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Compton, CA Deputy Chief Marcel Melanson, who starred in reality series, jailed for arson. Police say fire covered up theft of city radio equipment.

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Do you recall Marcel Melanson? The heavily tattooed Compton Fire Department deputy chief was the star of his own reality series on BET called “First In”. We first mentioned him in October 2009, as did Firegeezer.com and Fire Critic.com. He was also featured in a Los Angeles Times profile. The Fire Critic even wrote about Melanson’s profile in Inked Magazine. Now Melanson is a former deputy chief and is in jail.

Samantha Tate, KNBC-TV:

A Compton firefighter is expected to appear in court Friday to face charges he allegedly set his fire department’s headquarters ablaze in an effort to destroy evidence of his suspected theft.

A former deputy chief, Melanson was taken into custody in connection with a suspicious fire at the Compton Fire Department Headquarters on Dec. 11, 2011.

Investigators believe Melanson stole thousands of dollars in Motorola radios from his employer and sold them online. Then, authorities said, the 15-year veteran of the department is suspected of setting fire to the department headquarters to destroy the evidence.

Amy Powell, KABC-TV:

Marcel Melanson, 37, was arrested at his home. Melanson, who was a member of the Compton Fire Department for over 15 years, is accused of setting a fire at the headquarters of the Compton Fire Department in December of 2011 to destroy evidence of a theft.

“As the investigation unfolded, we began to realize that they were connected, and we realized that the fire itself was a mask to try to cover up the fact that the radios were missing,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Spokesman Steve Whitmore.

The radios were in storage, to be used for a communications upgrade in connection with a now abandoned plan to re-establish Compton’s police department.

Abby Sewell & Angel Jennings, Los Angeles Times:

Sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said Melanson had allegedly stolen some of the police equipment and then set the fire to cover up the theft.

“We don’t know what happened, but we do think it’s connected,” Whitmore said.

Melanson was featured on the BET reality series “First In” and profiled by the L.A. Times in 2009.

Compton city officials could not be reached for comment. Whitmore said Melanson was terminated from the department as a result of the investigation into the fire.

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Posted by on May 17, 2013 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Courts, EMS Topics, fire, Fire Rescue Topics, News, Police, Videos • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Must see video: Mississippi fire chief arrested by deputy sheriff at crash scene. Chief got cuffed after standing his ground over safety issues.

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WLOX-TV image. See video & interview with chief below.

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On Sunday Poplarville, Mississippi Chief Mike White was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct at the scene of a car crash . The chief’s arrest was caught on video.

Chief White says the incident occurred because of a dispute with Pearl River County Sheriff’s Deputy Joe Garcia over a safety issue and who was in charge of the incident scene. The accident involved a vehicle that had flipped over on Old Wiggins Highway just outside the city limits of Poplarville.

The chief told Al Showers of WLOX-TV that the vehicle was on its roof, with fluids on the ground and the smell of gasoline. The deputy was going to allow someone to use a privately owned vehicle and a winch to upright the car. But Chief White thought that would be dangerous, particularly with about 10 to 15 people standing near the car.

WLOX-TV:

Pearl River County Sheriff David Allison said Garcia told him, Chief White stood between the overturned car and the winch and refused to let the car be up-righted. The Chief said a qualified tow truck driver should be called to do the job.

“There were still hazards on the ground that the car hadn’t been flipped up or moved out of the roadway. I had still deemed it a safety hazard and a fire hazard so at that point, yes I would have considered that accident my scene,” said Chief White. 

Sheriff Allison said his deputy didn’t feel there were any public safety concerns and that his deputy was in-charge of the accident scene and not the fire chief.

“We wouldn’t report to a fire scene and tell them how to put out a fire,” said Allison.

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Posted by on July 19, 2012 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, EMS Topics, fire, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, must see video, News, Police, Videos • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Firefighter charged with burglarizing home of elderly woman he took to the hospital. Osceola County, Florida fire chief gets how to handle bad news.

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Click above to watch story and interview with Chief Richard Collins.

