Fire crews responded to a reported structure fire at 445 Indian Creek Road just after 3 p.m. Thursday afternoon to discover thick, heavy, toxic smoke billowing from the house. Firefighters tried to knock down the fire quickly, but the fire was already in the walls of this balloon frame construction house. Fire traveled through the hollow walls of the structure spreading from the basement to the attic, which made it difficult to find and extinguish the blaze.
In Trenton, Ontario two firefighters ran into a burning strip club searching for a woman believed trapped and ended up needing rescue themselves. Both firefighters were injured (another report says neither firefighter was hurt) and were brought out by a rapid intervention team. The fire was reported around 9:30 this morning. As you will see in the video above (at :43), the building collapsed about 90 minutes after firefighters arrived.
The three-story Sherwood Forest Inn collapsed just after 11 a.m. A series of explosions kept firefighters back and sent chunks of the building crashing onto several streets.
Two firefighters who ran into the building to find a woman believed to have been trapped on the third floor were later pulled out by fellow firefighters.
After the firefighters were rescued, officials interviewed residents of the building to try to determine if there really was a woman trapped inside the building.
Police later located the woman in question, safe and sound.
(Hamilton Fire Department spokesman Dave) Christopher said because the home is under construction it did not have all of the fire stops – things which would stop a blaze from progressing quickly through a house – that a home would regularly have.
The roof and flooring was unstable and because of this firefighters were not able to go into the home and had to battle the blaze from the outside.
The house — which is being constructed privately on the site and is not part of a larger development — was destroyed.
It looks like they could have made a fortune selling tickets to this house fire yesterday in Brampton, Ontario. The neighborhood came out in force to view firefighters deal with a garage fire that was starting to extend to the house. No further information.
NOTE: The video has now been removed by the user. A shame. I wrote all of these words about something that no longer exists. Well, I guess you had to be there.
And in case you weren't in on the joke earlier, this is what the videographer was laughing about and yelled. "This is going on fail blog".
You don't know how many times I've heard from firefighters and cops, "All the news media wants to do is show us messing up". I have made the point for a while that the traditional press may be the least of your worries these days. It's everyone else with a camera who are more likely to take video of your mistakes and show them to the world.
In this case they are promoting a "Firefighter fail at 1:57". Yes, you will see and hear the great entertainment those watching the fire get from a firefighter falling backwards over a curb onto his SCBA as he stretches a line. My back aches just seeing it from my chair (I have back issues). There is great excitement by the photographer to get this on YouTube.
Unless this was a serious injury to a firefighter, I wouldn't have seen it as newsworthy and it would not have made my story on the fire when I was in TV (even if it was a major blaze). I think most of the people I worked with would feel the same way. But a bystander with a camera doesn't necessarily have the filters (however skewed they are) that the more traditional news operations have (not that the news media's standards aren't being pushed lower and lower).
To me it's all about context. While I don't like to laugh at firefighters falling (unless the firefighter is laughing at himself) I think this video is probably okay for training. Maybe for a review of situational awareness and the hazards around during the everyday tasks a firefighter is involved in.
And that is the double edged sword of our cameras everywhere environment. Because of the fire paparazzi, this generation of the fire service has an enormous amount of material to use for training. And this includes firefighters falling. From the Pennsylvania fire a few days ago where a firefighter fell partially through the flaming roof of a house (I don't think anyone was laughing at that fall) to a video that was briefly on YouTube a few months ago of a Maryland firefighter who failed to lock in on a ladder before opening the nozzle and ended up on the ground.
It is a natural feeling that is perfectly understandable. I haven't been a firefighter for thirty years and I feel the very same way (but I always need to double check my position when I find I am agreeing with Rhett). I guess it comes down to the age old question of whether they are laughing at you or with you.
Firefighters say fire was already coming through the roof and spreading quickly when they pulled up to the Guest House Inn in Southampton, Ontario around 9:00 Monday morning. Five rooms had been occupied, but everyone was out and accounted for. There were no injuries. Read more,
Fireground audio & video of mayday with firefighters trapped: Apparently there were only minor injuries after a collapse trapped four firefighters at a fire in a bar and upstairs apartments on Sunday morning in Leslie, Michigan. Click here for our coverage.
