At least four buildings, including the historic Manchester Inn, have been reduced to charred rubble and three others damaged by a wind-swept fire in Ocean Grove early Saturday morning.
From APP.com. Click the image for more pictures.
Dozens of firefighters battled the blaze, which began about 5 a.m. at the Manchester at 25 Ocean Pathway, said Michael Bascom, deputy emergency coordinator for Neptune Township.
Five homes facing Ocean Pathway and two facing Bath Avenue, which borders the block to the north, eventually caught fire. Several of the homes that burned were occupied, Bascom said, but residents were safely evacuated and none were injured. Two firefighters were treated for minor injuries, he said.
“When we arrived scene in very heavy wind, the Manchester and the house just west of it were fully involved,” Bascom said.
Soon, he said, five more buildings had caught fire as powerful winds blew flames and glowing embers into other buildings.
Such a wind-fueled blaze “is our biggest fear in Ocean Grove,” Bascom said.
“Our greatest fear was that we’d lose the Camp Meeting Association and all the tents,” which lie just one block west, he said. “We had embers shooting over great distances.”
But firefighters were able to contain the fire to a single block. But not without injuries.
Fire officials have reported two injuries, a male firefighter from the Ocean Grove fire department has suffered smoke inhalation and particles in his eyes. A female member of the Neptune First Aid squad complained of stomach pains at the scene.
Emergency crews evacuated dozens of structures, up to 20 people from the burning structures and nearby buildings.
Fire officials said there are no fatalities and believe they have accounted for everyone.
However, officials for the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office say officials are checking tax records and calling owners of the various properties to make certain no one is missing.
Fire officials say they are still working to determine what caused the blaze.
Four hours after the initial 911 call, more than a dozen fire trucks still surrounded the block. A web of hoses sprayed water on the smoking ruins as firefighters continued to watch and fight the flames from the ground, from balconies and from a ladder truck.
Ten families were left homeless today after an early morning fire broke out at an apartment complex off Old Nyack Turnpike across the street from where fire damaged a separate house the night before.
Investigators don’t know if the two fires are connected.
Three firefighters were injured battling the blaze today at Sleepy Hollow Gardens apartment on Lunney Court.
The fire apparently started in Apartment 34 sometime after 6 a.m. It spread to the attic and then to adjacent units, Spring Valley fire Chief Ken Sohlman said.
Michael Choinski, 16, who lives in the apartment next door to where the fire broke out, said his mother was awakened by the sound of windows shattering from the fire. Choinski helped get his family out of the building and then ran to the other apartments in the building.
“I was banging on the doors — telling everyone to get out,” he said.
All residents, including the women and her three young daughters who lived in the unit where the fire started, were out of the building by the time firefighters arrived.
It took firefighters about an hour to bring the fire under control. Firefighters from Spring Valley, Hillcrest, Monsey and Tallman were at the scene along with Spring Hill and Ramapo Valley ambulance corps.
Thursday night, Spring Valley firefighters were called to a single-family house at 123 Old Nyack Turnpike, directly across the street from the Sleepy Hollow Gardens apartments, shortly after 9:30.
It took them nearly two hours to put out the fire, which caused extensive damage to the house. No one was injured.
Investigators are trying to determine what caused both fires.
The Red Cross was being asked to help residents relocate.
Monica Bowens stood in the cold with tears in her eyes, hugging herself and watching her family’s apartment building and all the family’s possessions burn.
“The most important thing is that we are here, but we have nothing,” the 39-year-old said Thursday evening, shaking her head.
She and her three children were among the 12 families – 48 people – left without a home by the four-alarm fire that started around 4:30 p.m.
The blaze started on the rear porches of 66 Elliott Ave. and spread to the roof, Yonkers Fire Commissioner Anthony Pagano said at the scene.
“There were no reported injuries and no one was reported missing,” Pagano said. “There were people who were trapped inside, but they were brought out.”
As clouds of black smoke blew down the street, people watched, took pictures with cameras and cell phones, cried and prayed.
Some of the displaced residents said they heard that the fire started after a group of children set a cat on fire.
“I heard that too,” Bowens said. “But, I don’t know.”