At some point bad news will happen to almost every fire department and it will likely bring those pesky reporters to the door asking tough questions. This week it is Osceola County Fire Rescue's moment in the spotlight after Firefighter Douglas Werk was arrested and charged with breaking into the home of an elderly woman he had taken to the hospital and stealing her guns. This may be a pattern of behavior. WESH-TV reports, "Detectives said Werk may have been scouting out homes to burglarize" and that the firefighter was already on administrative duty after the Osceola County Sheriff's office investigated him for snooping around a different property in February. 

The response by a fire chief faced with this situation is crucial to how quickly the issue can be put behind them and the department moves on trying to restore its reputation. Too often the chief won't talk to reporters or let anyone in his department come clean about what happened. "It's a personnel matter" or "it's under investigation" are some of the lame excuses used as cover to keep from telling the truth.  Usually this makes a bad situation worse, stretching a one day story into multiple days and turning a small brush fire into a conflagration. What can be incinerated in that fire is the department's image and any good will it has built up in the community.

Osceola County Fire Rescue Chief Richard Collins apparently doesn't subscribe to the bar the doors and circle the wagons theory. While I have no idea what transpired with reporters prior to his TV interview about the arrest of Werk, the chief's on-camera performance was damn near perfect. Chief Collins not only talked about the arrest but confirmed the February investigation that prompted Werk's removal from the firehouse. Collins made it clear to WESH-TV that even the possibility of wrongdoing taints the department. Here are some quotes from the chief:     

"If these allegations are proven and he is convicted, it's a disgrace to the community, it's a disgrace to our department and quite frankly it's a disgrace to our profession as firefighters."

"Our folks do a great job. The actions of this individual, if proven to be true, are not reflective of our department, our agency."

Contrast this leadership style to some of what we have shown you from elsewhere around the country. Do you recall the Long Island fire company that did everything it could to avoid talking to a reporter about a Confederate flag in the firehouse and then prolonged the story when the department eventually decided to have the flag removed? (Click here.)

How about the Obion County, Tennessee case that made news around the world after firefighters didn't put out a fire in the home of a man who wasn't on the department's subscription list? That chief actually had a good story to tell about the local fire chiefs trying to change the antiquated system. Instead of talking about that with a reporter, the department tried to have the local TV news crew removed from the scene. (Click here.)

Probably the best lessons on what not to do have come from the two previous fire commissioners in Detroit who were constantly seen running from or avoiding a reporter asking questions about difficult issues. In fact, Detroit had a case somewhat similar to Osceola's when a wallet stolen from a citizen's home ended up in a Detroit firehouse. Instead of putting that incident quickly behind them, the failure to do the right thing at almost every level of the department resulted in the very public firing of Commissioner James Mack and a deputy. (Click here.)

Look at these stories and then tell me who you think has the right idea about dealing with bad news. 

This past Tuesday I gave a presentation for the IAFF-IAFC Labor Management Initiative sponsored by Virginia Professional Firefighters and we talked about these very issues. Anyone who has heard my talks knows my position: Get it out; Get it right; Get it behind you. I have a feeling the next group to hear me speak will likely see Chief Richard Collins pop up in the middle of my PowerPoint. 

Posted by on May 28, 2011 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, EMS Topics, fire, Fire Rescue Topics, IAFC, IAFF, News, Social Media, Reputation Management, News Media, Videos • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Police vs. news photographer: Confrontation in Hillsborough County, Florida caught on video.

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Read Where's the outrage? Dave thnks the Moscow videos prove his point that hatred of the press trumps victims' rights

Previous coverage & discussion of cameras at incident scenes can be found here, here, here, here, here, here & here

This is a news photographer's view of a confrontation he had on Monday with deputies from Florida's Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. The photographer says he had gone to a neighborhood where an apprehension had been made following a stabbing at a convenience store. Ryan French, the photographer, has his account of this run in on the web site of TampaBayMediaGroup.com.  

