DC Medic who evaluated recruit candidate is suspended; Staph among the recruit staff; DC delayed alarm claim; LODDs report in Winnipeg; The bees
New story: House explosion in Irvington, NJ kills a person, destroys one home and damages at least 5 others around 7:30 a.m. The image above is from WNBC-TV. Here are their details.
Video of the day: The only information with the above video is that it is the St. Louis Fire Department. Click here to see the other 4 short videos from this fire.
Paramedic who evaluated DC recruit candidate is put on leave pending investigation. Was sent for retraining this week.
Matt Cella at The Washington Times has the story of the veteran DC paramedic who has been suspended (or as a DC Fire & EMS spokesman clarifies, “Put on administrative leave with pay”), following the death of a 23-year-old man who wanted to be a firefighter. As we reported on Monday, Eric Allen was transported by a basic-life-support ambulance after becoming ill following agility tests at the DC Fire & EMS Training Academy. Cella reports that Allen had a heart rate of 150 to 200 beats per minute. STATter 911 has learned officials are also concerned about the possibility that irregularities in Allen’s EKG may have been missed and that they are trying to find out why ALS care was not started.
STATter 911 has also learned that the medic was sent for two days of retraining this week. While union officials tell STATter 911 this is a situation that should be handled by re-education and not discipline, other sources in the department indicate they are moving toward the possibility of termination.
DC Fire & EMS recruit has staph infection and others may have it
In the image above, the current class of recruits at the DC Fire & EMS Training Academy are put through the paces. Three of those recruits are now being treated with antibiotics and the training academy has been scrubbed down because of staph. Details here.
Truck crew claims delayed alarm in the District
Go to the website for DC Fire’s Engine 30 and Truck 17 by clicking the image above. You can then read Truck 17’s claim that the city’s Office of Unified Communications (OUC or 911 center) delayed dispatching a house fire on Tuesday. According to the website’s account, the truck crew was able to make it to the scene before any other crews were sent. Because a neighbor believed there was someone inside the house, the truck crew mounted a search without the aid of an engine company. It turned out that no one was home.
Earlier this year, 9NEWS NOW reported on delays in dispatching calls at the 911 center. We should remind you, that the account by Truck 17 does not include any response or information from OUC’s perspective.
Infant was critically burned in this 5-alarm fire
Above, Thursday afternoon in Sandusky, Ohio. For video before the fire department got on the scene, check this out.
Report into 2 LODDs in Winnipeg not publicly released, but details discussed
The CBC (whose picture is above) said details from the report of the February deaths of Captain Tom Nichols and Captain Harold Lessard could be too upsetting to the families and other firefighters. For that reason, officials did not release it, but discussed some fo the findings, including recommending changes in the national building code and the fire department’s operations and training. Read the story here.
Opinions on the Boston situation and addressing the issue head on in Minnesota
Views from the president of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau and from Chief Billy Goldfeder on the LODDs and the reports of alcohol and drugs found during the autopsies.
On this subject, have you seen what the City Council did in New Ulm, Minnesota? Well worth reading considering what happened in Boston.
Speaking of opinions
You will get the idea where Dr. Harry Carter is going, just by the opening lines of his take on the Charleston, SC situation: “My friends, the time has come to take off the gloves with regard to the situation in Charleston, S.C. I am simply amazed that Mayor Joe Riley does not get it.”
A new dispute between Riverdale VFD and PGFD
In case you missed this one, that we added late Thursday, here are details into the war of words following last week’s two-alarm fire in College Park.
Also from yesterday, details on the hydrant testing
Here is the link to the midnight hydrant testing at the site of the 4-alarm fire in DC’s Adams Morgan neighborhood.
The Lucky Chinese restaurant isn’t
The above raw video is from Tuesday morning’s three-alarm fire in Elizabeth, NJ. No firefighters were injured.
A mess in Mesa
The store owner had just made a deal to sell the business and retire. Now there is nothing left of this Arizona 7-11 and service station.
Also in AZ, another all-hazards fire department
Who you going to call when 100,000 bees attack? You guessed it. Click here to see the video from Glendale, Arizona.
Fire trucks on the outside, asbestos on the inside
The picture above from the Daily News tells the story in Dedham, Massachusetts. But in case you’d like to learn more, click here.
Around the web
WithTheCommand.com’s lead story is on fire and EMS in Florida trying to get help following property tax cuts.
FireGeezer updates the bizarre reaction in Etna, Maine to that boring YouTube video. Hope he understands it. I don’t. Also, he has the video voyeur firefighter from Florida. Plus, a tribute to Joey Bishop (I wish I could get away with writing about that stuff … son of a gun).
Firefighter Spot brings up an older Detroit close call from a warehouse fire. Watch at about 2 minutes into the video.
I forgot to mention earlier in the week that DCFD.com has an update on Chief Steve Reid who has been home recuperating from two surgeries. I finally talked to Steve on Thursday and he sounds like he is getting his strength back.
