School bus wreck tests medical bus; Chief Jim Clack comes east; DC medics to be tested; Foam for green fuels; FF trapped in Queens
(Updated at 1:58 PM)
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Old video of the day: From July 14, 1971 the aftermath of a 7-alarm fire in Philadelphia. It was at 2021 Naudain Street, a 4-story vacant building that had been a lamp company. The film is by Norm “Doc” Zaffater whose films from Shreveport and New Orleans we’ve run before. More at Signal51group.com.
MD school bus wreck is first test for another bus
Watch reports from 9NEWS NOW at noon
Photos from Firehouse Guy on thewatchdesk.com. Click here to see more.
On Riverdale Road near 61st Place in Prince George’s County, a school bus overturned around 9:00 this morning. Police believe the bus hit a curb before coming to rest on its side. The most seriously injured is the bus driver who was taken to the trauma unit at Prince George Hospital Center in Cheverly. More than 40 students on the bus were transported to two area hospitals. All have relatively minor injuries. They were headed to William Wirt Middle School in the Riverdale area.
Prince George’s County Police said the bus driver was going to fast to make the turn at the intersection.
Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department Chief Spokesman Mark Brady said this was the first use of MAB 855 (seen below), the mobile ambulance bus housed at the Bunker Hill Station. The unit had been dispatched before, but this was its first transport since being acquired by Federal Homeland Security money early last summer.
Twenty-two students, many who had been boarded and collared, were taken by the emergency bus to Prince George’s Hospital Center. Four students and the bus driver went by ALS and BLS units. Another school bus took the rest of the students to Doctors Hospital in Lanham for check-ups.
Brady tells STATter 911 he was quite impressed by a large number of police officers and sheriff’s deputies he observed helping to tend to the students.
Read more about mass casualty buses in an August, 2007 column by Jim Featherstone on FireGeezer.com
New chief for Baltimore
From Firehouse.com
Minneapolis Fire Chief Jim Clack has been picked as Baltimore’s new fire chief. Chief Clack was highly praised for his handling of the I-35 W bridge collapse. Here are excerpts from the Baltimore Sun report:
“He comes to Baltimore with an outstanding reputation in the business of firefighting and the business of running a fire department,” said Sterling Clifford, a spokesman for the mayor.
Clack will start in April. His compensation package has not yet been finalized, Clifford said. Clack will take over for acting fire chief Gregory B. Ward, who has held the position since November when William J. Goodwin Jr. resigned. Forty people applied for the job.
“I will always consider Minneapolis my home, but this is a tremendous professional opportunity and something that I could not pass up,” Clack said in a statement released by Minneapolis officials Tuesday. “I take great pride in the Minneapolis fire department and in the professionalism, courage and commitment to public service that each member of the department shows on the job every day.”
Richard “Rick” G. Schluderberg, the president of Baltimore Fire Fighters Local 734, said Tuesday that he knows little about the new chief.
“I don’t think I want to burn down a bridge before I build one,” he said in withholding an opinion.
Schluderberg said he was not surprised that the mayor picked an external candidate for the job.
“I can certainly understand going outside in light of what happened to our department over the past year and a half, so let’s give the man a chance,” he said.
DC to test medics
The District of Columbia Fire & EMS Department plans to test the competency of all its medics. The Washington Times has the story:
The D.C. fire department next month will test all of its 250 paramedics for competency in administering advanced life support, the agency’s medical director said.
The testing, which will be performed independently by the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute, is expected to lead to retraining of some paramedics while some others could be reassigned to positions with fewer responsibilities, said Dr. Michael D. Williams, chief medical officer for the fire department.
“I expect there will be people that fail this process,” Dr. Williams said yesterday. “And I think I will be saying, ‘You’re really not functioning as a paramedic, so we’re going to pull you out.’ “
Dr. Williams said the policy could create difficulties for the department official who assigns crews to ambulances, but “my obligation sort of trumps his on this one.”
“I’ve really got to make sure that we don’t let somebody out there that isn’t functioning at that level.”
Houston firefighter handles fire at his own home
A dryer fire apparently caused the fire at a home of a Houston firefighter. The firefighter and his two sons got out safely. Watch the story here.
Nebraska bill would mandate career chief
This is an Associated Press article from Nebraska (note: this is AP’s language about the bill):
All cities with more than 20,000 people would have to hire professional fire chiefs under a bill (LB1096) scheduled to be debated by the state Legislature.
Some cities have all-volunteer forces without full-time chiefs. Professional firefighters have said that puts residents at risk because volunteers often don’t have the ti
me or know-how to competently manage departments.
The bill from Senator Mike Friend of Omaha also would authorize the governments of cities and villages to audit the trust funds of their local volunteer fire departments.
FF saves FF in Queens
One firefighter is being treated in the hospital for burns on his neck, ears and hands after being trapped in a burning home Tuesday. The firefighter who saved him was treated at the scene. The New York Daily News has the story:
A Queens firefighter rescued his fellow Bravest from a burning house early Tuesday – and then jumped to safety from a second-floor window just seconds before the bedroom was engulfed in flames.
“As soon as they bailed out, the room lit up,” FDNY Battalion Chief Patrick Ginty said of the 3:30 a.m. heroics at the two-alarm fire in Richmond Hill.
Firefighter Robert Grover of Engine 143 became trapped on the second floor of the cluttered 114th St. house as he searched for residents he believed were still inside.
When Grover couldn’t escape the flames, Firefighter Anthony Romano of Engine 142 (Note: sources in the know say it is actually Ladder 142) climbed a ladder to the rear bedroom to save him, officials said.
Romano ducked in through a window, found Grover in the bedroom and helped him back to the window. The pair then jumped to the ground about 20 feet below, Ginty said.
“They tumbled off of the roof and [then] fell about 10 feet,” said Ginty, his face smeared with soot. “They did a great job.”
Firefighters also rescued the 74-year-old homeowner, Robert Fuchs, who was sleeping in the burning house.
See story from WCBS-TV
Foam issues
The fire service has know for some time about the need for alcohol-resistant foam when fighting ethanol fires. But does everyone have that capability. We first talked about it last summer, now the AP takes a closer look:
The nation’s drive to use more alternative fuel carries a danger many communities have been slow to recognize: Ethanol fires are harder to put out than gasoline ones and require a special type of firefighting foam.
Many fire departments around the country don’t have the foam, don’t have enough of it, or are not well-trained in how to apply it, firefighting experts say. It is also more expensive than conventional foam.
“It is not unusual to find a fire department that is still just prepared to deal with traditional flammable liquids,” said Ed Plaugher, director of national programs for the International Association of Fire Chiefs.
See Montgomery County, MD’s training bulletin from last May
Another angle from Peabody
This is a third camera angle of the firefighter in distress in Peabody, MA.
Where they still ride the back step
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A fire Monday at a market in Mandalay, Myanmar. Read more.
NJ house fire
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From Bound Brook on Monday evening.
OK high-rise plan
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Oklahoma City TV station looks at a new high-rise plan.