To me, it is typical of SOME of the interactions that occur across the country between the news media and public safety officials. It's an interesting follow-up to my posting last week that looked at the confrontation last December between a Connecticut State trooper and a photographer at the scene of a fatal crash and vehicle fire.

I am very aware we only have one side of this story and we should always be cautious when drawing conclusions. But there are a few things that are clearly said by the sheriff's deputies, including supervisors, that don't need much interpretation and, to my knowledge, go beyond the powers this country gives to law enforcement. These include: ordering a photographer not to take pictures from a certain vantage point because the homeowners don't want their houses shot; deciding when a videographer can and can't roll his camera; telling a photographer he can't take pictures of police officers doing their jobs.

While, in general, I have absolute respect for the job police officers and others in public safety do, I admit my bias in these issues. As a news reporter I was told by many people, including law enforcement, that I couldn't take pictures of something that was in public view while standing in a public place. My bias is that I am very much pro-First Amendment and know that, in the United States, decisions like those aren't to be left in the hands of police officers, firefighters or any other government official. But there are many other countries where people in uniform do make those choices for you.

That said, when asked to make sure that the images of witnesses or undercover officers whose safety may be in jeopardy not be shown, I always cooperated by shooting or editing around those images. Also, when given a legitimate explanation by law enforcement that a case would be jeopardized by information or images being released, my bosses and I cooperated. I saw similar cooperation by the other TV stations in Washington. 

But orders to shut off our cameras in a public place were almost always ignored. Often we did that for our own protection. In one case the video evidence showed a police officer was not telling the truth when my colleague, photographer Frank McDermott, was arrested at the scene of a drowning at a Virginia hotel many years ago. When the officer's supervisors saw the video (it was still rolling when the police officer placed the camera in the trunk of the police car following Frank's arrest), the charges were suddenly dropped and the officer found himself in quite a bit of trouble.

Let me close with some interesting words a Statter911.com reader wrote in a comment a few days back about the Connecticut video from December:

I don't like the media, but will defend it just as I will the 2nd Amendment. I still think the trooper was flat out wrong, as were the comments that attempted to justify his actions.
 
There's a reason the first amendment is first and is followed by the second. If gov't attempts to eliminate the freedom of speech, press, to gather, etc, then we have to fall back on our second amendment rights.

Posted by on April 20, 2011 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Cameras & firefighters, EMS & police, Command & Leadership, Courts, EMS Topics, fire, Fire Rescue Topics, News, Police, Social Media, Reputation Management, News Media, Videos • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Quick Takes: February 21, 2011.

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Audio from mayday at FDNY 5th-alarm in Brooklyn. Union says staffing cuts played a role in fire. FDNY says it was the wind & an open door: This is the fire that broke out during high winds Saturday evening in a 70-unit, six-story apartment building. It left a resident dead and injured 20 firefighters. One of the firefighters, who was burned, was rescued by other firefighters during a mayday. Firegeezer.com has coverage of this fire. Uniformed Firefighters Association President Steve Cassidy believes crews were hampered by the recent removal of one firefighter from 60 FDNY engine companies. From WINS Radio – Cassidy claims that because the first unit to arrive on the scene Saturday had one less firefighter, “it took [the crew] five minutes longer to get water on the fire.” An FDNY statement gives a different view, “Contrary to the UFA’s statement, it was the open door problem – greatly exacerbated by severe winds – that fueled this fire into an unstoppable conflagration … “.

It was windy here too: The high winds hitting the East Coast kept firefighters busy. Prince George’s County, Maryland was so busy it received mutual aid from across the Chesapeake Bay and Western Maryland. We have lots of videos and details, including arrival video of two burning homes in College Park. Click here and here for our coverage. 

The wind helped keep Baltimore County busy: Besides brush fire, since Friday there have been a significant number of muli-alarm structure fires in Baltimore County. One of those was a third-alarm commerical fire on Pulaski Highway on Saturday. Check out Michael Schwartzberg’s video on this one.

Early video from Loudoun County, Virginia house fire: A house fire on Friday in the Broadlands community. Click here.