A fire official said Thursday night that the cause was not yet known.
Bowens said she was lying down when a friend told her that there was a fire in the building. She said she had tried to go out the back door, but her nephew told her it was a “serious fire.”
Three people were seriously hurt after a crash involving Rescue Squad 1 at 14th Street and Constitution Ave in Northwest Washington.
DC Fire & EMS Department spokesman Pete Piringer says the crew was responding to a report of a fire at a library at George Washington University when it was involved in a crash with two other vehicles around 7:30 AM today. Three people in the two cars were taken to a hospital with serious injuries. No firefighters were hurt.
The fire at the library ended up being a small fire in the heating and air conditioning system. Piringer says it was quickly contained.
Vacant car dealership burns, firefighter hurt: The firefighter hurt his knee helping homeless squatters get out of this vacant building in Vallejo, California yesterday morning. The fire went to three-alarms. Read the details.
NEW – DC Rescue Squad 1 involved in serious collision: On the way to a reported of a building fire in Northwest Washington, DC Fire & EMS Department Rescue Squad 1 collided with a vehicle that then hit another vehicle. It happened just after 7:30 this morning at 14th and Constitution, NW. Spokesman Pete Piringer says three civlians were hurt, listed as traumas by mechanism. No firefighters were injured. We will have more later.
Was paramedic criminally negligent?: That’s the question the Special Victim’s Unit of the Metropolitan Police Department Homicide Branch has been charged with determining following the death of two-year-old Stephanie Stephens. The mayor, fire chief, police chief and attorney general of the District of Columbia contend there is enough information about the actions of the paramedic in charge when the decision was made on the initial 911 call not to transport the little girl that detectives specializing in the deaths of children need to take a closer look. Here’s the story.
DC’s former fire chief now says fire & EMS should be separated: Former DC Fire & EMS Department Chief Adrian Thompson now believes EMS in the District of Columbia should be a third service. Thompson tells Matt Cella of The Washington Times, “It’s not working. It’s a cultural issue. They’re not going to change the culture of this department.” Here are more excerpts-
The former chief, who is black, said white firefighters with generational ties to the department largely have been less accepting of the job’s evolving responsibilities, particularly an increased emphasis in recent decades on providing pre-hospital care.
“They want to be firefighters and firefighters only,” he said, adding that black firefighters have entered the department in significant numbers in only the past 20 or 30 years and largely have been more open to other responsibilities if it meant securing a job.
Deputy Chief Kenneth Crosswhite, a spokesman for Chief Dennis L. Rubin, who is white, called Mr. Thompson’s conclusions “totally ludicrous.” He estimated that the department has about 45 percent non-minority employees and 55 percent minority employees.
“For someone to make an assertion like that is totally, totally out of touch with today’s reality,” he said. “Leadership starts at the top. If he had that notion during his tenure, he should have solved the problem.”
Chief Thompson was in charge of the department in January, 2006 when former New York Times reporter David Rosenbaum was murdered. Thompson initially told reporters that his review of the case found no problems in the care provided to the dying man. An inspector general’s report discovered many issues in how first responders and Howard University Hospital dealt with Rosenbaum.
Life sentence for man who killed Delaware’s Michelle Smith: Joseph Taye was give his sentence yesterday for running down Firefighter Smith as she tended to the victim of a motorcycle crash near the Wilmington airport. Taye, a paraplegic, apologized in court for the harm he has done. Click here for the story.
Black firefighters talk about race relations in Chicago: As the Supreme Court deals with a case that hinges on hiring practices, some firefighters give their views on the state of race relations in the Chicago Fire Department. Click here and here.
Late assault report between firefighters in North Carolina: In Elon a fire captain is accused of assaulting a firefighter who was welding at the firehouse after some initial horseplay over keys. Here are the details.
Investigation into why firefighters couldn’t reach woman in time who was on phone with 911: A tragic story from Spotsylvania County, Virginia. A 911 call taker listened to Sandy Hill’s last breaths as firefighters tried desperately to find her on the second floor of the burning Cape Cod. By the time they get to the woman it was too late. STATter911.com/9NEWS NOW had filed a FOIA for the fireground & 911 audio in this case, but we were scooped by the local paper. The Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star’s Dan Telvock takes a close look at this story and has the recordings. Click here.
