Water Valley, Mississippi house fire: This fire was at Buena Vista and Grandview yesterday afternoon. Firefighters dealt with temperatures in the 90s. The North Mississippi Herald reports it took a little more than an hour to bring the fire under control.
Union & chief offer differing views on PGFD’s holiday staffing: IAFF Local 1619 is again making waves about the reduced staffing during a holiday. In this case it is two holidays. Friday is Firefighter Appreciation Day and Monday is Memorial Day. Rather than doling out premium holiday pay Chief Eugene Jones says the combined system allows the department to still provide quality service using volunteers. Andrew Pantelis, the union president, thinks the safety of the citizens is in jeopardy. Read all about it.
An ice cold memory that got pretty hot: As Dave continues to make his way through his desk and the archive room in the waning days of his TV career, he found a must see close call from 1994. Check out this video of DC firefighters making a hasty retreat due to frozen hoses and pumps. You will also see that I retrieved from my desk a picture of the man who shot the video.
Woman calls 911 to report that firefighter appears to be drunk: An Orlando district chief is under investigation after a woman claims he was drunk in uniform at a pizza joint. Listen to the audio and read and watch the details.
Bees sting rescuers arriving at fatal crash: One of the two trucks involved in a pileup with two cars on I-35 near Lakeville, Minnesota was carrying thousands of honeybees. Two people died in the crash. Click here for the story.
My wife calls this the ultimate in multi-tasking: A Minnesota woman gave birth on the way to the hospital last week. That happens. But how man times has the woman been behind he steering wheel of a car? Amanda McBride did turn the wheel over to the father of the child as they moved down the road to the hospital. Here’s more.
Chicago suit gets new life: Here’s the lead from the Chicago Tribune – “After more than a decade of legal wrangling, thousands of black applicants for Chicago firefighting jobs celebrated a Supreme Court ruling Monday that found they did not wait too long to sue the city over a 1995 hiring test they deemed discriminatory.” Read more.
Firefighters give a hoot: Responding to a fire a fire truck from Missouri’s Wentzville Fire Protection District saw something fly into the windshield. Only after being at the fire for an hour did they realize they hit an owl and the injured bird was sitting dazed on top of the rig. The firefighters saved the owl. Read the details.
You never know what’s in those things: In Orlando yesterday fire swept through storage lockers at the Orlando Business Center. Not only did four explosions keep firefighters on guard but it turns out people and animals were being “stored” there.
