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Video from Vincent Ashby of a fire March 1 described as suspicious.
Last night a four-alarm fire broke out in a mixed residential and commercial building on Notre-Dame Street E. in Pointe-aux-Trembles.
The blaze started in the building’s garage before spreading to the convenience store and apartments on the first and second floors, as well as a neighbouring home.
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(Thanks to FDNY Incidents for help on this story)
Video from bmxking1504 of a four-alarm fire yesterday in Madison, New Jersey (Morris County).
A four alarm fire claimed a residential apartment building on Park Avenue Saturday morning.
Luis Pinzon, who lives on the first floor of the three-apartment house with his wife, Beatriz, noticed smoke pouring into his apartment around 9:30 a.m. and called the fire department.
Flames and smoke poured out of the windows of the house shortly before 10 a.m. and later migrated up to the attic.
Jason Koestenblatt and Mike Pignataro, MadisonPatch.com:
One person was hospitalized after being rescued from the second floor of a multi-family home on Park Avenue Saturday morning, according to Bob Landrigan, Office of Emergency Management coordinator.
Three people were inside the building when the call of the fire came in, Landrigan said. A woman, whose identity has not been released, was trapped on the second floor and rescued by firefighters from the burning structure, Landrigan said.
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Previous coverage of this fire here & here
This is quite interesting and worth the time to take a few minutes and watch. It’s video from mcfdtv of a camera locked down showing Side A from last Wednesday’s four-alarm fire in Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania (Northumberland County). In addition it has the real-time fireground radio traffic on the video. It’s in four parts.
Notes from mcfdtv indicate the audio is Channel 5 traffic that starts 10 minutes after the first alarm was sounded at 8:27 AM. This audio does not contain the tanker task force traffic.
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Earlier coverage of this fire
Yesterday we brought you video from Wednesday’s four-alarm fire in Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania (Northumberland County). Now we have more video via Jim Jones from a dash-cam on Shamokin Engine 21 that includes radio traffic from the fire.
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Click here for still pictures from Coal Region Fire
More from Central PA Bravest
Above is video from coalregionfire of a four-alarm fire yesterday in Mt. Carmel, Pennsylvania (Northumberland County). Below is video taken a little later and posted at mcfdtv. The fire was reported at 8:11 AM in the 200 block of E. Second St and took two hours to bring under control.
Rob Wheary, RepublicanHerald.com:
Incident commander Clayton Hubler, Mount Carmel Rescue Squad, said a single row home at 242 and the double homes at 244 and 246 E. Second St. were destroyed, while a single home at 236 E. Second St. suffered exterior water damage. The double homes at 248 and 250 E. Second St. were also damaged when firefighters broke windows and cut holes in the roofs for ventilation.
“We were faced with limited manpower and had a hydrant issue, which limited our water supply,” Hubler said. “At that point, we called in a tanker brigade to help.”
There were too many fire trucks pulling water from three hydrants in too small of an area, but it did not hinder the suppression of the fire, he said.
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Video from Newsworking’s Bill Rohrer last night of a four-alarm fire at 1600 Church Road in Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania (Montgomery County). Here’s what Bill wrote about the fire, reported around 9:45 PM:
People were reported trapped on the 3rd floor. With heavy fire on arrival, command requested the 2nd alarm be transmitted.
By 22:15, 4 victims were removed and the 3rd alarm transmitted. The fire was extending rapidly through the cockloft.
At one point early on, command requested a P.A.R. check due to some members not being accounted for. Evacuation tones were sounded and a defensive operation was commenced. After the P.A.R. check, all members were accounted for.
By 23:30, the 4th alarm was transmitted. Numerous tenants were transported to the hospital. A few firefighters were being treated by EMS for minor injuries.
Roof crews cut two trench cuts in an effort to stop the fire spread. The fire quickly took the majority of the roof of the large building. At least 4 or 5 ladder pipes were in operation along with numerous master streams.
By 03:00 hours Saturday, the fire was placed under control. More than 120 firefighters and over a few dozen EMS were on the scene battling this fire.
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Listen to the brief recording above that appears to be from yesterday’s four-alarm fire in Allenown, PA and read the information below. Is it a leap to assume they are connected?
In recent days the Allentown Fire Department has dealt with a reduction in minimum staffing and the loss of a ladder truck. The out of service truck was at the shop when yesterday’s fire was being fought. According to news reports Fire Chief Robert Scheirer orderded it brought to the scene by a mechanic.