FDIC roundup: Click here for a variety of scenes from Indianapolis. They include the piper's version of the mile-high club (trust me, it's clean), some mustache envy and Dave with a CHiP on his shoulder (or at least in the seat next to him). I should have a couple of more videos from NFFF events (9-11 Memorial Stair Climb and Stop, Drop, Rock 'n' Roll) that I will be posted today and tomorrow.
Putting the wet high voltage stuff on the red stuff: Scientists think using water may be old school when it comes to fighting fires. The generator on the rig may be more important than the pump. You may find this shocking but they are looking at the use of flame snuffing bolts of electricity as an extinguishing agent. Here's the story.
Union won't pull controversial ad: Despite a Republican state senator calling it “tasteless” and “appalling”, the IAFF in Oklahoma won't stop showing an ad that asks citizens to oppose a bill that would change how contract disputes are handled for firefighters and police. The controversy is over using an image of the bombed Murrah Federal building. Read more.
The Russians Are Coming, the Russians are Coming: Something about Firegeezer's story of a fire in a former Russian submarine in Providence, Rhode Island makes me think of the 1966 movie starring Carl Reiner and Alan Arkin. Click here for Bill's version.
Consultant's report due on problems at Haverhill Fire Department: Accusations of sick leave abuse and the Massachusetts EMS training scandal are some of the issues the Haverhill Fire Department has been facing. An outside analysis of the department was ordered by the city. A draft report should be ready by the end of the week. Here's more.
Two-alarm house fire at home of cop just five-days from retirement: Paul Bassett on the scene of Friday's fire at 205 Adriana Street in Saddle Brook, New Jersey. The fire was at the home of a Garfield, New Jersey police officer. Craig Roselli is scheduled to retire from the force this week. Read more about the fire.
House fire in Wheeling, Illinois: Firegeezer.com has the Larry Shapiro pictures and details to go with the video above from what started out as a dryer fire Saturday morning.
Can we laugh at ourselves?: The topic is the first two webisodes of the series Hosed on YouTube (webisode 1 here and webisode 2 here). Did you laugh at Reno 911? For the Firegeezer crowd, how about Car 54 Where are You? Do you believe that Rescue Me makes the public think all New York firefighters are drug addicts, sex addicts, philanderers and wife beaters? The large majority of people who commented so far on STATter911.com about comedian Juston McKinney’s Hosed think it is just a funny series of shorts about a fictional volunteer fire department in New Hampshire. And like all good satire, it has some characters many of us can identify with. Others see it is something more sinister. That Dave Statter is running it because he is anti-volunteer. Does anyone out there honestly think I wouldn’t post them if this was about a fictional career fire department? Some who have written comments to STATter911.com and Firefighter Nation’s Facebook page believe Hosed does nothing but make volunteers look bad. Should volunteer firefighters be off limits to comedians? Bill Carey at Backstep Firefighter put together some of those comments and provides his own unique response.
Raw video from mayday in Southern Maryland: In Calvert County there was a mayday during a house fire on Saturday in Lusby. Raw video shows a firefighter being carried from the building. There is a lot of video to look at with this clip. Click here.
Schultz versus Beck on firefighter pensions: The MSNBC host (with help from the IAFF) takes on the Fox News host and his views about firefighter pensions. Click here to see videos from both sides.
Is a 1997 fire leaving a deadly legacy?: That’s the question being asked in Hamilton, Ontario following the deaths and serious illness of firefighters who were on the Plastimet fire 14-years-ago. TheSpec.com reports the four day industrial blaze had such high levels of hydrochloric acid that metal on fire trucks melted. Check out the story.
Connecticut’s OSHA cites Bridgeport in firefighter deaths: Click here to read what CONN-OSHA listed as violations following its investigation into the deaths last year of Lt. Steven Velasquez and Firefighter Michael Baik. The department is fighting the charges. You will also see that Dave takes a little swipe at the news media coverage of this story.
He does more than make us laugh & stir trouble … he even shows up at a fire every so often: Will Wyatt recently had to go underground after exposing the world to TIMIS in his FireRescue1.com column (click here for the column and the comments). Rather than to organize a telethon to wipe out this awful syndrome, Will just went into hiding. But he surfaced last week at his real job and snapped the picture to the right of a two-alarm apartment fire in Harris County, Texas. If you want to read about the fire and see some video, click here. By the way, Tiger Schmittendorf is the latest to discover that Will’s book And a Paycheck, Too! is quite funny (click here to buy it). Tiger plans to have Will on his Firefighter Storytellers netcast in April (check out Tiger’s other shows, including his recent interview with Fire Chief’s Janet Wilmoth).
