A neighbor’s video (Avarix) spotted on YouTube, of a house fire on Monday around 6:00 PM in the 4400 block of Pechin Street in Philadelphia. Details provided by PhillyFireNews.com:
Engine-12 arrived on scene with heavy fire showing from a three story OMD, 16×40, placed 2&2 in service. B/C-9 reported heavy fire second and third floors, placed all hands in service. All searches were negative.
The link above has audio from a fire just before 6:00 this morning at 1618 N. 20th Street in North Philadelphia. You will hear the evacuation ordered at 5:28 in the audio, followed by the call for additional medic units for injured firefighters.
(Commissioner Lloyd) Ayers identified the seriously injured firefighter as Lt. Marvin Melvin, a member of the department since 1999. He is assigned to Engine 27, located at 19th and Master streets.
Melvin was in critical but stable condition Sunday night in the burn unit at Temple University Hospital. Ayers said he was alert and talking to his family, and "doing well."
Bill Gault, president of Local 22 of the firefighters' union, said Melvin was burned on both arms and his back.
According to Philadelphia Fire Deputy Chief Michael Wahl, the call for the house fire came in at 5:58 a.m. at 1618 North 20th Street. Upon arrival initial reports were of heavy smoke and a couple trapped inside.
Upon entering the home, firefighters rescued two people while two others escaped on their own. Three women and one child were taken to Hahnemann hospital for treatment and were in stable condition.
Three firefighters were injured while rescuing the trapped victims. One member with first and second degree burns to his arms. Two other firefighters were transported with minor injuries. Four civilians were also transported with smoke inhalation.
From the AP:
Fire officials say a blaze in a north Philadelphia row home injured seven people, including three firefighters, one critically.
Authorities say the fire in the three-story building was reported just before 6 a.m. Sunday. Arriving crews have reported heavy black smoke pouring from the third floor. Firefighters battled the flames for about an hour.
One firefighter has been taken to a hospital burn unit in critical but stable condition. Two other firefighters are reported to be in stable condition.
Firefighters helped two people from the building while two others escaped on their own. All four had minor injuries that were treated at a hospital.
Batallion 1 had two, 2 story woodframe dwellings fully involved. All-hands to work on arrival, fire extended to the "B" exposure. Companies were battling water supply issues. NJSP were notified for possible fire impingement onto Interstate 676.
An explosion and fire, captured on video by a TV crew, killed a gas company worker in the Tacony area of Philadelphia last night and injured five others including a Philadelphia firefighter. It occurred while crews were trying to repair a break to a high-pressure gas main. WCAU-TV reports the body of a PGW employee was discovered after the fire was controlled. An evacuation of a two block area took place before the explosion happened. Three-alarms were called to handle the fire and deal with the injured.
Two of the gas workers were in critical condition and one was rushed to the Temple University Hospital Burn Unit. Another PGW worker and firefighter were in stable condition with unknown injuries, sources said.
It happened around 7:36 p.m. in the middle of Disston Street near Torresdale Avenue (click here for Google Maps Street View of neighborhood) as crews worked to fix both the gas leak and a water main that was possibly damaged due to pressure from the break in the 12-inch gas main.
Firefighters were called around 7:20 due to an obvious smell of gas. They arrived on the scene at 7:26 and called for hazmat crews and police officers to assist.
Around 7:30 gas was bubbling through the pavement, officials said.
The explosion and ensuing blaze took down one building and partially destroyed another, Ayers said.
Gas officials shut off the gas as firefighters battled the blaze. By 10:30 p.m. the blaze appeared to be dying down and it was officially under control just before 11.
The blast could be felt as far away as Palmyra and Pennsauken across the river in New Jersey.
Engine 52 O/L reported a gas main break in the street, evacuation in progress. Battalion 12 arrived and requested a box to be transmitted with a haz-mat response, as the gas was emanating over multiple blocks. A command post was then established, covers assigned. PGW employees were O/S attempting to mitigate the break.