Colin McEvoy at The Express-Times posted an article this afternoon looking at the possible impact of the staffing reductions on yesterday’s fire:
“Our job is a time-critical one; we can’t just sit around and wait, because the fire gets bigger and bigger,” (Union President John) Stribula said. “So every minute you lose in response time, that fire gets bigger and becomes more difficult to control.”
Fire Chief Robert Scheirer said having more manpower would have been helpful, but that given the size and nature of the fire, row homes would have been lost no matter how many firefighters were there.
Scheirer also noted that major fires are an exception for the city, and he said 98 percent of the fire calls in Allentown are handled by 12 men or less.Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski said staffing will be expanded to 28 per shift after the 16 men currently in academy are finished training. He said that would have happened sooner if the union had not dragged out the arbitration process.
“I think it’s atrocious that (Stribula) is using a tragedy like this to push forward his union negotiation stance,” Pawlowski said. “I think it’s just atrocious.”
Manuel Gamiz Jr., The Morning Call:
Stribula said firefighting efforts were hampered by a provision in the department’s new city contract that sets a staffing level of 25 firefighters per shift — below the 30 provided in the previous contract.
The staffing level is called “the minimum,” but because of budget constraints it’s generally the maximum staff allowed, he said.
Every firefighter on duty responded to the fire, and higher-ranking fire officials also had to assist, (Capt. John) Christopher said.
The firefighters initially were hampered in their efforts to fight the fire because of low manpower in the department, said Christopher, adding that new guidelines in their contract allow for only one ladder truck to respond to calls instead of two.The fire marshal and other department leaders were forced to join the ranks in fighting the fire, officials said.
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Video above from Newsworking’s Bill Rohrer. Here’s some of Bill’s description (news coverage of the fire here and here):
Box 2336 (8th & Greenleaf) was transmitted at 12:01 for a report of a house fire at 854 N. 8th Street between Greenleaf and Cedar. It was dispatched with possible entrapment.
Engine 4, 9, 6, Truck 2 and Car 43 (Wehr) responded. Companies arrived to heavy smoke and fire showing from a 3-story M/O/R.
Engine 4 stretched in and immediately began an interior attack. Crews darkened down the fire on the first and second floors. The rear porch roof ignited as the fire vented out of the rear of the dwelling.
The 2nd alarm was transmitted immediately sending Engines 10, 13 and 14. The 3rd alarm was transmitted by Chief 40 (Scheirer) bringing in Engine 11.
Video above from Michael Nester (firtog), Nester Video Production (NVP). Here’s some of what Mike wrote about the fire:
As fire continued to spread and numerous lines were put into service a 4th alarm was transmitted. 5 firefighters suffered injury and were taken to the hospital and 7 homes were damaged by fire. This was the first fire to hit the city after the new manpower totals were put in place which put one of two tower ladders out of service, That truck ended up being utilized to fight this fire. Crews remained on scene for several hours knocking down hotspots.
Video above from Jay Wagner at Northeast Bravest (click here for still pictures). Here’s part of the description with Jay’s video:
The fire eventually took the 2nd and 3rd floors blowing out the roof with extension to multiple exposures, cmd requested the 4th alarm evacuated all companies and went to ladder pipe operations and multiple lines from the exterior.
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More at BuffNetwork.com
BuffNetwork.com alerted us to this video from a four-alarm fire that damaged multiple homes on Thursday at 107-47 112th Street in Queens in the middle of last week’s heat wave.
More than a dozen firefighters sustained minor injuries battling a four-alarm fire in South Richmond Hill, Queens on Thursday.
FDNY Deputy Fire Chief John Esposito said the blaze was a three-alarm fire, but the fourth alarm was triggered for relief purposes.
“It being very hot today, the hot weather is very taxing on the firefighters later in the afternoon, the hotter part of the day. So we had a high turnover of firefighters at the fire,” he said.
The four-alarm fire began at about 5:20 p.m. and was knocked out at about 6 p.m. It tore through a single family home and two multi-family homes on 112th Street, destroying two of the homes and damaging one.
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Photos of the fire from Stephen J. Walsh at Box 714 Imaging
This is from the fire yesterday on Beacon Street in Brookline, Massachusetts. IAFF Local 950 has posted a picture on Facebook taken earlier in the fire showing fire on the ground floor (the fire started in the basement). Click here.