DC crew received disciplinary action after failing to take woman to the hospital: This is a case from December with strong parallels to the investigation on-going into the death of a two-year-old girl during the second blizzard in February. In both cases it took a second 911 call to get a ride to the hospital. And in both cases the initial crews failed to get a signed release or file a patient care report. Click here for our coverage.
Five firefighters injured in Brooklyn fire: Five firefighters were hurt around 4:00 this morning battling a fire on Concord Street. Two are reported to be in serious condition, but the injuries aren’t considered life-threatening. Here’s more from WCBS-TV.
Driven to distraction: Back in the day I used to find it a challenge when going driver only to a call, keeping the hands on the steering wheel, shifting gears, talking on the radio and blowing the siren. Now you have computers, GPS and other electronics to distract you in the front seat of an emergency vehicle. The New York Times looks at the growing concern that first responders may be distracted by all these bells and whistles. Check out the article.
Fiery multiple-vehicle crash on the highway: Firegeezer has the story and video from Indianapolis. Click here.
Another blue light special: In Martinsville, Indiana a volunteer firefighter didn’t like the way a woman was driving. He pulled her over and yelled at her. His blue light is now history for six-months. Read more.
Firefighter is canned after two women come to blows: The two women squared off after a city council meeting in Johnston City, Illinois where layoffs and pay cuts were dealt with. A man, who is a firefighter and part-time dispatcher, says he was fired because of the fight. Click here for the story.
Drawbridge rescue: Raw video from yesterday’s rescue of four workers in Pompano Beach, Florida. Check it out.
Houston considers furloughs: Houston’s mayor is the latest big city officials to talk about furloughs for fire and police to help balance the budget. Read more.
Four workers are safe after being trapped on a drawbridge stuck in the up position Wednesday morning.
Broward Sheriff’s Office rescuers saved the workers from the bridge in the 2900 block of east Atlantic Boulevard.
City spokeswoman Sandra King said hydraulics failed on a bridge under reconstruction, causing it to rise while Department of Transportation workers were still on it.
Three workers were harnessed and brought down easily, but a fourth was left trapped in the air over the Intracoastal Waterway.
One of the more interesting videos I have seen recently: Have to give Jason Thomas at Firefighter Spot credit for finding this. The photographer springs into action and moves a police car blocking the way as firefighters in Maple Shade, New Jersey pull up to a motel fire on Sunday. In Part 2 you will see where the cops were. Check out the third floor as they break out windows, apparently looking for victims.
A top doc socks it to DC Fire & EMS over child death: It is only two paragraphs long, but Monday’s letter to the editor in the Washington Post from Dr. Joseph Wright packs a wallop. You will want to take a look at the doctor’s credentials in the field of pediatric emergency medicine as it relates to EMS. Dr. Wright not only questions what happened in the recent death of 2-year-old Stephanie Stephens, he is critical of how the system generally provides pediatric pre-hospital care. The DC Fire & EMS Department stands on its record of improvements since Mayor Adrian Fenty’s task force provided an outline for the future of EMS following the 2006 death of former New York Times reporter David Rosenbaum. Dr. Wright looked at Stephens’ death as a “pediatric Rosenbaum”. Click here for our coverage.
Long Island fire chief & FDNY member accused of “vigilante” justice: Hempstead Fire Department Chief Michael Charles. who is a retired NYPD detective, and FDNY’s Brian Schuck from Ladder 111, are accused of stopping and searching a pedestrian at gun point and then letting them go. The men were in the fire SUV. The incident happened after shots rang out near the Hempstead firehouse. Schuck has been suspended without pay. Read and watch the story and here.
Pay attention to this report and you can get rid of STATter911.com: The Cumberland Valley Volunteer Firemen’s Association is trying to put this blog out of business and I am helping them. It is called reputation management and the CVVFA folks put together a special report on how some firefighters are tarnishing the image of the fire service. They even asked me to give them some insight on the awful stories I cover. Forget my role and just read the document. Here it is.