At 20:35 hours, a 2nd alarm was transmitted by D/C 2 when an explosion occurred. Numerous medic units were detailed to the assignment. D/C 2 reported a 12″ main that had exploded, reported fire in at least 2 buildings, requested the collapse unit to the scene. Several PFD members injured as well as PGW employees.
The 3rd alarm was transmitted at 21:00 hours, as large scale evacuations were being made to a nearby shelter. At 22:55 hours, B/C 12 placed the fire U/C. One (1) PGW employee was found dead under the rubble.
Newsworking.org’s Bill Rohr sent along this video he took yesterday evening at 4800 Walnut Street in Philadelphia. Here’s Bill’s account:
At 14:35 hours, Box 2837 was transmitted for the apartment building at 4800 Walnut Street. On arrival, crews found heavy smoke in the hallways on the 3rd and 4th floor.
Due to the massive size of the comples, crews had trouble finding the seat of the fire. When they finally did, the fire was in the walls extending vertically to the cockloft.
A second alarm was transmitted about an hour into the call. With the rapid extension of the fire in the cockloft, the 3rd and 4th alarms were transmitted. As the fire spread to the west wing and the east wing, the 5th alarm was transmitted.
In all, over 160 firefighters and more than 50 pieced of equipment battled the blaze in freezing temperatures. 89 of the 90 apartments were occupied. About 100 residents were displace by the fire.
It took over five hours to contain the blaze. Under Control was transmitted at 19:25, but firefighters were far from finished.
Two five-alarm fires in as many days in Philly. Sunday’s fire was at a school at 5151 Warren Street (scroll down). We start with today’s fire in a large, four-story apartment building at 4800 block Walnut Street.
B/C-7 reported smoke showing from a four story apartment building, W Shape building. Placed 2&2 in service. D/C-1 reported fire third floor extending to the fourth floor. Special called additional 2&2 above the box. Companies to assist in evacuation of the building. Command then struck the second alarm.
Command reported fire through the roof, third alarm struck. Master stream placed in service. D/C-1 then requested the fourth alarm struck heavy fire through the roof of the building. The fifth alarm was struck at 4:37 pm.
Deputy Chief Willy Williams says light smoke was reported in the four-story building at 4800 Walnut Street at 2:35 p.m. Monday. He says the response had reached a third alarm about an hour later and a fourth alarm was declared at 4 p.m.
Williams says the fire had spread to the roof area, and fire crew were attacking the flames from the outside.
But he says crews have gone through the building getting residents to safety, and there are no reports of injuries.
Engine 16 was dispatched for an alarm system. Engine-16 arrived on scene with fire in the basement of a three story school, 50×75, an placed all hands in service. D/C-1 reported heavy fire extending through out the building. Requested the second alarm struck and third alarms struck. All companies went in service with heaviest water lines. Fire extended to an exposure in the rear. Fourth Alarm struck. The fifth alarm was eventually struck by command.
A five-alarm fire that raged for more than an hour and a half early Sunday caused “substantial” damage to the 400-student Global Leadership Academy in West Philadelphia, Deputy Fire Chief Michael Wahl reported.
The cause of the fire, which started in the basement of the three-story building at 5151 Warren St., near 52d Street and Lancaster Avenue, is under investigation, Wahl said.
This evening a fire truck and ambulance collided with three other vehicles at Tabor Road and Wagner Avenue in Philadelphia. Five medic units were dispatched to the scene to handle 10 patients. The injuries are reported to be non-life threatening to four firefighters, a paramedic and as many as five civilians. FireTruckBlog.com has additional details.
While responding to a accident scene, Squad 72 and Medic 18 were involved in a serious accident with 3 other autos. A total of 5 medic units were requested along with a full accident response. B/C 2 requested an extra Ladder company to the scene along with ES-5,ES-3 and VCU.
Barn burner: No details on this very early video of a barn fire in the U.K. with lots of popping sounds from inside. It is early enough that you even see the cattle getting down, getting low and getting out.
TIC used by FDNY in Times Square helped indicate something wasn’t right: We have interviews and raw video from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s visit to firefighters who were among the first responders in Times Square Saturday night. Also, the diagram of how the Nissan Pathfinder was rigged. Check it out.
