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Early raw video: House fire with woman trapped in Whitemarsh, PA. Cops grab tools for ventilation & forcible entry.

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Video posted yesterday by  of a fire on October 27 in Whitemarsh Township, PA (Montgomery County) that killed 71-year-old Barbara Conicello and left her husband James with burns. Investigators say the fire was sparked by a space heater. Lincoln Fire Company was first on the scene.

In the video above it appears that police officers are among those grabbing tools and performing ventilation and forceable entry. At 4:06 on the second video (below) the evacuation tone and airhorns are sounded.

WCAU-TV:

A woman is dead and her husband in the hospital after a house fire in Whitemarsh Township.

The fire broke out Saturday around 2:30 p.m. at a home on the 300 block of Roberts Avenue in the Conshohocken section of Whitemarsh.


Kyle Bagenstose, Plymouth-Whitemarsh Patch:

The fire was first reported at 3:30 p.m. as multiple area fire companies responded. One neighbor told Patch that he was the first to call 9-1-1, rushing inside to do so after speaking with the husband, who was able to escape from the house. The neighbor said that the husband was refusing to go to the hospital before learning the condition of his wife, although it is unclear at what point he was actually transported from the scene.

Lincoln Fire Company chief Jay Davis said the fire was already “extensive” by the time responders arrived at the scene. Firefighters tried to access the house on both floors from multiple directions, but were unable to locate a safe point of entry. On at least two occasions after the flames appeared to be out, small fires broke out just below the roof. 

TimesHerald.com:

Police Chief Mike Beaty said in a statement that crews found Conicello’s husband, 70-year-old James Conicello, who had sustained burn injuries and was found in the rear of the home by police and firefighters. Beaty says “extensive fire was engulfing the entire structure” at the time. 

Conicello was transported to Bryn Mawr Emergency for treatment. A spokeswoman reportedly stated that he was in fair condition. 

Just a car fire video. But it is sure to bring back a lively topic of discussion.

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We seem to have a theme going this weekend with vehicle fires. First it was an ambulance fire in Newark, New Jersey and then a tanker fire in Tioga County, Pennsylvania (which has prompted a full KIC alert).

This is just a plain old car fire. We don’t post many car fire videos, but the ones we do tend to prompt lively discussions. In fact, some of the liveliest. The topics that have generated the most input from our legion of KICs have been about PPE and use of reel lines on vehicle fires.

Running right behind those topics is the universal problem illustrated by this video from  on YouTube of a Ford Mustang fire Tuesday evening in Arlington Heights, Illinois. Getting under or through the hood was the challenge on this fire, something most everyone has dealt with at some point in their career. Discuss among yourselves.

Credit to thebravestonline.com for not ignoring this one like I originally did.

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IC’s helmet-cam? Bars on doors & windows at Hayward, California house fire.

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This is from a fire Sunday evening on Woodland Avenue in Hayward, California. The fire started in the kitchen. By the looks and sound of this video I gather this is the IC’s helmet-cam taking the video.

MercuryNews.com:

About 8:20 p.m., a passer-by reported seeing smoke coming from a home in the 600 block of Woodland Avenue, Hayward Assistant Fire Marshal Gerry Price said. Fire crews arrived five minutes later to find flames shooting through the roof and forced open the front door’s barred metal gate with a circular saw, Price said. Once inside, firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze within 10 minutes.

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Pre-arrival video: Forcible entry citizen style at Detroit house fire.

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The Fire Critic found this fire that was posted to YouTube on December 20, 2011 (click here to see if nine-year-old Preston Fleitz gives it two thumbs up or not). While it gives you some good arrival action of Detroit firefighters as they quickly handle a rowhouse fire that has taken hold of much of the first floor and extended to the second, it is also interesting to watch the citizenry in action. Some men, who find they can't get into the B exposure to look for occupants, come back with what appears to be a sledge hammer and take care of the front door quite nicely. No further information.

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UPDATED – Dash-cam video: Cop fires two shots to save woman from burning vehicle. Unusual forcible entry on I-95 in Boca Raton, Florida. Interview with Officer Jimmy Jalil.

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Bullets as a forcible entry tool? That was the choice a Boca Raton, Florida police officer made last night on I-95 near the Spanish River Boulevard overpass. Officer Jimmy Jalil Jr. pulled up to the scene of an SUV that crashed and caught fire around 8:00 PM. Other motorists, including a retired firefighter, were already trying to pull a woman trapped in the front passenger seat to safety. But they couldn’t get in. Here’s the rest of the story from WPEC-TV:

Jalil grabbed a fire extinguisher from his car’s trunk and gave it to a retired firefighter who stopped to help, said Mark Economou, Boca Raton police spokesman. The extinguisher was unable to douse the flames and it wouldn’t break the windows either.

Jalil ordered everyone back from the vehicle and told the trapped woman to move as far away from the window as possible. Jalil fired two shots into a rear passenger window to break it and used his baton to clear the glass from the window, pulling the woman’s limp body from the vehicle.

The woman, Brianna Motley, survived and is reported in fair condition. The driver was killed. Details on other possible victims wasn’t immediately available. Florida Highway Patrol is investigating the crash.

The Palm Beach Post has more about the others in the vehicle:

The Florida Highway Patrol identified David Mattheu, 31, as the Boynton Beach driver who was killed in the crash and said he was not wearing a seatbelt. 

Mattheu lost control of the Trailblazer, sending the SUV spinning in circles and slamming into a metal utility pole. The vehicle burst into flames on impact, according to the FHP. 

Two surviving passengers were taken to Delray Medical Center in serious condition. They are Brianna Motley, 22, of Lake Worth and Shawn Thomas, 25, of Boynton Beach, the FHP said.

Are two feet better than one for forcible entry? Not in this case. Early video from Vancouver, BC garage fire.

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The photographer is an early arrival on this detached garage in an alley in Vancouver, BC. What really caught my eye on this one begins at 1:55 on the video. Synchronized, but unsuccessful forcible entry on the second garage door. Sometimes even teamwork doesn’t get the job done.