This is video from ntvinh1602 of a fire today at 28 Tran Hung Dao in Hanoi, Vietam. According to the description, the service station is located across from the Central Military Hospital 108. Ten firefighters were hurt, including at least two who were seriously burned. Pictures here show one person with his clothes on fire. The fire spread from the service station lot to a nearby bar.
14h15, fire kept spreading out with huge blasts. 50 firefighters tried to control the fire, about 10 firetruck waited to reach the scene. A sedan car parking in the gas station and nearby beerhouse caught fire and destroyed completely. But no one died so far, only 3 gas station employees injured.
16h, firefighters shouted with joy when the fire under control temporarily, no black smoke rises. However, the fire hose and sprinkler continually bubbles to cool the tank.
16h15, the intense flames and fire burning harder than the beginning. At least two firefighters were taken to the hospital in very serious condition. The reason is when the fire was extinguished temporarily, enforcers decided to discharged gasoline from the tanker to prevent fires, then it met the hot heat and started to fire again!
According to Tuoi Tre’s on-the-scene-reporters, at least 10 firefighters sustained burn injuries while battling the fire and all of them have been taken to hospital for treatment.
The cause of the blaze was not immediately clear yet. 20 fire trucks and a large number of firefighters have been deployed to the scene.
As of 4:45pm today, firefighters were still working to put it out entirely. Around 15 mins later, more than 1000 people were deployed to extinguish the fire. Tuoi Tre reporters at the scene said they could feel the heat and the smell of gasoline hundreds of meters away from the fire scene.
Parts of Interstate 81 and Route 22/322 in Dauphin County are closed due to a fiery crash.
A tanker overturned and caught fire on the ramp from I-81 northbound to Route 22/322 westbound about 6 a.m.
The truck, which was coming from Carlisle, was filled with diesel. The driver, a 52-year-old man from Dover, suffered minor burns and after he got out, the tanker exploded multiple times.
State police Trooper Robert Hicks said the crash occurred at 6:10 a.m. when the tanker, fully loaded with diesel, overturned on the I-81 northbound ramp to 322 West near mile marker 67.
The truck then caught fire and multiple explosions occurred.
The driver, a 52-year-old man from Dover, was able to escape the truck with minor burns. He was taken to Harrisburg Hospital, Hicks said. His name was not immediately released.
The truck was coming from Carlisle, and no other vehicles or people were involved. The crash is still under investigation.
The tanker was on fire for about 45 minutes on the 22/322 overpass.
Video above and immediately below by Billy McNeel (Billy McNeel) from this evening’s wind whipped building fire in Laurel, Maryland. Additional video below by Laurel PIO Pete Piringer (the headline of this story really should have been that Pete knows how to take video and upload to YouTube).
The fire was at the Laurel Oil and Heating Company. Just before 9:00 PM PGFD Chief Marc Bashoor tweeted the following:
On scene Laurel Fuel Co fire – no hazmat ACTUALLY involved. Under control
Firefighters battled a fire at the Laurel Fuel Oil and Heating Company on Wednesday evening that caused significant damage to the business. At around 7:00 pm firefighter/medics were alerted to a building fire at 101 Main Street. Fire/EMS units arrived on the scene to find a 2-story building with offices on the first floor and an apartment on the second floor with an attached 100 X 75 garage with fire showing from the garage.
A “Task Force” was sounded bringing additional firefighters, support vehicles and incident commanders to the scene.
It was quickly determined that the garage housed three home heating oil delivery trucks. First arriving firefighters attempted an initial interior attack on the fire and then evacuated the building to regroup. The bulk of the fire was knocked down from the exterior using master stream devices before returning to an interior attack. It required about 45 minutes for 75 firefighters to knock down the fire. Firefighter/Medics from Prince George’s, Montgomery, Howard and Anne Arundel Counties operated on the fire ground.
One firefighter sustained a shoulder injury while battling the fire. He was transported to a local hospital for treatment.
The cause of the fire is under investigation with a preliminary fire loss estimated at $750,000 for the building and it’s contents.
A large fire broke out in a garage at a Laurel oil and heating business Wednesday evening, forcing authorities to shut down parts of Route 1 in the city, officials said.
Firefighters responded to the Laurel Oil and Heating Company in the 100 block of Main Street about 7 p.m. and found heavy fire in a garage that houses fuel trucks, said Mark Brady, a Prince George’s County fire department spokesman.
The business was closed at the time of the fire. No injuries were reported.
