Skip to content

Archives for wildland

See all posts in the network tagged with wildland

Must see video: NYPD cop shoots dog. Crowd outraged. But no one seems to care about the man having a seizure in the street.

40 comments

Click here to follow STATter911.com on Facebook (hit “like”)

Previous column on dog saving her puppies from a house fire

Full video is now posted above

There is controversy over a video that surfaced today of an NYPD officer shooting a pit bull in the head when the dog lunged at the cop on Monday in the East Village. Bystanders at 14th Street and Second Avenue immediately scream at the officer for shooting the dog and it’s making news in New York today.

Much as I did in my post about the dog in Chile who bravely saved her puppies from a fire, I have to question our priorities and compassion as human beings. My observation has absolutely nothing to do with whether the officer was justified in shooting the dog. I will let you all sort that out.

According to the New York Daily News, the dog belonged to a homeless man, Lech Stankiewicz who was apparently having a seizure on the street. The animal was keeping people away who approached Stankiewicz.

As you watch the video, after the pooch is shot, that I can see in the clip not one person checks on Mr. Stankiewicz, who is on his back with his body on the sidewalk and head in the street. No sign of anyone caring about Stankiewicz in this short version of the video or the longer version at Gothamist.com where there is 9:49 of raw video (now above). Stankiewicz is in sight for about 5:30 of that video before the videographer is moved back from the scene. Not once do I see anyone kneel down and see how Lech Stankiewicz is doing.

Maybe I’m just screwed up in my priorities and the rest of the world is right (I’ve been told that before) but shouldn’t the bystanders and police show slightly more concern over how the human being is doing over the canine (or at least fake it)? Besides his apparent seizure isn’t it all possible a bullet bounced off the street and struck Lech Stankiewicz? Would anyone there had known it if that happened?

At last word the dog is still alive and so, by the way, in case anyone cares, is Lech Stankiewicz. From the Daily News:

Stankiewicz — who sources said was intoxicated — was taken to Bellevue Hospital  and treated for minor injuries. He was later cuffed on an arrest warrant for an  open container summons, cops.

Longer version of video at Gothamist.com

Do you want to sell a rig? Click HERE to find out how with SellFireTrucks.com.

Posted by on August 16, 2012 • Filed under: Cameras & firefighters, EMS & police, EMS Topics, FDNY, fire, Fire Rescue Topics, must see video, News, Police, Wildland • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Congressional office pool offends mother of fallen firefighter. Wildland fire organization calls it ‘a shot to the gut.’

5 comments

Click here to follow STATter911.com on Facebook (hit "like")

Lynnette Hamm, the mother of a fallen firefighter, believes it is truly appalling that staffers with the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Capitol Hill had an office pool since 2003 to guess how many acres of land would be lost each year to wildfires. In addition to Hamm, whose son Caleb was killed last July, Federal Wildland Fire Service Association President Casey Judd is calling the practice "a shot to the gut". The FWFSA represents thousands of federal firefighters.

McKie Campbell, the Republican staff director for the committee, told The Washington Post after news of the office pool was first reported last week it has been stopped.

From The Washington Post's Ed O'Keefe:

“While we’ve been burying wildland firefighters and aviation folks and citizens, this odd pool has been going on supposedly out of frustration with the U.S. Forest Service,” Judd said. “Well, let’s fix it.”

“How dare they!!” Hamm said in an e-mail. “These men and women put their lives on the line daily, and to be so belittled by something like this? I would be ashamed of myself. Maybe they should trade a ‘cushy’ office chair for a spot on the fireline, and let’s bet how long they last at it.”

“It will never happen again,” he (McKie Campbell) said in an interview Wednesday. “It was in no way indicative of disrespect for any of the folks who put their lives on the line to battle the fires.”

Grist.org, an environmental news service broke the news on January 5 and reported the pool was run by Frank Gladics a Republican staffer who, according to the Post, had been a firefighter. Here is more from Grist.org's Sarah Laskow:

On Tuesday he sent out 2011's results in an email that was perhaps forwarded a little too widely. (Grist managed to obtain a copy, after all.) Participants in 2011 ranged from lowly legislative aides to powerful staffers, like Bruce Evans, the Republican staff director for the Senate Appropriations Committee. The entrants Grist identified all worked on the Senate side of the Hill.

At best, this little stunt could be excused as gallows humor — a peculiar inside-the-Beltway bonding ritual for disaster wonks. Since wildfires level people's homes, imperil both residents and firefighters, and serve as a barometer for climate-change-driven havoc, the annual game might also simply be tone-deaf, tasteless, and heartless.

Do you want to sell a rig?Click HERE to find out how withSellFireTrucks.com

Posted by on January 12, 2012 • Filed under: Fires, In the Line of Duty, Line of Duty, News, Wildland • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

House fire in Jacksonville, Florida. Video with fireground audio.

