At the top of this post, on the left, the picture from a TV news chopper of what a pilot and passenger walked away from after the plane they were in crashed into an apartment building in Herndon, Virginia early this morning. As an astute STATter911.com reader pointed out, finally we see a safety advantage of lightweight construction. If that roof had been made of dimensional lumber, those on the plane would likely have been killed or seriously injured. Okay, let’s chalk up a save for the builders.
On the right, another TV chopper picture from a few hours earlier and about 12 miles away in neighboring Loudoun County. It shows a more typical image of lightweight construction, taken during a fire. If you were a 20th century, pre-1980s firefighter and saw this before you at a single-family home wouldn’t you guess there had been something more than a fire to cause this damage and the scarring on the home next door? Maybe an explosion fueled by natural gas or propane?
Of course, that’s not the case here. It was just a typical daytime house fire in the 18900 block of Castleguard Court in the Potomac Station neighborhood near Leesburg. As you will see in the video immediately below from WJLA-TV/ABC7, the fire caused a good portion of the home to collapse.
Throughout North America, on multiple occasions each day, the building industry gets to show off the great advantages of modern home and apartment construction. While saving the lives of two people on an airplane is a rarity, the most significant advantage seems to be that builders get a second change to construct the same house all over again when fire strikes. Do you think anyone has stats for comparison on the number of complete rebuilds after pre-1980s fires versus now?
Now, listen to the discussion at yesterday’s fire in the video below from Robin B. The neighbors are all shocked at how quickly the fire spread and destroyed the home. The firefighters in Loudoun aren’t shocked. They’ve seen it time and again (see videos from 2007 and 2004 at bottom of this post). Their fire chief and many other fire chiefs in Virginia have been to Richmond repeatedly over the last 20-years, in greatly unsuccessful efforts to get the politicians to listen to the fire experts instead of the building construction lobby on issues like construction materials, home separation and residential sprinklers.
I have no clue whether any such changes would have made a difference in yesterday’s fire. What I do know is that the building industry continues to sell those who make our laws and form our codes a bunch of crap that new construction doesn’t burn any differently than old construction and that the only protection the public needs is a smoke alarm (something the industry told us we DIDN’T need in the 1970s).
It’s time the citizens, particularly those who have lost their modern home to fire or had homes damaged because of a fire in a neighbor’s house, start their own lobby. They need to show up in Richmond and every other state capital and demand that if they can’t have homes that don’t crumble under routine fire conditions, that at least they should be protected by residential sprinklers, more distance from their neighbor’s home and outside wall assemblies that reduce fire spread.
I know I’m in a fantasy world and just dreaming. The citizens aren’t going to rise up. Even if they did they don’t have the money behind them and the clout of the building lobby. But those of us who are old enough, all dreamed way back in the mid-20th century that, by now, we would be living in a world similar to the cartoon show “The Jetsons”. We would all have robot maids, flying vehicles and, of course, Skypad Apartments. Instead, our so-called modern homes aren’t based on 21st century ideas. They are really throwbacks to the 19th and 18th centuries to a time before we figured out there were actually things we could do to slow down the spread of fire in an effort to keep homes and communities from being destroyed.
To sum up, the smartest engineering minds in the construction industry came up with buildings and homes that have been proven to save lives in the event of a plane hitting the roof. Hooray for them. But if fire strikes, you’re just screwed.
Authorities say three people suffered minor injuries when a small plane crashed into the living room of an apartment in Herndon.
Capt. Willie Bailey with Fairfax County Fire and Rescue says the plane was headed from the Philadelphia area to Manassas Regional Airport early Friday when it ran out of fuel and crashed.Officials say three people – two in the apartment and one in the Cessna 177B – had minor injuries.The Red Cross is helping nine adults, seven children and three pets who had to leave the building.
The two-passenger plane crashed into a three-story apartment building in the 2200 block of Astoria Circle at around 12:30 Friday morning, authorities say.
The two people in the plane and one person in the building were taken to the hospital with minor injuries.Nine adults, seven children and three pets were evacuated from the building.Sources say that the plane was on its way to Manassas airport from Philadelphia and ran out of fuel. The Cessna tried to land in Dulles, but did not make it and crashed into the apartment building.When the plane crashed into one of the apartment buildings, the pilot stumbled out of the plane and told one of the residents, “I think we hit your apartment.”About 20 people have been evacuated from the building, while cranes are beginning the long process of stabilizing the structure and removing the lodged plane.
The driver of a tractor trailer saved from the cab hanging over the side of the Monitor Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel Monday has been charged with reckless driving.
Sgt. Michelle Anaya with the Virginia State Police said the driver of the tractor trailer lost control and struck the bridge heading southbound just before 9 a.m. The cab caught fire and was left hanging off the side of the bridge.
Anaya told WAVY.com the driver, who was trapped inside, was extracted by the Newport News and Suffolk fire departments. Almira Ribic, 43, of Newport News was transported to Riverside Regional Medical Center. She was treated and released from the hospital, according to hospital spokesman Peter Glagola.
The truck ran off the right side of the road, hit the bridge, overturned and caught fire, said Sgt. Michelle Anaya, state police spokeswoman. The cab of the truck was left dangling over the James River with the driver inside.
As the fire was extinguished, rescuers parked a firetruck from Suffolk on the northbound bridge, and firefighters from Newport News were on the southbound bridge, Anaya said. The Suffolk firetruck stretched out a ladder, also called an elevated platform, to the cab of the truck, and Newport News Master Firefighter Scott Dye rappelled down to the driver, Anaya said.
A former volunteer firefighter and his girlfriend have been charged with setting a majority of the 70 arsons on Virginia’s Eastern Shore over the past five months.
Virginia State Police say 40-year-old Tonya S. Bundick and 38-year-old Charles R. Smith III were arrested early Tuesday after another vacant residence was set ablaze. Smith also goes by the alias Charles Applegate. He is a former captain of the Tasley Volunteer Fire Department.
Spokeswoman Corinne Geller says some of the fires do not appear to have been set by the pair.
Bundick and Smith live in Parksley, a small community where the first of 77 deliberately set fires was lit. It is not clear whether they have attorneys. Both are set to appear in court Wednesday.
All of the arsons have been set in Accomack County, which borders Maryland and encompasses more than half of Virginia’s Eastern Shore.
The county doesn’t have an arson investigator, so state police have taken the lead and have spent thousands of man-hours working on the case since Dec. 1.
