This is video from Matt Gregoire (sparkywfd) of Providence Fire Videos from a fire yesterday on Pond House Road in North Smithfield, Rhode Island. Here’s some of Matt’s description of the fire:
On arrival of the FD, heavy fire was showing from the rear of the house. Chief Jillson quickly ordered mutual aid tankers to the scene because there are no hydrants in the area.
Firefighters couldn’t make entry on side 2 because of an electrical line burning but as they attempted to make entry on side 3, they encountered a dog inside, grabbed him and brought him to safety.
With the fire rapidly progressing, firefighters were forced to exit the building and fight the fire from the exterior.
Video by Matt Gregoire (sparkywfd) of Providence Fire Videos from a fatal fire early this morning in Lincoln, Rhode Island. Here’s Matt’s description:
Shortly after 6am on Tues January 22, 2013, a call reporting a house fire on Boulevard Avenue came into the Lincoln Fire Alarm office. Upon arrival, heavy fire was showing from the basement. One of the occupants, an elderly male reported to fire officials that his wife was still inside. Firefighters attempted to enter the house but due to heavy gas fed fire conditions, they were forced out of the building. The elderly woman was later found on the 1st floor.
Besides heavy fire conditions, firefighters were also hampered by frigid temperatures. It took almost 3 hours to bring the fire under control.
Homeowner Henry Barry, 90, made it out of the house but his wife, Jeannette Barry, did not survive the fire.
Henry Barry was in the basement when the fire broke out. His wife was in the bedroom on the first floor. “I went upstairs to try to get her, the fire was too much, I managed to get the door open to let some of the smoke out, but couldn’t get back in, I had cell phone and called 9-1-1,” he said.
The fire started around 4:30 a.m. inside St. Michael’s Ukrainian Orthodox Parish on Harris Avenue.
Captain Michael Morin of the Woonsocket Fire Department said he believes the cause of the fire stemmed from a service held Tuesday night.
“They had a service the night before, they were using incense, and it was a product of charcoal, I believe incense they used wasn’t properly disposed of after.”
The fire caused major damage to the room where it started, a service room at the extreme end of the church that’s used by altar boys to prepare for services. It also caused serious damage to the church’s slate roof. There was major water and smoke damage to the entire church.
A chandelier in the middle of the church crashed down to the floor. The stone building’s slate roof made it difficult for firefighters to cut holes in the roof to vent the fire and get at the blaze, according to Capt. Michael Morin, a fire marshal for the Woonsocket Fire Department.
Firefighter David Lashus has been on TV and in the papers in recent days but yesterday’s story will likely be the most memorable one of this week of news coverage. A TV camera was rolling as the fire chief, police chief and town lawyer in Johnston, Rhode Island showed up at Lashus’ home in an attempt to hold a disciplinary hearing over his employment status. The town officials were prepared to have the meeting in Lashus’ living room if needed.
David Lashus and his 21-year-old son were busted earlier in the week. Police say the son received a package of marijuana from California. According to investigators, this brought the discovery of 100 marijuana plants, lots of cash and guns inside the home. What really made headlines is that Firefighter Lashus has been off work for three years with pay due to an on the job back injury.
Officials talked to Lashus through his window. Someone else inside recorded the conversation with a cellphone as Lashus stood in the background.
Lashus is on home confinement, and town officials tell NBC 10 they’ve been trying to hold a disciplinary hearing with him to get his side of the story before they potentially take action on his job status.
They said Lashus refused their offer to hold the hearing at his house Friday evening and that he also refused a ride to Town Hall to have it there.
The mayor is expected to decide Monday on the job-related punishment for Lashus.
Despite my flippant headline this is actually an interesting video put out by the people who make the TIGNIS Fire Blanket. It shows a demo of the product at The Union Fire District Training Facility in Wakefield, Rhode Island. The company has made the blanket for five-years and promotes it as a way to put out a vehicle fire in a location that conventional fire equipment can’t reach, such as a parking garage.
In this demonstation, after the blanket was put in place a small explosion typical of today’s vehicle fires occurred. It created a small hole in the blanket but the fire still went out.
There has been a contentious relationship between firefighters and the Mayor of North Providence, Rhode Island, Charles Lombardi, for some time. Lombardi is himself a former firefighter. Yesterday WPRI-TV investigative reporter Tim White aired a 14-mont-old recording of Mayor Lombardi confronting Firefighter Thomas Guibealt because Lombardi says the firefighter insulted a member of the mayor’s family while off-duty in a bar. At the time Mayor Lombardi was dealing with a battle with the firefighters’ union over the closing of a fire station.