From City of Laurel spokesman Pete Piringer (description with Pete’s YouTube clips above & below):
Just before 7p on Wednesday, March 6, units from the Laurel VFD and Laurel Rescue Squad were dispatched to 101 Main St for a building fire. Approx 100 firefighters from PG, Montgomery, Anne Arundel & Howard Counties responded. There were no injuries. The fire involved a garage area attached to the Laurel Heating & Fuel Company. Damage is significant.
Jeff Gray from WHNT-TV in Huntsville, Alabama had the camera rolling this morning when an explosion at a house fire on Highway 431 in New Hope knocked down three firefighters. Gray reports the firefighters were shaken but not injured.
Gloucester County’s alleged negligence in hazardous materials equipment maintenance is “completely unacceptable” and “not the first incident,” claim Washington Township firefighters who responded to the Paulsboro train derailment and chemical spill last month.
In a letter (below) signed by seven Hazmat-trained firefighters on the county’s hazardous material team, responders detailed the “lack of proper equipment” on board the county’s CBRNE-1 mobile unit on Nov. 30 when they were dispatched to the rail accident.
The derailment caused the spill of vinyl chloride, and the week-long evacuations of more than 200 Paulsboro households near the scene. The county’s Hazmat team — including the seven Hazmat-trained Washington Township firefighters, and one Deptford fireman — were among the first responders at the scene.
The firefighters from Washington Township are members of a hazmat team run by Gloucester County. The county is in charge of maintaining the equipment. But the township’s fire chief says several of the meters that monitor air quality didn’t work. The batteries were dead. And he says none of his guys had access to working canister respirators, to help them breathe clean air. Alarming, considering vinyl chloride can cause cancer. “We don’t know what’s going to happen five years from now,” Hoffman said. “Do we have firefighters in our organization who were exposed to this product unnecessarily? Who are going to be sick?”
So Sam Micklus wrote a letter to Gloucester County, saying he was pulling his nine firefighters out of the hazmat team, until things changed. “They really want to be part of this team,” Micklus said. “They’re trained for it, they’re enthusiastic about it. They just no longer trust the way the team’s managed and organized.”
So what’s Gloucester County saying? No official would give Fox 29 an on camera interview. But the county released a statement this afternoon, saying officials are reviewing the matter. And they say despite the withdrawal by Washington Township, the county hazmat team remains adequately staffed in the event of another disaster.
This is apparently video shot a little earlier than the previous one we shared with you from Friday’s tanker crash and burn near Liberty Township, Pennsylvania (Tioga County). That video, posted here very early Sunday morning, and this video, were taken by Lonny Frost, who appears to shoot and report a fair amount of fire activity and other news in the region.
From remarks via Facebook on STATter911.com and with this video, Lonny Frost is not happy with some of the comments made by our KICs (keyboard incident commanders). Here’s what he wrote on Facebook:
I cannot believe people like all you putting down departments after viewing a 6 minute video clip that was taken some time after the tanker crash and fire. How rude to think all you are better qualified than anyone from Tioga County. Look into the facts of our county’s emergency workers, the hours, training and how many lives they have saved. Ignorance is all I am reading on this STAT911. A bunch of firemen sitting around bashing another before they even know what agency is already on scene and focusing on one firefighter, whom many of you believe is not doing his job correctly. Again that is your opinion. I dont mind comments or suggestions, but when did other firemen tear others apart? I thought there was a botherhood in firefighting. You are there to give advice, point out o ther possible solutions in future cases like the one you are negatively attacking. That fireman was never in any dange, to himself or others. Had anyone been in the “wrong” they would of been comfronted and removed. I have seen many of these companies save lives from situations others would not even enter. How aweful to have such ruthless and invaluable comments. Thanks for sharing your ignorance with your fellow self righteous critics.
For a while after this comment the video in question was made “private” on YouTube. As of this writing it’s back up.
With the posting of this latest video, Lonny Frost added these comments to the description on YouTube:
If you are going to write mean spirited comments about the volunteer fire departments, I will simply block you. If you want to post suggestions or polite informative statements or comments please do so. As a correspondent reporter these clips are posted to let local people see a glimspe of what occured. It is not for some of you to use to bash me or the firemen & women who volunteer to help those in our county.
Lonny Frost is far from alone in criticizing the comments that are posted on STATter911.com or even criticizing me for providing this forum. There are a lot of people who feel this way. I understand why they feel the way they do. I even respect such opinions and don’t take any criticism of the comments on this site, the site itself or of me personally. I try to learn from it all. And, by the way, if you look at what Lonny Frost is saying, even if you think he is greatly misguided, it’s hard not to note that his heart is in the right place by standing up for firefighters (that’s more than some people believe about the publisher of this rag).
