Quick Takes: October 31, 2011.

Businesses burn during snow storm in Somerville, MA: Raw video from a fire Saturday night in a row of stores in Teele Square. Click here to read more.

Some very lucky firefighters: If you haven't done so, check out the video of a wall collapse during a fire at an insulation company in Fort Wayne, Indiana yesterday. Two firefighters were right in the middle of the collapse with two others nearby. We also have the fireground audio. Click here for our coverage.

There should be a monument to Willie Snow. A must read story from Firegeezer: Bill Schumm has a story about a truly remarkable man that I urge you to read. His name was Willie Snow and he died a pauper at 80-years-old in Cincinnati, Ohio. Willie Snow is a hero who saved many lives at two of this nation's deadliest fire scenes. One was a fiery car-bus collision that killed 24 children and three adults and is still considered the worst ever drunk driving crash in U.S. history. The toll would have been higher if Willie Snow had not been on the scene. He is the same Willie Snow who, 11 years earlier, was the head dishwasher at the Beverly Hills Supper Club disaster and saved many from perishing. Take the time to learn about Willie Snow. Click here.

Pump gear & siren stop fire engine thief: Glenn Usdin's FireTruckBlog.com has the story of Sacramento firefighters interrupting the burglary of a post office. The burglar tried to make off with the fire engine, but he made two mistakes. He hit the siren and didn't know how to move it. Here's more.

Also in Sacramento: Video from a suspicious fire.

Tennis anyone?: On-duty tennis playing a little less than a mile outside the Village limits brought a TV camera and reporter to Key Biscayne, Florida to investigate. I think there's a lot about this one we don't know and a couple of things that, on the surface, don't make sense. Two things I do know about it are the TV station hyped it a bit by claiming a "massive" investigation is underway and that on-duty tennis and basketball as part of PT can be a hard sell to the public in today's environment. You need to set the ground work and provide the explanation ahead of time rather than be seen running from the TV cameras afterwards. Here's the story.

Take me home tonight … think again: WPLG-TV, the same station that uncovered the "massive" investigation above, has also been all over Miami-Dade Fire Rescue about the need for so many take home cars. In the latest report, the TV station says it has discovered more take home vehicles than the department had reported. WPLG is also reporting that the chief has now sent out a memo saying: "Being assigned a 24-hour vehicle does not give the assignee the authority to take the vehicle home at night." Here's the latest. Early coverage from Mike Ward at Firegeezer.

Special note to fire chiefs: TV stations and newspapers investigating fire department take home cars, like the excess overtime stories, is a trend developing across the country. Now might be a good time to evaluate your policy and make sure you can justify the need for each department vehicle you allow to sit in someone's driveway.

Popular Baltimore bar destroyed in two-alarm fire: Fire broke out at the Mount Washington Tavern in the 5700 block of Newberry Street around 4:30 this morning. The picture at right is courtesy of IAFF Local 734. Another picture and details can be found here.

Fires 'R' Us: House fire in Reddick, Illinois (with audio); House fire in Rochester, New York (with audio); Garage fire in North Attleborough, Massachusetts; House and garage fire in Gary, Indiana.

Detroit Devils' night details: From The Detroit News –  "Although the official tally of fires Sunday will not be released until this afternoon, Fire Department officials have said the number of blazes in the city remained low Sunday. Eighteen fires were reported Saturday night, below the average of 26 for Saturday fires. Fire Chief Steven Flanagan said the number of fires 'has been real low today.'

House fire in Michigan: Not much in the way of details on this one other than it was handled by the Iron Mountain Fire Department.