A church at Belgium’s coastal region caught fire and completely burned to the ground. Impressive amateur footage captures the wooden steeple eventually collapsing with the rest of the church engulfed in flames.
The Saint Nicolas Church in Westkapelle, near Brugge, Belgium caught fire earlier today (Wednesday) while roof workers were busy repairing the church’s steeple roof.
The fire started around 4:30 a.m. inside St. Michael’s Ukrainian Orthodox Parish on Harris Avenue.
Captain Michael Morin of the Woonsocket Fire Department said he believes the cause of the fire stemmed from a service held Tuesday night.
“They had a service the night before, they were using incense, and it was a product of charcoal, I believe incense they used wasn’t properly disposed of after.”
The fire caused major damage to the room where it started, a service room at the extreme end of the church that’s used by altar boys to prepare for services. It also caused serious damage to the church’s slate roof. There was major water and smoke damage to the entire church.
A chandelier in the middle of the church crashed down to the floor. The stone building’s slate roof made it difficult for firefighters to cut holes in the roof to vent the fire and get at the blaze, according to Capt. Michael Morin, a fire marshal for the Woonsocket Fire Department.
This is from a fire on Thursday in Lamar County, Texas. There is more that 90 minutes of video in seven parts from firetruckenthusy33 on YouTube. At 6:54 on the first video (above) command orders everyone out of the structure for defensive operations. Part 2 is below. Click here for the rest of the clips.
The Paris News is reporting the destruction of the Family Life Center at Blossom Church of God in Lamar County. The fire broke out before noon Thursday.
Despite the damage, assistance from dozens of volunteer firefighters helped save the church sanctuary. Firefighter Tyler Browning tells the paper crews cut a hole in the roof in the corridor to keep it from reaching the sanctuary.
Above is the link for the audio from Sunday night’s fire at the Wesley Community United Methodist Church that trapped firefighters and left five of them with burns. The “mayday” is heard shortly after the 3:00 point.
Captain Kathrynne Baumtrog remain at Hennepin County Medical Center being treated for first and second degree burns. Her husband, Captain Paul Baumtrog, who helped in his wife’s rescue (see earlier STATter911.com story), was treated for burns and released as were Captain Joe Mattison, Firefighter Sandy Meredith, and Firefighter Christie Nixon.
Some of those firefighters were trapped in the attic without water, their exit blocked by fire and unable to chop their way through the walls and the floor. Captain Mattison was among them. He talked to KMSP-TV:
“Last night was probably the closest that I’ve ever seen us come to losing a group of firefighters,” said Capt. Joe Mattison. “We’re glad we are here this morning.”
Mattison said he and four other firefighters were 30 feet from the fire’s origin when conditions changed rapidly.
“We were down as low as we could get, and my ears were tingling and back was tingling — not tingling, burning,” he said. “We were getting toasted in there.”
Mattison said they didn’t have any water coming from their hose, so the group counted to three and decided to make a dash for it.
On Tuesday, union president Mark Lakosky used the attention on the injured firefighters to remind the public about cuts in recent years to the Minneapolis Fire Department’s staffing telling KARE-TV, “This is far from a union issue, this is a safety issue. We aren’t being protected and I got to say something.”
“Where we are at with these levels and continued cuts, people will die, are we really going to wait for that?” Lakosky said.
Minneapolis Fire Chief John Fruetel isn’t shying away from the fact that he oversees a smaller staff. He says the numbers in the department have been on a downward trend for years. The department currently has 390 people on the full time roster, down from more than 450 a decade ago.
Chief Fruetel says he is looking to change that. “Obviously we would love to have more firefighters and that is frankly a challenge of mine as the Chief to grow us back and provide a means for us to hire firefighters,” Chief Fruetel said.
