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Kentland VFD featured in The Washington Post. PGFD’s 33 on Christmas Day.

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Kentland33.com

See Bill O’Leary’s photos 

In Prince George’s County, Maryland, Kentland VFD got some nice press when The Washington Post decided to ride-along. Reporter Michelle Boorstein and photographer Bill O’Leary take a look at life on Christmas Day at the all volunteer Company 33. Here’s an excerpt:

For a certain kind of firefighter, Kentland is legendary. It has a reputation for being tight, efficient and busy — particularly for an all-volunteer outfit. Its Web site gets 60,000 hits a day, and buffs follow its two Twitter accounts and Facebook page, which include routine updates and such goodies as the photo of a cranky, slightly drunk Santa who was extricated from a flipped taxi on the side of the Capital Beltway last weekend.

Seemingly every other inch of the firehouse is decorated with mementos, like plaques and ­T-shirts with such macho slogans as “We finish what others can’t” and “Go tough or go home” — or photos of memorable blazes. The firefighters, too, are decorated, with tattoos of “Kentland” common among those who have been around long enough to earn them.

The district Kentland serves includes rough areas and many needy families. On Tuesday, in between calls for a car that swerved into a highway embankment and smoke in an apartment building, a Kentland engine headed to a small complex with a sack of toys.

The driver, Michael Freeman, a 37-year-old D.C. firefighter, wore an elf hat. Patelis wore a New York Giants Santa hat. A mother, at first afraid to answer the knock on her window, silently cried as four burly men presented her 3-year-old son with trucks and puzzles.

Click here to read entire article

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Pre-arrival video: Christmas Eve house fire in Paris, Texas.

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Kenny Wible was on the scene shooting video before the first engine company in the 800 block of SW 3rd in Paris, Texas around 3:00 PM on Christmas Eve.

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FireTruckBlog.com: Fire engine hits tree in Charlotte, North Carolina & much more news.

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Fire apparatus news at FireTruckBlog.com

FireTruckBlog.com by Glenn Usdin is on top of yesterday’s crash of a fire engine in Charlotte, North Carolina that injured three firefighters. Click here for that story.

There is a lot more news from FireTruckBlog.com including the roll over of a Beckley, West Virginia fire engine, some new apparatus deliveries and a few late Santa sightings.

In case you missed it, Glenn had another Santa sighting that was particularly touching. Despite losing Firefighter Edward Stringer last week, Stringer’s fellow firefighters at Engine 62 still followed through on a Christmas Day tradition of carrying Santa to a local children’s hospital. Click here

Catching up on a couple of Baltimore fires. Fireground audio & a picture.

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Above is audio from a two-alarm fire on Sunday afternoon that injured two firefighters in the 2700 block of Fair Oaks Avenue in Baltimore. You can read more about the fire here.

Below is a picture taken by Nick Eid from a Christmas Eve fire at 1800 Thomas Avenue. Details about the fire and more pictures can be found on the website of Engine 8 & Truck 10.

Quick Takes

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Raw video from scrapyard fire in Houston: This fire was reported around 10:45 AM on Sunday near the Houston Ship Channel. No injuries were reported.

Prince George’s County, Maryland staffing levels questioned on two, 3-alarm fires: Click here for a press release from IAFF Local 1619 describing multiple units that failed to respond or had only two firefighters on board as PGFD handled two, three-alarm, garden-apartment fires in as many days. Click here and here for coverage of the fires. We have requested a response from PGFD officials.

Arson spree leaves two dead in Northampton, Massachusetts. Fireground audio, video, pictures, and details: A dozen fires or attempted fires in 75 minutes with two people dead, but officials aren’t using the word arson. The fires are labeled as suspicious. We have the dramatic fireground audio as dispatchers, firefighters and police try to keep up with the fires early Sunday morning. Click here for our coverage.

Two fires are 30-hours and 1-block apart in Woonsocket, Rhode Island: We have video from both extra-alarm fires in vacant multi-family homes. Check it out.

Most popular stories contest: Figure out what were the five most popular stories on STATter911.com in 2009 and win a prize. Dave takes the winner to lunch. (“Oh yeah, he’s a prize”, Mrs. STATter911.com was heard saying.) Click here for the details.