Even checking fire hydrants isn’t safe: In Syracuse, New York, a firefighter making sure hydrants are clear of snow found himself threatened by a knife wielding man. Click here for the story.
Two-alarms in Baltimore County, Maryland: The picture at left is from Michael “firepix1075” Schwartzberg from a house fire yesterday in Chestnut Ridge. Click here for his video. Here’s what Michael wrote about the fire-
“Units reported smoke showing while responding, and when units from nearby Chestnut Ridge Volunteer Fire Company arrived they were met with heavy smoke in the rear of the house, where the fire possibly started on a porch. The fire extended into the attic and roof area and flames vented through the roof. Access to the house was extremely limited, making firefighting operations challenging. This area has no fire hydrants, so firefighters had to use a tanker shuttle, bringing water from a hydrant more than a mile away via fire department water tankers.”
Response time concerns in Minneapolis: The union, worried about budget and staffing cuts that have occurred, and possibly more on the way, says 11 minutes is too long for a ladder truck to show up on the scene of a house fire. That’s what happened Saturday on Beard Avenue South. The fire chief says he is looking into it. So is a TV station. Click here to read and watch the story.
Early arrival of photographer for Burrillville, Rhode Island explosion & fire: Matt Gregoire from has the first units on the scene as a garage fire extends to the attached home on Mt. Pleasant Road yesterday. The homeowner was seriously burned. The fire went to a second alarm. More at providencefirevideos.com.
A six-alarm fire in a vacant “heritage building” in Toronto this morning left four firefighters with relatively minor injuries. There were some tense moments after at least two maydays were sounded. The fire, in a building that suffered a partial collapse in April, was reported around 4:00 AM. Here are excerpts from an updated Montreal Gazette story:
The “intense” blaze in the three-story building under construction on the edge of the Ryerson University campus near the intersection of Yonge and Gould streets, just north of the Eaton Centre, sent three firefighters to hospital as they fought the six-alarm fire, said Toronto Fire Chief William Stewart.
Two firefighters were injured while on the roof of an adjacent building when wind gusts sent thick smoke and debris towards the men, causing them to fall approximately four metres, said Stewart.
One of the two firefighters that fell flashed his light to the firefighters that remained on the roof, and they were pulled to safety after about 15 or 20 minutes, said Toronto Fire Service division commander Lorne Buckingham.
Visibility was very low, and there was fire in the vicinity, but neither firefighter was burned, he said.
Two other firefighters were injured as they attempted to rescue the two that had fallen
Three of the injured firefighters were taken to hospital and released in good condition, while the other was treated on the scene. One of the firefighters has lower back injuries, but no fractures, said Stewart.
The roof of the brick building collapsed and much of the rest of the structure was engulfed in flames early Monday morning, said Stewart. He described the blaze as “intense” and a “horrific situation” for the more than 125 firefighters with 32 fire trucks that were dispatched to the blaze.
Fire in New Philadelphia, PA: “An early morning fire destroyed four homes and a former restaurant Thursday and damaged at least 19 other homes.” – from RepublicanHerald.com.
Just when I thought I was out, they pull meback in: After a couple days of coverage and posting the fireground audio my hope was to give the Obion County, Tennessee story a rest today. But that changed with the lengthy comment sent overnight from Union City Chief Kelly Edmison. Chief Edmison’s department is also one providing subscription fire service to residents in Obion County. Please take the time to read his comments here.
You will find some not as well thought out remarks from Fire Critic Rhett Fleitz. When you don’t have a good argument you usually do two things: attack your opponent and blame the news media. Rhett does both. Check it out for yourself. He’s turning into a master of distortion.
A Presidential MCI – President Obama dispatches EMS: PGFD PIO Mark Brady tells us what happened when President Barack Obama starts dispatching EMS from the podium during his speech at Bowie State University yesterday. Exhaustion and dehydration seemed to be the major symptoms. Click here for pictures and details from Brady’s blog.