There is quite an unusual story coming out of the fire over the weekend at the Walker United Methodist Church in Minneapolis. According to Randy Furst at StarTribune.com, Captain Kathrynne Baumtrog was filling in Sunday evening for a friend at Station 5 when they were dispatched to an alarm bells call at the church. Since his wife was working, Captain Paul Baumtrog had decided to take a call-back at Station 21 and his company was also dispatched to the fire.
Investigating with another firefighter Kathrynne Baumtrog says they discovered a fire that suddenly became a blowtorch that burned her and tried to get out of there.
But as she tried to exit, she missed a turn. “I was burned so bad, I couldn’t focus enough to remove my radio,” she said. “I shouted ‘Mayday.’”
Unknown to her, she said, her husband was in another crew called to the fire. He knew she was in the attic.
He said he saw the fire erupt. “It rolled over the entire ceiling space. It came directly toward the exit where most of us were standing.” He and the other firefighters retreated. “We all thought she had bailed with us.”
But when they got down a floor, they realized she was not there, and Paul and several firefighters headed upstairs to find her.
He said he found her. “We have to get out of here,” he shouted at her.
According to the article, Paul Baumtrog was also worried about firefighters from a ladder company in the attic above the fire that somehow scrambled out on their own.
Paul Baumtrog had minor burns to his hands while Kathrynne Baumtrog was burned on her arms ears and backside. Three other firefighters were injured.
This is video from a fire Monday night at the Mill Run United Methodist Church in Springfield Township, Pennsylvania (Fayette County). At :30 in the video you will hear the air horns and sirens. WPXI-TV reports the man in charge of the fire, Springfield Township Chief Ray Orndorff is one of the parishioners of the church. Click here to watch that story.
The church is located along Route 381, just several hundred feet from the Springfield Township Volunteer Hose Co. fire station.
Eight fire companies from Fayette and Westmoreland counties responded to the blaze that was reported at 11:45 p.m. as a working structure fire when reported to 911, according to a 911 dispatcher. The state police fire marshal was at the scene Tuesday to investigate the cause of the fire.
Video from Ed Malik of a fire around 10:00 last night at 2300 Adams in Gary, Indiana. Here's an excerpt from the description with the clip:
Crews quickly established water supplies and started an exterior attack using a deck gun, one stick on Truck 4 (Truck 7) and a couple of handlines. The response was kept at a still response with 2 engines, a truck, and Squad 2.
Click here and here for previous coverage & video from this story
Below are the arrangements for Firefighter Scott Davis via The Secret List:
The following is the funeral information for our fallen Brother from Muncie FD, IAFF L-1348,Firefighter Scott Davis.
Visitation: Monday June 20th from 3-8 PM and Tuesday, June 21st from 10-11 AM at the Horizon Convention Center (401 South High Street Muncie, IN 47305-2328)
Funeral: Tuesday, June 21st at 11AM at the Horizon Convention center, followed by burial at Elm Ridge Cemetery.
Lt. Mark Greenburg of the Muncie FD will be in charge of the Honor Guard. You may contact Mark at (765) 730-9577 if you have members that wish to stand honor guard, act as ushers or be utilized any way Lt. Greenburg determines.
Fallen Firefighter Scott Davis' wife, Raeanne, spoke Thursday:
“If there’s anywhere else he was going to pass, no better than the house of the Lord."
"To all of Scott's brothers, his fire department brothers, I want to thank you for never leaving his side and for staying with him all the way 'til the end. And there's been someone with him, there's been someone by his side, since the time that this happened, there's been someone by his side. So thank you very much. To all of our fire department family because you guys are a family to us."
Watch her full statement in the video above.
From The StarPress.com:
The department, (Muncie Fire Chief Sean) Burcham said, has brought in an “intervention team” from the Indianapolis Fire Department to help the MFD deal with the loss.
The ATF is sending a certified investigator to search for the cause and origin of Wednesday’s fire at the Tabernacle of Praise church. The StarPress.com’s story is here.
Injured in the fire were Lt. Alan Richards and Firefighter Shane Mann. The StarPress reports Lt. Richards suffered second- and third-degree burns; Mann sustained minor injuries.
