Quick takes
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzeiF1CxjNI&hl=en&fs=1]
Three-alarms in Northwest Baltimore: Michael “FirePix1075” Schwartzberg shot this video of multiple rowhouses burning Tuesday evening just a few block from Pimlico Race Course. Click here for Michael’s still pictures and here for TV coverage of the fire.
Six months, becomes forever: Drum major and Cleveland Heights, Ohio fire inspector John Coleman tells a reporter he isn’t going back to the Cleveland Firefighters Memorial Drums and Pipes after his six month suspension. Coleman says the publicity over his wink, nod and wave to President Obama has caused too many bad feelings. Read the latest.
It just goes to show you just how wrong and stupid this reporter can be: If a citizen tells me that it took a big city fire department 20 or 30-minutes to get to an emergency, this reporter is going to need some proof beyond just an eyewitness account. Yes, I have covered many stories where the person calling 911 was right about a delayed response, but I have seen more when they were wrong. My skepticism kicked in when I read details of a Saturday night house fire in Atlanta and figured it was an exaggeration by people under stress in the middle of an emergency. The Bozo armchair reporter is eating crow on this one. It took 22-minutes for firefighters to show. Read why.
Still looking for more takers on my automatic mutual aid questions: We have a very nice discussion going about big city fire departments’ mutual aid policies. This comes after the Allen County, Indiana sheriff and the Fort Wayne fire chief went at it over a volunteer firehouse that sits next to an apartment complex where three recent fires occurred. The VFD wasn’t dispatched. There was also a somewhat similar incident in North Carolina. See our coverage and some well thought out reader comments.
You’re so vane: You probably think this entry is about you. No, it is about “Old Jake”. He has been a fixture at the Rouss Fire Company in Winchester, Virginia much longer than any current member can recall. Despite that, the firefighters at Rouss aren’t very loyal and are trying to get rid of “Old Jake”. So much for brotherhood. But if you knew the reason, you would also likely sell out “Old Jake”. To do this story properly we assigned a contemporary of Jake’s. Click here for FireGeezer’s details.
All is not OK in Tulsa: They will begin testing soon to see just how much medical knowledge firefighter really have as the probe into falsified EMT training records moves forward. According to Tulsa World firefighters “told investigators that they were instructed to use dates from a provided list, even though they couldn’t account for their class attendance, and that a date was fabricated for a hazardous-materials class that medics recorded but did not take”. Read the article.
But who picked up the tab?: In Sheboygan, Wisconsin a December luncheon meeting between the mayor and the firefighters union president is causing a bit of controversy. The union head admits to asking for an increase from two to three firefighters on rigs, but denies he threatened to endorse another candidate when the proposal was turned down. What has created the flap is an email sent out about the meeting by a member of the Police and Fire Commission. Read the story.
Turning up the heat in the sauna: Click here to view a series of pictures snapped by a UK gym club patient as an electrical fault causes the sauna to burst into flames. Let’s hope the picture taker was wearing a towel.
FFs rescue man who had a little too much protein: Getting his foot caught in an auger was only one of a central Illinois man’s problems. The auger was in a grain bin filled with soybeans. Those soybeans were up to the man’s chin. It took firefighters four hours to get him out of there. He has serious leg injuries. Read more.
Most firefighters are just happy changing the channel: This one wants to swim it. The English Channel, that is. Read how Pete Walker wants to raise thousands of pounds for charity.