The four-alarm blaze broke out around 9 a.m. in the basement of the Beacon Street residence, then shot upward, engulfing the upper floors, officials said. A number of residents narrowly escaped the fire, rushing from their homes through heavy smoke or scaling down the fire escape, but all made it out safely.
One woman in her 20s was hospitalized for smoke inhalation, and four firefighters were treated for minor injuries, fire officials said.
Authorities are probing what sparked a four-alarm blaze that gutted a Brookline apartment building yesterday but miraculously injured none of the residents, many of whom scampered out a back entrance before a fireball shot out the front door, witnesses and officials said.
Brookline Fire Chief Paul Ford said it appears the fire started in the basement and moved quickly through the structure’s walls before engulfing parts of the third and fourth floors.
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View pictures from the fire by Josh Ferreira
The video above and below by Ian Allardice are from a four-alarm fire in Fall River, Massachusetts that was reported around 4:00 on Friday. It is now being investigated as arson.
The lengthy raw clips show a number of challenges faced by firefighters, including high winds and arcing electrical lines. In part two, below, check the collapse with the chimney crashing down at 4:08. Then at 10:45 it appears the fuel tank on a vehicle that was on fire ruptured, sending burning fuel down the street.
The bottom two videos are TV news coverage of the fire. These include video of what appears to be a later collapse of the home where the fire started.
Fire, fueled by high winds, brought down a two-family home as the blaze forced the evacuation of an entire neighborhood in Fall River, Massachusetts.
The blaze burned quickly, engulfing two, six-family homes on either side of the building. Eleven people lived in the home where the fire started. Dozens more lived in the neighboring six-family units. Everyone got out safely.
“In my experience it’s one of the worst daytime fires I’ve seen, aside from mill fires,’’ he said.
With the help of about 200 firefighters, including some from the surrounding towns of Somerset, Swansea, Westport, and Tiverton, R.I., crews had the inferno under control by about 6 p.m., Lynch said.
The district chief said firefighters experienced water problems battling the blaze and had to use water from several streets away.
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Click the image above to watch early video from from gifterphotos on YouTube of a fire yesterday at 3904 Fort Hamilton Parkway in the Boro Park section of Brooklyn. The photographer pulls up in the early stages of the fire inside a commercial garage. Watch closely at the bottom left of the screen at 2:50 in the video when a firefighter trying to get onto the roof loses his footing and takes a tumble. One firefighter was transported with a broken ankle. News reports indicate a dozen firefighters were hurt.
Click here for a rundown of the fire.
Thanks to FireTruckBlog.com's Glenn Usdin for spotting this one.
More from Firefighter Nation
Listen to fireground audio live
Six minutes of raw video from Erie County Fire Wire have been added below.
From WGRZ-TV (updated at 2:10 PM EDT):
Buffalo firefighters say a massive industrial fire in the city's Black Rock neighborhood will have to burn itself out.
Firefighters continue to douse the flames with water and foam but acknowledge there is little more than can do, saying the fire will not be under control until it's burned out.
Buffalo Fire Commissioner Darnell Whitfield is expected to update the situation at 4:00 this afternoon. His news conference will be streamed live in the video window above.
The fire started just before 6 a.m. at Niagara Lubricant Company, Inc., located at 164 Chandler Street.
Foam trucks from the Buffalo-Niagara International Airport and the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station were called in to assist.
Over 100 firefighters are on the scene and continue to be rotated in and out of the area. One was taken to the hospital for a knee injury.
Nearby residents have not been asked to evacuate, however, they have been advised to keep their windows closed as thick, black smoke continues to billow through the area.
According to the Niagara Lubricant's web site, the company manufactures and packages lubricating oils, greases, industrial oils and tire care products.
Chandler Street has been closed to traffic and National Grid was on scene this morning to cut power to the immediate area.
As a precautionary measure, Buffalo Schools have diverted students from the Extended Learning Opportunity Program at School #94 to Riverside High School. At the end of the day, walkers will be taken by bus back to School #94 to head home. Students who normally take the bus will be transported home from Riverside.Parents with questions or concerns can call Riverside at 816-4360.
Several explosions could be heard at the scene, and the smoke could be seen from miles away. Fire crews were ordered out of the building around 6:15 a.m. after they learned the building housed several propane tanks.