I have dealt with people who are offended by the comments section since almost day one of STATter911.com more than five-years-ago. Some of the complaints came from my closest and oldest friends in the fire service. I listened to what they all had to say and made the decision to keep the comments and censor as little as possible. I continue to stand by that decision and amazingly my friends still stand by me. Not that it doesn’t cause me great pain at times when I see personal bashing and comments that are more vindictive than constructive. To me, the forum works best when there is an adult discussion of issues and tactics with the egos left at the door (I know … I’m a dreamer).
In this particular incident in Tioga County, the comments came in rather fast and furious. The overall theme was one questioning what many believe are serious safety issues with this operation. While some said it more nicely than others, the comments almost all were about the same concerns.
As regular readers know I leave all of the commenting about firegound tactics and safety issues to others. But I do have some general observations about all of this.
First of all, I believe it would be nicer and more civilized if we could just tell people directly our concerns in a more private way. But the cameras everywhere, digital nature of life in the 2000s seems to have changed that dynamic forever. It isn’t just the fire service. In almost everything today we all have to deal with the instant analysis of our actions, whether it’s because of something we innocently wrote on Facebook or the video our neighbor took of us walking around our backyard in our underwear.
The question I toss out to the crowd is this: Are you being more of a “brother” by not pointing out an important safety lapse in one of these videos so you won’t hurt that brother’s feelings or is brotherhood making your thoughts clear on an actions you see that could injure or kill your brother firefighters?
According to state police, Jeffrey D. Krout, 27, of Wellsboro, was traveling south in a fully loaded 2005 Peterbilt fuel tanker in the right lane, when he served across the left lane and onto the shoulder of the road.
The truck, which was carrying about 4,600 gallons of diesel fuel, then swerved back across both lanes of travel, left the roadway, traveled onto the right side berm and overturned.
Krout extricated himself from the vehicle just before it caught fire.
Krout reportedly sustained a minor leg injury and he refused medical treatment. Krout will reportedly be charged with careless driving and rollover violations of the Pennsylvania Vehicle Code.
PennDOT members were diligent in not allowing anyone near the scene of the crash, including members of the media. By the time a Wellsboro Gazette reporter could get near the scene, the truck and burnt wreckage were being towed away.
According to the information with the video this was from a fire yesterday handled by the Winnie Stowell VFD in Winnie, Texas with mutual aid from a half-dozen or so other departments. The description says the fire in an oil well storage tank was sparked by a lightning strike. No further information.
No one has been injured after flames gushed from a ruptured natural gas line near downtown Columbus.
Columbus Fire Department spokesman Matt Noblitt said that homeowner Harold Lockhart and another man were using a motorized auger to dig holes for a fence post Wednesday morning when the auger ruptured the line and the heat from the auger motor’s exhaust ignited the gas.
No one suffered serious injuries, but the house at 1024 Chestnut St. sustained an estimated $10,000 in damages from the heat of the fire, according to the Columbus Fire Department.
Fire department crews responded and worked to protect the house from the flames to prevent them from causing more damage, said Columbus Fire Chief Joel Thacker. Firefighters also controlled the flames until Vectren Corp. could shut off the gas and determine the source of the leak.
A full shift of firefighters fell ill with symptoms of chemical exposure after working a fire earlier in the day, according to D.C. Fire and EMS.
All eight from the station at 1342 Florida Ave. NE had to be relieved by other fire crews. Those who fell ill complained of respiratory problems, vomiting, dizziness and burning eyes.
They were taken to a clinic for observation and D.C. Fire and EMS declared it a hazmat incident.
The firefighters became ill after fighting an apartment fire at about 11 a.m. Wednesday in the 3700 block of Hayes St. NE, according to officials. They did not begin showing symptoms until evening. Sources told 9News Now the firefighters may have been affected to a home drug lab while fighting the fire Wednesday morning.
D.C. Fire and EMS declared a mass casualty hazmat and took the firefighters to the police and fire clinic for observation.
The firefighters could be ill from a fire they fought about 11 a.m. in the 3700 block of Hayes Street NE, officials said. It’s possible it was a PCP lab.
The firefighters work at Engine 10 in the 1300 block of Florida Avenue NE and complained of the symptoms when they were at the station about 8:30 p.m., said Battalion Chief Brian K. Lee, a spokesman.
It was not clear what may have caused the firefighters’ dizziness. But three sources with knowledge of the probe said authorities are investigating the possibility that drug-making chemicals were inside the apartment building during the fire.
This is from the afternoon of Sunday, April 29 in the Brooklyn neighborhood known as DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass). Video taken by neighbor Chris Frank. Thanks to Vito Maggiolo for alerting us to the video.
