Quick takes
Click here and then scroll down for the latest fire and EMS news from STATter911.com
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4BOaeYqcec&hl=en&fs=1]
Fireground audio and video from Detroit: More from Steve Redick’s recent trip. This is a house fire with exposure problems on Friday.
Another firefighter charged in a major arson case: On Long Island it was a probationary firefighter accused of killing a family of four. Late yesterday, word broke in Pennsylvania that a man listed as a “staff” captain of the Coatesville Fire Department has now been charged with the two latest arsons in a series of fires terrorizing the city. Robert Tracey Jr. has been associated with Coatesville FD for 25-years. Until February he was the volunteer assistant chief. The department confirms he resigned to become a career firefighter at Coatesville. This morning we updated our story with new links, pictures and videos, including the full statement from the Coatesville FD. Click here.
Fire chief dies, his two brothers hurt, in grain elevator fire: Chief Nolan Schmidt of the Hydro Fire Department in Oklahoma died yesterday trying to put out a soybean fire in a grain elevator. His brothers, Assistant Chief Warren Schmidt and Capt. Paul Schmidt, along with firefighters Allen Entz and Kyle Nonast were injured. Watch the story here and here. Read the story.
“The firefighters’ union wants a lot more money than the city can afford to pay at this time”: That quote could come from most cities these days. But the words belong to Boston Fire Commissioner Roderick Fraser Jr. as he makes the case to a TV reporter against some of the “perks” firefighters receive. These include hazardous duty pay, night differential, uniform allowances and much more. Read the story. Watch the story.
Budget is balanced, but furlough still requested and rejected: In Haverhill, MA, firefighters are joining cops and teachers in turning down a one-day furlough. Despite the budget being balanced, Haverhill leaders are asking for the concession to be fair to other city workers. Read more.
And to save money in Columbus, Ohio, a return to the basics?: Basic, as in basic life support. Citing statistics on patient outcome, a committee in Columbus, charged with saving the city money, thinks it may be time to turn the clock back 40-years and scrap ALS. Here’s the story.
Fireground audio and helmet-cam video from Florida: Click here for an up close and personal view of a fire yesterday in Jacksonville.
Divorce, mutual aid style: After years of working side by side together two fire departments in the Lake Charles, Louisiana area are going separate ways. There’s the usual it’s not you, it’s me. Some concern about finances. Now there are worries about response times. Read the story. Watch the story.
The fire SUV has become just too much of a status symbol: In Kansas City, Missouri a quick thinking firefighter was able thwart a woman’s attempt to steal a battalion chief’s vehicle from a fire station on Sunday night. Click here for details.
I am sure that cat was getting a good laugh taking in this picture: If that is what Rocky the dog was chasing when he got his head stuck in a tree. Real stuck. There are pictures as North Carolina’s Harlowe VFD ticked off tree huggers everywhere, but made PETA very happy. See for yourself.
A firefighter really saves the day as Spiderman: Call me a sentimental sap, but take a second to read this story from Bangkok. Maybe it is today’s antidote for all of the lousy news we read and hear.