Must see video of Saturday's water rescue in Middletown, Pennsylvania (Delaware County) of a mother and her 14-year-old daughter. Some of the rescuers were treated for hypothermia. Click the image for the video, pictures and details.

Must see video of Saturday's water rescue in Middletown, Pennsylvania (Delaware County) of a mother and her 14-year-old daughter. Some of the rescuers were treated for hypothermia. Click the image for the video, pictures and details.

The sprinkler that said “Bah! Humbug!” right back to Scrooge: A nice Christmas story from Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Please take a moment to read it.

Christmas fire roundup: We spent the holiday gathering video of those on the job for Christmas. See the videos here, here and here.

Elephant gets a better reception in the South: Suzie the elephant, who made big waves in New York, seems to be less controversial in Florida. Click here.

And Firegeezer plays Cry Me a River all day long on his Victrola: Bill still has the hots for Julie London as he discovers a cache of Emergency! episodes on the web. Check out Firegeezer.

Burning pickup crashes into home and it burns: The story from Bellevue, Nebraska. Read it. Watch it.

Firefighter’s car looted while he is fighting a fire: The story from New Zealand.

I wonder if it was the wind that did it: A 187-ton windmill came crashing down on a wind farm in Fenner, New York. Check it out.

“If you want to be loved by everyone, become a firefighter; if not, become a cop”: Some parting words from outgoing Police Chief Gary Miguel of Syracuse, New York.

What did you do on Christmas? Some additional scenes from around the country.

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A Christmas apartment fire in California, Pennsylvania courtesy of Wayne E. Ray.

A Christmas apartment fire in California, Pennsylvania courtesy of Wayne E. Ray.

We’ve heard from our readers on a few other Christmas fires we missed (I am sure we barely scratched the surface). We had some earlier videos from Christmas Day and Christmas Eve posted here and here.

One is a Christmas Day fire in Lousiville, Kentucky that killed two children. Firegeezer has that covered.

One of the house fires in Altoona, Wisconsin killed seven pets on Christmas Eve. Click here for the story and here for the video.

Below are some more Christmas videos:

Woonsocket, Rhode Island: The evacuation order was sounded after it was discovered fire was below one of the intitial companies make the attack on this four-alarm fire in a vacant multi-family home on Christmas Night. Here’s a report from the scene and more video here

West Earl Township, Pennsylvania: A Christmas Night barn fire. 

St. Louis, Missouri: A four-alarm church fire on Christmas Day is considered suspicious. Click here to read more.

UPDATED – Firefighter takes tumble after Santa arrives. Lancaster, Pennsylvania captain loses footing at Christmas Tree lighting ceremony and winds up in the hospital.

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PA Lancaster Truck 2

More from FirefighterCloseCalls.com

As you can see above Santa exited City of Lancaster’s Truck 2 just fine last night. That was not the case with Captain Ken Barton. Captain Barton is in the hospital with five broken ribs, a cracked thoracic vertebrae and a minor head injury. The captain told LancasterOnline.com’s Stephen Kopfinger that he’s in “an excruciating amount of pain”.

Lancaster revived a tradition last night when, for the first time in 14-years, Santa made his entrance on the roof top of the former Watt & Shand department store. It was the job of Truck 2 to pluck Santa off the roof and bring him down to the stage. In the video below you will see the fire department did that expertly (we don’t know for sure if that is Captain Barton at the controls).

What happened next is why the captain is in the hospital. Here is an excerpt from LancasterOnline.com:

Barton, speaking from his bed at Lancaster General Hospital, said he wasn’t familiar with where the platform was on the new truck, which caused him to misstep and fall. The next thing he knew, “I woke up in the ambulance,” he said.

Santa Claus had already been delivered to the Marriott and firefighters were “bedding the ladder and securing equipment” when Barton fell, according to a fellow firefighter, who did not wish to be identified. The firefighter said Barton was dismounting from the aerial part of the ladder truck and onto the turntable when the accident happened.

The reports indicate Captain Barton fell about 12 feet.

The captain is the president of IAFF Local 319 and the accident happened on his 51st birthday. 

Truck 2 is described on the union website as a 2008 Crimson/Spartan Gladiator 100′ quint that was put in service in August of this year.