While we are on the subject, Fire Engineering’s Bobby Halton gives us his views on this latest terrorist act and what it means for first responders. Click here.
Steve Roth at 911 Photography has a bunch of pictures from a two-alarm house fire in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania yesterday. Click the image for the rest of the photos and the details.
EMS credentials for sale: That’s the accusation in Lexington, Massachusetts where a firefighter is under investigation by the state over his side business of teaching EMS skills. Click here for the story.
Deputy chief resigns/retires over handling of MDA boot drive money: Just before a disciplinary hearing was to be held over $2300 in boot drive money, a Hamilton, Massachusetts deputy chief left the department. Here’s the story.
Steve Skipton and Ted Aurig from PhillyFireNews.com were on the scene of a 4-alarm apartment fire in Merhcantville, NJ (Camden County) yesterday afternoon. Click the image to see more of their photos.
And this is why some firefighters don’t like to do door-to-door fundraising: A District 6 volunteer firefighter in Hardin County, Tennessee was trying to raise money. Instead he raised the ire of a dog who bit the firefighter sending him to the emergency room. Read more.
Another, “What and give up show business?” moment courtesy of the Firegeezer: Bill Schumm, the favorite of firefighters from Germany, tells us about a daring rescue in a rain swollen creek at a fairground. Check it out.
Get the point: Ever just think you can’t deal with sitting and watching another PowerPoint demonstration. The Fire PIO feels your pain and has just the column and the video for you.
It isn’t letting up in Flint: More vacant building fires in the troubled Michigan city in the wake of fire and police layoffs that started on Thursday. This one is from last night around 10:00 PM at the corner of Oak and Court. Click here for video of a Sunday afternoon fire and details from WJRT-TV. Two more of the fires from early Sunday morning are here and here. And here is one from Saturday. With the city officials openly speculating that the layoffs and the fires are connected, you can’t help think of the early 1980s when Boston was the “arson capital of the world”. That long, ugly and devastating episode had its origins in a group of fire buffs reacting to the layoffs of hundreds of Massachusetts firefighters and police officers. A little history lesson.
Family told for the second time in two days that man was dead: Relatives of George Waters first heard on Friday that the 70-year-old man was dead. That turned out not to be true. Then they heard the same news on Saturday from the Prince George’s County Hospital Center. This time the news was correct. The Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department has two reviews underway looking at why this happened. Two paramedics are sitting on the sidelines as this is sorted out. It is the second such incident for PGFD this year. Here is the latest story. Here is our initial coverage.
Florida chief says better info from 911 might have shaved minutes off door removal to help dying woman: This is a very interesting story from North Fort Myers. Chief Larry Nisbet of the Bayshore Fire Department believes if his firefighters had the same information they had at the 911 center, the crew wouldn’t have waited to remove the front door and help a dying 72-year-old woman. The director of Lee County’s 911 says no policies need to be changed. Here’s the story.
Cops cite firefighter at scene: Not a lot of details of what went wrong at a domestic violence call in Leadville, Colorado leading to a firefighter charged with obstruction. Read what we know.
Listen as firefighters report tornado touchdown: Violent weather yesterday in and around High Point, North Carolina. We have video and pictures along with FireSceneAudio.com‘s radio traffic as things get pretty busy for the 911 center. Here is our coverage.
Jumper from Montgomery County, PA fire: PhillyFireNews.com has a series of pictures from a house fire early Saturday morning in Lansdale. Click here. Read more about the fire.
Raw video, lots of pictures and memories after 5-alarm fire: In Sacramento they are mourning the loss of Iceland, a 70-year-old skating rink. Check it out.
“Useless” firefighter video draws comments: I put this video up to stimulate a little discussion, and it did. A citizen somewhere called the fire department “useless” for laughing off a suggestion they get a cat down from a power pole. The power company ended up handling it. There isn’t anyone arguing the fire department should have done the job, but there are a few making the case that the customer service and PR component might have been better handled (based on the impression of the unknown videographer). Here are the video and the comments.