Another new fire service expert tells us four firefighters on a rig aren’t needed: A columnist for the Orlando Sentinel apparently has all the answers on fire department staffing. Lauren Ritchie seems to think even two firefighters is adequate staffing for a fire truck as she is encouraging of Leesburg, Florida’s decision to take another vote after approving money that would save the jobs of two firefighters-
For example, precisely how does service to a citizen drop when two rather than three firefighters go to a call? If there is a full-blown fire, clearly the more firefighters the better. More hoses can be pulled more quickly and so forth.
However, 85 percent of the 8,000 calls to which Leesburg firefighters respond are medical emergencies. And the number of major fires? 1 percent? Less?
So just how many columnists does a paper need anyway? If there is a full blown news emergency, can’t we get opinions from columnists at other papers further away? You be the judge. Click here.
A clean start: In Boston, after years of controversy, a random drug testing program for firefighters has finally started. The first 50 tested apparently have nothing to worry about. Here’s the story.
Firefighter dies after collapsing at brush fire: In California, Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District Firefighter James Saunders died in the hospital yesterday morning after suffering an apparent heart attack during a grass fire on Saturday. Read more about Firefighter Saunders here and at Firefighter Close Calls.
Paramedic found murdered in her home: A tragic story from Ontario, Canada about an hour southwest of Toronto. According to GuelphMercury.com, Adrienne Roberts, a Guelph-Wellington EMS paramedic, “was found murdered in her Arthur home Wednesday evening. She was reportedly the victim of a violent domestic dispute.”
Firefighter’s gear stolen during graduation ceremony: In Utah, Colby Robison had just graduated from the West Valley Fire Academy and was celebrating in a restaurant. When he got back to his car it had been broken into and his PPE and badge had been stolen. Here’s more.
Like father, like son: Anyone who has met Vinnie Brennan Jr. likely won’t forget him. The still hard working retired FDNY firefighter can only be described as a character (in the absolute best sense of the word). I’ve known him through my work at the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, an organization Vinnie has worked with since the death of his firefighter brother Peter on September 11, 2001. Susan Nicol at Firehouse.com tells us the story of Vinnie’s son, Vinnie Brennan III, also an FDNY firefighter, who tackled a cell phone thief at about the same spot his father came to the aid of a police officer who was being attacked by drug dealers 30-years earlier. Check out the story.
On Sunday one of our readers alerted us to a tragic series of events in Ontario. Firefighters from Napanee, a town of 16,000, were involved in two separate crashes over the weekened that left 13 people injured and killed the wife of a firefighter. It started on Saturday when five firefighters were returning from the FireFit Championships when their vehicle was involved in a collision near Woodstock.
Concerned family members, along with Napanee Mayor Gordon Schermerhorn and Napanee fire chief Ian Shetler, chartered a bus to bring the firefighters home. Town councillor Bill Pierson joined Shetler on the trip while the mayor stayed behind.
The bus travelled to London to pick up the four firefighters who were released from hospital. The fifth, Kevin Duncan, with his wife now beside him, remained in hospital overnight with a neck injury and was unable to return with the group. The rest, which included Pierson, Shetler and firefighters David Goodfellow, Daniel Matthieu, Al Hatton and Joe Reid, hopped on the bus early Sunday morning ready for the five hour trip home.
About an hour later, the bus crashed into the guardrail on Highway 401 near Woodstock, jumped over it, and landed on its side on the grass around 6 a.m.
Darlene Goodfellow of Napanee was pronounced dead at the scene. Her husband, David, is a volunteer fireman with the Napanee Fire Department and suffered minor injuries. The couple have three children aged 13-19.
“She’s a woman that everybody would like the first time they met her,” Schermerhorn said.
The 12 others on the bus do not have life-threatening injuries, provincial police said.
“I’m not sure how we’re going to get them home, maybe by train, I don’t know,” Schermerhorn said.
Here are some recently posted videos shot as fire departments arrive on the scene. The one above is from Ontario at Patrice Crescent on Sunday.
This comes under the heading of what they do before you arrive. This features a desperate young man who had just bought the burning pickup truck. It occurred in Windsor, Ontario.
Indiana’s Edward Malik seems to get on the scene before the fire department more than anyone I have come across. He did it again yesterday with this minor electrical fire handled by the New Chicago Fire Department.