More than three hours after flames sent a southside church's sanctuary roof crashing toward the ground, emergency personnel on the scene gathered around a covered body pulled from the still-steaming rubble and saluted their fallen brother.
Scott Davis, a Muncie firefighter and former Yorktown fire chief, died Wednesday after fire struck the Tabernacle of Praise on Wednesday afternoon.
Firefighter Scott Davis.
Davis, a husband and father of three, was 40 years old, according to Delaware County Sheriff Michael Scroggins, Davis' cousin.
Davis is believed to be the first Muncie firefighter to die while in the line of duty since 1955. (see below)
Two other firefighters were believed to have been injured in the blaze, but their names had not been released. Their injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.
Contacted late Wednesday, Fire Chief Sean Burcham said he could not release any details about the fire, including the number of firefighters injured. "We'll issue a press release in the morning," he said.
Callers originally told emergency dispatchers heavy smoke was billowing from the sanctuary of the church, which sits on the south side of the property that borders the Muncie Bypass. By 3:55 p.m., the first of several city fire crews arrived to find flames shooting from the roof.
Twenty minutes later, that roof collapsed.
The implosion resulted in a loud booming noise followed by the crashing of glass and the screams of onlookers who witnessed a large amount of flames turn into an all-out inferno. One firefighter was seen escaping out of a sanctuary window just seconds after its roof came down.
Fire crews in the back of the building began scrambling from that point as word circulated that a firefighter was possibly trapped under the collapsed roof. Dozens of neighbors, curious onlookers and Tabernacle of Praise members were arriving on the scene, some breaking down in tears while others embraced one another.
As crews from several local volunteer fire departments arrived on scene to assist MFD's firefighting efforts, it became apparent that a firefighter was, indeed, missing and possibly dead.
At 5:40 p.m., MFD Chief Burcham addressed the media on scene, confirming news that a Muncie firefighter was unaccounted for. He did not commentnurther.
As firefighters utilized the help of tanker trucks carrying water from various county fire departments to finally get the flames and smoke under control, a group of firefighters, police and other emergency personnel gathered alongside the south end of the building as crews went into the rubble in search of their fallen colleague. Some kneeled, others could be seen with their faces in their hands.
It was about 5:45 p.m. that Muncie fire Battalion Chief James Clevenger, a former county coroner, confirmed to The Star Press that the missing firefighter had died.
At 7:15 p.m., Davis' body was recovered from the collapsed building and placed inside a waiting ambulance. Officers and firefighters nearby also stood at attention and saluted.
Wednesday's church fire occurred coincidentally the same day U.S. Rep. Mike Pence announced the Muncie Fire Department was awarded a $309,760 grant for operations and safety.
On Feb. 9, 1955, three city firefighters — Vernon Lutton, Doyle Upchurch and Clarence White — were killed when a wall collapsed on them as they tried to contain a blaze at the Swartz Paper Co.
While other local firefighters have lost their lives in the line of duty — including Richard Standafer, killed when a fire truck crashed while on an emergency run in 1986 — Davis is the first to perish at a fire scene since the Swartz Paper Co. disaster.
TheStarPress.com reports a body, believed to be that of a firefighter, has been recovered after a fire at the Tabernacle of Praise Church on the south side of Muncie, Indiana. Indications are the firefighter was killed when the roof of the church at 2200 E.Fuson Road collapsed. The fire was reported at 3:55 PM.
A Muncie firefighter has died in the southside church fire confirmed Delaware County deputy coroner Jim Clevenger. They are holding identity of firefighter until family is notified. They know where the firefighter is in the church but they can't reach him because of the fire.
The Muncie Fire Department was leading efforts to battle the blaze with help from surrounding volunteer departments, who are bringing water to the site on tanker trucks.