Friday was Mid-Atlantic train derailment day: We started with the dangling locomotive that almost went into the drink in Chesapeake, Virginia because the bridge was in the “up” position. Click here. That was followed by a derailment in Maryland. While it was posted in our player, we never got to mention the Howard County incident. Here’s that video. Doug Walton at his Howard County blog has details and close-up pictures of the wreckage in Patapsco Valley State Park near the swinging bridge (I used to love that place as a kid).
How can a geezer be only three-years-old?: That’s a lifetime in blogger years. Bill Schumm just celebrated three years at the helm of Firegeezer.com. Congratulations to Bill. What do you get for the third anniversary? More links, of course. There’s lots to choose from, so just scroll down. The most interesting to me is the fire engine in Croatia that lost a battle with a tram. Click here for that one.
Fire in Virginia Beach: We have an early series of still pictures from an apartment fire with an arts store down below on the oceanfront. Click here. Since our posting, FireRescueTV.com added some video to those pictures. Click here.
Early video in Milford, Massachusetts: Cameras were on the scene as a man came out a third floor apartment window while fire raged down below. The three-alarm fire has lots of video and pictures to document it. Here it is.
Apartment fire in Hobart, Indiana: Report of a number of injuries at this fire on Sunday near Hickey and Liberty.
Restaurant fire in Guatemala: Posted yesterday, there is no date on this fire in Xela. Listen to the crowd reaction.
Crash between two Maryland fire trucks exposes deeper mutual aid issues: If you read all of the emails and statements coming from both sides of the Anne Arundel – Calvert border you will likely draw the conclusion that the crash of Tower 40 and Engine 51 on February 14 is only a symptom of a greater problem. There are accusations from the leadership of both the Anne Arundel County Fire Department and the Dunkirk Volunteer Fire Department that the other side is responsible for their relationship woes. We have a lot for you to read and to see. Click here for our coverage.
Our friend Steve Skipton took in this fire in Camden, New Jersey on the way home from work last night. He has more pictures from the blaze on Mt. Ephraim at PhillyFireNews.com. Click the image.
Fireground audio and pictures from 3-alarm PGFD fire: A fire yesterday afternoon tore through the garden apartment building on Mistletoe Springs Road. We have pictures from Mark Brady and other sources and radio transmissions from our friends at FireSceneAudio.com. Check it out.
$300,000 severance package for fire chief who makes more than the governor: Chief Scott LaVielle‘s salary running the North Highline Fire District in King County, Washington was $186,370. LaVielle was responsible for two station’s and 35 employees. By contrast, Seattle’s Chief Gregory Dean, managing 32 stations and 1155 employees, makes almost $13,000 less. I am also guessing that Chief Dean doesn’t quite have Chief LaVielle’s golden parachute. In this tough economy LaVielle’s position has been eliminated, but he walks away with a severance package worth $300,000. Keith Ervin at The Seattle Times takes a look at how this came about.
City stalling on funeral bill because more than 40% was for booze: City officials in Buffalo say they aren’t backing down from their refusal to pay for almost $11,000 in alcohol that was part of the $25,000 bill submitted by IAFF Local 282 to cover expenses for the funerals of Capt. Charles “Chip” McCarthy and Firefighter Jonathan Croom. Union says the city is breaking a contract and the law. Read the story from WKBW-TV.
Ops chief is cool under fire: Reno’s Joe Durousseau deftly landed his Cessna 172 in the middle of traffic on I-80 yesterday. The operations division chief was returning from a humanitarian mission to Mexico when the plane had engine problems. No one was hurt. Read the story. Watch the story and the interview.
Volunteer firefighter guilty of speeding to a fire: In Erin, Tennessee, volunteer firefighter and alderman Brian Richardson has been found guilty of going 77 mph in a 30 mph zone while traveling in his own vehicle to a fire. But there is so much more to this story. Richardson blames it all on politics and an ongoing conflict between the cops and firefighters. The story gets somewhat complicated to follow, but I will let you figure it out. Click here.
Suburban chiefs say layoffs will impact mutual aid: Concern around Flint, Michigan, with the latest fire department cut backs, that mutual aid to the suburbs will be less mutual. Read more.