Speaking of reputations – it doesn’t look like Chicago’s mayor is ready to help salvage the fire commissioner’s image: The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting Mayor Richard Daley “conspicuously refused today to give embattled Fire Commissioner John Brooks a vote of confidence”. Brooks, accused of sexual harassment, made this memorable statement to the Sun-Times:
I do not proposition women. I don’t have to. Women usually proposition me. God has blessed me like that.
Los Angeles City Council has second thoughts on cutting ambulance service to save money: The plan is to stop using 10 of the department’s ambulances during night time hours. But after hearing testimony the council is getting cold feet. Here is the story.
Smoking ban for new firefighters rejected: In Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin the police and fire commission is bucking the trend and said no to a new tobacco free policy for newly hired firefighters. Check out the story.
Exploding cell phone: It wasn’t even plugged in, according to a family and firefighters in Seffner, Florida. Here’s the story.
Fire chief lays down the law over convicted arsonist/bomber: Read the story from North Haledon, New Jersey about a convicted arsonist/bomber who was participating in fire department activities.
Fire chief lays down the law over accidental fire: Actually that’s this chief’s name, Jonathan Law. He’s the chief of Oklahoma’s Nescatunga Fire Department. Chief Law told the Alva Review/Courier, “I will not stand for such kinds of incidents” after a firefighter accidentally started a small grass fire. Here’s the story.
The Fire Critic has lost his mind: Where The Fire PIO yesterday had one of the more interesting blog postings I have seen in a while, our friend in Roanoke has gone far in the other direction. There will be nothing socially redeeming in Rhett’s Top Ten Best/Funniest Firefighter Dance Videos, but I am sure you will get a few laughs. That also pretty much describes my first encounter with Rhett at the blogger meetup on Friday. Click here to see what I am talking about.
As the investigation into the death of Stephanie Stephens continues, a top official at Children’s National Medical Center has made his views about the case known. In a letter to the editor in Monday’s Washington Post, Dr. Joseph Wright said, “The decision not to immediately transport a 2-year-old with respiratory symptoms is inexcusable.”
Dr. Joseph Wright from Children's National Medical Center website.
Dr. Wright is referring to the crew from DC Fire & EMS Department’s Medic 33 who did not take the little girl to the hospital after her mother’s first call to 911 on the morning of February 10. It wasn’t until another 911 call, about nine-hours later, that a different crew from Medic 33 took the girl to Children’s. She died the next day. The family told 9NEWS NOW Stephanie had pneumonia.
Dr. Wright, a senior vice president and pediatric emergency physician, pointed out in his letter that he believes the city has made little progress since the controversy surrounding the inadequate care provided to dying former New York Times reporter David Rosenbaum. Wright wrote to the Post, “It was only a matter of time before a pediatric Rosenbaum case surfaced.”
According to Dr. Wright’s biography, he is a founding director of the hospital’s Institute for Prehospital Pediatrics and Emergency Research and “provides state-level leadership as the EMS Medical Director for Pediatrics within the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems”. Wright is also a senior investigator and medical director with “the federally-funded Emergency Medical Services for Children National Resource Center.”
DC Fire & EMS Department spokesman Pete Piringer disputes Dr. Wright’s claims. In an email to STATter911.com Piringer said, ”During the past few years significant progress has been made in many areas concerning the state of EMS in the District of Columbia.”
Piringer points to the implementation of the large majority of the goals from the task force ordered by Mayor Adrian Fenty to provide a blueprint for the future of EMS following Rosenbaum’s death in 2006. According to Piringer, “As of today, the Department has completed 39 of those 50 action items, most well ahead of schedule, and is making substantial progress on completing the remaining 11 items.”
Chief Dennis Rubin headed the the task force. Rubin is about to celebrate his third anniversary in command of the DC Fire & EMS Department. Critics, like Kenneth Lyons, president of the union representing civilian EMS workers, point out that Chief Rubin is now in search of his third medical director and is on his fourth crew to lead EMS training. Lyons calls the lack of continuity ”schizophrenic”.
While Lyons believes Dr. Wright is premature in judging the EMS crew in the Stephens case, he concurs with Wright’s claims there are problems in providing pre-hospital care to children. In his letter Wright said, “I have stated often for the public record before the D.C. Council Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary just how little attention D.C. Fire and EMS has paid to preparing its workforce in the care of children.”