Sometimes multiple fires miles apart were set on a single night, which led state police to believe at least two people were working together to set them. Police have also said there was no discernible pattern about where they were set, although each fire was set at night. During the evenings, the county is dependent on volunteer firefighters who typically have day jobs to respond to the fires.
Nearly all of the structures that were set on fire were abandoned or unused buildings, and there have been no reports of injuries.
Applegate is listed as the Captain of the Tasley Fire Department in the members section of the department’s website.
Geller said Applegate does not have a role with the fire department at this time, nor has he been involved with it during the arson outbreak for the past five months.
“It’s been speculation around here that a fireman must be doing it, you know, but that one last night where they captured her or wherever, seemed to me a little crude for the way the other ones were set,” Douglas Scott, a friend of Applegate’s told WAVY.com.
Virginia State Police say today Parksley residents Tonya Susan Bundick and Charles R. Smith III (aka Charles Applegate) are “responsible for the majority” of arsons that have plagued Accomack County since the fall.
Police said at a news conference this afternoon that Smith and Bundick were being held without bond on one count each of arson and conspiracy to commit arson and face “a significant number of charges to come.”
Police said there have been 77 arson fires since November.
Bundick, 40, of Parksley, who used a different name on Facebook, commented on one site about the arsons on March 14: “I have often wondered if arsonist is reading and laughs…I myself am not afraid just cautious…I am always on lookout when my animals start barking and when my livestock start making noise. Make (yourself) aware of the little things.”
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors today appointed Richard R. Bowers Jr. as the county’s next fire chief. Bowers succeeds Chief Ronald L. Mastin, who plans to retire May 7. Bowers’ appointment is effective April 29, allowing overlap time for the transition of leadership.
A 35-year veteran of the Montgomery County, Md. Fire and Rescue Service, Bowers has served as MCFRS fire chief since 2008, managing the combined (career and volunteer) service of over 2,100 firefighters/rescuers. While serving as chief, he managed an operating budget of $204 million and a six-year capital improvement program budget of $44 million.
Bowers began in Montgomery County as a firefighter/EMT, rising through the ranks in numerous positions. He served in every rank in the department up to and including fire chief. A Pentagon and Hurricane Katrina New Orleans Citation Award recipient, he was Montgomery County’s Firefighter of the Year in 1985 and received the Marvin Gibbons Award for Excellence in Firefighter I – Recruit Class 35-1977.
He attended the University of Maryland, University College where he earned a master degree certification in human resource management, a bachelor of fire science degree and a public fire-protection management and administration education certificate. He also holds an associate degree from Montgomery College (Rockville). In addition, he has successfully completed the Montgomery County Government Leadership and Management Course as well as numerous courses from the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Training Academy, the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute Training and the National Emergency Training Center. Bowers also is currently enrolled in the Executive Fire Officer Program at the National Fire Emergency Training Center.
Currently chair of the Washington Metropolitan Council of Governments National Capital Region Fire Chiefs Committee, Bowers is a past chair of the Council of Governments Fire, Health and Safety Subcommittee. He also has served as an adjunct professor for the Montgomery College Rockville Fire Science Program, and was a Pentagon 9/11 operational response task force member and served as a member of the FEMA USAR Oklahoma City bombing disaster response team.
Video from bedfordfd of a house fire yesterday afternoon. Here’s part of the description:
1242hrs- Bedford Communicatons alerted Companies 8 (Moneta), 13 (Stewartsville-Chamblissburg-2nd due), and 1 (Bedford-RIT) to 8646 Dickerson Mill Road for fire in the attic of a private dwelling. Medic 14-8 was the first to arrive to find heavy fire showing from the roof on sides Alpha and Bravo. Wagon 1 (with three) arrived next at 1250hrs and began stretching a line into the interior as Fire Attack Group 1. Engine 13 arrived just behind W-1 and established Dickerson Mill Road command. Ladder 1 (with six) arrived and began the primary search and controlling utilities. The fire was marked under control at 1317hrs.
It happened on Dickerson Mill Road in Moneta. It took multiple tankers filled with water and firefighters from c, Stewartsville-Chamblissburg, Bedford, Saunders and Hardy to get this fire under control.
Officials say three people live in the home: A mother, son and grandmother. They say the mother and grandmother were cooking in the kitchen when the fire started. Both were able to get out, and there were no injuries.
One lieutenant with the fire department says oxygen tanks were exploding while they were fighting the fire.
(Note: Special thanks to Tammy Fore and Blee Moffett for their assistance on this story.)
UPDATE AT 11:45 PM EST:
WSET-TV confirms the fire and explosions involved two 1000 gallon propane tanks at a shopping center near Sweet Briar College in Amherst, Virginia. By the description of the reporter, there was a BLEVE in one of those tanks around 9:00 PM EST that was captured on the videos we have been showing you. According to WSET-TV’s James Gherardi, one end of the tank blew into a dialysis center nearby and the other end rocketed 300 feet to the front of a restaurant. Firefighters had already evacuated the area. One firefighter had a cut to the face.
Amherst County investigators say a 1,000 gallon propane tank exploded, causing a massive fire in the Ambriar Shopping Center, near Amherst High School earlier this evening.
One firefighter was hurt, but not seriously.
Above is a still image from PhonePix’s video.
The blast knocked out electricity to Sweet Briar College, according to messages posted on the school’s Facebook and Twitter accounts. The college says Appalachian Power estimates power will be back on by morning.
Below is the long version of the video from PhonePix. The audio is muted.
EARLIER:
We now have two videos of the explosion that occurred around 9:00 tonight at a shopping center in Amherst, Virginia. There is a report of at least one firefighter hurt. The clip above was posted to YouTube by PhonePix. It has the following from the description with the video and indicates there had been a previous explosion involving propane:
The actual explosion happens at the 2:27 mark. A propane tank had exploded about 2 minutes prior to the video peaking our interest as we got into the car to see what happened. As we got closer we saw that the propane tank behind the Dollar General had exploded and there were police cars and fire trucks everywhere. We sat watching the fire for a little while when the unthinkable happened. A second explosion occurred throwing flames up hundreds of feet into the air. The concussion was so strong that it shook the car and made me feel like i had gotten punched in the chest.
The video below that also captured the blast and was posted to Facebook by Travis Fulcher.
Let’s give credit where credit is due on this. Some police officers in Richmond, Virginia were presented with a problem that many have seen before. But how many of you have tried this solution (it’s even better than my can of peas advice)?
