5th alarm in Orange, New Jersey: This is a fire from yesterday in an H-shaped building at 399 Lincoln Avenue. It was reported around 8:00 AM. See parts 2 through 7 of the video. Read more.
Videos of firefighter riding down a collapsing stairwell: We have two videos from Friday’s fire in Coatesville, Pennsylvania that show at least one firefighter in the stairwell of an apartment building as it collapses in a ball of flame. If you haven’t seen it you will want to. Click here.
Old story from PGFD: Not doing daily TV news anymore has me occasionally missing some local developments. One that I am sorry didn’t get on my radar screen earlier was the serious burns to Bowie VFD Firefighter Patrick Ivey. Firefighter Ivey’s facepiece became dislodged at a September 4 house fire. While fixing that problem he was then hit in the head with debris from the ceiling. PGFD PIO Mark Brady reported despite that, Ivey continued with the interior attack until all firefighters were pulled out of the building for defensive operations. It was only then that his burns were discovered. At last word on the Bowie VFD website Firefighter Ivey was expected to be in the burn unit for two weeks with multiple surgeries for third -degree burns to his head.
New story from PGFD: PGFD Captain James Jiron was coming out of a church on Saturday in Woodstock, Virginia after attending a family function. It was then that he saw smoke coming for the rear of a two-story duplex. Mark Brady’s PIO blog has the story of Captain Jiron rescuing two from the home.
New York volunteer blows whistle leading to department safety violations: Adam Crown needed information about his own department for a fire officer course he was taking. When he couldn’t get that information from Danby VFC he filed a Freedom of Information Act request. What he learned in his course soon brought Crown to file an 11-page complaint with New York’s Department of Labor about safety issues at his fire company. The department was then cited for a number of those issues including eight violations deemed serious. As you might imagine Crown soon became an ex-member. Danby officials say they’ve now dealt with the violations. Here’s the story. Here’s more.
Update on burned Flint firefighter: You may recall the August 16 story of Flint, Michigan firefighter Jeremy Turner. Turner was brought back to the department thanks to a SAFER grant that Flint used to rehire firefighters who were part of layoffs. Firefighter Turner fell through the floor of a vacant home that had been set on fire and was critically burned. Flint Journal’s Laura Misjak looks at Turner’s recovery and how bringing back 39 firefighters has made the department safer. At the same time the arson problem is out of control-
The suspicious fire that injured Turner was one of 48 abandoned structure fires in August — more than double the average of 23 for August in the previous four years.
In fact, in every month since March, the number of vacant house fires this year has outpaced the average number for the month in the previous four years.
Click here for the article. One of the more recent suspected Flint arsons was in a vacant elementary school. Watch the story.
Double-decker bus crash: Firegeezer has the amazing pictures from a double-decker bus that was too high for a railroad bridge in New York state. Four people were killed.
9-11 stair climbs: Firefighters in the United States and New Zealand spent Saturday climbing and climbing. They were climbing in honor of the FDNY firefighters who climbed the Twin Towers and were killed nine-years-ago. Check out the coverage – Denver and Red Rocks; Nashville; Seattle; Sacramento; Redwood City; Aukland.
Mt. Carmel, Pennsylvania 2nd-alarm: Fire from yesterday at 301 East Avenue.
