No charges in Ohio LODDs fire; Chicago bans computers; Firefighting in the 1970s; Commissioner’s home burns; New VA fire station
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBzdajNJjVw&hl=en]
Old video of the day: A good view of firefighting in the 1970s. Above is Part 1 of the 1978 film Structural Fire Attack from Fire Fighter Films Inc. Click here for Part 2 and here for Part 3.
No charges in Ohio fire that killed two firefighters
The picture above from the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office shows where Capt. Robin Broxterman and Firefighter Brian Schira fell through the floor to their deaths on April 4. A press conference was held Monday providing new details into the blaze.
Watch raw video of press conference from WKRC-TV
Here are excerpts from The Enquirer:
The Colerain Township man and wife who own the home where two firefighters died earlier this month were growing marijuana in the basement, but that illegal nursery operation had nothing to do with starting the fire or causing the deaths.
No charges will be filed against Sharyn and Matt Cones related to the firefighters’ deaths, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said Monday.
Deter’s announcement doesn’t mean the Cones are off the hook.
Deters said the couple face charges for cultivating marijuana. The case will be presented to the grand jury later this week.
“It was just a terrible accident,” Sharyn Cones told The Enquirer last week.
Deters shared his findings with the firefighters’ families Monday morning.
Colerain Fire Department Capt. Steve Conn said his department accepts Deters’ determination that “the homeowners’ illegal activity had nothing to do with the fire and the firefighters’ deaths.”
Firefighters were called to the Squirrels Nest Lane home the morning of April 4.
Deters said the blaze started when an oscillating fan attached to the wall of a basement cedar closet where the couple was growing orchids failed. Heat built up in the fan until the wood behind it combusted, setting it on fire, he said.
“Cedar burns much hotter than other woods,” Deters said, estimating the blaze raged to 1,800 degrees.
Off to the left of the closet was a hidden room, where a similar grow operation was used to cultivate marijuana, Deters said.
The pot room was on a “separate circuit” from the orchid room, Deters said.
Investigators found five marijuana plants in the room, just one of them mature.
“That small room was entirely spared from the fire,” Deters said.
Broxterman, Schira and firefighter Kenny Vadnais were exploring the basement as they searched for the source of the fire when they had to flee.
“It could very well have been a flashover or it could have been a smoke explosion,” Conn said. More investigation is needed to make an exact determination, he added.
Vadnais made it upstairs and escaped out the front door, but the floor collapsed beneath Broxterman and Schira.
Deters speculated they may have been moving toward sliding glass doors, likely the only source of light in the swirling black smoke.
They fell into the inferno and their masks were either knocked off or loosened, allowing superheated smoke and gases to get into their lungs.
Broxterman and Schira died after breathing superheated smoke and gases, searing their lungs, the Hamilton County Coroner’s office found.
The internal investigation will look at the walls, flooring and joists “and the burn pattern in the room,” he said.
After the data is analyzed, then a determination can be made on the existence of a flashover.
Deters also put to rest any rumors that the couple didn’t immediately call for help and that the fire grew because they waited too long to call for help.
He said an alarm system immediately alerted the fire department and Sharyn Cones “almost instantaneously” made a call for help on the home phone.
Then, the couple used a cell phone to report the fire, Deters said.
“Although (Matt Cones) did try and put it out himself, the alarms had already been sent,” Deters said.
Meanwhile, her husband tried to extinguish the blaze, Deters said.
Firehouse.com yes, but STATter 911?
A new order keeps personal computers at home for Chicago firefighters and not in the firehouse. The city-owned ones have limited Internet access. Wonder if STATter 911 made the cut. Here is the story from The Chicago Tribune:
The Chicago Fire Department has banned all personal computers at fire stations amid an investigation into whether a firefighter inappropriately used his at work, an official said Monday.
The department issued a general order to all firefighters on April 2 that personal computers could no longer be used at stations.
While officials said the prohibition had been in the works for months, it was just issued after an investigation was launched into the firefighter’s allegedly inappropriate use of a personal computer.
The department declined to be more specific about the allegations.
“We had been working on this general order, so when it occurred it helped us to really finalize the scope of the general order,” said Eve Rodriguez, a Fire Department spokeswoman. “We took quick action and made sure everybody across the board knew about this order.”
Firefighters can use city-owned computers at fire stations that allow them access to the city’s intranet as well as limited Internet access to sites such as Firehouse Magazine and other fire fighting-focused pages, she said.
The firehouse computers have the same filters as those on all city computers to limit access and allow them to be monitored, Rodriguez said.
“If you’re on company time, you’re not allowed to be on a personal laptop using it for personal business,” she said. “You’re supposed to be using it for work purposes.”
Thomas Ryan, president of the Chicago Fire Fighters Union Local 2, said that he knew of the investigation, but he did not know any details.
The local’s membership board plans to discuss the new general order at a meeting Wednesday, Ryan said, but the union was not consulted.
“This is something I know is a very touchy subject with our guys right now,” said Ryan, declining to discuss the issue further before the meeting.
Fire commissioner’s home catches fire
The image above from WSHM-TV of a house fire in Holyoke, MA Monday afternoon. The home is owned by a Holyoke fire commissioner. Watch the story.
Dedication
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlwlJl9dI80&hl=en]Saturday was the long-awaited dedication of the new fire station in Arlington County, VA. Finally, after years of delay, the crews at Station 5 (Jefferson District/Aurora Highlands) have a new home.