The recording was made last Spring at fire department headquarters at a meeting the mayor called that also included Chief Leonard Albanese and a battalion chief. The mayor told reporter White he was not aware someone was recording him but believes he acted appropriately:
On the recording Lombardi is heard screaming at the firefighter, who he identified as Thomas Guibealt.
“Don’t let my name roll out of your mouth,” Lombardi says on the tape. “[Because] the next time that happens you’re going to have a serious headache.”
Above is the full recording of the confrontation.
The mayor said he learned from a third party that an employee who works at his son’s auto body shop was told he was not welcome at a North Providence bar because “he works for the Lombardi’s.”
Contacted by phone, Guibealt did not want to comment if he was the one recording the conversation and directed all questions to a union lawyer.
The thorny constitutional principle of separation of church and state is rearing its head over a 1921 World War I monument featuring a prominent Christian cross on city property. Unlike the recent prayer banner controversy in Cranston, which was sued by the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, the threat of legal action in this case is coming from the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a national nonprofit organization halfway across the country.
On April 13, the Madison, Wisc.-based foundation sent Mayor Leo T. Fontaine a letter calling the display of the “Latin cross” on public property “unlawful” and demanding that the situation be rectified.
The monument, a cross, at the Woonsocket Fire Department Station 2 on Cumberland Hill Road, was originally erected in 1921 to honor William Jolicoeur, a member of the American Expeditionary Forces killed in France during World War I, according to The Woonsocket Call. Later, it was rededicated in honor of three brothers killed in World War II, Alexandre, Henri and Louis Gagne.
“No secular purpose, no matter how sincere, will detract from the overall message that the Latin cross stands for Christianity,” the FFRF’s staff attorney Rebecca Markert said in the letter.
Tom Poole, a disabled veteran, is one of many in Woonsocket trying to protect a cross that stands on top of a monument located in the parking lot of the city’s fire station on Cumberland Hill Road.
The Freedom from Religion Foundation wants the cross removed on the grounds that the monument violates the separation of church. The group also wants the Woonsocket Fire Department to remove “The Firefighter’s Prayer” and a picture of an angel from its website because it is a direct violation of the First Amendment and the Constitution.
I will admit that if a deputy fire chief in one of the fire departments in or around the Nation's Capital had dropped his or her drawers during a training session I likely would have done the story for the TV news operation where I worked. But I would have refused to call the story an "I-Team exclusive". With all of the ills in the world, a TV station putting its crack (sorry) investigative team on a mooning and running it as its lead story seems a bit overkill. Cut the hype, put things in perspective and tell the damn story.
There will be some who think the story shouldn't be done at all, that it happens and it's just firefighters being firefighters. The firefighters letting off steam because their next call could be their last excuse is not one that will serve anyone well these days (though it is still trotted out there). Especially when it's a high ranking fire official.
The moral of the story here is if you don't want the local I-Team up your Side Charlie, cover your exposures.
As for this story, it involves East Greenwich (Rhode Island) Fire District Deputy Chief Russell McGillivray who has been suspended with pay for two days after being accused of mooning one or more classmates at a state fire marshal's office training session.
"An incident did happen, but I don't think he was naked. I suspended McGillivray for two days with pay," East Greenwich Fire Chief Peter Henrikson said.
Col. Steven O'Donnell of the state police, who is also the state's public safety commissioner, released a statement.
"McGillivray is no longer allowed to train people at the fire marshal's classes. It is beyond comprehension how someone, a professional, could do that. The females in the class, at a minimum, were upset, but declined to file a formal complaint," O'Donnell said.
During the entire time I was considered young no one ever described me as a "quality young man" or a "solid young man" who is "a credit to his family". Maybe that's because I was never accused of being drunk, stealing a fire truck from my fire company and wrecking it.
I am guessing until 22-year-old Clayton Hardon III's July 19 arrest on those very charges there weren't people walking around saying, "Oh Clayton, he's such a quality, solid, young man who is a credit to his family". But now that the Dreadnaught Fire Company volunteer firefighter (or should there be a "former" in front of that?) has had his first court appearance, his lawyer, a former Rhode Island Speaker of the House, is saying just that about Hardon.