The structure that collapsed and on fire was sanctuary. Firefighters are trying to prevent it from reaching the family fun center on the northside of the building. A church goer at scene reported the church was hand built by church members.
Radio dispatch indicated at 4:15 p.m. a firefight was missing after the roof collapsed
Sandersville's fire chief says the sanctuary of First Christian Church is a total loss after a major fire Friday.
Chief Russell Riner says the fire was reported around 11 a.m. at the church on East Church Street.
He said around 50 firefighters, from every department in Washington County and some from outside, responded to fight the blaze.
He said one firefighter was flown to Augusta for treatment of heat exhaustion and smoke inhalation. Two others were treated on the scene for dehydration
He said firefighters can't go into the church building, due to the severe damage. He said they're afraid the building could collapse.
But he said First Christian members were happy that the church stained glass was not damaged and could be salvaged.
This fire was reported around 4:20 Wednesday morning at 211 South Ray Quincy Road in Branch County, Michigan. The video is from the Quincy Fire Department. The building had been a church built in the late 1800s and was converted into a residence:
Here’s part of the description with the clip:
Chief 2 arrived on scene and reported a church fire going throughout. Engine 10 arrived on scene and stretched multiple lines. Mutual aid was requested from the Coldwater, Lakeland, Fremont (Ind.) and Angola (Ind.) fire departments for water supply. Being a rual fire, a draft site had to be established and a water shuttle was used. Line placement was limited due to down power lines, live ammunition and fireworks going off as well as structural collapse.
A former church in rural Branch County converted to a residence was gutted by fire early today. Flames were showing through every door and window of the old Fisher Hill Church when Quincy firemen reached the scene around 4:30 this morning on South Ray-Quincy Road.
No injuries have been reported although Quincy Fire Chief Kurt Barve said it was a dangerous fire with live wires on the ground and live ammunition in the home going off as well as firefighters narrowly escaping a wall that collapsed.
Our friend Steve Redick had a busy night chasing after the firefighters of Chicago. Two extra-alarm fires broke out about two hours apart.
The first was a 3-11 church fire where a parishoner has been arrested for arson. It was reported around 9:30 PM at Edgebrook Evangelical Lutheran Church in the 6400 block of N. Hiawatha Avenue.
At 11:45 PM a fire in a Greektown restaurant was reported. The restaurant was destroyed and a grocery store and other businesses heavily damaged during the 4-11 alarm response .
James Deichman, 61, of the 6200 block of North Cicero is charged with felony arson at a place of worship.
Interim Pastor Rev. John Holm said during a phone interview that Deichman is a member of the church. Just yesterday morning, Holm said he and other church leaders discussed ways to get the man help because of an obvious deterioration in his mental health.
Holm said Deichman lit some garbage cans on fire outside the church and then broke a window and started a fire in the lobby. Police responding to the scene found him inside and were able to get him out safely, Holm said.
The church building is “absolutely devastated”, Holm said. An adjacent educational center is unusable due to smoke and water damage.
The church was built in 1943 and expanded in 1953. The church web site describes the architecture as a “slightly modern adaptation of the English Village Church.”
“We’re going to say some prayers and sing some hymns and just try to hold each other up,” Holm said.
A deep fat-fryer may be the cause for an extra-alarm fire that left a Greektown restaurant a total loss and heavily damaged an adjacent building, fire officials said.
Firefighters were called out to the 2-story building that houses Costas Greek Dining & Bar at 340 S. Halsted St., about 11:35 p.m., said Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford. The fire was initially struck out shortly after 3 a.m. but officials said they were still on the scene as they worked to shut gas service off.
The restaurant manager told firefighters arriving on the scene that the fire started in the kitchen and a deep fat fryer may have sparked the blaze, fire officials said. A fire department spokesman said while they suspect the deep fryer as a cause an investigation will determine a final cause of the blaze.
The fire quickly rose from 3-alarm status to 4 when it spread to the building to the north. That building houses three businesses — Athens Grocery, the Pan Hellenic Pastry Shop and Greektown Gift and Music Shop.