They say cats always land on their feet, but two kitties stuck in a tree in Hillside Court recently were not about to find out. That’s when Richmond Police stepped in. First Precinct Officer Kelly Morley was flagged down by a resident who was concerned because the cats had been stuck in the tree for five days and they couldn’t get them down even with food. Officer Richard Chappell got the idea to stack a few city supercans as a way to help the cats down. Officers Brent Howlett and David Woods saw what he was doing and stopped to assist as well. The neighbors were so thankful for the officers’ kitty rescue and one of them took the cats in since they were strays and it was cold outside. Good work officers!
The big question in Portsmouth, Virginia, besides what impact Sandy will have on the city, is this: Is Don Horton is really gone this time?
Well, maybe the bigger question is this one: Why did the man in charge of emergency management make his exit at 7:00 Sunday morning with the hurricane churning just off-shore?
As we previously told you, Horton was fire chief in Portsmouth until July 24 when he suddenly turned in his resignation to return to Richmond due for what was described as a family matter. What wasn’t known to many local leaders and the public until September is that Horton remained on the payroll, apparently under the Family and Medical Leave act. A short time later he was seen back working for Portsmouth but, at first, city officials refused to tell reporters and local political leaders what that was all about.
After some pressure, the information was released that Don Horton was now in charge of emergency management, making $98,000 per year. It was a position that had not been in the city’s budget for some time.
One part of this drama that we missed is that City Manager Kenneth Chandler resigned last week, a day after members of the City Council demanded answers on this whole mess.
“I think the timing is particularly unfortunate,” Councilman Steve Heretick said, referring to the approaching hurricane. “With an emergency looming, he is no longer in place. Fortunately we have trained emergency management personnel who are filling in. I’m incredibly disappointed.”
Heretick confirmed that Horton resigned effective 7 a.m. Sunday. Heretick, along with Councilmen Bill Moody and Charles B. Whitehurst Sr., said they were told of the departure by the interim city manager, J. Brannon Godfrey Jr.
City Manager Ken Chandler then claimed Horton’s new job encompassed the job title of deputy fire chief. Councilman Bill Moody and other critics demanded answers from Chandler in two closed door executive council sessions, because the job was not in the city’s budget and was not advertised.
Chandler then offered his resignation Oct. 23 because he refused to put in writing what he told city council members on the circumstances surrounding re-hiring Horton. Chandler will be receiving nearly $192,000 in severance.
There is a strange little drama unfolding in Portsmouth, Virginia where the newspaper and some city leaders are trying to find out why Fire Chief Don Horton is back on the job after submitting his resignation on July 24. When he left it was explained to the Virginian-Pilot Horton was returning to Richmond because of a family medical issue.
Before resurfacing, a lot of questions had already come up last month about the chief when it was reported that Horton remained on the payroll after July 24. It was explained to the paper by City Manager Kenneth Chandler that the chief qualified for rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act, but City Councilman Bill Moody couldn’t get an answer.
Mayor Kenny Wright, when asked yesterday why the chief was back, referred questions to Chandler. Chandler is not talking.
Reading the article by Gary A. Harki and Patrick Wilson and looking at the various answers and non-answers from people, you have to wonder what is being hidden and how bad can it be that it is worth all the bad publicity and scrutiny that will come by trying to avoid the issue. Here’s more:
When asked about his status on Monday inside City Hall, Horton said he is employed by the city, but he declined to answer further questions.
“I find it somewhat intrusive to have this brought up in the media again and again, and I want to leave my health and my family’s health out of this,” he said in his first public comment since submitting his resignation. He then stepped into an elevator.
City spokeswoman Dana Woodson said she forwarded a request from The Pilot for Horton’s salary and job title but did not receive an answer. Virginia law requires that information to be public.
About a month after the events of September 11, 2001 I was asked by journalist Allison Gilbert to contribute my experiences at the Pentagon on that day to a book called Covering Catastrophe: Broadcast Journalists Report September 11. While I knew I was only one of many TV and radio reporters and anchors who would be contributing to the book, and Allison would only be using a couple of blurbs, it was an opportunity for me to write a chronology of the day and put a few thoughts down.
Below is that account. It is a view of September 11 through the eyes of a TV reporter who arrived on Washington Boulevard in front of the Pentagon helipad six-minutes after impact. YouTube has some of the TV coverage from that day broadcast by my colleagues at WUSA-TV in Washington. I have added those clips at the appropriate times.
I conclude with a postscript written 40-days after the attacks that looks at the public’s perception of firefighters following the sacrifice made by 343 members of the Fire Department of New York.
September 11, 2001
8:52 AM: Spending time with my son is always the best way to start the day. Sam, almost two years old, is eating his breakfast. I bring my toast into the den to sit with him. The television is on so we can do what we usually do in the morning, watch my wife, Hillary Howard, Sam’s mom, do the weather on WUSA-TV. Instead of the “Early Show” ending to make way for local news, I see the open to a “CBS News Special Report”. I turn the sound up, but don’t need Bryant Gumbel to tell me that something is very wrong at one of the World Trade Center towers. The thick, black smoke pouring out of many windows and from the roof makes it very clear this is a major disaster in the making. Gumbel says there is a report that a plane hit the building. Those words send me out of the room and upstairs to quickly finish getting dressed.
9:03 AM: I occasionally glance at the TV upstairs. A little slow to comprehend some of what it going on, it dawns on me that this appears to be a crystal clear day. I am starting to wonder if this plane crash is really an accident. As I think about calling the newsroom to suggest we might be dealing with a terrorist attack of some sort, any doubts I had are immediately erased. My head quickly turns toward to the TV as I hear a woman say to Byrant Gumbel, “Oh, there is another one! Another plane just hit! Oh, my gosh! Another plane has hit! Another building! Flew right into the middle of it. Explosion.”
It hit me instantly that our lives have suddenly changed.
9:05 AM: On the phone to the station, I talk to Dave Roberts, our news director. I am convinced that if the people who did this were organized enough to quickly hit two targets like the World Trade Center towers, Washington would be next. We decide I will head into town to start looking around for increased security measures and be ready if another attack occurs.
9:10 AM: No time for our normal goodbye ritual. I give Sam a quick kiss and hug. Sam says something about “Jay Jay”. “Jay Jay the Jet Plane”, Sam’s favorite TV show, comes on soon. Not knowing what he may have already seen on TV this morning, I tell him calmly that “Jay Jay” is having a bad day. With the uncertainty of what was ahead, I didn’t want to leave Sam. I knew, though, he was in good hands with Glenda, the woman who takes care of him while we are at work.
