunteer Fire Department heard twice in two days last week from the Rockville Police Department that firefighters were found in places where they shouldn’t have been.

The most serious incident was around 1:00 Friday morning at the Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service logistics and supply building on Dover Road. Chief Dawson tells STATter911.com it was quite a shock to learn that three 17-year-old probationary members were arrested. They were charged with breaking into the building and attempting to steal firefighter gear.

Dawson is asking the public not to judge the more than 200 volunteer members of the department by “the actions of these three”. But two other members remain in hot water for an incident that happened earlier in the week.

Police were called Tuesday to a party room at the Fenestra Apartments across the street from the Station 3. Dawson says one of Rockville’s volunteer firefighters lives in the apartments and had been hosting get-togethers with fellow firefighters inside the room in recent months. According to Dawson, these events are done off-duty on the firefighters’ own time.

The chief says apartment management had recently started shutting the room down at 10:00 PM. The fire department’s investigation has determined that seven of the nine firefighters didn’t know about the new rules and that entry was made into the locked room before their arrival. The suspensions of the seven have been lifted.

Chief Dawson says the firefighter who lives in the building and another volunteer, who is believed to have forced open the locked door, are still facing a disciplinary hearing.

Chief Dawson is concerned because of incidents involving “a few rogue people” the public will get the wrong impression about the Rockville Volunteer Fire Department. He says the volunteers provided more than 140,000 hours of standby-duty last year ready to respond to emergencies.