EMS Memorial ride hit by theft & vandalism; DC awards; MD captain back home; Senator tells of a different Rusty Thomas; FF talks about explosion
(Updated at 10:45 AM)
EMS memorial bike team hit by theft and vandalism
The schedule for the National EMS Memorial Bicycle Ride today has been significantly altered because of a problem overnight. According to Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Chief Spokesman Mark Brady two vehicles parked at the Sheraton Annapolis Hotel were targeted by thieves.
Windows in the support vehicles were broken and GPS and other equipment was stolen. One of the vehicles belongs to the Blacksburg, VA Rescue Squad and the second is from NorthStar EMS in Maine.
Brady reports that as of 9:15 AM, the group is at Station 805 in Capitol Heights and are waiting to have windows repaired. The group lost thousands of dollars in equipment because of the theft. Anyone who can help is asked to check into the website muddyangels.org.
Brady says that because of this incident all escorts should cancel and the Six Flags event has been canceled.
Here is what Mark Brady wrote about the event in an earlier press release:
The National EMS Memorial Bicycle Ride (NEMSMBR) is a non-profit organization that started as a grassroots effort in Boston, MA in 2002 as a “ride to remember” to the Annual National EMS Memorial Service in Roanoke, VA. This year the event includes riders from 24 states and Ireland. From May 17 – May 23, 2008, 110 participants will bike from New York City or Lexington, KY to Roanoke, VA, the location of the National EMS Memorial. On Tuesday, May 20, 2008, the NEMSMBR will pass through Anne Arundel County into Prince George’s County and eventually into the District of Columbia.
The rest stop at Station 805 serves another purpose:
While there, they will pay tribute to one of our own fallen heroes; Nadar A. Hammett. The riders will enter the District of Columbia about 10:30 AM and travel on East Capitol Street to a 12 Noon Press Conference on Capitol Hill.
DC awardees actions caught on video
The firefighters in two of the videos we brought you over the last year of rescues in the District of Columbia are getting awards this morning. One of those being honored is the guy in the water in the above image, FF Rich Schaffer.
Assigned to the Fireboat, FF Schaffer was alone on the dock 11-months-ago when a woman jumped into the Washington Channel. (I don’t believe the video stream is currently active on this one.)
The video below (foul language alert) is from the rescue made by Firefighters Brian McAllister and Harry Saval of Tower 3 during a fire at 9th Street and Rhode Island Avenue, NW in August. For PIO Alan Etter’s version of this rescue (no foul language alert), click here.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asoYh5A2P38&hl=en]
Here is Etter’s press release about today’s event at 11:00 AM at the National Building museum (along with a link to our coverage of another rescue):
Two young children rescued from a burning and collapsing apartment building on Alabama Avenue, Southeast, a badly injured man plucked from his eighth floor apartment on Rhode Island Avenue, Northwest as flames and smoke billowed from the window, and a woman rescued from a murky Washington Channel by a Fireboat crewmember who jumped in to get her. These are just some of the life-saving stories that will be told Tuesday, May 20th – as the DC Fire & EMS Department presents its annual Conspicuous Service Awards for 2007.
Every year, the Department honors the men and women who perform brave and exemplary services to protect the health and safety of the city’s residents. This year, 192 individuals will receive commendations in areas such as Excellence in Pre-Hospital Care, Life Saver Awards, and the Bronze Bar for Valor.
“The District of Columbia Fire & EMS Department is lucky to have these fine firefighters and EMS providers,” said Chief Dennis L. Rubin. “I’m honored to be able to tell each one ‘great job’, and ‘congratulations’.”
MD captain released from the hospital
It took more than two weeks, but all three firefighters injured when a floor collapsed at a Rockville, MD garden-apartment fire are now home. Montgomery County Fire Rescue Service Captain R. Dwayne Dutrow went home from the MedStar Burn Unit of the Washington Hospital Center Monday evening.
Click here to see previous coverage of the fire.
Injured Alabama FF tells his story
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKLVDmMYn0s&hl=en]
Firefighter Tommy Bishop tells of his close call while fighting a fire on a towing vessel last Thursday in Mobile, AL.
Former senator stands up for Charleston chief
The column starts out this way:
After reading your headline, “Completely unprepared,” I must write of when Chief Rusty Thomas and the Charleston Fire Department were prepared above and beyond the call of duty.
Former U.S. Senator Fritz Hollings describes his dealings with Chief Thomas during a fast spreading fire that took out Hollings beach home and three others on the Isle of Palms. Hollings writes that Thomas and the Charleston Fire Department saved the day.
This comes in reaction to last week’s devastating report about the leadership of Chief Thomas and the systemic problems within his department that resulted in 9 firefighters losing their lives on June 18, 2007.