It’s Not My Emergency: I have mentioned this before, but if you are interested in how social media and public safety interact you need to be reading Chief Bill Boyd’s blog, It’s Not My Emergency. I’ve been playing catch up on the thoughts of the fire chief from Bellingham, Washington. It’s well worth your time.

Unfortunately it was HIS emergency: In Conesus, New York, Lt. Jim Wood didn’t realize at first the fire he was responding to was in his own home. He soon found out. His family was not home when the fire broke out. Click here for that story.

Fighting a house fire from the shoulder of Interstate 85: That was the case in McAdenville, North Carolina (Gaston County). The back of the burning home was next to the highway. Here’s the story.

 

Cop and fire chief charged with arson, but only one person was arrested: A little riddle to start the week. Late last week Morris County, New Jersey officials held a press conference to say a Morris County Sheriff’s officer and the assistant chief of the District 5 VFD in Parsippany are accused of arson. Actually it is just one person, 33-year-old Jason Campbell, who fills both roles. The house fires were in 2008 and 2010 and the case was cracked as part of an undercover investigation and the use of a confidential informant. Other fires are being looked at. Read more.

Posted by on February 21, 2011 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, EMS Topics, FDNY, fire, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Firefighting Operations, Fires, Funding & Staffing, News, Quick takes, Videos • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

UPDATE – Must see video: Cop takes the plug at Detroit house fire. Plus more from the Motor City.

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We recently shared with you (courtesy of Fire Critic Rhett Fleitz) a humerous animated version of what police think of how firefighters handle some highway incidents.  Now the tables are turned, but this time it is real life.

What's wrong with this picture? Click the video above to watch this street drama unfold.

No date on this Detroit house fire on Temple Street between Park Avenue and Woodward Avenue. (UPDATE – Dennis Walus was kind enough to track this down and confirmed the fire was on Saturday at 72 Temple Street.)

The description says there is a ”man trapped upstairs claiming people downstairs were shooting at him” and that the area was “soon swarming with police.”

As Engine 1 drops its lines in front of the structure, look who is kind enough to catch the plug for them. It took a little bit before the cop got the message that unless he has a pump built into that cruiser he better move it.

While we are on the subject of Detroit, STATter911.com reader and contributor Paul Bassett (who knows his way around both a crime scene and a fireground), recently posted the video below from his July visit. Paul’s still photos can be found here.

Paul also has one of the nicest photo essays on the challenges faced by Detroit firefighters. We have previously posted it. In case you missed it, click here. 

On a daily basis Dennis Walus is always out there taking great pictures of Detroit firefighters in action. His photos can be found here.

And our friend in Chicago, Steve Redick, makes regular trips to Detroit. His Detroit videos are here.

Posted by on November 6, 2010 • Filed under: Command & Leadership, Detroit Fire Department, EMS Topics, fire, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Firefighting Operations, Fires, must see video, Police, Uncategorized, Videos • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

More on the death of Steven Koeser. Details on the dumpster explosion that killed the firefighter from Wisconsin’s St. Anna Fire Department.

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Click here and scroll down to the bottom of the page to watch the entire press conference from 2:00 PM on Wednesday

FirefighterCloseCalls.com

STATter911.com’s previous coverage of this story here and here

Article by Ben Jones postcrescent.com:

A fire captain described the scene of a deadly explosion at a foundry as “chaos” and said fellow firefighters yelled “We need ambulances” after the blast.

Photo by Sharon Cekada Post-Crescent. Click the image for more pictures.

Photo by Sharon Cekada Post-Crescent. Click the image for more pictures.

The dumpster explosion Tuesday night outside Bremer Manufacturing near St. Anna killed volunteer firefighter Steven Koeser, 33, and injured eight others.

“I heard the boom, but to me it didn’t seem very loud,” Capt. Adam Schuh of the St. Anna Fire Department said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

Schuh was one of about 20 firefighters who arrived a short time before the blast. “I saw the flash and you could feel the wave hit you,” he said.

