Quick takes
Picture of the day: From Tim Cavender, Cherokee County (GA) Fire & Emergency Services, of house fire that forced a couple to jump from the roof. Both were burned and neighbors reported hearing a loud explosion. Click here for more from AJC.com.
Competitive bidding, NJ style: An interesting article in the Burlington County Times about a New Jersey State Commission of Investigation report looking at how fire trucks are bought in the state. While the report is very critical of local fire districts in NJ (and names names), you will likely find practices that aren’t exclusive to the Garden State. The best part of this story is reading FireGeezer’s brief, but biting remarks on the subject.
But don’t just take a cynical old fire dog’s view on this topic, read the report yourself. Click here for the report Alarming Contracts -Fixed Bids, Conflicts of Interest, Big $ and Lax Transparency in the Purchase of Fire Trucks in New Jersey.
“We unions don’t forget”: That was the message to the Prince George’s County Council yesterday as unions representing county workers packed a hearing on County Executive Jack Johnson’s plan to cut two weeks pay from everyone in an effort to balance the budget. Watch the story.
Things are a little more amicable in Baltimore County: They are dealing with belt tightening in Towson. There, the union and the fire chief issued a joint statement about working together on the issue. So far, the plan is to cut OT by using headquarters personnel. Click here to watch the story from WJZ-TV.
Loudoun County report: On a plane ride last night I was able to read about half of the 210-page report into the May 25 fire on Meadowood Court. A couple of quick thoughts from what I have read so far.
To me the report makes very clear this was not one of those firegrounds where it seems everything went wrong. Besides finding some pretty clear issues that, taken together, might have prevented the injuries, it lists a whole bunch of things that worked well on the fireground. Particularly how these four firefighters were able to use their training to get themselves out of a very tough spot.
When this fire occurred a lot of people related it to the death of FF Kyle Wilson in Prince William County. There are certainly some similar issues. What I see, despite the difference in the structure, is a situation very similar to what four DC firefighters found themselves in last October, where an unchecked fire on the floor below suddenly took off and cut off a safe means of egress.
Expect the unexpected: A tragic situation in Galt, CA where a mother and child were killed. They were among seven people sleeping a warehouse that caught fire. Not normally a place where you would think the life hazard was that high in the middle of the night. Read the story.
From Galt, CA to the Galt Corporation: The name Galt is surfacing in another deadly fire. This time it is the John Galt Corporation. More about the firm’s past is coming to light, as is what New York officials knew before Galt was hired to help dismantle the Deutsche Bank Building. Of course, that’s where two FDNY firefighters died during a blaze last year. The city is pointing fingers at the state. Interesting reading from the New York Times.
High-rise sprinkler plan in NJ is dead: The Sierra Club is joining firefighters in strongly blasting the decision to drop the proposal. The environmental group says one of the people who made the decision to go for cost over safety should have to live in a high-rise without sprinklers. Read more.
