Quick takes
UPDATE on deadly fire in DC: Six people are dead, including three children following a New Years Day house fire in Washington, DC. An 11-year-old died this evening in the hospital. Eight people were in the house at 1014 Jackson Street, NE near the Brookland Metro when the blaze broke out. Engine 17 was first on the scene. Firefighters pulled four of the victims from the house. An ambulance crew raised a ladder to get a 15-year-old from a second floor room. The fire was discovered around 7:00 AM while people were sleeping on all three floors of the home. Investigators are focusing on the wiring in the ceiling of the basement of the balloon-frame home. The home had smokes alarms. It is unclear if they operated during the fire. Chief Dennis Rubin has been vocal about the City Council failing to fully fund the department’s smoke detector program. Watch the story from 9NEWS NOW. More here.
Tragedy in Bangkok: Videos from the New Years Eve fire that killed dozens in Thailand. Click here.
Fires and news from the Eastern Shore and Atlantic beaches: A three-alarm fire in Denton, MD and a restaurant burns for the second time in Lewes, DE. Also, ambulance service begins in Bethany Beach, DE. Click here for the stories.
Really stupid stuff by Statter (No, I mean it.): Just about everyone else in the fire service web world is being reflective. They are looking back at what 2008 meant and what’s to come in 2009. We tried to do the same thing at STATter911.com, but quickly realized there needs to be some substance in your content to be able to have something to reflect about. You know you aren’t going find that here. So we did the next best thing and just made the whole thing up. On top of that we basically just recycled an idea from a year-old posting and put some fresh lipstick on the pig. If you really have nothing better to do on New Years Day, you can check it out here. Who knows? You might find your name in there.
Toll road means FDs are paid for responding: Some state senators in Indiana think the owners of a private toll road should be paying the toll for fire and rescue service along the roadway. Read the details.
Voting in favor of giving up a pay raise: That’s what 91% of the firefighters did in Vancouver, Washington in an effort to keep up staffing levels. Each one of them is losing about $4300 in 2009 salary and benefits. Here’s the story.
Maybe not a good place to leave your heart?: Medical experts question the quality of pre-hospital care in San Francisco. They point to a decision delaying a plan to take severe heart attack victims to the closest specialty hospital. Also: “The city’s 911 ambulance staff, experts say, is insufficiently trained and keeps patient charts that often fail to indicate the specific medical treatment provided.” More from Jim Doyle of the San Francisco Chronicle.
But they get there faster: Jim Doyle also has a related story on improvements at San Francisco’s 911 center that have reduced response times on medical calls. Click here.
One woman died and two firefighters were hurt in this apartment building fire in Philadelphia just an hour into the new year. The 4-alarm fire was in the 2100 block of Benson Street. Steve Skipton has more at PhillyFireNews.com.