Union in Dayton says fire is an example of why citizens are at risk: Controversy after a fire destroyed three homes and damaged two others over the weekend. The chief says show him the overtime money where he can fully staff his department. You can read and watch more here. Similarly, Firegeezer has been following the situation in Philly over whether rotating closures or another policy impacted a fatal fire. Click here and here.
Where’s Dave?: You may have noticed fewer posts than normal. I am on a three week vacation with the Mrs. STATter911.com and STATter911.com Jr, driving from San Francisco to Chicago, seeing family and the sights along the way. We plan to be in Chicago in time for Fire Rescue International. I will be posting as time and Internet connection allow. I am hoping to show some fire and EMS sights along the way.
Houston’s Jane Draycott, at center of controversy, arrested for shoplifting: We have covered the story of Jane Draycott for quite a while now. Draycott is the Houston firefighter who says she was discriminated against. Draycott reported finding racially and sexually charged graffiti inside the women’s quarters at her firehouse. How her case was handled brought the resignation of one fire chief. Now Draycott has been arrested on a shoplifting charge. Draycott is accused of taking a DVD player, a bag of ice and other items from a Wal-Mart. Read the story.
More from Houston – problems found in recruit death investigation: NIOSH has issued its findings in the death of Cohnway Johnson after a 4.4 mile run. The Houston Chronicle writes, “A 26-year-old Houston firefighter trainee who collapsed and later died of heat stroke after a 4.4-mile run in April 2009 probably would have survived if department trainers had provided water during the run or an ice water immersion facility to lower his body temperature, a federal safety investigation concluded.” Firefighter Nation has the article and the report.
Fire chief and two others charged in training death: The fire chief in Ontario’s Village of Point Edward and two other town employees are facing 11 charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act after the death of 51-yea-old Gary Kendall. Volunteer Firefighter Kendall died in January after becoming trapped under ice during a water training exercise. Here are more details.
Lieutenant says department ”thrives on favoritism, nepotism, false records or no records at all”: I should say former lieutenant. Harry Lamb resigned from the Weare Fire Department in New Hampshire as he called the department an embarrassment in front of a public meeting. Click here for the story.
Haunted (fire)house: In Bangor, California they are in the process of replacing Station 55 and everyone, including the firefighters, seems to be worried about what the ghost will say or do. The firefighters aren’t shy about going public with details such as the ghost sitting on one firefighter’s chest. Read it if you dare.
Charges indicate firefighter referred to workplace shootings in Connecticut as he made threats: In Syracuse, New York Firefighter Douglas Martin seems to have a number of issues facing him. Syracuse.com reports on Martin is accused of having a run in at the credit union on Friday where the Connecticut reference was made. On Thursday he is accused of pulling up next to a deputy chief in traffic and threatening him for giving Martin a three-day suspension. This followed a 44-day suspension that Martin says stemmed from a racially motivated incident with another firefighter. Martin also is dealing with a recent stalking charge. Read the story.
Second alarm in Hanover Township, PA: Seven homes were damaged in this fire in Lehigh County on Sunday. Read more from NewsWorking.org.
Must see video of water rescue: Pretty dramatic video from Contra Costa County, California as a CHP chopper crew and a fire district rescue swimmer team up to pull a woman from a rain swollen canal. We have also added an interview with Contra Costa County Fire Protection District Engineer Dave Manzeck, who made the rescue. Check it out.
Man found dead on top floor at 7-alarm fire in Manhattan: Last night firefighters were able to get to a top floor on one of the three buildings on Grand Street that burned Sunday night into Monday morning. There, they found the body of an 87-year-old man. Click here for an interview with FDNY Commissioner Sal Cassano. The New York Times reports there is a history of neglect, including code violations, in these buildings. Click here for that story. In case you missed our coverage of the fire, including video of the early rescues and fireground audio, click here.
Let’s hear it for Virginia Beach’s Amy Mack: I was supposed to get to this story last week, but never got my act together. I am glad WVEC-TV caught up with Virginia Beach Firefighter Amy Mack. She was on vacation with her two children in Marco Island, Florida last week when the kids were able to see mom in action. Firefighter Mack saved the life of an elderly woman who had collapsed face down in the water. Here’s the story.
Loudoun fire chief heading south: Chief Joseph Pozzo has been picked to run the Volusia County Fire Service in Florida. Read more.