Residents reported that they felt their buildings shake.
Con Ed spokesman Chris Olert denied there was an explosion, however. He said a fire broke out in a piece of reactor equipment in the station, located on 89 John Street.
An FDNY spokesman tells us the fire was brought under control at 6:39 p.m., mostly using foam. A Con Ed spokesman confirms there were no injuries, and no customers were affected with outages as a result of the fire, which broke out around 5:15 p.m. Witnesses reported hearing an explosion, which the spokesman attributed to the sound of oil igniting. The cause remains under investigation.
This is from a fire reported just before 10:00 Friday morning in Jamestown, North Dakota at a storage building for Viking Oil at 305 1st Avenue, N. There were no injuries. Some details from Keith Norman at inforum.com:
The Jamestown Fire Department brought in all its firefighting equipment and personnel during the blaze, which destroyed the building and its contents and damaged an adjacent building.
“We had everything we have at the (fire) hall at the scene,” Fire Chief Jim Reuther said. “We had 35 firefighters respond to the fire.”
Brad Vining, CEO of Vining Oil, said the building’s contents included several 55-gallon barrels of oil, 600 to 700 truck tires and two tractors. He said the monetary loss could be easily more than $1 million.
A tanker exploded last Thursday evening in the Sawyer, Michigan area. Today Chikaming Township has released video of that explosion along with more details.
The incident occurred at a truck stop where the driver had stopped for dinner. News reports indicate the rig was carrying a mixture of sodium hydroxide and water from Illinois to Canada. After dinner the driver noticed vapors coming from the tank.
After police and firefighters arrived and the building was evacuated the tanker exploded. One firefighter suffered minor chemical burns to the face.
The tanker was aluminum. (Chikaming Township Fire Chief Mike) Davidson said he cannot say whether that was a safe container to be transporting the substance, but said the matter is under investigation.
He did explain how the tanker exploded, stating that the problem started with a compromised weld joint, and got worse from there. "The tank was not properly venting itself, and it built up pressure inside of the tank to the point where the leak did expand itself and started to hiss and with all the pressure it built up, it finally exploded," Davidson said.
For the second time in a week, Buffalo firefighters were called out to battle a multiple alarm industrial fire.
Flames broke out on Dorothy Street in the city's Clinton/Bailey neighborhood around 7:30 and was called under control around 9:30.
This was the second fire this year at Goldman Titanium. The first was back in April. Fire officials say titanium burns very hot and very slow so crews are expected to remain on the scene for most of the day.
2 On Your Side's Mary Friona was told the department had used up all of its foam on last week's fire at Niagara Lubricant and needed to call a local vendor to bring some to the fire scene.
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.
Above is a taped report and links to live coverage of a fire at the Enterprise Products facility in Mont Belvieu, Texas about 35 miles east of Houston. The fire was reported around 12:30 PM local time
Witnesses say the heat is intense, and trucks in a nearby parking lot exploded as a result. Other callers to FOX 26 News report having heard explosions.
FOX 26 News briefly spoke with Enterprise Products company spokesman Rick Rainey, who said there are no reports of any injuries at this time.
“We store natural gas liquids at the plant, which comes out when natural gas is produced out of the ground,” said Rainey. “I am getting an operations report very shortly. All I can confirm is that we have a fire at the West Storage Facility at the Mont Belvieu plant. I’ve not heard of any injuries. We are still trying to confirm all of this. We are a part of Mont Belvieu mutual aid, and we have trained firefighters at all facilities who help fight the fire. In addition to the local firefighters, we have plant workers in the mutual aid network trained.”
FOX 26 Chief Meteorologist Dr. Jim Siebert says winds in Mont Belvieu are moving at 14 miles per hour out of the southeast, pushing smoke from the fire over Crosby.
According to its website, Enterprise Products operates 49,100 miles of natural gas, NGL crude oil, refined products and petrochemical pipelines around the world. Its company headquarters are located in downtown Houston.
The New York Daily News says as many as a dozen firefighters were injured in the fire that started Monday night and burned well into Tuesday morning at a Jamaica, Queens ironworks business. Earlier it was reported seven firefighters were hurt. The most seriously injured firefighter suffered second-degree burns to his head and face. The eight-alarm fire was at 95-20 150th Street and began around 6:00 PM. Here are excerpts from the Daily News article:
“The flames were shooting 50 to 60 feet in the air. There were two or three explosions,” said Alan Grossman, who owns a business next door to the burned warehouse.
Nearly 500 firefighters had a hand in fighting the eight-alarm blaze. Roughly 60 firefighters are called in for each alarm.