Rescuing a blind and deaf Chief (we don’t mean the guy in the picture above): Chief in this case is a 30-year-old horse. Chief fell into a sinkhole yesterday afternoon in Frederick County, Maryland. It took firefighters six hours to bring Chief to safety. Watch the story above, or click here to read more.
NOTE: Don’t forget the player at the right where there are new videos from Haiti and the work of the USAR teams. Also, the aftermath of a Germantown, Maryland two-alarm apartment fire where Montgomery County crews brought numerous people to safety down ladders. (Click here for more details from the fire.)
NEW- Houston fire chief out after botched sensitivity/grievance session: At 7:00 this morning Houston firefighters were notified that Chief Phil Boriskie would be stepping down. At 8:30 the chief gathered the press to say he was stepping aside and returning to the firehouse after six-years as chief. Certainly not a bit of a surprise after last week’s gathering the chief ran at Station 54 to welcome back Firefighter Jane Draycott. Draycott is the firefighter who reported some not so nice graffiti in the women’s locker room and then became the target of the investigation. What was apparently someone’s idea that there should be “a can’t we all get along” type meeting attended by the chief blew up as a station captain and two other firefighters read letters saying why they didn’t want Draycott at their firehouse. Talk about making a bad situation worse.
The Houston Chronicle has this quote from IAFF Local 341 President Jeff Caynon: “The truth is, Chief Boriskie was a victim of his good nature and management style, both of which left him vulnerable to political attack. For the past year, the opportunist politicians, extremist activists and disgruntled city employees who recklessly stereotyped local firefighters also treated the chief despicably.”
Houston’s mayor is expected to have her briefing on the fire chief situation later today.
In case you missed it, click the image to view the flashover video and close call from Gary, Indiana.
Just trust me and click where I tell you: You will want to see this picture from a Schenectady, New York apartment fire. Plus there is good fireground audio from FireSceneAudio.com. So what are you waiting for? Click here.
A phone call from Haiti: Captain Joe Knerr from the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department took a few minutes away from his vital work in Haiti to give STATter911.com a call yesterday afternoon with the latest on Virginia Task Force 1. The team has assisted in 15 rescues since its arrival last week. You can listen to the entire interview with Captain Knerr and see some close-up video of the team’s work during the very first rescue last Thursday. Click here for our coverage.
This is Travis Mosher the former Manassas Park, Virginia police captain accused of stealing a fire chief's buggy. InsideNova.com now reports a radio transmission from that vehicle gave a report of shots fired at an IKEA store. Click the image for the latest information.
“A sneak peak into hell”: That’s what an Austin firefighter calls a fire ten-years-ago that almost killed a captain. John Butz lost a thumb, had burns over much of his body and suffered a heart attack because of the fire. He is now a battalion chief. Chief Butz and the firefighters who saved him talk about their experience. Click here.
Laid off firefighter is first arriving at house fire: Jason Harris is one of the firefighters who was laid off in December from New York’s Canandaigua Fire Rescue. But that didn’t stop Harris when fire broke out in his neighborhood. Read the details.
She looked flushed: ”Ying Chao was relieved in more ways than one when volunteer firefighters came to her rescue at a Blenheim public toilet last night.” That’s the first line of the story about the poor woman in Australia who dialed 111 when she had trouble making a getaway from the bathroom. It turned out she really didn’t need much help. Read more.
Historic hotel burns: This was the 96-year-old Fort Hotel that burned in the city of Fort Saskatchewan in Alberta, Canada yesterday afternoon. As you will see in this report, the fire apparently started in the restaurant and spread to the second and third floors. From CTV, Edmonton- “Halfway through their [fire crews] search on the second floor they came across where the fire had spread and it was too hot for the crews to continue,” said Deputy Fire Chief James Clark.” Incident command made the decision to go defensive so it was safe for all the firefighters.” Click here for more video.
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