9:15 AM: Realizing my good friend, Dan Patrick, our night assignment manager, is probably asleep and has no idea what is going on, I wake him. Dan doesn’t believe me when I describe the events of the morning along with my concern that Washington is next. Certainly I would have thought this was one of his sick practical jokes if the situation were reversed. Hanging up, I’m not sure he is convinced that this is for real.
9:25 AM: My first stop, the State Department. I circle the block and notice some extra officers being deployed around the building. Other street activity appears normal. Checking out the Pentagon never enters my mind.
9:38 AM: East bound on Pennsylvania Avenue near the White House, I turn north on 17th Street. At that moment the scanners in my car come alive. On numerous police and fire radio frequencies, people are yelling that a plane hit the Pentagon. Making a fast U-turn, I see the smoke rising across the Potomac River. I get the assignment desk on the phone. It’s a bad connection. I yell into the phone, “Pentagon, Pentagon, Pentagon. Send everyone to the Pentagon. I should be there soon.”
I carefully bust a few lights on southbound 17th Street. Making a right turn, traffic is light on westbound Independence Avenue.
9:41 AM: Anchors Mike Buchanan and Andrea Roane break into CBS coverage to report that there has been an apparent plane crash at the Pentagon. They have distant, but clear pictures of the Pentagon ablaze from our rooftop camera in Rosslyn.
9:43 AM: There is also little traffic heading outbound on the Memorial Bridge. Across the river, I now have a distant view of the Pentagon. The very black smoke I am seeing is surely caused by the fuel, now burning, that was in the plane’s tanks. I call the control room to try and get on the air, but the call cuts out as the anchors lead to me.
9:44 AM: Somehow I end up on southbound Washington Boulevard directly in front of the Pentagon helipad. That is good news, but for the moment it does me no good because there is wireless gridlock. I am unable to get a phone call out.
9:46 AM: I have my home video camera out and on the tripod, rolling off a few shots. The phone still isn’t working.
9:48 AM: Walking down Washington Boulevard is Heather Cabot a recently hired reporter for WUSA. She tells me her phone isn’t getting out either. I ask her to take over my camera and I will work on trying to get a phone call to the station. Heather tells me she is with photographer Mike Trammel. I look back to see Trammel and put my camera away.
9:52 AM: Heather’s phone finally gets through. I describe the scene as firefighters from Ft. Meyer and National Airport put the first water and foam on the burning Pentagon. Some people are looking at the sky, making sure another plane isn’t approaching. I suggest to Heather, that it is probably a good idea for us to do the same. Amazingly traffic on northbound Washington Boulevard has not been blocked and drivers are just whizzing by the burning Pentagon as they head to work.
A familiar red van pulls a few feet past us. It is one of our microwave vans with Bruce Bookholtz at the wheel. I am a bit amazed that, with no communication, we all end up at the same spot.
We hear a number of small pops and explosions. I am guessing those are tires popping from the vehicles that were parked against the building and are now burning, or possibly some small canisters exploding. Among the vehicles on fire is the new crash/rescue fire truck, belonging to the Ft. Meyer Fire Department. It is stationed at the Pentagon and is routinely on hand for helicopter landings and takeoffs, in case of an emergency. It is a fire truck designed for just this rare event, a plane crash, and it can’t be used.
9:55 AM: Heather tells me to look down on the street around us. I was so intent on watching the burning Pentagon, I hadn’t noticed there are what appear to be small pieces from the airplane at my feet. I had already seen the large amount of debris scattered on the Pentagon lawn, but so far no piece is large enough to be easily identified as an airplane part.
9:57 AM: Our first live video is on the air. You see flames crawling up the familiar face of the Pentagon along with some of the first victims as they are carried away from the building.
9:59 AM: I am on the air with Michael Kelly, an eyewitness Heather pulled out of the crowd. Kelly was driving on nearby I-395 when he saw the plane take aim on the Pentagon.
10:00 AM: Anchor Andrea Roane interrupts me, “Dave, Dave, Dave. We want to break in, because we want to go back to New York, where Dan Rather is anchoring our coverage, where one of the towers at the World Trade Center has collapsed”.
These words stop me in my tracks for a moment. I have no TV monitor to see this for myself. Just Andrea’s words. It doesn’t compute in my brain. I had been a firefighter. I had studied high-rise firefighting. There had been a number of major high-rise fires throughout the world that burned for many hours. To my knowledge there had never been a catastrophic collapse of an entire building. This was just one of many things happening today that no one has ever had to deal with.
Knowing how aggressive New York firefighters are, I realize there must be scores of dead rescuers. The last pictures I saw out of New York were from an hour ago. Even then it was pretty apparent, from the amount of fire, that anyone at the impact points and above had little chance of survival.
10:05 AM: They come back to me for our first interview with someone who was in the Pentagon at the time of the attack. Two or three men on stretchers pass by us. It is our first close-up look at the injured and they are severely, if not critically burned over a good portion of their bodies. These victims are flown out by helicopter to a hospital burn unit. Their lives will never be the same.
10:10 AM: A Virginia State Trooper starts moving everyone back. There is concern another plane is coming toward the Pentagon. We don’t move.
10:15 AM: As they come back to our live shot, five floors suddenly collapse around the jet’s impact point. There is now a large gash on the west side of the Pentagon.
10:18 AM: People start running away from the Pentagon. This time, FBI agents are telling us another plane is just minutes out. They order us to move immediately. I am able to get in a few quick words, attempting to explain to Mike and Andrea what is happening, before the transmitter is turned off and the live truck’s mast starts coming down.
10:28 AM: We move just a short distance off Washington Boulevard and down the ramp to Columbia Pike. As Bruce tries to re-establish a signal, I hear through my earpiece that the second tower in New York has collapsed. I just can’t imagine what it going on in Manhattan. The death toll must be staggering. I recall my wife once telling me her grandfather hauled truckloads of steel used to build the Twin Towers. Now those buildings don’t exist.
10:32 AM: We are again feeding live pictures of the burning Pentagon.
10:36 AM: Witnesses are giving different descriptions of the plane that hit the building. Some say it is an American Airlines 757, while others believe it was a business jet. The fire is still burning out of control.
10:38 AM: Mike Buchanan asks me if I have seen any large pieces of an airplane at the scene. As I answer this question, he interrupts me,“Hold on Dave. Hold on just a second. We’ve got a bulletin from AP. A large plane has just crashed in Western Pennsylvania.”
