Quick Takes

Apr 29, 2010

0 3 minutes read

The Treasure Ship burns: Firegeezer first alerted us to this landmark restaurant fire in Panama City, Florida yesterday afternoon. This is Part 1 of a series of videos that begins before the arrival of the fire department. Click here to see the rest of the clips.

More to the runaway fire engine story: It turns out it was a parent who jumped in behind the wheel of Lake Shore VFC Engine 201 when it began rolling with eight children aboard at a birthday party. The Annapolis Capital has new details on Saturday’s story from Anne Arundel County, Maryland. But the article also has a line that has brought in more than one comment – “the keys weren’t in the ignition”. Hmmm. Here’s the update.

Size matters: One of the unanswered questions from NIST’s study on the impact of staffing when responding to a residential fire is will this information help fire chiefs in their budget battles. There are people in a number of fire service organizations already working on shaping arguments and looking for effective ways to use the data. You can read the report here. Susan Nicol Kyle from Firehouse.com attended yesterday morning’s press conference at the same hotel where CFSI is being held and filed this report. Billy Goldfeder, who was the featured speakers at CFSI’s opening session, has some thoughts on the NIST report at Firefighter Close Calls. Christopher Naum, as promised, looks closely at the report at his Command Safety blog.

REMINDER – fundraiser this afternoon in Baltimore: They are raising money to help the family of injured Baltimore City Firefighter Jeff Novack. It starts at 3:00 PM and goes until 10:00 PM at Mothers Federal Hill Grille, 1113 South Charles Street. Click here for more.

Drink in hand at firehouse could mean demotion for captain: A fire captain in South Bend, Indiana is reported to have said others were doing the same thing and getting away with it when he was caught with an alcoholic beverage inside the fire station. It happened at 7:15 AM while the captain was still in uniform as the shift ended. Here’s the story.

Sheriff who wants to take over fire protection has some issues to handle in his own house: I am sure you recall the battle that has been ongoing in Lake County, Colorado over the future of fire services, currently handled by Leadville/Lake County Fire Rescue. That issue made headlines when a fire captain was arrested by sheriff’s deputies during an EMS call at the jail. The only person facing charges in that case is the deputy who ordered the captain’s detention. You may also remember there was another deputy who resigned after it was learned he used the Taser on 30 school children during a career fair. It is now being reported the former deputy is facing criminal charges in that case. But there may be hope for his future in the sheriff’s department, KUSA-TV has learned a former deputy who faced criminal charges after being accused of beating up a homeless man three-years-ago has been rehired by Sheriff Ed Holte. Here’s the latest.

Off-duty firefighter leads charge to save girl: In St. Paul, Minnesota an off-duty firefighter heard a neighbor scream his name and he soon found the house down the street on fire. Another neighbor sprinted up with a 24-foot ladder. Together they brought a teenager to safety out of the second floor of the burning home. Here’s the story.

On-duty firefighters make a bunch of saves: A detailed account of an apartment fire in Augusta, Georgia where a lot of people were hanging from windows. Click here.