Early video from Loudoun County house fire: One house was destroyed in a fire Sunday afternoon in Leesburg. Here’s the video.
SAFER won’t make things safer in Flint until summer: The latest estimate of when Flint will be able to bring back firefighters who were victim of budget cuts is this summer. The re-hiring is coming under a SAFER grant for the troubled city. Read the latest.
Sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up you’re rocking the boat: Sorry for the dated Broadway reference, but sit ups have become a big issue in the fitness standard for firefighters in Jeffersonville, Indiana. Read more.
Exploding paint cans during overhaul spray firefighters: Spray paint cans that didn’t explode during an apartment fire waited to burst when firefighters were mopping up in Oakland, California. Two were briefly hospitalized when they were hit in the eyes as things went flying. Here’s the story.
And another firefighter is charged with arson: As we pointed out yesterday, it has been a bad couple of weeks with another rash of accused firefighter/arsonists making the news. Pennsylvania has been particularly hard hit, with reports today of another arrest. This time the accused is a volunteer firefighter charged with setting fire to the restaurant where he worked as a dishwasher. Here’s the story from Nicholson, PA.
Union and chief fight over QRVs: The purchase of quick response vehicles for medical calls, now approved by the City Council, has become an issue in Billings, Montana. Click here for the story.
Inquest in fatal fire truck crash: A firefighter in Sheffield, England is having to answer for responding through a red light at 29 mph and crashing into a car, leaving a woman dead and her daughter injured. This crash was caught on video. Here is the latest.
Dangerous Dan Dawson the rookie firefighter: A rookin in Bramtpon, Ontario is also the star forward of the Boston Blazers of the National Lacrosse League. Here’s his story.
Ten-vehicles, three-alarms in Houston: The view from a helicopter of yesterday’s parking garage fire in Houston. Read more at Firefighter Nation.
Watch out, this could be a firing offense: This text-to-movie animation “educates” the public on when not to call 911. It is the type of video that cost a South Carolina firefighter his job. See the story below.
Warning! Warning! Warning! This video that got a South Carolina firefighter fired has language that some might find offensive. Now that you have been warned, you can watch it by clicking the image.
LEAD STORY – Firefighter canned over YouTube video: It isn’t just the video you shoot at a fire or in the firehouse that can get you in trouble. Animation can also cost you your job. Most likely you have seen those text-to-movie videos from xtranormal.com (see above) that seem to be very popular with firefighters and others. One created by a South Carolina firefighter and posted on his Facebook page has resulted in his firing. WCSC-TV in Charleston has the dismissal letter issued to Firefighter Jason Brown by Colleton County Fire-Rescue Director Barry McRoy. It says in part, ”You [Brown] displayed poor judgment in producing a derogatory video depicting a member of this department with a physician which is implied to be at Colleton Medical Center.” Brown told a reporter, “There was no malicious attack to anybody involved personally or countywide or any certain department ever.” Read the letter. Watch the story. Read the story.
Ocean front block gone thanks to fire during storm: The Atlantic Coast storm helped drive a fire in Hampton, New Hampshire. It spread from the Surf Hotel to eight or nine other businesses along the ocean. Click here for our coverage.
The keep back 500 feet sign ignored with almost disastrous results: In Washington, DC last night a 14-year-old skateboarder latched onto the rear of Truck 11 as it was leaving a box alarm. It apparently didn’t work exactly how the teen anticipated. The rig ran over his foot. He is in Children’s Hospital with injuries that aren’t life-threatening.
A man and young child were rescued by firefighters from this burning Hyattsville, Maryland apartment building this morning. Both were burned and CPR was being performed. PGFD called two-alarms to handle the fire. Click the image for details and check the video player at the upper right of this page for an interview from the scene.
Firefighter/union president made acting chief over higher ranking officer: One day he is a firefighter and the next day he is chief. In Nahant, Massachusetts a lieutenant is calling it a “bag job” in the move that makes Firefighter Kevin Howard the acting fire chief. Howard had to resign as union president to take the position. Read more.
Two firefighters charged in bar brawl: Three from FDNY turned themselves into police investigating the fight at a firefighter hang out in Brooklyn. Only twoof the firefighters were charged after police identified them on the surveillance video. The dispute started over a spilled drink. Click here for more.