I certainly understand and respect that our judicial system considers young Mr. Hardon innocent until proven guilty and it may just be a coincidence that Hardon was found by police near where the special hazards truck overturned, with neck and head injuries and had to appear in court in a neck brace. John Harwood may be a good lawyer who will do well for a client who, for all we know, may have uncharacteristically made a bad mistake in an otherwise blemish free life (but Mr. Harwood wouldn't even admit that scenario posed by a reporter because the facts of the case still need to be sorted out).
I am of the belief if you are going in front of the cameras during a news event you should have something to say. Don't waste everyone's time. It is great that Mr. Harwood took a moment to be nice to the reporters and gave them a sound bite or two. Maybe Mr. Harwood is trying to influence the potential jury pool that is out there in TV land or is just trying to work on repairing the young man's reputation. But I don't think most people want to hear another lawyer who can't say anything definitive about a case under questioning by reporters.
If you are going to cite attorney-client privilege and can't or won't answer the basic questions maybe it is the time to respectfully decline to do an interview (don't run, don't hide). Maybe it is better to talk when you can tell us that either your client was kidnapped in a fire truck and alcohol was poured down his throat and he was left by the kidnappers in the overturned rig on someone's front lawn (years ago that might have been a standard initiation at some departments I have been familiar with) or that he made a bad mistake, is truly sorry and will work to make this right. Then you are saying something.
Shortly after 8pm on July 25, 2011, companies responded to the area of 523 Main St for a reported structure fire. Companies arrived to find heavy smoke coming from the vacant Morris Novelty Building.
Due to the condition of the structure, no firefighters were allowed inside the building and were forced to fight the fire from the exterior.
It took about 2 hours to bring the fire under control.
Former Providence, Rhode Island Chief George Farrell will not be getting more than $15,000 for sick he earned over the last four years. The chief, who says he retired due to a battle with leukemia, will still get more than $27,000 for vacation days he didn't use. A spokesman for Mayor Angel Taveras said the vacation payment is required under state law but that the administration was ending a longstanding practice of paying for the unused sick leave unless it is approved by the City Council.
Farrell previously retired from the department in 2006 as fire marshal and was paid $74,516 for sick and vacation time not used. He was brought back as chief a year later by Mayor David Cicilline.
Previously Chief Farrell defended the practice saying it has been in place for three decades and was not a special deal for him. But the union has opposed to the payout for the former chief.
At about the same time IAFF Local 799 reached a tentative agreement with the Taveras administration that is expected to prevent firefighter layoffs. WPRI-TV reports the firefighters will give up a scheduled three percent pay raise, allow for reduced minimum staffing, pay more for health care, receive less paid vacation and change retirement benefits for new employees. Watch that story below.
Paul Doughty, president of the city firefighters union, said Monday the city government does not have to let Farrell cash out his unused time off because he's not covered by the union's collective-bargaining agreement. "We'd ask the Taveras administration to follow the law and deny payment," he said.
Farrell said the fire department's leadership should get paid for accrued sick and vacation days since rank-and-file firefighters do.
"I and all the other chiefs in the Providence Fire Department simply believe that the benefits that we were entitled to for 25 years or more while we were members of the union should not be stripped away solely based on a promotion which takes us out of the union," he said.
Doughty disagreed, arguing the higher pay top officials receive should be enough to compensate them. Farrell "wants the best of both worlds – the astronomical salary and all the union benefits," Doughty said.
I thought I had seen enough video from last night's fire at the Alice Mills in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, but as usual Matt Gregoire changed my mind. This is a bit earlier in the operation than we showed you before (though Corey Welch had some great shots). Matt, with Providence Fire Films and SNEFireNews.com, also has radio traffic to go with the pictures.
In the clip above you see and hear when some of the early arriving companies are ordered to pull back and the emphasis shifts to exposure coverage (including hosing down the fire trucks).
I've said this before, those who are want to make nice looking fire films that your audience will enjoy watching should check out the videos from Matt and Corey.
Above is Corey Welch's video from the fire first reported around 7:30 PM at the giant complex that once housed the Alice Mills Rubber Manufacturing Plant. Alice Mills was once the largest rubber goods factory in the world. The plant dates back to 1899. News reports indicate two firefighters were hospitalized for dehydration.
Fire Chief Gary Lataille said 10 to 15 departments from Rhode Island and Massachusetts were called in to help battle the seven-alarm blaze. While the fiire appeared to be small at first, according to Mayor Leo T. Fontaine, the fire quickly spread to engulf the 180,000-square-foot mill structure.
Lataille said that with the river bordering one side of the complex, and a huge parking lot bordering another, he determined early that the best strategy was to contain the fire so it would not spread to houses along River Street and to let it burn completely to the ground..
