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Citizen journalists cover the fire: There are much better videos of this large fire late Monday night in Mississauga, Ontario. Many of them can be found at Firefighter Nation. But this one is my personal favorite. Volunteer reporters answered the call armed with a video camera and filed this report. About 55 townhomes under construction were destroyed. A fire at the same complex in February destroyed eight homes. Arson is suspected.
UPDATE on PGFD story below – medic policy changes: Once again the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department has changed policy on out of service units. The plan we reported at 12:30 this morning on placing medics out of service has been abandoned as of 9:00 this morning. Spokesman Mark Brady reports that supervisors will continue to help reduce overtime, but no longer will the units be destaffed. Click here to read Brady’s entire email.
Early video of PGFD in action and update on staffing plan that now includes medic units out of service: A garage fire in Lanham, Maryland yesterday shows Prince George’s County firefighters in action just as the first units pull up to the scene. Click here.
It also illustrates what has long been a problem in the county: staffing. The first engine arrived with just an officer and driver. As we have pointed out many times in the past, PGFD is the only fire department inside the Beltway that allows front line suppression units to respond with just two.
Even with that built-in handicap, PGFD is also the only Beltway department to suffer major cuts in career staffing at its fire stations due to the current economic crisis. We reported on Friday the new staffing plan that starts today. Here is an updated schedule sent along by PIO Mark Brady. It corrects some initial errors. The plan relies on volunteers to fill in where the career staff is removed from stations on a rotating basis. The directive from Acting Chief Eugene Jones makes it clear if volunteers aren’t available there is no additional overtime money to keep the stations open.
Now comes word (see note above), confirmed by Brady, that medic units are going out of service at 11:00 PM when staffing can’t be made up by EMS supervisors. The units targeted are Medic 818 (Glenn Dale) , Medic 820 (Upper Marlboro) and Paramedic Ambulance 805 (Capitol Heights). Allowing stations to go unstaffed and medics to be placed out of service are changes in policy from the directions given by the bosses in Upper Marlboro when furloughs began in October (here and here). This is an overtime reduction plan and not the furlough plan, but the impact is the same. Brady has pointed to the worsening budget situation as being behind these latest moves.
Mayor lies sign on pickup leaves firefighter with suspension and prompts lawsuit: The Edison, NJ firefighter in the middle of this also happens to be the union president’s son. The sign on his truck parked in the firehouse lot the day before the Democratic primary read, “Choi lies! Save Public Safety in Edison.” The day after Mayor Jun Choi lost the re-election bid, Firefighter Peter Yackel received a five-day suspension. Last week a lawsuit was filed by Yackel against his chief and the mayor. Read more and see the sign.
Goldfeder takes on a Washington think tank: It was awfully quiet out there right fter I posted the Heritage Foundation’s case against FIRE Grants on Saturday. It isn’t anymore. Billy Goldfeder responds. Take a look.
67-year-old firefighter dies while working on ladder truck: Firehouse.com and Firefighter Close Calls have the story of the tragic events in Rhode Island yesterday that left Kingston Fire Department Assistant Chief Allan “Pickles” LePage dead.
How about this? A fire station reopens: Union concessions, generous voters and staffing changes are credited with allowing the Buck Island Road Fire Station in West Yarmouth, Massachusetts to reopen after being closed for 10-months. Read more from CapeCodOnline.com.
Firefighter attacked with crowbar: It happened in Tulsa as firefighters were putting out a fire in a backyard. The homeless man came at them first with a bucket and then a crowbar. He is under arrest. A firefighter had minor injuries to his arm. Read more.
Public education officer comes out swinging after citizen makes charges: We have previously mentioned the budget issues facing the Lehigh Acres Fire Department in Florida. There has been some interesting back and forth in the local paper’s letters section between a fire department official and a citizen. Here is the original letter and a follow-up by the citizen, Keith Kaye. Here is the the response by Public Education Officer Patrick Comer under the headline, “LAFD responds to Keith ‘Conspiracy, Conspiracy, Evil everywhere’ Kaye”.
Son is critically burned while pulling his dad from a fire: A sad story in Griswold, Connecticut. A 20-year-old man is hospitalized with critical burns after rescuing his quadriplegic dad from a fire. It is the second time in a year Kyle Landa has saved his father. Read the details.
Chem lab fire that injured 15 firefighters has union blasting the school: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, NY is feeling the heat following a fire Monday night that sent 15 firefighters to the hospital for check-ups after possibly inhaling toxic fumes. The firefighters’ union says the alarm was delayed by 12-minutes and listed a series of long-standing problems in dealing w
ith RPI. These include not assisting enough in paying for fire protection and not letting firefighters know what chemicals are in the labs. The school responds saying they have invited the firefighters in to do some pre-planning, but will not pay any more to up-staff the firehouse across the street from the school. Read it here and here and watch it here.
Cutting the volunteer rolls has brought about a somewhat violent confrontion: We told you a few weeks ago how New York’s Owego Fire Department drastically cut back on the number of volunteer firefighters on its roster. Now word comes that the village’s 70-year-old former mayor and fire chief, Bill Franz, and 68-year-old Andrew Hunt didn’t give up without a fight. They are accused of striking and shoving a firefighter who supported the cuts. Read more. Watch video showing Franz protesting the cut back.
Collapse update: Firegeezer has been keeping tabs on the garage collapse in Atlanta with details, pictures and video. Click here. More than 300 firefighters assisted in searching the structure in 90-degree heat and AJC.com reports more help is needed. Read the latest.
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Vacant house burns in Detroit: Dennis Walus was up early this morning. See more pictures here. This is is his account – Detroit 1st Battalion companies responded to a reported dwelling fire, on Hale Between Chene & Grandy. Upon arrival of Engine 23 they reported a vacant dwelling totally involved. This fire was fought in Defensive Mode. Companies protected exposures , This fire was brought under control in aprox. 2 hours using Monitors and Ladder Pipe. Engines 23/5/9/17 Ladder 10 Squad 3 and Chief 1 responded to this box alarm.