Mike also reads an AP report about a car bomb going off at the State Department. We are just across the river from State and we didn’t hear an explosion.
10:42 AM: An F-16 makes a low pass near the Pentagon. That, along with the plane crash in Pennsylvania, makes me think there was something to the threats that forced us move away from the building. I notice a large group of people huddled under the Washington Boulevard overpass.
10:52 AM: A Lt. Colonel with Air Force Public Affairs passes our location. We snag him. He urges people to keep far away from the Pentagon. If you have loved ones you can’t account for, he asks that you not come to the Pentagon. He has no idea of the number of dead or injured. Not much in the way of information, but it is the first official word.
WUSA anchorman Gordon Peterson, who was originally sent to nearby National Airport for a flight to New York, arrives at our location.
10:54 AM: Mike and Andrea confirm there was no car bomb at the State Department. A little bit of good news.
11:06 AM: Gordon interviews Mike Walter, a television reporter for “USA Today Live”. Mike, on his way to work in Rosslyn, witnessed the Pentagon crash and offers the most vivid description so far.
11:10 AM: We are again ordered to move our live truck further away from the Pentagon.
11:31 AM: Our shot is back up. This time, from a hill in front of the Quick Mart. This Citgo, looks like a normal service station, but it is exclusively for use by military personnel.
11:39 AM: The fire is spreading. Suddenly there are flames showing in a number of windows far from the point of impact.
People again start moving quickly from the Pentagon. There is more talk of another hijacked plane heading our way.
11:52 AM: Again, more people rush from the Pentagon.
12:16 PM: I listen to Dan Patrick, with a phone report, describe his attempts to get from Northern Virginia to the TV station in Northwest Washington. Dan says he had to show identification to a police officer and explain his business in the city. Only then was he allowed to cross Key Bridge into Georgetown. The city is in lockdown.
12:18 PM: Gordon notices an ambulance convoy from the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad pull up along Columbia Pike. It was a repeat of a scene I had witnessed, just on the other side of the Pentagon, almost 20 years earlier. The same Maryland squad sent a similar contingent after Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into the 14th Street Bridge on January 13th, 1982.
12:20 PM: If I am not convinced how much turmoil there is in the country from these attacks, this does it. Mike and Andrea announce Disney World is being evacuated.
12:28 PM: A Navy public affairs officer officially confirms what has been painfully obvious. Besides the dead on the aircraft, Pentagon workers are dead inside the building. He has no idea how many people didn’t get out.
12:32 PM: Talking on the air with Mike and Andrea, it still isn’t clear which of the four hijacked jets smashed into the Pentagon. Right now, American Airlines believes the hijacked flight from Dulles crashed into one of the towers in New York.
Police move everyone, including the news media, off the hillside. Bruce pulls the truck around to the other end of the service station lot. This fourth move winds up being our last. It becomes home for the better part of two weeks.
1:19 PM: The first official briefing from the Pentagon. Rear Admiral Craig Quigley, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, announces that this was “a full assault on the United States of America”. The admiral says there was no way to prepare for an attack like this. I am shaking my head at the fact that the spokesman for the military headquarters of the United States of America is forced to talk to the world from a service station parking lot.
1:30 PM: CNN Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre joins me on the air for a few minutes. Our first time working together was at WTOP radio, 20 years ago, covering the Air Florida plane crash. Jamie says they always anticipated a terrorist attack at the Pentagon, but figured it would be on the other side of the building where all the top brass is located.
Off camera, Jamie tells me that just yesterday his son’s class in middle school had a discussion about the bombing in Oklahoma City. Jamie’s son told the class he always worries about his dad being hurt by an attack like this, because his dad works at the Pentagon. Jamie tried getting word to the school to let his son know he was okay.
1:50 PM: Andrea announces that the Urban Search and Rescue Team from Fairfax County, known as Virginia Task Force 1, has been activated and will be at the Pentagon shortly.
American Airlines now says they aren’t sure where Flight 77 ended up.
WUSA-TV’s Mike Trammel’s shot of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (third from the right) helping carry one of the injured from the Pentagon to a waiting ambulance.
1:56 PM: Admiral Quigley sets the tone for his second briefing by saying “you are going to have a lot more questions than I have answers.” Quigley doesn’t have an answer to the one question all of us are asking. He can only say, “we know there are casualties.”
He tells us Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was among the Pentagon workers hurrying from the building after the explosion. Rumsfeld helped the injured for about 15 minutes, getting several people onto stretchers. Then he went back inside to the National Military Command Center. The command center is reportedly smoky, but not damaged. (NOTE: Approaching the one-year anniversary of the attack, CNN’s Vito Maggiolo contacted me after looking at the raw video from September 11 shot by WUSA-TV photojournalist Mike Trammel. While many people had viewed that video, and all of it played out in front my own eyes, Vito was the only person to notice that one of the men carrying a stretcher with one of the first victims removed from the Pentagon was Secretary Rumsfeld.)
2:10 PM: Virginia Task Force 1 arrives. Normally Fairfax County’s Urban Search and Rescue Team is sent to some far off land by way of military transport. This time it was just a quick drive down Interstate 66 to the county on its eastern border.
2:23 PM: WUSA Photographer Greg Guise is able to provide some details surrounding the hijacked jet that went down in Pennsylvania. Greg grew up a few miles from the crash site and has business interests in the community. Greg relays a description of the scene from a radio engineer friend in Somerset County.
2:43 PM: For the past few hours we’ve seen no ambulances leave the area with lights and siren. We’re pretty certain that anyone alive is already being treated. Now reporter Jennifer Ryan, at the Virginia Hospital Center, confirms no more victims are expected from the Pentagon.
2:49 PM: Mike and Andrea report it’s now fairly clear the plane wreckage at the Pentagon is from American Airlines Flight 77 out of Dulles.
2:55 PM: Rear Admiral Stephen Pietropaoli, U.S. Navy Office of Information, tells us that in the recently renovated wedge of the Pentagon, where the attack occurred, there is blast resistant glass on the windows. In the days to come we hear from many who believe that this very expensive glass saved lives.
3:53 PM: Now briefing us at the Citgo press center, Pentagon spokeswoman Torie Clark and Defense Protective Service Chief John Jester. Jester tells us the impact from the jet extends through to the C ring, the middle of the 5 rings of the Pentagon. All we see from our location, is that a portion of the E ring, the outer most portion of the Pentagon, has crumbled.
Clark admits she can’t confirm that all members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are accounted for. That news is a bit unsettling. We also hear about a Navy captain who burned his hands rescuing others. Clark says that man is already back from the hospital and wants to be put to work again, helping at the Pentagon.