3 comments

Here’s the description with this fire from April 8:

Fire broke out in an Arlington home Thursday afternoon. Due to a quick response Jacksonville Firefighters from stations 1, 19 & 27 responded within minutes & contained fire damage to the rear of the home.

Posted by on April 17, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, fire, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Firefighting Operations, Fireground Audio, Fires, Videos, Wildland • Tagged: , , , , ,

Quick Takes

1 comment

Third alarm in Allentown, PA: This is from NewsWorking.org. Here’s some of what they wrote about the Wednesday morning blaze at 903 N. Penn Street- Engines 6, 4 (reserve E5), 9, 11 (acting Ladder 2), 10 (RIT) and Battalion 4 (Grim) respond on the box. Engine 6 arrives and reports heavy fire in a 3-story M/O/R. Crews stretch a handline and find fire on all floors of the house. BC 4 strikes the second alarm. Engines 14, 13, air 1 and Cars 40, 46, 47, 48 respond. The fire spread to the ‘Delta’ exposure on the third floor of 901 Penn Street, which is the End of Row (E/O/R). Chief 40 struck the third alarm, bringing in Engine 11 (reserve E8) and Truck 1. A may-day was called for a downed firefighter on the second floor of the original fire building around 0954 hrs activating the R.I.T. The firefighter was taken to the hospital (at 7:48 on the video) with minor injuries. the fire was declared under control at 1100 hrs by BC 4.

Station fire report questions aggressiveness of U.S. Forest Service. Forest Service fights back. Read entire report: Click here to read the complete report from Los Angeles County into the Station fire that took the lives of Captain Ted Hall and Firefighter Arnie Quinones. It has sparked a battle between the county and the U.S. Forest Service. The report says the federal agency should change its policy to allow night water drops and make better use of local resources during fires in the Angeles National Forest. The Forest Service points out when it did its own report into the fire Los Angeles County officials did not voice those concerns. Read more from the Los Angeles Times.

Charles Scott Doyle: A firefighter from Montgomery County Maryland who was injured while BASE jumping died yesterday. We told you about Scott Doyle shortly after his accident in May as firefighters worked to bring him home from Idaho. Click here for details on arrangements.

Lt. Kevin M. Kelley, Boston Fire Department

Lt. Kevin M. Kelley, Boston Fire Department

Lt. Kevin M. Kelley Avenue: Boston’s City Council unanimously passed a resolution to name a section of Huntington Avenue after Lt. Kelley who was killed when the ladder truck he was in wrecked in January. Read the story.

An idea that is spreading: A while ago we told you that the idea of replacing career firefighters with volunteers was being floated in Cumberland, Maryland. Yesterday it was the surprise suggestion from the mayor of La Crosse, Wisconsin.  And now there is Johnson City, New York where the mayor wants to save money by recruiting volunteers to replace full time staff.

Selectmen are now investigating union allegations over issues with Lt. Kelli Weeks. Click the image for the latest from Bourne, Massachusetts.

Selectmen are now investigating union allegations over issues with Lt. Kelli Weeks. Click the image for the latest from Bourne, Massachusetts.

Guilty plea for Pennsylvania firefighter who used firetruck to steal fuel while drunk: Forty-six-year-old Michael Gorr admits he was drinking when caught driving a firetruck up to the Upper Macungie Township municipal pumps and filling up some fuel containers for his own use. Apparently he had done this at least 10 other times. Gorr also had been charge with breaking into a south Allentown home. He is the second firefighter caught stealing fuel. Read more.

Probe into hidden account may force Baltimore to return cash to Washington: Do you recall the Baltimore Sun investigation in 2007 about breathing apparatus, some hidden accounts and unauthorized purchases by the training academy? It came under the administration of former chief William Goodwin. Now it appears Baltimore may have to return $164,000 in DHS grant money because of the mess. Click here for the details. 

You light up my life … and the 911 lines: Video of a meteor streaking through the sky and getting attention in Utah and beyond.

Union opposes new chief: That’s the story from Robbinsville, New Jersey where the chief’s position will now have the title of director. Union officials says the person picked has never run a career department and doesn’t even have EMT. Here’s the story.

Three-alarm fire last month in Lynn, MA: This is from October 9 at 144 South Street.

Posted by on November 19, 2009 • Filed under: Baltimore City Fire Department, Boston Fire Department, Bourne Fire Department, Career - Volunteer Issues, fire, Firefighter Safety & Health, Fires, Funding & Staffing, In the Line of Duty, Line of Duty, Los Angeles County Fire Department, Montgomery County Fire Rescue Service (MD), News, Police, Reports, Videos, Wildland • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,