Lyons tells STATter911.com that Dr. Wright has long been an advocate for improved training and protocols in dealing with children who are ill or injured and has offered to assist the city in making these improvements.
The public relations staff at Children’s National Medical Center was unable to schedule an interview with Dr. Wright on Tuesday.
Twice in eight hours: Edward Malik reports Gary, Indiana firefighters responded for two fires yesterday in a vacant home in the 4700 block of Washington. One was a day time fire, the other at night.
One of the more interesting postings I have ever seen on a fire & EMS blog. Make sure you read it: To me the worst blogs are those that spout some company line, refuse to publish comments that disagree with the blogger’s point of view, usually state the obvious, believe the answer is always black or white with no gray area and stay away from anything that might smack of controversy because it might be perceived as critical of what fire and EMS crews do (I think I just described my own blog). The exact opposite of this is the most recent posting by Jeff Bressler at The Fire PIO. It is titled, A PIO’s ethics dilemma: Spinning a point he does not believe in. A fascinating look at the problem facing a PIO for a Long Island fire department. It looks critically at whether a fire department can justify spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a motorized drill team. The article shows how a public information officer may have to be the public face of a policy they disagree with. This is the reality of being a PIO. It isn’t just responding to fires and getting your mug on TV. I am eager to read more columns like this from Jeff.
A closer look at the death of Boston’s Lt. Kevin Kelley: A board of inquiry released a 127-page report looking at the January 9, 2009 crash of Ladder 26. Click here to read the report.
FDNY not allowed access to Freedom Tower to assist with injured worker: Some tension at Ground Zero between the Port Authority and FDNY. News reports indicate most of the FDNY units were not allowed access to the site when a worker fell two stories. Read more about the dispute.
Firefighter passes out behind the wheel of fire engine: In Nevada County, California they are saying the problem was one of dehydration when a firefighter on the way to a hospital to pick up his partner blacked out. Read the details.
Accused firefighter arsonist has charges dropped: We covered this odd story from Indiana when charges were placed a little more than a-year-ago. A Lafayette firefighter was accused of setting his Battle Ground home on fire in October, 2008 and then ripping a firehose out of the hands of firefighters and knocking off the helmet of a firefighter. Now, the arson charge has been dropped. Eric Tendam was fired a month after the charges were filed. Read the details.
Arson charges placed against firefighter: In Penn Township, Pennsylvania a farmhouse fire is being blamed on Eric Penska, a volunteer from Irvin Borough, and two others. Read the story.
Old home burns in Maryland: One firefighter from Montgomery County suffered a second degree burn to his leg fighting this fire yesterday in a late 1800s home in Poolesville. Check our player at the top right for more videos from the Washington area and around the country.
A two-alarm fire last night destroyed one Rochester home, damaged another and caused the deaths of two dogs.
Flames were showing on the front and rear of a two-and-a-half story wood-frame house at 156 Ackerman St. when firefighters arrived about 10:25 p.m., said Rochester Deputy Fire Chief Ron Mendolera. Firefighters had to attack the fire from the exterior.
The fire got into the second-floor eaves of a house at 150 Ackerman St. and damaged the attic. Mendolera said that house also sustained some exterior exposure damage.
Mendolera said the house at 156 Ackerman St. was razed to extinguish the fire and because the building’s structural stability was in question. Two tenants, whose dogs died, are being helped by the Greater Rochester Chapter of the American Red Cross.
Ackerman Street is off Bay Street in northeast Rochester.
This is clearly a mistake: In the spot where you normally would find a compelling fire video, I am giving you a bunch of talking heads this morning. Some are people you may know by name or the blog they write (you will see that most, like me, have a face for blogging). They were all at Friday night’s fire and EMS bloggers meetup at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor as part of EMS Today. Besides the bloggers (they had a special area taped off just for us, but I think it was meant to keep us from mixing with the sane people), it was nice to hang out with the folks from JEMS, FireEMSBlogs.com and George Washington University who sponsored the event. If you want a complete run down of who was there and all of the scoop, check out the posting from a man of great stature in the blogging community (don’t be fooled by the pictures), The Fire Critic, Rhett Fleitz. After almost three years of communicating via some sort of electronic means, the hardest working man in the blogosphere and I were finally in the same room. But I was immediately a great disappointment to Rhett, when I was unable to make good on my promise to introduce him to one of the “VIPs” in the room. The person kept avoiding me, which fits with Rhett’s quote that “some love to hate Dave” (I’m not sure I like me either). Well, enough of us patting ourselves on the back and let’s get on with the news.