"By the looks of things, the fire is cooperating," he said, as crowds watched various walls come crashing down at various intervals. There were also at least two explosions.
Pawtucket, Rhode Island firefighters seen in the video above removing a man from inside this burning multi-family residence around 5:00 this afternoon. The location is the 600 block of Broadway Street. The man was pronounced dead at the hospital. Here's information from WLNE-TV:
Fire officials confirm to ABC6 News that one man has died as a result of the Broadway St. Fire. Fire crews had a hard time reaching the man due to the amount of smoke in the building. When firefighters reached the man, he was unconscious.
Corey Welch on the scene of a fire early this morning in Providence, Rhode Island. As I have mentioned before, for those looking for tips on how to shoot video of a fire (or anything else), watch Corey's work. You can find more of Corey's work at his website, here. Here are Corey's details on the fire:
Providence Firefighters were called out on a "Still/Box" of a reported structure fire in an occupied home around 4:30am on Friday, April 22nd. They arrived on O'Connnor St to find heavy fire showing from floor three of the three story wood frame structure. Command requested an additional ladder and engine to the scene before calling a second alarm as fire quickly spread through the home. Firefighters were only in the building for a short amount of time before everyone was called out of the structure for defensive operations. At that time, fire was visible from the second floor, third floor, and through the roof. Four ladder trucks were in operation as well as several hand lines. It took about an hour before the flames were knocked down. At least one tenant of the home was being treated on scene with unknown injuries. There was no word of any other injuries as of 5:30am.
Woonsocket Fire Department in action at a six-alarm mill fire in February. Video from ProvidenceFireVideos.com.
It is interesting how two different news stories that came across my computer screen today show opposite conclusions on the same issue. One story is about the ruling of a judge in Rhode Island who found no connection between the safety of firefighters and the browning out of Woonsocket Fire Department's Ladder 1. The other is a study by the University of Georgia that discovered under-resourcing is among the four major causes of firefighter fatalities.
Superior Court Judge Bennett R. Gallo ruled that there was no public safety risk to firefighters or residents in Woonsocket as a result of the removal of Ladder Truck 1 and the reduction of the minimum amount of firefighters on duty from 26 to 23 on Wednesday afternoon.
"On the evidence presented,” said Gallo, “I’m unable to discern any measurable decrease in the firefighting capabilities of the Woonsocket Fire Department or any increase risk to the firefighters of Woonsocket or to the public regarding,” the removal of Ladder 1 and the reduction in manpower.
Daniel Kinder, the primary lawyer for the city, stated in his closing remarks that the experience of the past three months proved that safety was not a concern. He said that since the policy to remove Ladder 1 from service whenever less than 26 firefighters reported for duty was implemented on January 30, there has been no firefighter injuries, no change in firefighter response times, no harm to the public and no harm to any mutual aid firefighter.
In Georgia, what is being called a comprehensive UGA study, has revealed patterns in firefighter fatalities. According to a press release from UGA, "Researchers in the UGA College of Public Health found that cultural factors in the work environment that promote getting the job done as quickly as possible with whatever resources available lead to an increase in line-of-duty firefighter fatalities."
The four major causes identified in the study are "under-resourcing, inadequate preparation for adverse events during operations, incomplete adoption of incident command procedures and sub-optimal personnel readiness."
Here is what the release said about under-resourcing:
Many of the recommendations can be traced to a lack of finances, said (co-author David) DeJoy. Not only does under-resourcing affect the ability of a fire department to acquire innovative technology, it can lead to a shortage of personnel at a fire, compromising rapid intervention and the ability to maintain command and control functions during operations, he said.
The study is published in the May edition of of the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention. It examined data gathered from 189 NIOSH firefighter fatality investigations for five years beginning in 2004.
So who are you going to believe, the judge or the professor?
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.
Two videos from Friday’s fire on Iroquois Road in Cumberland, Rhode Island that left two firefighters injured after a ceiling fell on top of them. The video above is from Matthew Gregoire of ProvidenceFireVideos.com. There is more on the fire at SNEFireNews.com, the new site from Matt and Corey Welch.
Matthew Gregoire of ProvidenceFireVideos.com and Corey Welch of CoreyWelchVideo.com both braved the single digit temperatures for this morning’s three-alarm fire in a multi-family home in Central Falls, Rhode Island. The fire left five families homeless. Matt’s video is above and Corey’s below.
