Quick Takes
Warehouse fire in British Columbia: Fire yesterday at a kitchen cabinet business in Surrey.
Daughter wants apology over man mistakenly declared dead in Prince George’s County: When PGFD paramedics misidentified flesh eating bacteria and related signs as decomposition following death (despite a Glenarden, Maryland man still being alive), the department handled the bad news in text book fashion. Rather than wait for those pesky reporters to uncover the mistake, Chief Spokesman Mark Brady was proactive. Brady sent out a press release before there was a leak and told the story himself. The initial coverage had little shelf life and disappeared from the news rather quickly. A good lesson and reminder for all of us about a story that had the potential to linger for days.
But here’s another lesson. Candor in your efforts to get the bad news out and over with doesn’t necessarily mean you can completely control the message. Now, almost four months later the story has surfaced again because the daughter of the man (who really died the next day) says she wants an apology from the medics who made the error. Click here to watch the latest story and here to read it.
Where telling your own story may not be the best choice: London Fire Brigade Chief Ron Dobson is being criticized for using a blog post to threaten the termination of 6,000 firefighters if the work force doesn’t agree to controversial changes in their contract. According to MarketWire.com, “The Fire Brigades Union regional official Paul Embery said, ‘We’ve heard stories of companies sacking employees by text, but this must be the first time an employer has threatened to sack people by personal blog.'” Read more.
We have been wondering what happened with the radio DJ turkey fryer stunt investigation. Now we know: Do you recall our coverage of one of the most idiotic radio stunts since WKRP’s Arthur Carlson determined turkeys don’t fly? (Click here and here.) The Tampa Fire Department and Florida State Fire Marshal believe using the fryer inside a van and in turn setting the van on fire was a criminal act. You aren’t going to get an argument from me. Both agencies want to see felony charges for arson and injuring a firefighter. The Tampa Fire Department is now accusing Hillsborough State’s Attorney Mark Ober’s Office with dragging its feet in filing the charges. According to news reports, Ober’s people have had the fire marshal’s report for six months. A spokesman says these things take time, something the fire department isn’t buying. I am not a legal scholar, but maybe you just charge the radio team with being criminally stupid and arrogant? And if the State’s Attorney doesn’t see the importance of sending a message that you don’t tolerate setting things on fire just to attract a radio or Internet audience, maybe he’s the one who is stupid and arrogant. Read and watch the update.
Only you can prevent Dave: Patting myself on the back for my insensitive headline on a fire video from Oregon. Check it out for yourself.
All firefighters now home after explosion: The last of four firefighters injured in the explosion of a house in Sacramento a week ago is out of the hospital. Click here for the latest.
Letting the public decide staffing levels: Firefighters in Palo Alto, California are the latest to turn to the citizens in helping to prevent staffing cuts. Here’s their story.
Don’t forget to come by and see me in Baltimore next week: For the third year in a row, Bill “Firegeezer” Schumm and Mike “FossilMedic” Ward have invited me to share their booth at Firehouse Expo. This year we are in Booth 738. Bill was thinking ahead when he ordered a larger booth. Apparently he has turned the place into a homeless shelter for fire service bloggers. I understand THE Fire Critic (not just any Fire Critic) Rhett Fleitz and Fire Daily’s John Mitchell will be originating their award winning Firefighter Netcast from the booth (just don’t block the view of the STATter911.com sign). By the time we are done I think the name will be changed to Firefighter Nutcast.