Another off-duty bar brawl leads to suspension: This one is in Frankfort, Kentucky and it took an eight-hour personnel hearing to give a firefighter three months without pay. Brian Olds says he was trying to break up the fight, but the chief says Olds has a past with anger management issues that left him barred from the city’s contracted fitness facility. Here’s more.
Arrest in the Philly sound fire: A man described as so drunk it is amazing he didn’t pass out and die in the fire has now been charged in the blaze we told you about that destroyed the offices of Philadelphia International Records. Investigators say the man has no connection to the legendary recording company that brought us artists like Teddy Pendergrass and Patti LaBelle. Read more.
Firefighter charged in fatal collision: Firefighter Close Calls has the story of a firefighter being charged in a wreck with a fire engine earlier this month that killed a 54-year-old man in Vaughan, Ontario.
Sheriff’s deputy makes grab: In Indiana, the Angola Fire Department is crediting Steuben County Sheriff’s Corporal Chris Emerick with crawling in on his hands and knees armed with a flashlight to rescue a man from a burning home at Jimmerson Lake. Here’s the story.
The Urban Firefighter debuts: I was greatly disappointed when I learned thehousewatch.com was about to handle its last alarm. The writings of Erich Roden have been a favorite of mine. Whether I agree with what Erich has to say or not, I believe he is one of the most talented writers in today’s fire service. It would be easy to be almost condescending and say for a front line firefighter he’s a good writer. No, for a writer he’s a good writer and he makes me look like a hack (which I am). When I discovered Erich was putting his efforts to a new venture I got out of my depression. Continuing his partnership with Ray McCormack, whose articles constantly remind me that firefighting is more an art than a science, they have debuted Urban Firefighter Magazine. It is online. It is free. Check it out. Also, Firegeezer has his view on Urban Firefighter.
The must read story from Detroit: It immediately was overshadowed by the events from Austin after I posted this one from Detroit News reporter Charlie LeDuff. Still, it really is worth taking the time to read. LeDuff visited fire stations, apparently against Detroit Fire Department rules, in his effort to determine how money allocated for firehouse repairs was used. He found it was used, but apparently not for fixing the fire stations. The response from fire department officials is quite interesting. Here is the story.
Collision between two fire trucks that appears to be a hit and run: Dave is kicking himself for not finding the time to follow this one after receiving a tip a few days ago. If you haven’t done so already, check out the coverage by the Annapolis Capital of the crash Sunday between a fire engine from Dunkirk in Calvert County and Anne Arundel County’s Tower 40. Police report that charges are pending against the driver of Dunkirk’s engine (whose driving duties are currently suspended). The police report indicates that Tower 40 had the green light as it was responding though an intersection and was sideswiped by the Dunkirk rig. This pushed the tower into two other vehicles. Witnesses say the Dunkirk engine kept going to the call, but Chief Toby Sealy says his firefighters are indicating they didn’t leave the scene. Here’s the story.
$6.2 million discrimination & harrassment award to LAFD firefighter overturned: The 2nd District Court of Appeals says Brenda Lee, a black lesbian firefighter, failed to exhaust administrative remedies. Read the latest.
Dispute between volunteer companies over newspaper ad: In November we told you about the ousting of Fire Company No. 1 in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Now, they have taken out an ad urging citizens to vote against the $25 million budget. It has estranged them from two other volunteer houses in the Cherry Hill District. Here’s the latest.
One fire officials answer to slow EMS response times – lie about your symptoms: We just came across an article from earlier this month where a deputy fire chief in Erin, Ontario tells people to exaggerate their symptoms when calling for an ambulance so a fire truck can also be sent. This is his answer to sometimes hour long waits for an ambulance to arrive on the scene. It is a technique that we all know has been widely used by citizens who want a faster EMS response in some of our largest cities. Here is the original story. Here is the response from paramedics who believe this is not the answer to the problem.
Indiana firefighter arrested on arson charges: Lee Yoder is a volunteer firefighter in DeKalb County, Indiana who has been charged with setting three structures on fire. Here’s the story.
Three-alarm church fire in East Baltimore: Fire destroyed the Mt. Calvary Baptist Church on North Milton Avenue yesterday morning. Here is our coverage.
Two-alarm NJ house fire: Some early video of a fire yesterday at 332 Demarest Road in Oradell, New Jersey.
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