UPDATE – Bensalem, Pennsylvania medic Daniel McIntosh dies while dealing with suicidal patient: From Bucks County, Firefighter Close Calls and The Trentonian report the medic was stabbed while dealing with a suicidal patient during a call around 7:00 PM last night. But there are also some possibly conflicting reports about what happened, including a police officer indicating no weapon was involved. The latest information from Philly.com is that McIntosh had a head injury received while chasing after the mentally ill man. But the cause of death will not be released until the autopsy has been completed. We do know the 39-year-medic later died. He leaves behind a wife and two young daughters. McIntosh was a medic for the Bucks County South SWAT Team. He also recently took a job as a part time police officer for Hulmeville Borough. Read and watch the story here, here and here. Also, check JEMS Connect, PhillyFireNews.com and Bensalem EMS.
The razor’s edge: If you haven’t read the story from the Florida Keys about one of the most unusual causes for a vehicle collision, you will want to. Truly a classic that will be retold for generations. Check it out.
One giant leap by Dave Statter: I somehow made a connection between the above must read story to the must see video from Erie, Pennsylvania where an SUV’s left turn took priority over a fire engine responding to a call. Probably poor taste and not journalistically sound, but I did it. So watch the video.
And then there’s this quote: We never really had a quote of the week category, but we started it on Saturday and we are already retiring the trophy. If you haven’t checked it out you will want to see Chicago Fire Commissioner John Brooks public defense to a sexual harassment charge. Click here.
Enough of the silliness, now back to the stuff that matters - watch the wires!!!: There were two incidents in two days were a ladder and a tower made contact with power lines injuring eight firefighters. One in Delavan, Wisconsin and one in Houston, Texas. Everyone survived. In the Wisconsin case two chiefs disagree over whether there should be an investigation. We have details, pictures and video on both, plus a look back at two other incidents. Here is our coverage.
Static electricity behind fatal car fire: Fire at a gas pump in Lower Allen Township, Pennsylvania is being blamed on static electricity. No sign of cell phone use. Smoking was also ruled out. Here is the story.
Philly recruiter denounced for email outlining plan to break rules in efforts to increase minority applicants: Captain Troy Gore says he immediately sent out an email denouncing his own scheme to allow minorities to apply to be a Philadelphia firefighter after the deadline closed. Despite that, Captain Gore is now on paid leave and has been denounced by the Valiants Club Inc. , the African American firefighters organization that has long challenged the department’s hiring practices. In fact, the president of the Valiants, Kenneth Greene Sr., leaked the email to the Philadelphia Inquirer. It also turns out that Gore had planned to challenge Greene in the next election. Read more.
How it is supposed to work – citizen sings the praises of first responders even though the had a 45-minute response time that stretched to almost three-hours before transport: We have already heard horror stories about questionable EMS responses in Pittsburgh and Washington, DC during the recent blizzards. Here is a different view, where fire, EMS and private citizens in Loudoun County, Virginia beat the expectations of the public in their response through five-foot snow drifts in an effort to help an elderly woman who had fallen and broken her hip. Check it out.
See, I told you: I have no clue if it is true, but I saw this coming. You may recall what I wrote last week about how the current goings on in Clark County, Nevada fit a pattern all over the country as overtime is targeted by political leaders looking to cut budgets. Part of that pattern is a claim of abuse of the system by firefighters. That piece of the puzzle was detailed yesterday in the Las Vegas Sun where there are claims firefighters are “gaming the system” with sick leave abuse translating into more overtime. Click here for the latest.
