Quick Takes: July 9, 2012.
LAFD handling apartment building under construction: Click here for details of this fire early Saturday morning in Canoga Park.
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Best fire video in recent days: If you missed the bail out from the balcony of a Nevada apartment building on fire you will want to click here to see it.
The most compelling story in recent days: There were a lot of Facebook likes and comments on the CBS Evening News Steve Hartman “On The Road” story from Station 1 in Lansing, Michigan. Check it out.
I admit defeat, ‘FingerGate” is better name than “watergate”: “FingerGate” is the name the local Patch came up with for the July 4th incident involving a Paoli Fire Company firefighter who shot the bird on live television while sitting in a fire engine at a parade. Click here and here for the news coverage (and here for STATter911.com coverage). “Watergate”, of course, is what I dubbed the pool filling incident in DC that received attention from CNN late last week.
Chief is told his town doesn’t really need a fourth fire engine, so now it is up to the courts to decide: Who thought buying a replacement for a 25-year-old pumper would be left up to a judge? Glenn Usdin has the story from Gilford, New Hampshire.
To arrest or not to arrest, that is the question: And the dilemma for a Florida sheriff faced with complaints about the Freeport fire chief responding to calls despite not having state qualifications. Read more.
Explosion underground leads to fire traveling up Manhattan high-rise: Arrival video of an interesting fire on Saturday on East 56th Street near Lexington.
Video from two fires in Shenandoah, PA: JC Kriesher and his camera have been busy. The most recent was a three-alarm fire Saturday night that took the life of a man living in a duplex that burned and spread to an exposure (click here). The other was a house fire early Friday morning where JC has early video.
Willie Wines Jr. is apparently in the witness protection program: Or something very similar. The captain from Roanoke has made one Virginia fire chief very angry with a few of his IronFiremen.com columns. Willie’s head of security has the details of the Willie and Billie Joe feud.
No money brings a freedom of speech lawsuit: Curt Varone’s FireLawBlog.com has the story of an interview given by a Pittsburgh, PA firefighter just days before he retired and how it impacted his final payout.
Here’s a complicated one for Varone to dissect: I am sending this one along to Curt to analyze. It’s a dense story from Irvington, New York where a volunteer, originally from Russia, made claims against the fire company of harassment about his citizenship and sexual harassment. He wants to be a member of the fire department but refuses to join the fire company. Read the story here.
Fire department funds missing. Chief in jail: Bill Schumm has never met a fire department embezzlement story he didn’t like. Check out this one from Allenport, Pennsylvania.
Speaking of the Geezer: I will have the honor of sharing Booth #743 at Firehouse Expo once again next week with the Firegeezer and firefighter/author/columnist/all around nice guy Will Wyatt. Come see us. Also, check out the Chief’s Leadership Forum on Wednesday, July 18 where I will be discussing media issues with “Recipe for Disaster When Bad News Strikes: Ego, Emotion, Bosses & Attorneys”.
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