Niagara Lubricant has about 35 employees. Leon Smith, one of the company's owners, says five generations of his family have worked there since its founding in 1923, and its products are distributed worldwide. The business is insured.
He said the fire department had given him no indication of the fire's cause.
At the very beginning of the video above, taken by a bystander, there appears to be fire showing out of only one set of windows of a five story apartment building with stores on the ground floor. It isn't very long before the building is well involved. The apartment building at Washington Avenue and St. John's Place was vacant and scheduled for renovation.
One firefighter was injured by bricks that fell during a collapse late in the operation. Video from that mishap is in the WABC-TV video below. More video and details in this story by WCBS-TV and from Bill Schumm at Firegeezer.
A massive fire consumed every inch of the building at 816 Washington Avenue. The building was vacant and under construction, closed except for a store on the first floor.
The blaze grew to four alarms and traveled from building to building down Washington Avenue.
Three buildings down, at St. John’s Place, a section of the fire ravaged wall buckles and crumbled with such force that bricks were sent flying.
Even though firefighters were standing back a full 100 feet, they weren’t back far enough – one brick struck one of New York’s Bravest, breaking the firefighter’s cheekbone.
Damage is estimated at $3 million dollars from yesterday’s four-alarm apartment fire at the Southport apartments on Edsall Road in Alexandria, Virginia.
The fire was reported around 1:50 PM. First arriving units found fire on all three floors and immediately called a second-alarm.
Alexandria Fire Department PIO Bob Rodriguez said firefighters were evacuated from the building and defensive operations began around 2:12 PM. This was followed by a third alarm and then a fourth-alarm to assist with water supply.
One hundred and thirty firefighters fought the fire, which was reported under control at 4:24 p.m.
One firefighter was taken to a hospital for evaluation following a minor injury.
We saw the news helicopter footage (video below & link to stills above) from yesterday’s four-alarm fire in a condo complex under construction in Rahway, New Jersey. There were also boots on the ground at the fire scene before the choppers were circling overhead. One of those photographers is David Psenechnuk of DMP Productions and the website FireBuffVideo.com. Psenechnuk’s video shows the conditions a little earlier in the operation. Here’s an excerpt from his description:
This 15min video is a span of 4 hours while I was at this fire. Many other brave buffs withstood the freezing temps and held out on scene to capture the action to bring to you. . . Unfortunately after 4 hours I could not stay any longer at this stubborn blaze. Units worked for several more hours to bring the fire under control.
A multi-alarm fire that was first reported at 1:30 this morning was still burning after dawn at a condo complex under construction at St. Georges Avenue and Stone Street in Rahway, New Jersey. The large row of four-story buildings was vacant and there are no reports of injuries. News reports indicate the smoke could be seen 25-miles away on the West Side of Manhattan.
Rahway Fire Chief Bill Young said five area engine companies were called to help combat the surging flames. Given the intensity of the fire, the department plans to let it burn itself out since it’s too dangerous for firefighters to get inside the structure.
The wind carried smoke to the neighboring towns of Elizabeth and Linden. NBCNewYork crews could smell it when they got off the Turnpike en route to the scene.
More coverage from Firegeezer
Stanley Jaworski’s pictures from the fire at FireTruckBlog.com
The Baltimore City Fire Department had a busy end of 2010 and seems to be starting 2011 the same way. The video above is from Michael “FirePix1075” Schwartzberg of the fire that began late Saturday night at 315 North Howard Street. Here’s Michael’s write-up from the fire:
Baltimore City, Maryland firefighters were dispatched around 11:30 p.m. Saturday night January 1, 2011 to 315 North Howard Street for smoke reported coming from a commercial building (Box 23-9). Crews found heavy smoke coming from a 7-story building that was partially vacant. Firefighters initially attempted an interior attack but the incident commander pulled crews out as conditions deteriorated. Firefighters used multiple deck guns, handlines and ladder pipes from outside the structure to attack the deep-seated fire.
Photo by Stanley Jaworski. Click the image for more.
More than 4.5 hours after the initial call, firefighters were still flowing large amounts of water into the structure to control the fire. One firefighter sustained minor injuries when he was hit in the helmet by a sledgehammer while operating on the fireground. The MTA Light Rail was shut down due to the location of the fire fronting the tracks. The BCFD Fire Investigation Bureau is investigating the cause and origin of the fire.
