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Old video of the day: Actually not that old. June 21, 2005. This is the 5-alarm Piquette fire in Detroit. This building first housed a number of automobile companies, including Studebaker. Read more about the fire.
Rosenbaum lawsuit dropped
Marcus Rosenbaum announced this morning that the family of former New York Times reporter David Rosenbaum is officially dropping the lawsuit against the District of Columbia. The family believes the city has lived up to its promise to move toward solving long standing issues with the city’s ambulance service. But both the mayor and the Rosenbaums say there is a lot more to do.
Social halls are latest battleground between PGFD and volunteers
This piece of paper, signed by a PGFD fire inspector, is a correction order to shut down a birthday party held at the social hall/meeting room at Station 855 on Saturday. It is the latest in a series of correction orders issued at stations across the county preventing certain functions from being held.
It is a bit of a complicated issue that also involves the Prince George’s County Department of Environmental Resources. But what it boils down to is this. The volunteers believe the county is stopping its ability to raise money. The PGFD has expressed concern about safety at the fire stations. There have been some violent incidents at some of the functions held inside the social halls.
The issue at Station 855 is more complicated because it has operated for years under a temporary Use and Occupancy Permit. This revolves around a years long dispute between Prince George’s County and the contractor who built the station. The U and O was cited in the above correction order as one reason for shutting down the birthday party.
We have contacted PGFD for comments on this issue. Chief Spokesman Mark Brady says they will consider responding when they know details of specific allegations from the press conference.
Baltimore cuts safety officer at training academy
An independent safety officer put in place after the death of a recruit during a training exercise in Baltimore City last year has been axed due to budget restraints. Annie Linskey, who has covered this issue since Racheal Wilson’s death last February, has the story in today’s Baltimore Sun. Here are excerpts:
Department officials said there are five instructors at the academy who are certified to act as safety officers to monitor training exercises.
But all are within the training academy’s chain of command; the reassigned safety officer had answered to an outside commander, giving him an independent voice that state workplace regulators had agreed was important for ensuring that rules are enforced.
Acting Fire Chief Gregory B. Ward said yesterday that the personnel shift is an expression of confidence in the training academy staff — which was overhauled after the exercise that killed Racheal M. Wilson on Feb. 9, 2007. Increased training and oversight have “led me to be comfortable enough that the academy can handle safety on their own,” he said. “I’m real comfortable with where safety is now.”
Leaders of the two fire unions, which are beginning contract negotiations this week with the city, reacted with outrage and cynicism. Some members said the move proves that the city is not willing to pay for adequate safety; others suggested that the changes were done for show in the first place and not really needed.
“They flooded the academy with staff to get all of the regulators off their back,” said Bob Sledgeski, the secretary and treasurer of the firefighters union. “Now that things have quieted down there, they are slowly eroding the staffing out there and putting people at risk all over again.”
Medic charged
2-11 in Chicago
No pot of gold. Just a lot of hard work Tuesday at this 3-story apartment building on Chicago’s South Side. The photo above from the Tribune’s Scott Strazzante. Read the story. Watch the video.
Car fire with explosions
As car fires go this one from Lausanne, Switzerland early Wednesday seems somewhat interesting. A couple of small blasts and a bit of a stubborn fire for such a small vehicle.
Train fire
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Don’t know where or when