More video from Baltimore fifth-alarm: A large, mostly vacant warehouse burned Sunday morning in the Clipper Mill Industrial Park along the JFX. Firefighters used the highway as a vantage point to lob water onto the fire. The video above is from Michael “FirePix1075″ Schwartzberg. His still pictures can be seen here. We also have more details and news video posted. Click here for our coverage. Also, as we first mentioned while the fire was burning, the industrial park is where Firefighter Eric Schaefer died in 1995 after a wall collapse during a nine-alarm fire. The Sun’s Peter Hermann looks back at his coverage of that tragedy.
Fatal fire in Bailey’s Crossroads, Virginia: The way relatives describe it, firefighters weren’t likely to save 52-year-old Andy Wang from Saturday morning’s house fire on Paul Street, no matter how fast they got there. Wang’s nephew tells STATter911.com, he smelled smoke and traced it to a basement bedroom where he saw his uncle sitting on the bed on fire. The nephew made sure six other relatives escaped the house. The closest firehouse to Paul Street is Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department Station 410 about 1.3 miles away. At the end of last week, Fairfax County decided not to staff that station overnight following the collapse of the roof over the bay area two weeks ago. For much of the two weeks, Engine 410′s crew had been using the Rehab Unit outside the station as its quarters. The engine is now with Truck 410 at Station 428 during night time hours. The Seven Corners firehouse (AKA Buffalo Ridge) is about two miles further away from the house on Paul Street. Officials say it took five minutes for the first unit to arrive on the scene. Firefighters we have talked to are very eager to again have coverage within Bailey’s Crossroads 24-hours-a-day (they spend most of the daylight and early evening hours in the first-due). Spokesman Dan Schmidt says the hope of county fire officials is that most of the living area at the Bailey’s Crossroads firehouse can be occupied during the next week or two, with a tent outside for apparatus. Click here for the fireground audio from Sunday’s fire.
This sure is different – chief cites grant competition for not allowing newly promoted career captain to be volunteer firefighter: This is a really interesting article from Fargo, North Dakota. The Fargo Fire Department recently promoted Joe Mangin to captain, but Mangin was told to accept that position he would have to resign as a member of the Casselton Volunteer Fire Department (where he had previously been assistant chief). The reason given is that Casselton competes with Fargo for grant money. At least three other Fargo captains are volunteers in North Dakota departments, including two who are chiefs of their departments. The explanation is those departments don’t compete with Fargo for funding. Here’s the story (may require log in).
Steve Skipton and Ron Trout have lots of photos of the two-alarm fire at Philadelphia International Records. Click the image to take you to PhillyFireNews.com.
The Philadelphia sound is a little smoky: It is where Chubby Checker recorded “The Twist”. It is also where songwriters Gamble and Huff developed the Philadelphia sound. A fire severely damaged the offices of Philadelphia International Records on Broad Street Sunday morning (see picture at left). Firefighters did their best to save Gold Records on the walls and other memorabilia. Read more about this legendary company at Philly.com. I am assuming their knowledge of the music industry surpasses their understanding of the fire service, considering this line in the story – “More than 100 fire personnel from Ladder 5 and Battalion 1 at Broad and Christian Streets responded to the two-alarm blaze … “. Damn, that is one crowded firehouse.
Lost ambulance reports: The Anne Arundel County Fire Department has been dealing for some time with lost ambulance reports from a now abandoned computer database and is also having problems with the software that replaced it. The impact includes failing to provided monthly patient-care reports to the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS). MIEMSS provides free software to the large majority of Maryland’s counties that does the same job. Here’s the story from The Capital in Annapolis.
Four-alarms in Orange, New Jersey: A fire Saturday damaged nine homes. We have lots of video.
Arrests in Texas church arsons: Firegeezer has the details on two people charged with setting as many as ten churches on fire east of Dallas. Click here.
Reverse Ricci now before the Supreme Court: 6000 African-Americans sued following a 1995 test for the Chicago Fire Department unfairly screened out minority applicants. Their case was thrown out because they may have waited too long to file suit. That issue and more is now before the Supreme Court in a case that had already been before Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Read the story.