The warehouse, which stores materials for an unidentified company in the metal business, is deep and long. The dimensions allowed the fire to spread, causing portions of the roof to collapse.
That forced firefighters to change their tactics on the fly, resulting in the need to call in more manpower, FDNY Division 11 Deputy Chief Vinny Mandala said at the scene.
“They initially started with an interior attack, and then after they had some structural issues, they pulled everybody out,” Mandala said. “It will remain an exterior attack for the remainder.”
He (Grossman) said firefighters put so much water on the fire that a loading bay alongside the warehouse filled with about 5 feet of water.
At one point, a firefighter fell into the water-filled bay, but emerged unharmed, Grossman said.
A fascinating video: A delivery man spotted a small apartment fire yesterday in Racine, Wisconsin. Being a good citizen he went inside and started alerting neighbors by banging on doors. Good for him. But as we know, it isn’t just good enough to do that in the modern times we live in. The incident would not have officially occurred if there wasn’t video of the man’s actions. Thankfully that video exists. It is courtesy of the same delivery man. He provides narration, and a couple shots of himself in action. He who is soon joined by a police officer who beats the fire department to the scene. Long ago I predicted, that with all of the cameras and the need to shoot everything, we would soon have a rescue where both the rescuer and rescuee were taking video. We are not there yet. But I think we have officially taken a step closer to reaching my goal.
Strut alert: If you missed it, with the help of Firefighter Close Calls, we have posted raw dashcam video of a vehicle fire this summer in Austin, Texas. It shows a number of small explosions, including struts becoming flying missiles. Click here for the video.
I don’t like Dave Slater: Who can blame him? But that’s one of the many comments sent in about my position on the video of the trooper from Connecticut’s confrontation with a news photographer. I am clearly in a losing battle, but I am going down fighting as I almost single-handedly try to be the protector of our Constitution and way of life. And when I say losing, I’m losing big time. The vast majority of the people writing in think whether a citizen or the press can roll video at an emergency scene is not (or should not be) protected under our First Amendment, but instead is a decision we have handed over to the government in the form of first responders. That scares me for so many reasons. But I answer each one who writes in with a variety of arguments about why that’s not a good idea. I also point out that even though you may believe that’s how it works, the law of the land as determined by the people who formed our government, says otherwise. Maybe what amazes me more is that a news photographer, who is standing with the public and not up close to the working first responders at a fatal crash, is made out to the devil. All you see on his raw, unedited video is a burning car, with the body already gone. Many of the writers indicate the press should not roll video at any scene where someone has died. I know I am an insensitive, biased, former reporter jerk for thinking that our freedoms in this country overrides what offends people. There’s a lot more to what many think are really stupid arguments by me. Read it for youself.
But here’s why I really like this First Amendment thing: It allows us all to openly have our say on forums like these blogs. Glenn Usdin is doing just that with his new site, FireTruckBlog.com. He looks at a controversy going on right now in and around Lancaster, Pennsylvania that has cropped up big time because the city’s only two ladder trucks are down and out. It’s pitting career firefighters and against volunteers and has the mayor threatening to sue the union claiming the IAFF is messing up mutul aid agreements. Check out Glenn’s thoughts that include having a Plan B for apparatus replacement. Also, if you are new to FireTruckBlog.com here is a run down of some of the interesting stuff posted so far.
Firefighter in two states and suspected arsonist in both: Both Pennsylvania and West Virginia authorities have neen investigating a volunteer firefighter for possibly setting fires. Charges have already been brought in Pennsylvania. Read the details.
Montgomery County, Maryland firefighter breaks leg while hitting hydrant: The Washington Post reports the lay-out man during an electrical fire in Silver Spring found his leg wrapped in the hose. Here’s a few details.
More fire videos for you: Dayton, Kentucky found five frozen hydrants as firefighter tried to handle two homes burning. Click here. Helmet-cam video from West Plains, Missouri. Click here. Hackensack, New Jersey two-alarm house fire. Click here.
Republican filibuster blocks 9-11 health bill: New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg calls it “a devastating indictment of Washington politics, a tragic example of partisan politics trumping patriotism.” Senate republicans blocked the 9-11 health bill in its first key senate vote by “sticking to a party pledge to block anything until the tax deal extending the Bush-era cuts for the wealthy passes”. Here are the details from the New York Daily news.
Tombstone volunteer jumps into action as his own home burns: An interesting story from Arizona about a disabled volunteer firefighter and a fire that destroyed his apartment & his pickup truck. But he went to work trying to keep the fire from spreading. Here it is.