4:12 PM: Rumors have been spreading that the U.S. military brought down the hijacked plane in Pennsylvania. Rear Admiral Craig Quigley says, “That didn’t happen. I cannot explain to you the cause of the crash of the airplane near Pittsburgh, but it was not engagement by a U.S. fighter aircraft.”
The Pentagon now confirms all the Joint Chiefs are accounted for.
4:54 PM: The second Urban Search and Rescue Team arrives. This one is from Montgomery County, Maryland.
5:04 PM: I see International Association of Firefighters General President, Harold Schaitberger and his press person, George Burke arrive at the Citgo. I grab Harold for a live interview. Harold has been in close touch with his people in New York. We learn for the first time that more than 200 New York firefighters probably perished when the towers collapsed. He calls firefighters “our domestic soldiers”. Schaitberger says the civilian death toll will be in the thousands. Off camera he lets me know that much of FDNY’s command staff was lost, including the Chief of the Department and the head of Special Operations.
5:36 PM: Harold Schaitberger joins me again with the story of two Ft. Meyer firefighters who were at the Pentagon when the crash occurred. They were standing near the fire truck we saw burning this morning. Both men were knocked down and injured by the force of the crash. They helped rescue a group of people through some of the office windows, before the firefighters themselves were hospitalized.
6:42 PM: Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfield briefs the press. For the first time since the crash, the press conference is held inside the Pentagon. I watch it from our van. Pushed for a body count, Rumsfeld says, “It will not be a few”. The Pentagon “will be in business tomorrow”.
8:45 PM: New information has been slow in coming, but marching up Columbia Pike with the television lights reflecting off his orange vest is a member of Montgomery County’s Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) Team. Captain Scott Graham gives us the first solid information about the fire and rescue efforts. Scott becomes a lifeline for information in the days to come.
Despite the large fire still burning, Graham says the USAR team members are always optimistic about finding people alive. He says, “We have to look at it as a rescue effort for us. We have to look at it as a very unstable building. And our job, pretty much, is to take the name of the Pentagon off the outside of it and go in and rescue the people that are in there”.
9:52 PM: Another familiar face shows up at the Citgo. Ed Plaugher is the fire chief of Arlington County. The Pentagon is in Arlington County, Virginia and Chief Plaugher is the man in charge of the fire and rescue operations. None of the other reporters nearby seem to know who Plaugher is, or if they do, they don’t care. Ed joins me live at 10:00 PM with the first solid news about the loss of life at the Pentagon. There are no figures as of yet, but the Pentagon has given him a range to work with. Plaugher says it is believed that anywhere from 100 to 800 people work in the area where the impact occurred. While that is fairly large range, it lets us know that the death toll will likely be in the hundreds at the Pentagon, as compared to the thousands presumed dead in New York. Plaugher’s guess is, when it is over, the number at the Pentagon will be in the low hundreds.
Plaugher later receives some heat when his statements are taken out of context. Some news reports claim Plaugher estimated the death toll at 800. Days later we learn that 125 were killed on the ground and 64 perished aboard Flight 77.
On another topic Chief Plaugher says, “To be honest with you, we always were afraid of the Pentagon as being a target, but never in our wildest dreams to this extent. I am still in disbelief.”
11:03 PM: Fire has broken through in at least four places along the Pentagon roof. Chief Plaugher says aggressive interior firefighting operations will cease until daylight. But, crews overnight, will continue to pour in water from the outside to keep the fire from spreading further.
I relay a phone conversation with Scott Graham a few minutes before our 11:00 PM newscast. Scott and most of the USAR team members from Montgomery and Fairfax Counties worked very closely with Deputy Chief Ray Downey from the Fire Department of New York. Downey, commander of FDNY’s Special Operations, is unaccounted for after the towers collapsed. Scott says Downey commanded all the USAR teams in Oklahoma City after the bombing there. He says Downey wrote the book on urban search and rescue. Skills Downey taught will be utilized in New York and Arlington by hundreds of rescuers in the difficult days to come. His voice cracking, Scott tells me, “We lost a damn good man”.
We lost a lot of good men and women today.
October 27, 2001
11:15 PM: As I am looking back at September 11th, I have just spent a week covering the deaths of two Washington, D.C. postal workers, from inhalation anthrax. Others are hospitalized because of anthrax that was sent through the U.S. Mail. No one knows how this story will play out.
There is a lot of uncertainty since September 11th. Our war efforts, our security in public places, our ability to travel safely by air, our economic future. Like all parents, Hillary and I worry over what this will mean for our young son.
This much I’m sure of. Through the thick smoke hanging over New York and Washington, it became clear that some remarkable people walk among us.
Some are just ordinary citizens who put other people’s lives ahead of their own. Staying behind, trying to make sure everyone gets out.
Others are paid to protect us. But I don’t think anyone believes for a moment that a police officer, paramedic or firefighter’s modest salary is enough to encourage someone to walk into the places that these men and women did on September 11th. It takes much more than money. It takes heart, and courage, and a belief you can make a difference.
I know firefighters the best. Six years in a busy volunteer company during my youth, and almost 30 years making the fire service my beat as a reporter, have given me some perspective.
In many big cities, including our Nation’s Capital, the fire departments have long taken a back seat when it comes to funding. Citizens who can tell you how many times the police patrol car comes down their block, or how many officers are walking the beat, have no idea how many firefighters are on duty in the neighborhood fire station. Political leaders know this to be true and through the years have made drastic cuts in fire protection, often without protest from the public.
Through the years, I have reported many stories where citizens and firefighters have died because of these cuts. Just last week an understaffed ladder company became an issue in Houston, Texas, after a fire captain died in a high-rise apartment building fire.
Firefighters are can-do people. Their skills at making things work under adversity often hides from the public the shortcomings in their staffing, equipment and facilities.
Some of the good that has come from the sacrifices made by the 343 members of FDNY who died on September 11th, is the recognition, by the public, of what firefighters really do.
A recent trip to Arlington County Fire Station #2 brought this home. The firehouse is covered with cards and letters from all over the world. Many are from school children, with drawings of the firefighters in action at the Pentagon and World Trade Center. All say thanks.
Veterans of more than 20 years in the fire service are astounded by the reaction these days as they drive through local streets. People stop and wave. When the firefighters walk into a building in uniform, they are applauded.