Tom Yeatman shot this video of a BP service station burning overnight in Prince George’s County, Maryland. The fire was reported at 5:30 AM at Addison Road and Martin Luther King Jr. Highway in Seat Pleasant. No injuries were reported. damage is estimated at $200,000.
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.
This fire in a vacant home was on Thursday at 80 North 16th Street in East Orange. One day short of a year earlier there was a fire in a vacant house at 48 North 16th Street. Click here for pictures and to read more on that fire.
A Vietnamese market on Main Street in Worcester, Massachusetts burned on Friday. The fire is reported to have started in the basement and was discovered around 11:00 AM. Two people in the store suffered smoke inhalation. The store had been recently renovated.
I am sure recall the recent problems with a fire response in DeKalb County, Georgia that left a woman dead and the chief and five of his employees without jobs. An alert STATter911.com reader pointed out this fire on Wednesday morning that has caught the attention of WSB-TV. Here is what is posted on the TV station’s website:
Firefighters told Channel 2 Action News they went to the home on Magnolia Trace in Stone Mountain three times in 24 hours.
They believe the first fire started near a clothes dryer.
Crews put out that fire and then went back a second time to put out hot spots.
Then another fire broke out in the attic, according to Fire Department officials.
”Roughly 2-3 hours later we responded back to flames through the roof,” said Capt. Eric Jackson of the DeKalb County Fire Department.
No one was at the home when that final fire started.
STATter911.com has confirmed with DC Fire & EMS Department sources that no pre-hospital care report was filed in the initial response to assist a little girl with trouble breathing. That incident is now under review as the department tries to determine why the child, who died the next day, was not transported to a hospital when her mother first called 911. With no report, that also means there is no signed release from the family of Stephanie Stephens indicating a family member or guardian declined to have the girl taken to a hospital.
According to the department sources, who are not authorized to speak on this incident, the review will also look at the family’s claim that the medic told the mother to use steam from a hot shower to help open up her daughter’s lungs.
As 9NEWS NOW first reported on Wednesday, the toddler’s family is publicly asking why the medic crew did not take the two-year-old girl to the hospital after the initial emergency call was placed.
A second 911 call resulted in the girl being taken to Children’s Hospital about nine-hours after the initial response. The girl died the next day at the hospital.
Stephanie Stephen’s paternal grandmother, Tondalia Richardson, tells 9NEWS NOW, ”I just don’t understand it. I just don’t understand it. If they were called then why didn’t they take her? That’s the part I don’t understand, this is an infant, why wouldn’t you take her?”
Investigators say it was just before 5:00 AM on February 10th, in the middle of the second round of back-to-back blizzards, when the child’s mother called 9-1-1 because Stephanie, whom many called Tu-Tu, had trouble breathing.
DC Fire and EMS released a statement on Wednesday that says in part, “Within minutes a Medic Unit arrived on the scene. Emergency first responders performed a patient evaluation. There was no transport.” The statement does not indicate why there was no transport.
The sources say both Engine 33 and Medic 33 were dispatched on the call. Medic 33 had a veteran paramedic and an EMT aboard. Both are civilian EMS workers, or “single-role-providers”, as the department calls them.
The release indicates at 1:45 PM the second 911 call was received from the child’s home reporting “abnormal breathing”. This time a different crew aboard Medic 33 transported the little girl to the hospital.
Richardson looked after her granddaughter every week and says, “She was the bubbliest thing. She was loving and happy and outgoing.”
Stephanie was laid to rest this past Tuesday. Her grandmother is wondering why this little girl’s life had to be cut short just shy of the girl’s third birthday.
The grandmother claims Stephanie died of pneumonia.
The paramedic and EMT on the initial call are on administrative duty and are not to have contact with patients as the review continues.
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.
Four businesses were destroyed by fire today morning in the restaurant-packed lower Greenville Avenue area of Dallas — when the places were closed.
The multi-alarm blaze left one firefighter being treated for smoke inhalation.
Fire department spokesman Jason Evans says the fire apparently started in Terrilli’s, a popular restaurant in the neighborhood east of downtown known for its eateries, funky retail stores and live-music clubs.
Evans says the adjoining restaurants that were destroyed share a crawl space with Terrilli’s.
