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Previous coverage

Scores of off-duty DC firefighters wearing the workplace banned DCFD logo showed up at the Historic Sixth & I Synagogue in Northwest Washington for Mayor Vincent Gray's State of the District address. The firefighters are getting attention after they walked out in unison before the question and answer period following Chief Kenneth Ellerbe's speech on January 24 discussing the state of the DC Fire & EMS Department.

A verbal directive received in numerous firehouses on Saturday told firefighters to behave tonight or face punishment. Spokesman Lon Walls, who wrote that the January 24 walkout was a 'racist act' on his personal social media accounts, told The Washington Post's Mike Debonis yesterday that the order did not come from the chief:

Lon Walls, an FEMS spokesman, said “there was no directive” and explained a lieutenant who is also a union member “misconstrued” departmental discussions.

Andrea Noble at The Washington Times reports the Facebook post and Tweets by Lon Walls that brought up the issue of race in connection with the earlier protest were removed shortly after Noble questioned Walls about the comments Monday night. According to Noble, those in the chain of command above Walls, did not respond to questions about this issue:

Reached by phone Tuesday and asked whether he shared his spokesman’s view that the walkout was racist in nature, Chief Ellerbe said he could not talk because he was heading into a meeting. He would be available later but did not respond to subsequent calls.

A spokesman for Mayor Vincent C. Gray also did not respond to messages left Tuesday asking how the mayor regarded the protests and Mr. Walls‘ comments.

The video above and story below by ABC7/WJLA-TV reporter Sam Ford were filed prior to the Mayor Vincent Gray's speech this evening:

D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray is set to deliver his yearly State of the District address–but he may have some unhappy guests at the speech.

As city staffers prepared for the mayor's State of the District address, questions lingered if D.C. firefighters would walk out on Gray as they did with Fire Chief Kenneth Ellerbe last month. In a tweet, Fire Dept. spokesman Lon Walls called it racism and disrespect.

Many are expected to show up for Gray's address.

On Tuesday, neither Ellerbe nor union president Ed Smith would comment on the tweet, but Smith said Fire Dept. brass have warned that any walkouts tonight will be punished.

"We've received numerous reports there have been various journal messages given in firehouses across the city," Smith said.

At issue is Ellerbe's proposal to shift D.C. firefighters from working one 24-hour day followed by three days off–as they have done for decades–to 12 hours on, 12 hours off.

"It's an EMS department with a few fires," said Kenny Lyons, D.C. ambulance union president.

Lyons said the vast majority of calls nowadays are ambulance calls and firefighters are running the vast majority of the ambulances and that a 24-hour shift endangers patient care."What's best for patient care should reign supreme here, not what's best for individuals or groups of individuals," Lyons said.

But the change to 12 hour shifts would force many firefighters to lose other jobs thy have or quit the department.

Emotions are high, but their union leader wants only professionalism Tuesday night in Washington.

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Lyons Fire Department

Video from a fire on Canal Street in Lyons, New York on Saturday.

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Two clips from a fire yesterday in Southeast Washington at 428 Newcomb Street. The video above is from the website of Engine 15, Rescue 3 where you will find this description:

Units with the 3rd Battalion were alerted for the Apartment fire at 428 Newcomb Street S.E. Engine 25 arrived to find a 2up 2down with smoke showing side (A). Engine 25 found a room off on the first floor, Engine 15 third due, backed up 25Engine which made quick work of the room. Rescue 3 completed their search that proved negative. Command 3 held the box with 1+1.

The video below is shot and narrated by a neighbor.

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Two other runaway burning truck videos here & here

This happened last Monday in Nedlands in Perth, Australia.

From 9 News:

A blazing truck rolled into oncoming traffic on a busy Perth highway yesterday when the heat of the fire caused its brakes to fail.

The truck caught alight in a street off the Stirling Highway in the western suburb of Nedlands yesterday before the brakes stopped working and it rolled backwards into the oncoming highway traffic.

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Saturday was a busy day for Ed Malik. Above is a house fire at 2788 Warren in Lake Station, Indiana that came in around noon. Here is some of what Ed wrote:

Just a note, the siding on the rear of the house was melted by an intense garage fire a few months back set by a disgruntled girlfriend and the melted siding on the side of the house was caused when the homeowner set a couch on fire about a year ago.

Around 3:00 PM, Ed shot the fire below at 15th and Connecticut in Gary, Indiana:

On arrival Battalion 4 advised of heavy smoke showing from a 2 story apartment building. Crews made an aggressive interior attack and brought the fire under control quickly.

