Cyanide call sends 13 to hospital; Attorney doesn’t want FF axed; PA oil tanker; Strip mall in MA; TN photo shop fire; Explaning the process
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Video of the day: An EMS Storybook from the world of Steve Berry and John Dillon. See more at iamnotanambulancedriver.com.
Train wreck in MA
Since about 5:00 fire and rescue crews in Canton, MA have been on the scene of a communter train that was apparently hit by a runaway freight car. Here is what WBZ-TV is reporting so far:
Several people were injured after a single box car collided with a commuter train in Canton Tuesday evening.
The accident happened on the Providence/Stoughton line.
According to MBTA officials, the box car rolled onto the main line and hit the train, which was traveling outbound toward Stoughton.
Officials say the commuter train was not moving at the time of the accident.
Suicide sends 13 to the hospital in DC
Picture from Alan Etter, DC Fire & EMS Department
A vial labeled cyanide was found next to a suicide victim in the 4300 block of 36th Street, NW Monday afternoon. This prompted a hazmat response and sent 13 people to the hospital as a precaution. They include 11 firefighters, a police officer and a neighbor. Read more.
Here is the press release from DC Fire & EMS:
When units responded to assist MPD for what was reported to be a suicide Monday afternoon, they could not imagine the call would evolve into a massive HazMat response that would end with 13 people hospitalized for observation.
Engine 20 and Ambulance 20 responded at 4:40 PM to assist on the scene of an apparent suicide in the 4300 block of 36th Street, Northwest. Firefighters found an obviously deceased male, but the means were unclear. While they were on the scene, police uncovered information that a dangerous substance might be in the two-story single family home. Police then summoned – through Special Operations – a hazardous materials response to investigate.
HazMat did discover the presence of a dangerous and potentially lethal substance in the home. Because of the on-going police investigation, the identity of the substance cannot be specified at this time. But officials were certain the community was never in any danger, and the substance was contained to the house. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will conduct an autopsy to determine how the man died.
Because several Fire & EMS employees were initially exposed to the material, they were all transported for observation only. No other civilians were injured. A female civilian and a police officer were also transported for evaluation.
Lawyer doesn’t want CT FF charged or fired
New Haven Firefighter Matt Kennedy posted bail that was increased to $50,000 on Monday. Kennedy was arrested Friday night.
We first told you about Firefighter Kennedy yesterday. He is accused of jumping out of a moving ambulance to confront his wife and her divorce lawyer. Kennedy had a previous domestic violence arrest and a fight in the firehouse last year. The man he is now accused of attacking doesn’t want to press charges or see Kennedy fired. Below are some excerpts from the latest article in the New Haven Register:
A Superior Court judge dramatically increased the bail for a firefighter accused of accosting, while on duty, his estranged wife and her divorce lawyer as they walked together downtown, amid insinuations in court that their relationship went deeper than conventional attorney and client.
“You’ve got to give him some consideration for the situation he found himself in,” argued attorney Joseph Chiarelli, a lawyer representing Matthew Kennedy, 41, a 13-year veteran of the fire service, in court Monday.
That situation, Chiarelli told Judge Richard A. Damiani, was that Kennedy was riding in his fire apparatus Friday evening when he claims he saw his soon-to-be ex-wife, Alison Kennedy, “hand-in-hand” with her lawyer, Tony Wallace, “walking down the street on date night” in New Haven.
Fire Chief Michael Grant said Monday that Kennedy remains on administrative leave, and he planned to confer with the city labor relations director and others to determine a course of action.
Wallace told police Friday he didn’t want to press charges and repeated that Monday. He said he faxed a letter to Grant indicating that he had no plans to sue the city and expressing his hope that Kennedy wouldn’t lose his job over the incident.
“He has a child to support,” Wallace said, adding, “I harbor no ill will to this man whatsoever. I just went through the same thing (a divorce) two years ago. It’s a powerful thing. He’s going through a lot and he lost it.”
Kennedy jumped out of a Fire Department emergency unit Friday just before 8 p.m. when he saw Wallace and his estranged wife at Temple and Crown streets. According to police and witnesses, Kennedy was so irate police had to separate him from Wallace. He was restrained by officers and other firefighters when he lunged toward Wallace again. His wife retreated into a restaurant when she saw Kennedy coming.
5-alarm strip mall fire in MA
Overnight a fire destroyed five businesses in a stip mall in Northborough, MA.
PA oil tanker crash and fire
A dump truck and home heating oil truck collided in Morrisville in Bucks County Monday morning. Everyone got out. The picture is from the Yardley Police Department. More details here.
4-alarms in MA
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A fire in a granite storage company in Taunton on Monday. The scene is near a recent general alarm fire. Read more.
Pittsburgh fire history
An interesting history of the fire service in Pittsburgh has been posted here.
Helmet-cam in TN
Fire in a photography studio in Smithville, TN on Friday. Click the image to see the video.
Explaining it to those who hold the purse strings
Part of the job of the fire chief. It can be tedious and time consuming, but somebody has to do it. In this case Middletown, Ohio Chief Steven Botts describes to the City Council the process he’d like to follow for replacing an old Sutphin fire engine with a new one. Click the image to hear his testimony. If you would rather just read about it rather than listen, click here.