Authorities said water from a fire hose triggered a burning container holding metal byproducts to explode. The foundry, at W2002 County Q, is located about one mile west of the unincorporated community of St. Anna not far from Fond du Lac and Sheboygan counties. The facility makes aluminum sand castings for various industries.

The injured firefighters:

  • Brad S. Woelfel, 28, was flown to Theda Clark Medical Center in Neenah for treatment of non-lifethreatening injuries. Megan Wilcox, a spokeswoman for Appleton-based ThedaCare, said Woelfel, of Chilton, was released from the hospital Wednesday afternoon.
  • Michael W. Fromm, 27, was taken to Calumet Medical Center in Chilton for treatment of burns and was released.
  • Jeffery L. Fliss, 31, was taken to Calumet Medical Center for treatment of minor injuries and was released.
  • Matthew J. Winkel, 28, was taken to Calumet Medical Center for treatment of minor injuries and was released.
  • Joshua P. Mertens, 31, was taken to Calumet Medical Center for treatment of a sore back and was released.
  • Kurt P. Kelling, 30, was taken to Calumet Medical Center for treatment of minor injuries and was released.
  • Chase J. Fritsch, 17, was taken to Calumet Medical Center for treatment of minor injuries and released.
  • Joshua Tyler Scott, 15, was taken to Calumet Medical Center for treatment of ear-ringing and was released.
    WI St. Anna damaged rig 2Schuh said the blast damaged much of his department’s equipment, including primary and secondary pumper trucs. The crew will be out of service until early next week.

    “More than anything, it’s emotional injuries for everybody,” Schuh said. “Even when we are physically ready to be up and running again, I don’t know if we are going to be emotionally ready.”

    Schuh said his department has received offers of support from around the state, including help from grief counselors. Late on Wednesday morning, firefighters from the Mt. Calvary Fire Department arrived to loan equipment.

    Calumet County Sheriff Jerry Pagel said the state fire marshal and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were helping investigate.

    Pagel said one of his officers on patrol saw a fire on the Bremer grounds about 7:20 p.m. and called for the St. Anna Fire Department to respond. About 20 firefighters arrived at 7:41. The dumpster was one of several located about 50 feet from the highway.

    No employees were at the foundry at the time of the fire.

    Koeser was pronounced dead at the scene, said Calumet Sheriff’s Lt. Brett Bowe.

    WI St. Anna explosion 1

    Koeser, nicknamed “Peanut,” had been with the volunteer force for 15 years, officials said.

    “He will be missed by all firefighters and the community,” Schuh said, reading from a prepared statement Wednesday afternoon.

    Bremer president Tom Dolack told The Associated Press the company was “just devastated as a result of the death of a fireman and the injuries. It’s overwhelming for us as I’m sure it is for their families. This is a very close-knit community.”

    Alice Thome, who lives about a quarter mile from the foundry, said she heard an explosion some time before 8 p.m. “It sort of shook everything,” she said.

    David Boll, who lives about a half mile from the site, said he heard the blast at about 7:50 p.m.

    “It rocked the house,” he said.

    Boll immediately drove to the scene to see what happened.

    “There was a large plume of white smoke in the sky,” he said.

    Boll said he left after he saw firefighters were already on the scene. He said officials blocked off about a one-mile stretch of County Q.

    Bill Braun, who lives about 500 feet from the blast, said he was home with his wife, Linda Suda, at the time. He thought something had exploded inside his house.

    “It just shook everything,” he said. “Things fell off the wall. It just rocked the house. It was just a bad explosion.”

    Braun said he went to the blast scene and the front of the Bremer building did not appear to be damaged.

    “You wouldn’t think the building would still be standing. This was a real bad explosion,” he said.

    Suda said she thought a car had hit their house. “We have cracks in the wall that we didn’t have before,” she said. “It was massive.”

    Suda said this event will be difficult for residents.

    “It’s a really close-knit community,” she said. “Everybody knows everybody, and everyone is related.”

    After the explosion, the New Holstein and Kiel fire departments relieved St. Anna firefighters at the scene. Also responding were New Holstein first responders and the Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Department.