Here is some of what Matt wrote in his description on YouTube.com:
Shortly after 1:30 am on Friday March 4, 2011, calls came into the fire alarm office reporting a house fire on Hedley Ave. While companies were already tied up at a small fire a few blocks away, they released 1 company and they arrived to find the rear porch fully involved extending inside in this occupied multi family.
Early video from last week’s fire in Girardville, Pennsylvania: Firegeezer did a good job of covering Wednesday night’s fire that ran part of the block and resulted in a close call for a firefighter. Since then Coal Region Fire uploaded this video that gives you an early view of the fire and its progression. And you will find a whole bunch of pictures from the fire here.
Knowing more than the computer: If you haven’t had a chance yet to listen to the 911 call from the Nation’s Capital that WTOP/WJLA reporter Mark Segraves uncovered, you will want to do so. The director of the 911 center says the 14-minute delay in figuring out a location of a deadly incdent on a major roadway, described very well by a citizen, was a glitch in the system. I’m not buying that, and judging by the comments, few of you are. Click here for our coverage.
Glenn looks at lessons learned from the controversy over a blown engine at a Maryland pump test: The Deale VFD and the Anne Arundel County Fire Department aren’t seeing eye to eye after a 1991 pumper ended up needing a new engine. FireTruckBlog.com‘s Glenn Usdin has some interesting insight on this one and some practical advice. Click here.
Firefighter’s first fire is at a home he owns: What are the odds? Raul Thaper is a new firefighter in Greenville, North Carolina. His first fire was on Friday. That fire was in a home that Thapar owns and rents to someone else. Here’s the story.
Fractured spine for Sacramento FD captain: It was a fall from a roof at a house fire over the weekend that has put Captain Gene Dibble in the hospital. Officials say there is no paralysis but the captain is in a lot of pain. Here’ more.
Playing with fire: While I was in New York with the family in December we saw and thoroughly enjoyed the Flying Karamazov Brothers. It’s a comedy juggling act with enough stupid puns to keep me happy for weeks. In today’s City Room blog from The New York Times there is an interesting look at the Flying Karamazov Brothers putting their talents to good use with the FDNY in an unusual fire safety message. Check it out.
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Six-alarm mill fire in Woonsocket, Rhode Island: Matt Gregoire at ProvidenceFireVideos.com was on the scene yesterday afternoon as the vacant Seville Dye plant at Fairmount Street and First Avenue burned. Nearby homes were evacuated. Click here to read more about the fire.
Matt Gregoire has been busy. Besides the garage fire yesterday in Burrillville, Rhode Island that we ran earlier on Quick Takes (click here and scroll down), he was up at 3:00 this morning for a chimney fire on Buxton Street in North Smithfield. In the video you will hear a crew on the second floor trying to get someone to remove windows. Later, the air horns sound.
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.
Video from a house fire at 49 Hillside Avenue in Woonsocket, Rhode Island yesterday afternoon. Some details from WPRI-TV:
Flames quickly engulfed the garage and office of the home which is owned by Paul Jacob and his wife. They arrived home from lunch to find their home on fire, and could only watch as crews worked to save the place they’ve called home for almost 50 years.
The firefight was so intense that a Woonsocket firefighter was treated on the scene for exhaustion.
Jacob owns a video and sound company, and often tapes and often tapes City Council and other events for the city of Woonsocket. A cart of his expensive equipment was doused in water. He’ll now have to figure out what can be salvaged.
Evacuation ordered at Cumberland, Rhode Island fire: Three families were left homeless after this fire Christmas morning. Matt Gregoire at ProvidenceFireVideos.com shot this video.
Now that I’ve reclaimed my blog after it was hijacked by one of my employees and a fellow blogger, we are back to business. Sorry about the disruption. On Christmas Day some of the videographers who regularly contribute to STATter911.com (Michael Schwartzberg, Matt Gregoire and Bill Rohr) and others were out documenting the efforts of those who staffed our firehouses during the holiday. Here are some of the videos I have found of fires yesterday.
Building fire in Randallstown, Maryland: Michael “FirePix1075” Schwartzberg was on the scene with Baltimore County firefighters around 9:00 Christmas night at Liberty Road and Bayer Avenue.
Two alarms in Allentown, Pennsylvania: Bill Rohr at Newsworking.org was at 2115 Downyflake Lane. Two alarms were called to handle the fire in a motel office around 2:15 Christmas morning.
Fire in the Philippines: A nice close-up view of firefighting operations yesterday morning on Palm Drive in Davao City. The music is among the more interesting I’ve heard added to a fire video.
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