In Bialystok, Poland today two freight trains collided and caught fire. This resulted in a large explosion involving cars carrying oil and fuel that was caught on video (story above, raw video below). Here is more from SkyNews:
It is understood 17 out of 32 tanks travelling in convoy through the Polish city of Bialystock caught fire – but, amazingly, only two people were injured.
The footage shows the burning crash wreckage suddenly erupt, sending massive flames and clouds of black smoke shooting into the air.
More than 30 fire engines were scrambled to the scene and extra firefighters brought in from other provinces.
Firefighter Jan Gradkowski said: “When we arrived at the site we found a lot of burning tanks.
“The last tank derailed and collided with a locomotive moving in the opposite direction.
This is another one of those videos that caught my eye in recent days. It was December 22, 1985 when a tanker rolled over on I-95 in Beltsville, Maryland shutting down traffic. PGFD Chief Jim Estepp allowed me to get a close-up look at the decision making process when handling hazardous materials emergencies. The incident commander was Lt. Col. Steve Edwards (seen in the image above with Greg Noll, now of Hildebrand and Noll Associates). Edwards would later become chief of the department and is currenty the director of the Maryland Fire & Rescue Institute.
I had two things on my agenda today and both played a role in the above video being posted. The first was a visit to Baltimore for the International Hazardous Materials Response Teams Conference presented by the IAFC. Tim Butters and Chris Hawley were kind enough to extend an invitation for the chance to look around. I also attended an interesting class by Mike Hildebrand and Greg Noll.
From there it was a trip to Channel 9 to start the process of dealing with my own hazmat situation. Much of the rest of the day was spent trying to clean the toxic dump that is my desk in anticipation of my departure in less than two weeks. Should have contracted with Hildebrand and Noll Associates to handle this one.
Somewhere in that pile was a tape that caught my eye because it had the words ”hazardous materials” highlighted in yellow. Rather than fight it, I went with the theme of the day and checked it out. It is a story from September 7, 1988. Inspired by a series of hazardous materials incidents on and around the Beltway, a much skinnier me took a quick look at the training being done in the area.
The video includes interviews with the late Warren Isman, who was then chief in Fairfax County, Virginia, and current STATter911.com reader Pat Walsh, who was a lieutenant in Washington, DC.
With luck I will have a few more gems for you before I lose access to the archives.
Off-duty firefighter makes rescue at Chicago high-rise: Fifteen months on the job, Jason Durbin was working part time at an ambulance company on Sunday afternoon when he spotted the fire at Bryant House on Chicago’s North Side. Durbin says he climbed 28 flights to find a burned woman on a hallway floor. The firefighter carried her down. Click here to read more about the fire.
Statter blew the story of the Florida chief still on the DC payroll: Back during the second week of June, STATter911.com received a couple of tips that DC Fire & EMS Department Chief Kenneth Ellerbe was days away from being named as the new chief of the fire department in Sarasota County, Florida. That proved accurate when the announcement was made on June 17. The other part of that tip included information that Chief Ellerbe, at age 49, was about a year short on qualifying for a benefit that would allow him to start receiving his retirement pay at age 50 instead of 55. A significant amount of money (now reported at about $600,000) would be left on the table. Our tipsters told us that a deal was in the works to help out Chief Ellerbe in this matter. We contacted the administration of Chief Dennis Rubin to confirm such a deal was happening. We were told emphatically and on the record by department officials that there was no deal and there wouldn’t be one on Chief Ellerbe’s retirement. Well, shame on STATter911.com for not following-up on that story. As David C. Lipscomb reports in The Washington Time today, Chief Ellerbe is still an employee of the DC Fire & EMS Department while still serving as Sarasota County’s chief. Chief Ellerbe is officially on “leave without pay” until his birthday in April. Department PIO Pete Piringer (not on staff when our initial calls were made) tells Lipscomb, ”He had the years [of service] but not the age. They’re waiting for him to get to 50.” Here’s the story.
One fire engine and one firefighter apparently not enough for this house fire: In Millville, California a woman is is asking for changes after it took about 15-minutes for the first engine to arrive after her home caught fire in October. That engine showed up driver-only and three of the woman’s neighbors (two former and one current Cal Fire employees) handled the hoses. Read more.
Off-duty firefighter shot during apparent road-rage incident: A Milton, Massachusetts firefighter and his girlfriend were driving through Quincy when there was a reported confrontation with the driver of another car. The word is that the driver of a sports car kept hitting the brakes while in front of Firefighter Joseph Fasano’s car. Police say the two men got out of their cars and into a confrontation where Fasano was shot once in the abdomen. Read and watch the story.