    • Posted by on December 31, 2009 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, fire, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Firefighting Operations, Fires, HazMat, In the Line of Duty, Line of Duty, Major Incidents, Mass Casualty Incident, National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, News, Special Operations, Uncategorized, Videos • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

    Urgent 911 call takes 20 hours to answer. The story and the 911 audio from North Port, Florida.

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    From WTSP-TV’s Noah Pransky:

    It was an urgent call for help that didn’t receive an urgent response.

    After Brian Wood, 55, crashed his pickup into a pole on Friday, he got out and sat down nearby. A motorist saw him on the ground and called 911, but since he couldn’t remember the exact name of the road, the North Port Police Dept. (NPPD) call-taker never dispatched an officer.

    Twenty hours later, when officers finally arrived after a second 911 call, they found Wood had eventually died from his injuries.

    “I’m trying to think if it’s Lovebird or Lovesong,” Mark Minisci Jr. told the 911 operator, trying to remember the name of the street. He even provided directions.

    But the crash was on Lovering Ave., and the frustrated call-taker told Minisci that the NPPD system “doesn’t work like that” and she “(had) to have something.”

    Chief Terry Lewis took responsibility for the mistake on Tuesday, calling it either human error or a policy problem.

    “A police officer,” Lewis said, “should be sent to talk to people…we need to do everything we can to make sure these mistakes don’t happen.”

    Part of the problem was that the 911 operator from the Sarasota Sheriff’s Office never told the NPPD call-taker what the emergency was, but Lewis said she should have asked better questions. He says there is nothing wrong with the 911 system.

    The call-taker is on paid administrative leave, pending the outcome of an internal investigation. Lewis says the investigation should also help his department prevent similar problems in the future.

    Posted by on December 16, 2009 • Filed under: 911, 911 Audio, Administration & Leadership, Customer Service, EMS Topics, News • Tagged: , , , , , ,

    Florida fire captain who used his own gun to kill man beating police officer is honored with cop’s combat cross. Edwin O’Berry and crew from Palm Beach County Station 31 recognized for April incident.

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    Click the image to watch WPTV-TV's story and interview with Captain O'Berry.

    Click the image to watch WPTV-TV's story and interview with Captain O'Berry.

    It was shift change at Palm Beach County Fire Rescue Station 31 on April 8 when firefighters and medics from both A and B shift jumped into action to save a life. What they did that day had the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office recognizing their heroic efforts. During Friday’s ceremony the police combat cross was given to Captain Edwin O’Berry. It’s the first time the award was given to someone who isn’t in law enforcement.

    Outside the firehouse door on that morning, a Palm Springs police officer was in trouble. Mauricio Cruz was beating Officer Douglas Rua with a ceramic pot and was going for the officer’s gun. As some of the crew followed paramedic Blum Desravins toward the officer, Captain O’Berry went the other way. Jerome Burdi picks up the story in this excerpt from his article in the Sun-Sentinal:

    The firefighters continued to distract Cruz. O’Berry went to his car and got his Glock .40 and ran after Cruz as the paramedics attended to Rua, who suffered a broken arm and fractured skull. Cruz pointed Rua’s gun but O’Berry fired, striking him several times. Police Officer Joseph DeRogatis also fired at Cruz. The paramedics rushed to tend to Cruz after he was shot, but he later died.

    O’Berry, who’s worked as a firefighter for 20 years, said receiving the combat cross was an honor.

    “My fear was for the officer,” O’Berry said. “He was in a bad situation, we thought he was dead.”

    Cruz was released from jail just four days earlier on a charge of attacking a Rivera Beach police officer but was stopped in that case with a stun gun.

    “The firefighter used his firearm and probably saved the officer’s life,” Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said. “You just don’t expect that.”

    Fire-Rescue Chief Steve Jerauld said firefighters are trained to save lives, not take them, but he’s glad the officer was rescued and no one else was injured.

    Posted by on November 15, 2009 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, EMS Health & Safety, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Major Incidents, News, Police • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,