Early this morning in Rochester: Lots of fire on Wadsworth Street in this Guy Zampatori video. Pictures and fireground audio can be found at Monroe County Fire Wire.
The regeneration blues coming to a firehouse near you: Read how one fire chief finds the time-outs for regeneration on his department’s newer diesel engines quite maddening and potentially dangerous. A guest column from Boca Raton Fire Rescue’s Tom Wood. Click here.
UPDATED Houston’s Draycott scheduled to return to is back at work today: “I want to be treated like everybody else. I want to be able to go to work and not be harassed, not be retaliated against.” That’s what Firefighter Jane Draycott told the Houston Chronicle’s Terri Langford yesterday, a day before her scheduled return to HFD’s Station 54 at Bush Intercontinental Airport. Draycott attempted a return in January and found herself in the middle of a “team building” exercise with her fellow firefighters. That four-hour session resulted in a lot of transfers and the resignation of the fire chief. It has been nine-months since Draycott made the news after racist and sexual graffiti were found on Draycott’s belongings in the women’s bunk room at the firehouse. Watch as Firefighter Draycott arrives at Station 54 this morning.
Car smashes into ladder truck … inside the firehouse: Click here to read how police say the driver of a car that crashed through the bay door of a firehouse in Wisconsin may not be at fault.
Driver jailed after crashing into fire truck: Police say two motorcyclists racing near Missoula, Montana led one of them into the back of a fire truck injuring a firefighter. Here’s the story.
A busy weekend in Flint: A dozen fires, including one in a vacant warehouse Saturday that spread to another building. Officials believe 10 of them were intentionally set. So far in April there have been 107 fires compared to 37 last year. This latest arson spree began the day before layoffs were initiated at the end of March. Read and watch the story.
Erosion of political influence: That’s the title of FossilMedic Mike Ward’s latest entry on Firegeezer. Mike is wondering if these budget battles, where firefighter overtime and pensions are targeted, are taking a toll on firefighters who might otherwise enjoy the backing of the public and the politicians. Check it out.
If you would like to tell Mike Ward you agree with him or that he is full of it: You can do so in person this week at FDIC during the big Meetup at Indy on Friday at the Rock Bottom Brewery. Lots of bloggers from FireEMSBlogs.com and elsewhere will be on hand, along with their many groupies. You can even get a free drink ticket for the event by stopping by these booths-
FireRescue Magazine, FirefighterNation.com and FireEMSBlogs.com: Booth #3755 Black Diamond: Booth # 410 Black Helmet Apparel: Booth # 138
I had hoped to be there, but recent knee surgery is keeping me very close to home. My doctor didn’t think I could handle the trauma of the procedure and at the same time deal with the sharp barbs from Rhett Fleitz, The Fire Critic. But you can listen to the latest Indy news from Rhett and his partner John Mitchell (Fire Daily) on their live Firefighter Netcast (or is it Nutcast with that crew?) out of Booth 3755 on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Read more.
Rescuer needs rescuing: A Phoenix firefighter helping to rescue a hiker who fell off a mountain trail fell victim to the heat. Click here to read and watch the story.
Weekend video roundup: A house fire from Gary, Indiana discovered by a battalion chief; a three-alarm apartment fire in New Haven, Connecticut; A Jacksonville, Florida house fire with fireground radio traffic.
4-alarms in Annapolis: FireSceneAudio.com has the radio traffic from Saturday’s fire on Maryland Avenue in the Annapolis historic district. Click here for Part 2. A quick video clip is here and you can read more about the fire.
Above is Part 1 of the video from bmxking1504: Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5.
A fire that began late this morning destroyed one store and damaged others in Millburn, New Jersey. A clothing store at 517 Millburn Avenue had closed and renovations were under way. One news report indicates the fire started in the basement. A fire official told The New York Times that there was fire in the basement but isn’t confirming that’s where it started. Read more.
And a late addition with even more video below.
Click here for Google Maps Street View of the fire building
A fire destroyed a floor covering business in Dallas, Texas this morning. The fire was reported just before 5:00 AM at 2600 Irving Boulevard.
According to news reports firefighters found the building filled with smoke and attempted an interior attack. Concerns about a roof collapse soon changed this to a defensive operation.
The fire was contained to one building with smoke damage to an adjacent structure. No injuries were reported.
Below is fireground audio from FireSceneAudio.com.
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