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In Vacaville, California, Firefighter Louis Jones had a rather unique experience. Jones and his fellow firefighters responded yesterday morning to a medical call at a mobile home park in the 1000 block of Nut Tree Road. Something seemed quite familiar in the home where the emergency was located. The first thing to catch the eye of Firefighter Jones was a yellow plastic block that looked like the one he had until a week earlier. Jones' vanished, along with other items, when the home he was preparing to rent out was burglarized a week earlier.

From KXTV-TV:

"I was kind of in shock, " Jones said. "Wow, I used to have something like that, and kind of looked around and saw some of the tools laying there that looked sort of familiar."

Jones and fellow firefighters finished their call and then he called police.

It didn't take long for officers to recover Jones' washing machine and dryer, a lawn mower and a number of his personal effects.

Police arrested 47-year old Ricky Mankini, of Vacaville, and booked him into the Solano County Jail for possession of stolen property.

Unfortunately, Jones still hasn't recovered a quad he loved to ride and a number of other items, but police are still investigating.

From MercuryNews.com:

Vacaville police contacted Mankini at the hospital, wherehe was visiting his housemate, Jones said. A search of Mankini's vehicle revealed more stolen items and Mankini was arrested for possession of stolen property and booked into the Solano County jail, Lopez said.

"The only thing we recovered was the washer and dryer, a lawn mower, some paint, hinges, paint brushes and keepsakes — beer steins with firefighting related artwork," Jones said.

"Ninety percent of the stuff is still missing," Jones said. He estimates it's worth between $8,000 and $10,000.

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From CBC News:

Several businesses have been left in ruins after a blaze engulfed a three-storey building in a Surrey strip mall early Thursday morning.

The extent of the damage is not yet known and the cause of the blaze is still being investigated. Firefighters spent hours battling the blaze at 83rd Avenue and Scott Road. The fire rapidly spread through the building, devastating several businesses, including restaurants and a gym.

From CTV News:

About 10 fire trucks, three rescue trucks and 46 firefighters responded to the blaze and had it under control by 7:30 a.m., though crews remained on scene targeting remaining hot spots.

No injuries have been reported in connection with the blaze, but a BC Hydro worker who is believed to have fallen down near the scene was loaded into an ambulance.

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Audio from the fire, additional video & pictures at Monroe County Fire Wire

Letter from union via WHAM-TV

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A fire a week ago on Locust Street in Rochester, New York has become the center of a controversy. The union president says budget cuts and a fire department reorganization put lives and safety at risk. The fire chief says otherwise. Four firefighters and four civilians were hurt during the blaze (see the story below about their charred PPE).

From WHAM-TV:

President Jim McTiernan went on to detail various fire units that were out of service at the time that this fire was called in as well as the location of a Battalion Chief who had to respond from South Avenue because another Battalion Chief post was recently eliminated.

McTiernan’s letter also detailed the need for a round-the-clock Group Safety Officer that happened to be present at this fire scene but had been cutback on various shifts due to budgetary restraints.  A letter McTiernan sent to those same city leaders last week argued the union’s objections and concerns to cuts that lowered the number of on-duty firefighters from 99 to 86 over Fire Chief Caufield’s 4-Year Plan.

Fire Chief (John) Caufield fired back late Wednesday with a response of his own during an interview with 13WHAM News.  Chief Caufield said he disputes nearly every word of McTiernan’s letter and said that 13 firefighters were on-scene at Locust Street in four minutes and a total of 26 were on scene in eight minutes.  Caufield also pointed to a report from a senior officer, and a union member, who was at the fire scene and applauded the efforts and decisions of the firefighters that day.

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This is a fire yesterday in the 1500 blk Sheffield Avenue in Northeast Baltimore, Maryland. IAFF Local 734 reports the closest engine company was closed for the day. The union also reports three firefighters suffered minor burns.

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Above is Guy Zampatori video of a house fire yesterday on Dartmouth Avenue in Rochester, New York.

From an article by Victorie E. Freile at democratandchronicle.com:

The fire at 215 Dartmouth Avenue was called in about 12:45 p.m. by dozens of people in the neighborhood who saw smoke pouring from the roof of the three-story structure, said Fire Chief John Caufield.

Firefighters arrived to find flames shooting from the second floor, and upon entering the home saw that the fire had spread throughout the interior walls and ceilings of the house.

Firefighters began fighting the blaze inside, but changed tactics and left the home, fighting it instead from the outside, Caufield said.

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