On October 7th, I was at the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Just two hours before military action in Afghanistan began, President Bush told the stories of some of the 99 domestic soldiers who died in the line of duty in the United States last year. I watched as spouses and children received a flag and a red rose, and heard a bell toll in honor of their loved one, our hero.
I have forced myself on most days since September 11th to read the New York Post, Daily News and Times and the accounts of the daily funerals of New York firefighters. It is difficult to read about the pain their wives and children are going through. It is the least, though, that we can do. It is important to remember this unbelievable sacrifice.
My hope is that people all over the United States are paying very close attention to these same stories of heroism. My hope is that they don’t forget these stories when someone is trying to save a little money and close down their local firehouse.
Right now when Sam sees a fire truck he says, “Evan”. “Revvin’ Evan” is the animated fire engine on that “Jay Jay the Jet Plane” cartoon show he loves. When Sam is old enough, I will make sure he knows a lot more about firefighters. I will make sure Sam understands exactly who those people were climbing up the clogged, smoke filled, stairways, as he sat in his high chair, watching the first pictures transmitted from New York, at 8:52 AM, on September 11th, 2001.
So, what do you think of this? InsideNova.com’s Aileeen Strong reports Dumfries-Triangle Rescue Squad (Prince William County) Chief C. Derek Ester has told members they are not to drive squad vehicles to JoJo’s Original Soft Serve or patronize the place while in uniform. This is not an attempt to watch the waist line of the squad’s members but apparently the chief’s concerns about the department’s image.
Former Dumfries police officer Joseph Ruhren, who owns JoJo’s, was arrested in March and indicted in early August after a 27-year-old man told police that Ruhren sexually abused him. That man says he was 12-years-old when the abuse started. A trial is scheduled for next March.
Reporter Strong says the paper and local officials received a copy of memo from Chief Ester dated last Wednesday
“This policy shall remain in effect for the pendency of the legal proceedings involving the owner,” wrote Dumfries-Triangle Rescue Squad Chief C. Derek Ester in an internal memo to squad members.
Ester could not be reached Friday for comment.
Ruhren has denied the allegations and maintains his innocence.
This is from a two-alarm house fire yesterday evening in Fairfax County, Virginia. The fire was reported at 7:47 PM in the 6600 block of Forsythia Street in Springfield.
At about 6:35 in the recording (from radioreference.com via firefighterdispatch) Engine 405 reported to command, “From what I can see, Baker quadrant, number two floor, floor is unstable”. Command announced that message to the fireground with the report that the ”bulk of the fire is knocked down”. The mayday is the very next series of transmissions starting at 7:23 in the recording as a firefighter with Truck 405 reported his officer fell through the third floor and was either on the second floor or first floor. Rescue Squad 426 quickly reported they have the downed firefighter and were bringing him to the front door.
Battalion Chief Richard Roatch confirmed that a firefighter was in the home battling the blaze when he was injured. The firefighter was sent to the hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening. The cost of damage to the home is unclear at this time.
Emergency officials in Accomack County say a volunteer firefighter for the Bloxom Volunter Fire Company died Monday during a single-vehicle crash involving a fire engine.
The identity of the firefighter has not yet been released.
A fire ripped through and destroyed a home on Whittaker’s Lake Road late Monday night.
We’re told that the fire broke out at about 11:00 PM and rekindled later Tuesday morning. Firefighters from numerous companies were on scene for hours fighting the blaze.
Leesburg Today reports that at a press conference this evening in Middleburg, Virginia it was disclosed that a criminal investigation, still ongoing, has determined that close to $500,000 in funds are missing from the Middleburg Volunteer Fire Department. According to the paper’s website, a statement from attorney Ed MacMahon Jr. indicates the money was embezzled over the last three years by Paul Draisey the department’s treasurer. MacMahon is representing the fire department. Draisey committed suicide on April 16. Draisey was also a long time radio personality in Loudoun County.
The money lost includes donations and funds from both the Town of Middleburg and Loudoun County.
The county government will be conducting an audit of the fire department. The results of that audit will be made public at the “first available date,” MacMahon said, but he added there is no indication when that would be.
The board of the volunteer company is hopeful that it can recoup “some, if not all, of these losses” through insurance policies that were already in place, MacMahon said.
News coverage can be found here and here (the second article has a good aerial shot showing which homes were lost).
The pre-arrival video above is from a kid who lives in the neighborhood in Chesapeake, Virginia where five single-family homes were destroyed by a fire on April 12. This video and Part Two, at the bottom of this page, were posted yesterday to YouTube.
The clip in the center is another neighbor’s early video shot just after the arrival of the first engine and truck in the 600 block of Sweet Leaf Place.
While I have gone through a lot, but not all of the coverage, what I couldn’t find was any real outrage that five homes were lost just like that. Except for one article, there was no mention that the construction of the houses may have been a contributing factor in such a loss.
I know it was a windy day, but I don’t recall seeing many fires like this one 35-years-ago. Now they seem to happen all of the time in similarly built neighborhoods. In fact I’ve seen quite a few all over the Commonwealth of Virginia. Funny how you don’t see this happen in the older neighborhoods that were built before lightweight construction.
But what am I saying? I am so sorry for even bringing that up. Clearly I am being unpatriotic (once again). Let me explain.
According to the people who build these homes, when you look at these videos, what you really are looking at is the cost of freedom. It’s a sacrifice these homeowners made so you and I can live free.
If the government required residential sprinklers, better home separation and fire barriers on the outside wall assemblies, that would be un-American. Remember, it should be every homeowners right to have a fire start in their home and then spread to their neighbor’s homes two and three doors away. It’s right up there with mom and apple pie.
I think the home builders lobbyists in Washington and their affiliates all over this great land should start putting up American flags in front of the shells of houses that were lost like these as a way to remind us of this important freedom they hold so dear. Don’t forget, the home builders are fighting hard for you and me and especially the nation’s firefighters.
The building lobby, after losing the battle for one of our freedoms four decades ago, when smoke alarms were added to the code said, “Never again”. And they have fought valiantly and bravely to protect us ever since. We know they know what’s best for us.
So, from the reaction to this fire, I guess, the indoctrination is complete. We now just accept disposable homes as a way of life. Silly me. What was there really to be outraged about? What was I thinking?
This is from a house fire yesterday afternoon at 4716 Helensburgh Drive in the Dunedin neighborhood of Chesapeake, Virginia. No injuries were reported. Click here for some more details.