State association is rallying around union president suspended over speaking out: The New York State Professional Firefighters Association wants firefighters from around the state to show up at the Johnson City Village Board meeting on Tuesday. They are protesting the suspension without pay of Captain Marty Meaney. Meaney is charged by the mayor with insubordination in comments to the press and at a public meeting. Here the latest. Here’s the earlier coverage with the charging documents.
Wife’s free spending causes hazmat: A woman in Rockland, Massachusetts was trying to hide her spending from her husband. She just didn’t let her daughter in on the plan. The confusion brought a hazmat response to the daughter’s home. Click here for an explanation.
Cumberland union still in a battle over reorganization: In Western Maryland, Cumberland officials are having to deal with the union to change the make up of the fire department. While the idea of going to a volunteer force seems dead, there are still serious issues, including bumping lieutenants back to fire engineers. Click here for the latest.
“Thanks to all our friends and family for all that they’ve done for us.”
Words cannot express how Bradley Thompson and his wife Megan feel after they lost everything they own when their home exploded Wednesday afternoon.
Bradley was home when he started smelling natural gas. At first he shrugged it off, because contractors were doing work right outside and the smell wasn’t so strong, but things took a turn for the worse. He said the smell got stronger, a gurgling sound was coming from his kitchen sink, and he started to get a headache.
“I decided to take the puppies and go to the garage where the odor wouldn’t be as strong,” Thompson said.
Not too long after he had reached his garage, his home exploded.
“There was an incredible force, and thankfully I was able to escape when the garage door was blown open,” he said.
“A very loud explosion.”
That’s what Bushnell fire chief and neighbor Brent Glisan heard Wednesday afternoon. Glisan lives right behind the Thompsons. He said the entire house was engulfed in a fireball and debris and household items scattered all over the lawn. The fire was so intense, it spread to a neighboring home, gutting it and damaged another. The
The town was also on alert after gas was detected in several homes, prompting an evacuation. Contractors working on a water main, cut a gas line, causing it to leak. That triggered the explosion.
Residents who lived near the Thompsons were given the all clear to return home. A representative from Bushnell’s municipal department was not available for comment. But Fire Chief Brent Glisan tells us the incident is under investigation by the Illinois commerce commission.
If you want just the facts on the Jeffrey Boyle case out of Chicago, just click the image to read and watch WLS-TV's coverage.
My kind of town – columnist takes on judge who granted fire lieutenant/arsonist his pension: Jeffrey Boyle, a former Chicago Fire Department lieutenant, served two years of a six year sentence for a series of arsons. He had entered a guilty plea to eight fires but told investigators there were 20 in all. The Firemen’s Annuity & Benefit Fund of Chicago thought Boyle was a good candidate to have his pension denied. On Friday a judge thought otherwise. Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass, who has closely followed this case, has a special honor for the judge. Boyle’s main argument was that he didn’t set the fires with city equipment or on the department’s dime. Click here.
Super Bowl TV star/firefighter/accused arsonist gets reduced charge: Do you remember the case of the Pittsburgh area volunteer firefighter/college student who set a couch on fire on live TV during last year’s Super Bowl celebration (if you don’t, here it is)? He is now a former firefighter and college student. He also had his charges reduced following completion of a program for first time offenders. Click here to read and watch the update.
Jewish EMS crew claims discrimination over beards: In Baltimore County a discrimination complaint has been filed by volunteer EMS members of Pikesville VFC. All three are Orthodox Jews who say shaving their beards is against their religious beliefs. Watch the story. Read the story.
Autopsy report withheld from NIOSH: A bunch of new NIOSH reports on firefighter fatalities have come out. The one on the Boston Fire Department’s loss of two firefighters at a restaurant fire is not really complete. NIOSH wrote in the report that it was aware of allegations of alcohol and drug use by the fallen firefighters, but its investigators were denied access to the autopsy reports. Click here to read the reports from Boston, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
They are back to rolling up their sleeves in Haverhill: Firegeezer told us about Haverhill, Massachusetts Chief Richard Borden putting a halt to H1N1 shots for his troops last week. The chief said he did so to make sure all of his department could get the shots and was concerned about not being in the loop for the decision making process. These issues that stalled Monday’s shot have apparently all been resolved and the firefighters started getting the shots yesterday. Here’s the latest.
Update on firefighter trapped when garage door came down: Both the local paper and Firefighter Close Calls have the latest on a Hooksett, New Hampshire firefighter who was hurt Monday night during a fire at a firm housing lawn mowers and other garden equipment. A mayday was called by the injured firefighter’s officer after “an overhead door came down as he had just stepped inside the large metal clad building with heavy fire conditions”. Goldfeder says full PPE likely helped save the day on this one.
