25 firefighters treated at White Plains, NY commercial fire: A half block of downtown White Plains burned yesterday and during the fire a nearby manhole exploded. The firefighters suffered from smoke inhalation, heat exhaustion and heart palpitations. Click here for details and pictures of the fire.
Looks like they are going to have lots to talk about on C Shift at Station 1: Some baseball fans expecting to see a foul ball drop down from the sky instead saw a firefighter do just that. FF/PM Tyler Morris of the Lake Cities Fire Department in Corinth, Texas fell 30-feet while trying to grab a ball during Tuesday night’s game. Co-workers with Morris at the game say he is going to be okay. Nolan Ryan was among the visitors at the hospital. Check it out.
No life safety problem, no fire protection: Many property owners on Bradford Island in California were under the impression they had fire protection when a fire took hold of multiple homes. They were wrong. The East Contra Fire Protection District responded a number of times but is not authorized to spring into action unless there are people in immediate danger. There’s a lot more to the story. Click here.
Must read stories about a Montana firefighter who faced two emergencies on vacation, saved a brother firefighter and now may lose his job: Whitefish, Montana FF/PM Ben Parsons was in Oregon for the Father’s Day Test of Endurance race. After a strong finish in the race he spotted a grill on a wooden porch that was about to catch a home on fire. Parsons did what he could and asked a friend to go to the fire truck parked around the corner and alert the firefighter to the problem. The friend then told Parsons to respond to the rig because the firefighter who was with it was in cardiac arrest. Thanks to Parsons and others, the firefighter is alive. That’s part one of the story that you can find here. Returning home Parsons now has to face reality about his career choice. Ben Parsons may lose his job by the end of the month due to budget cuts. Read that story. Thank you Butch Weedon for alerting us to this story.
More big cuts in Lawrence, Massachusetts: Twenty-three firefighters were laid-off and another fire station closed (the third during the current financial crisis). Read the latest from a place that has seen more than its share of fire.
Man arrested for getting physical over his complaint about fire tactics: In Greeley, Colorado earlier this week a man began shoving one firefighter and knocking the facepiece off another because he didn’t like the way they were fighting the fire. The chief says they were concentrating the limited water supply from a dead end hydrant on protecting what wasn’t burning. Read more.
More assault charges at an emergency scene: Read what a woman in Shermans Dale, Pennsylvania did with a bucket containing the contents of her stomach.
And even more assaults on first responders: In a late July 4th entry, Firegeezer reports on how firefighters and police were assaulted by fireworks in Alton, Illinois Sunday night.
Audio from deadly fire in Schenectady, New York: FireSceneAudio.com has the fireground audio here from the fire yesterday morning that killed a two-year-old girl and injured her sister and grandmother. Read more.
On the mend: One of four Sacramento firefighters injured in a house explosion has been released from the hospital. Read details. Also home from the hospital, a North Charleston, SC firefighter injured when the roof collapsed at a house fire. Here’s more.
Sprinklers in Baltimore County: Now that I am no longer a reporter, I can come out of the closet on one bias of mine. STATter911.com is very much pro-residential sprinklers and will work on behalf of that goal where I can. That’s why we are happy to report Baltimore County is the latest Maryland jurisdiction to require sprinklers during a vote of the County Council yesterday. Great work by the Baltimore County Fire Department, the Maryland State Fire Marshal’s Office and others. Read the unbiased version of the story here.
FDNY gets a perfect score in annual double dipping probe (and that’s a good thing): In New York you can’t get a government pension and a government salary at the same time. The latest review found no firefighters in violation. Click here for the story.
Ft. Lauderdale museum: Martin Grube’s FireRescueTV takes a trip south to visit The Fort Lauderdale Fire & Safety Museum inside Station 3. Here’s the video.
Stair climbs growing in numbers: In my work with the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation I have been aware of the increasing numbers of stair climbs to honor the firefighters lost in New York on September 11. The annual 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb, first held in Denver, Colorado in 2005, is the model for these events. I am happy to say that Jason Thomas at Firefighter Spot is doing his part to spread the word (scooping STATter911.com on the story). We will have more for you in the coming weeks. You can read lots more about the 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb programs and how become involved at Firehero.org.
Chicken joint burns in North Bergen, NJ: A two-alarm fire yesterday at Pollo Loco. Click here for all eight parts of the video.