Gregg Merkow of Plano, a well-known tournament poker player who owns two restaurants destroyed by the fire, said he raced down to the area to see smoke billowing from his bar.
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.
Hampton, NH fire in HD: A video I failed to post over the weekend was Rick Nohl’s HD version of the five-alarm fire that took out most of a block along the ocean front during the coastal storm early Friday. Click here for the earlier coverage and here for more of Rick’s work.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Just added: Always check out our player in the right hand column for the latest videos. wusa9.com’s Emily Cyr, late this morning, posted an overnight fire in a vacant building in Bellingham, Washington. You will also find search and rescue videos from Chile (here, here and here). And Emily has put together images of fire & rescue crews searching for quake victims. Click here.
A mini-milestone for STATter911.com: Unless all of you just decide to shut-up for the day and give me the cold shoulder I am expecting that we will be posting comment number 15,000 on this blog in the next hour or two. Obviously we have received more comments than that, but some (I am guessing 1,000 or so) weren’t posted due to not meeting even the low standards that I have. As I have mentioned before, the comments section is the part of the blog that brings me the most criticism (even from some of my closest friends). I do enjoy the interaction and the well-thought out writings that aren’t personal attacks. I have learned a lot from your comments, including those critical of the jerk who writes this junk each day.
So, keep them coming. Keep them clean (this blog is still affiliated with the TV station where I am employed). Do your best to play nice. And if you really want to get on the good side of me, toss in some humor when it is appropriate (but I will probably like it even if it isn’t appropriate).
Must see police dashcam video: A Brooklyn Heights, Ohio police lieutenant is on the mend with multiple fractures after he tried to help a motorist who spun out on an icy highway. A second driver did the same thing with his car as the two men in the vehicle’s path tried desperately to get out of the way. This is a video that is relevant to anyone who works road side. Check it out.
A firing offense: I am still fascinated by the story from Colleton, South Carolina where Firefighter/Paramedic Jason Brown was fired over a video he created and posted on his Facebook. Brown says it was done on his own time, with his own computer. It is one of those text-to-movie clips involving a firefighter character. I am sure, like me, you have received, or possibly made, similar videos. We brought this one up Friday in our last Quick Takes and the comments are coming in. If you missed it, click here. By the way, the top video of Firefighter Mike going off on 911 abuse is not the Jason Brown production. It is the other one, in the hospital emergency department.
The battle in Cherry Hill, New Jersey: The fire chief calls the place a “boys club or fraternity” and deactivated Cherry Hill Company No. 1. The volunteers are continuing to battle in an effort to start responding to calls again. Philly.com has the latest on the story we first told you about on November 1.
Gated community’s gates bring lawsuit: An ambulance unable to easily get through an unmanned gate at a community in Beaufort County, South Carolina last April was apparently delayed for up to three minutes. The victim died of a heart attack. His widow has filed suit against fire and EMS crews, along with developers, property management and the property owners association. Click here for the story.
Radio traffic from Maryland plane crash: The pilot was killed as a small plane crashed and burned near homes in Anne Arundel County. Click here.
Close-up raw video from 1987 Boston plane crash & nine-alarm fire: Now retired overnight freelance videographer Bill Harrigan shot this pretty spectacular piece of tape from the crash in Dorchester. Check it out.
A more up-to-date Boston story: Also from Dorchester, Pat Foley was on his way to work at Engine 21 on Saturday. He ended up meeting some of his crew at a fire near the firehouse where they teamed up for the rescue of an elderly woman. Read more.
Pension at center of contract dispute: In Palm Bay, Florida both sides are going in front of a special magistrate in an effort to agree on a contract. Firefighters say they have given enough concessions with wage freezes and are not willing to budge on the pension relief the city wants. Palm Bay officials believe the pension cuts are the “new normal”. Read the article.
Three dead in New Jersey house fire: A young girl and her parents died in this fire in Toms River on Saturday. Read more.
Gary house fire: A Edward Malik video is posted here with the usual many comments the Gary videos seem to generate. Malik’s latest effort (not from Gary), taken early this morning, is below.
Vacant commercial structure in Hobart, Indiana: This fire was at 2nd & East. No injuries were reported.
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