PGFD second-alarm: Despite all of the controversy, they still fight fires in Prince George’s County, Maryland. This is Chief Spokesman Mark Brady’s video of a fire yesterday afternoon at a storage facility in Landover Hills. The report was for smoke coming from a storage locker in the 3800 block of 64th Avenue. Brady says the firefighters found heavy smoke coming from a whole row of lockers. Two firefighters injured their hands during overhaul. One was sent to Baltimore for a hospital that specializes in hand trauma.
You will want to read this – Father & son, chief & assistant chief, both arrested during fire at son’s home: The man whose house was on fire Sunday in the Village of Powell in Monroe Township, Pennsylvania was not happy with the way firefighters were going about their business. That man ended up on the wrong end of a state trooper’s stun gun and was arrested. So was his father. The two men are the ranking officers of a neighboring fire company. Check it out.
An amazingly tragic series of events: I will let you be the judge of whether justice was served with the rapid fire news that keeps coming out of DeKalb County, Georgia. From, by all accounts so far, a very flawed response to an elderly woman’s call for help, to a report by fire officials, to the termination of three officers and a firefighter, to the immediate resignation of the fire chief took just eight days. I am sure there is something, but nothing comes immediately to mind of any other fire service incidents that compare to how quickly and severely this one was handled. We have the latest from Georgia with yesterday afternoon’s sudden departure of Chief David Foster. Click here.
Steve Skipton once again on the scene: Click the image for Steve's series of pictures at PhillyFireNews.com of a fire yesterday afternoon at 768 Division Street in Camden, New Jersey.
A must see interview with an injured firefighter: We mentioned this yesterday, but hadn’t yet watch the video from our sister-station. Click here to watch the interview from Cory Broich’s hospital bed. The Clearwater, Minnesota firefighter has been hospitalized since last week after being struck by a vehicle on I-94. The firefighter has a number of operations ahead on his badly mangled legs before he will be able to attempt walking again. He talks about trying to crawl away to avoid being hit again. You will also see Firefighter Broich with his five children who can’t wait for daddy to be home again (could be three weeks).
Command “badly let down” firefighters: That’s one of the conclusions of the investigation in Australia of the deadly “Black Saturday” fires from a year ago in Marysville. Read the latest.
Mayor says he didn’t do it: In Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Mayor Rick Gray says the standoff with firefighters about layoffs is “not my decision”. He puts that at the feet of firefighters. Read more.
Mayor says he did it: In Chillicothe, Ohio, Mayor Joe Sulzer says he ordered Chief Bruce Vaughn to reprimand two firefighters who spoke up about issues at a council meeting. The mayor says speaking in such forums about policy issues is “a management right”. The firefighters say it is also a union right. Read more about the dispute.
Drugs and alcohol in Boston: Random testing is still at the center of a long contract dispute, but there already is a more limited program in place for Boston firefighters. One TV station investigated and shows the results from the drug and alcohol screening of new employees and those who show signs of impairment. Click here.
Same problem in Pittsburgh: The mayor and the union are pointing fingers at each other over missing a deadline for a new drug and alcohol policy after some high profile incidents. Here’s the latest. Click here for our previous coverage.
And, similar budget issues at the other end of the country: In the City of Los Angeles they are studying the possibility of fire department layoffs. Read more.
An overnight fire in Philadelphia left two people seriously hurt with 12 others injured. The fire broke out around 4:30 AM and went to five-alarms.
Steve Skipton and Ron Trout were on the scene for PhillyFireNews.com. Here is what they wrote about the fire:
B/C-12 arrived on scene of a three story apartment building with heavy fire in two section with multiple people trapped. Command requested the second alarm struck and companies went in service with multiple rescues of people trapped on the upper floors. Numerous EMS units requested to the scene for numerous victims. Command ordered the the third alarm and companies went in service with exterior fire operations. Car-3 requested five alarms worth of companies. Over 12 people were transported to the hospital.
Google Maps Street View of Austin Manor Apartments. Click image to tour the neighborhood.
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