Five-years-ago April 16 also fell on a Monday and the week started off with some very bad news. Shortly after breakfast, word started coming in from a number of sources that a firefighter had been killed in a house fire in Prince William County, Virginia. Of course it was a big news event in the area and my job was to try and confirm some information about the fire for our morning news broadcasts while WUSA-TV, the station I worked for and our competitors began sending news crews to the fire scene.
This fire occurred a little less than three weeks before the birth of STATter911.com, but even without the blog, covering the fire service in the Washington, DC area was part of my beat as a TV reporter. I was able to get some preliminary information, confirmed from various sources, including career and volunteer firefighters in Prince William County. As I finished getting dressed for work it was obvious where I would soon be headed and what my news story would be for the day, and probably days to come. But I never got there and the large majority of the news crews already at 15492 Marsh Overlook Drive were suddenly told by their editors and assignment desks to leave the scene of the fire.
Most were told to head toward the southwestern portion of Virginia, to the town of Blacksburg, as word started filtering in of a double shooting at West Ambler Johnston Hall at Virginia Tech. It had occurred about an hour after the fire was reported on Marsh Overlook Drive. Then two hours later there was more gunfire on campus at Norris Hall. In the hours to come the number of dead and wounded would climb to become the deadliest massacre by a single gunman in U.S. History.
But back at Marsh Overlook Drive, Technician I Kyle Robert Wilson was dead and for the most part there was barely a mention in the local news. Even though I, as much as anyone, understand why it was that way, it is something that always bothered me and still does. In my on-air role during the week, reviewing Internet and social media sources of Virginia Tech news and videos, I found a few opportunities to remind people that a firefighter also had died. It was far from adequate as far as I was concerned.
So that is why I want to make an extra effort to ask you to remember Kyle Wilson and his family tomorrow on the fifth anniversary of his death. It will once again, and unfortunately always, be overshadowed by another important and tragic anniversary. But as we know that does not diminish the sacrifice made by this young firefighter and the loss felt by his family and friends.
Above is fireground audio from today’s jet crash in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Below is more early video showing forcible entry by police officers and firefighters as they perform searches in units adjacent to the fire.
We were on the road today, out of position, unable to post, when we got word from one of our former TV colleagues that an F/A-18D fighter jet crashed into an apartment complex in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Firegeezer.com and FirefighterNation.com have earlier coverage. On this page are various videos from YouTube, including pre-arrival video taken by those nearby.
AP:
Two Navy pilots ejected from a fighter jet Friday, sending the unmanned plane careening into a Virginia Beach apartment complex and tearing the roof off at least one building that was engulfed in flames, officials said.
Six people, including both pilots, were taken to hospitals, officials said. The Navy said both aviators on board the jet ejected before it crashed around noon and were being taken to hospitals for observation .
Bruce Nedelka, the Virginia Beach EMS division chief, said that witnesses saw fuel being dumped from the jet before it went down, and that fuel was found on buildings and vehicles in the area.
“By doing so, he mitigated what could have been an absolute massive, massive fireball and fire,” Nedelka said. “With all of that jet fuel dumped, it was much less than what it could have been.”
The crash happened in the Hampton Roads area, which has a large concentration of military bases, including Naval Station Norfolk, the largest naval base in the world. Naval Air Station Oceana, where the F/A-18D that crashed was assigned, is located in Virginia Beach.
Three buildings were destroyed, and two more had significant damage, Virginia Beach fire department spokesman Tim Riley told WVEC-TV.
The fire had been put out, Nedelka said, and now crews were going through the buildings to search for anyone who may have been inside.
The Henry County fire marshal’s office has started its investigation into what caused the massive blaze at the old Bassett Furniture Superior Lines yard.
Investigators believe the fire started in an old building that was one of several on the property being demolished.
Officials estimated firefighters poured 500,000 gallons of water on the fire Thursday night and into Friday morning.
The fire happened right beside the rubble of a November fire at the Bassett Warehouse that was ruled arson. Billows of smoke surrounded the scene Friday. But when crews were called out Thursday, they say much of the vacant building was consumed by flames. Eyewitnesses reported seeing smoke from almost twenty miles away. This was a demolition site already because of that previous fire, and for months, crews have been removing rubble from the site.
On Monday evening the remains of Capt. Michael Quin, USMC will be escorted from Reagan National Airport to Purcellville, Virginia. Capt. Quin was one of seven Marines killed on February 22 when two helicopters collided in Arizona. His father, Brad Quin, is a member of the Purcellville VFC. The department is assisting the Quin family with logistics and meals.
Chris Horan at Purcellville VFC contacted us with the information below in case there are firefighters or others who would like to pay their respects along the route on Monday.
If you need more information you can contact Chief Bob Dryden at bdryden@purcellvilleva.gov.
Captain Michael Quin, USMC, of Purcellville Virginia, lost his life in the crash of his UH-1 “Huey” Helicopter on Feb 22nd 2012. We invite the citizens of Purcellville and all of Loudoun County to join us in honoring Capt. Michael Quin upon his return on Monday March 12th. The time of his exact arrival in Purcellville will vary between 8:30PM and 9:30PM. The procession will travel from Reagan National Airport to Purcellville traveling the Dulles Toll Road, to West on Rt.7, South on Berlin Turnpike, Right on Hirst Rd., Left on N. Maple Ave., Right on E. Main Street, to Nursery Ave. to Hall’s Funeral Home.
Everyone interested in paying their respects are asked to line the sidewalk along North Maple Avenue in addition to East Main Street between Maple Ave. and Nursery Ave. Members of the Purcellville Vol. Fire Co. and personnel from the Loudoun County Dept. of Fire & Rescue will be located at 200 North Maple Ave. to pay their respects.
There will be a public visitation on Tuesday March 20th between 12:00PM and 5:00PM at the Purcellville Baptist Church at 601 Yaxley Dr. and a Celebration of Life at the Purcellville Tabernacle at 250 South Nursery Ave. between 6:00PM and 8:00PM. Capt. Quin will be laid to rest on March 21st at Arlington National Cemetery..
The picture above is from Elliot J. Goodman from yesterday's funeral for Paramedic Joshua Weissman of the Alexandria Fire Department. Below is some of the television news coverage.
The funeral service for Alexandria Fire Department Paramedic Joshua Weissman is scheduled for 1:00 PM Eastern time. WUSA9.com is scheduled to stream it live on the player above. As a backup, Beth El Hebrew Congregation, where the service is being held, has its own live streaming here.
Paramedic Weissman died last week from injuries he received after falling off an I-395 bridge while operating at a car fire.
Below is video from last night's visitation in Alexandria.
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