Mystery odor brings out the troops: The Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service in Maryland found a bunch a people complaining they were sick at a grocery store yesterday afternoon. They blamed it on a smell that suddenly filled the store. Six people went to the hospital and much of the shopping center was shut down for a few hours. Watch the story. See slideshow. Read the story.
FMs shut doors on community arson meeting because of overcrowding: The Seattle Fire Department met with Greenwood residents last night about a series of arsons, but the interest was so high they had to close the doors. A second meeting was held so everyone could hear the details. Who can blame the people for wanting to know more? There have been 14 set fires in their community. Some of the arsons caused significant damage. Read more about the meeting. Read details of the investigation.
The Cabin John Plaza shopping center at Seven Locks Road and Tuckerman Lane is now open after parts of it were evacuated due to a possible hazardous situation this afternoon. Captain Oscar Garcia of Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service says that hazmat investigators have not been able to identify what made people sick inside the Giant food store.
Health officials joined firefighters in investigating the Giant and surrounding stores trying to determine the source of a smell reported by customers and workers.
Click the image for more aerial views of the scene.
The total number of people evaluated by firefighters and medics was 14. Six of them were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening symptoms. This included customers and Giant employees.
Store workers said they believed the problem was a Freon leak. The odor came suddenly and dissipated quickly. Captain Garcia says firefighters found no indication of leaking Freon, natural gas or other hazardous gas.
The fire department turned the store over to the health department. Health officials allowed the Giant to reopen at 4:30 PM about three hours after the incident began.
Raw video & raw feelings: New video from the PA tanker fire that fueled many comments & the ire of the videographer.
44 commentsThis is apparently video shot a little earlier than the previous one we shared with you from Friday’s tanker crash and burn near Liberty Township, Pennsylvania (Tioga County). That video, posted here very early Sunday morning, and this video, were taken by Lonny Frost, who appears to shoot and report a fair amount of fire activity and other news in the region.
From remarks via Facebook on STATter911.com and with this video, Lonny Frost is not happy with some of the comments made by our KICs (keyboard incident commanders). Here’s what he wrote on Facebook:
For a while after this comment the video in question was made “private” on YouTube. As of this writing it’s back up.
With the posting of this latest video, Lonny Frost added these comments to the description on YouTube:
Lonny Frost is far from alone in criticizing the comments that are posted on STATter911.com or even criticizing me for providing this forum. There are a lot of people who feel this way. I understand why they feel the way they do. I even respect such opinions and don’t take any criticism of the comments on this site, the site itself or of me personally. I try to learn from it all. And, by the way, if you look at what Lonny Frost is saying, even if you think he is greatly misguided, it’s hard not to note that his heart is in the right place by standing up for firefighters (that’s more than some people believe about the publisher of this rag).
I have dealt with people who are offended by the comments section since almost day one of STATter911.com more than five-years-ago. Some of the complaints came from my closest and oldest friends in the fire service. I listened to what they all had to say and made the decision to keep the comments and censor as little as possible. I continue to stand by that decision and amazingly my friends still stand by me. Not that it doesn’t cause me great pain at times when I see personal bashing and comments that are more vindictive than constructive. To me, the forum works best when there is an adult discussion of issues and tactics with the egos left at the door (I know … I’m a dreamer).
In this particular incident in Tioga County, the comments came in rather fast and furious. The overall theme was one questioning what many believe are serious safety issues with this operation. While some said it more nicely than others, the comments almost all were about the same concerns.
As regular readers know I leave all of the commenting about firegound tactics and safety issues to others. But I do have some general observations about all of this.
First of all, I believe it would be nicer and more civilized if we could just tell people directly our concerns in a more private way. But the cameras everywhere, digital nature of life in the 2000s seems to have changed that dynamic forever. It isn’t just the fire service. In almost everything today we all have to deal with the instant analysis of our actions, whether it’s because of something we innocently wrote on Facebook or the video our neighbor took of us walking around our backyard in our underwear.
Taking that as a given, I’m left with this statement from Lonny Frost: “I thought there was a botherhood in firefighting.” Others (apparently firefighters) have said the same thing about some of the comments with the New Jersey ambulance fire video this weekend. This issue of “brotherhood” has long been brought up by those offended by the comments section.
The question I toss out to the crowd is this: Are you being more of a “brother” by not pointing out an important safety lapse in one of these videos so you won’t hurt that brother’s feelings or is brotherhood making your thoughts clear on an actions you see that could injure or kill your brother firefighters?