Skip to content

Amb. Crew Nabbed Cruising for Pot

View Comments

Update, 4:45 pm: Entire squad voluntarily suspends service for a month.  Scroll down for details.

TWO NORTH PLAINFIELD (NEW JERSEY) RESCUE SQUAD members have been suspended after being arrested early Wednesday morning and charged with possession of marijuana in their ambulance.

The two medics, Yanis Laureano, 23, and Dennis Lopes, 19, were not on an emergency call but were seen in a known drug area acting in a suspicious manner by an informant who called the police.  The officers located the ambulance within a few minutes and found less than 50 grams of marijuana on their persons.

Dennis Lopes is shown 2nd from right in the back row
of this photo posted on the Rescue Squad website.

North Plainfield has two ambulances in service, one on “active” duty and the other in an “on call” status.  The ambulance that was stopped was listed in the on call status and had not been dispatched to any address in that area.  A police spokesman said that was not the first time that the ambulance had been observed in the area.

Sources:
The Star-Ledger,
Central Jersey Courier-News
North Plainfield Rescue Squad WEBSITE.

UPDATE, 4:45 pm:
FG reader Shawn G. has forwarded the following information from a meeting held this afternoon:

The North Plainfield Rescue Squad has announced that they will voluntarily suspend operations for a month and all emergency rescue responsibilities will be assumed by the North Plainfield Fire Department during that time.  The Courier News tells:

The decision was made shortly after joint meetings held between squad leaders and borough municipal, police and fire officials. According to a plan unveiled Thursday afternoon, the fire department will handle primary emergency services from Friday through Oct. 4, officials said. The squad during that period will have “the opportunity to complete (an) internal investigation, reorganize the staff officers, and evaluate and revise their operational procedures,” according to a joint announcement.

 The rescue squad will continue to handle secondary calls in the borough during that period, and subject to the approval of Mayor Michael Giordano Jr. and his administration, it will resume providing primary coverage by Oct. 5.

Posted by firegeezer on September 2, 2010 • Filed under: EMS Topics, ambulances, crime • Tagged: , , , ,

The Fire Zouaves organize – 1861

View Comments

The April 1861 Confederate attack on Fort Sumter was the first battle of the Civil War. The Union surrendered the fort after a brutal 34 hour armed barrage.  (HERE)

In the aftermath President Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers for 90 days to recapture the Charleston, South Carolina fort.

A Natural Choice

Identified as the First Regiment New York Zouaves, Colonel E. Elmer Ellsworth recruited this regiment from the ranks of New York City volunteer firefighters. The regiment was accepted by the state April 20, 1861.

Colonel Ellsworth, an ardent Abraham Lincoln supporter, has a unique background.

Historical Sketch from the 3rd Annual Report Of The Bureau of Military Statistics:

Colonel E. Elmer Ellsworth,

E. Elmer Ellsworth, a native of New York, but at that time a resident of Chicago, a, young man of rare natural military abilities, inspired by the accounts of the organization and movements of the Zouaves in the French service, succeeded in establishing a company of Zouaves in his adopted city, and in so perfecting them in drill as to excite the admiration of men of all classes in the cities which they visited.

(Ellsworth) hastened to New York to raise a regiment of firemen — a class of men that he conceived to be the best adapted from their accustomed exposure to privations, for the Zouave discipline. He arrived in New York on the 18th of April, and laid his plans before the chief of the fire department, and received his cordial consent and co-operation

The record shows that 1100 volunteer firefighters were mustered within three days. They were drilled, supplied and left New York eleven days after Ellsworth met with the Chief Engineer of the fire department.

Rowdies, part II

Earlier we covered Chief Carson’s report on rowdies in 1854.  (HERE)

When Colonel Elmer Ellsworth recruited volunteer firefighters for the First Regiment New York Zouaves in 1861 many of them were members who were suspended or thrown out of their departments, usually for bad behavior.

Even with this knowledge, the Board of the New York Fire Department unanimously resolved in April that all of the 1,100 men who had volunteered for military service would be retained on the department’s rolls, and their positions therein held until their honorable return.

Number of Volunteers Not Clear

Seven years earlier, Chief Engineer Carson reported 2,800 active volunteers, within a department with 4,515 available positions.

“Available Positions” is based on the maximum number of members allowed within a fire company, with 60 members for every engine company.

For a while the roster included four Hydrant Companies, members with four or more years of service who were too injured, disabled or old to function on an engine, hose or ladder company.

I do not have an accurate number of the total number of active volunteers in April, 1861, by 1865 the number was below 4000.

On to Washington DC

The Fire Zouaves proceeded to their first billet at the White House in Washington D. C.

next week: Fire at the Willard Hotel

References:

(1887) The Fire Zouaves. In A. E. Costello: Our Firemen: A History of New York Fire Departments, Volunteer and Paid, from 1609 to 1887. (pp. 286 – 303). New York: A. E. Costello.

Hermann, Marc A. and Shaun C, Grenan (2006 January 19) “TIGER! ZOUAVE!”: Portraying the 1st Fire Zouaves (11th New York Volunteers) website accessed 07/26/2010 at
http://www.myrtle-avenue.com/firezou/

New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs: Military History (July 18, 2006) 11th Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry: Historical Sketch From The 3rd Annual Report Of The Bureau of Military Statistics.  Accessed 7/29/2010 at http://dmna.state.ny.us/historic/reghist/civil/infantry/11thInf/11thInfBMSHistSketch.htm

Phisterer, Frederick (1912) New York in the War of the Rebellion, 3rd ed. Albany, J. B. Lyon Company.  Accessed 7/26/2010 at http://dmna.state.ny.us/historic/reghist/civil/infantry/11thInf/11thInfMain.htm

<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Mike worked on a project about Reconstruction after the Civil War
This is one in a series of articles about the Metropolitan Fire Department established in Manhattan in 1865.

Mike “FossilMedic” Ward

Posted by fossilmedic on September 2, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership • Tagged: , , , ,

Six Alarms in The Bronx

View Comments

A 6-ALARM FIRE BROKE OUT SHORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT Thursday morning in the Bronx, New York.  The fire started in a record store and quickly spread to six other business all located in the same commercial building.

FDNY News photo

The firefighters were able to contain the fire and had it extinguished in a little more than five hours.  The shopping center was a total loss and the roof came in as can be seen in this video report from WCBS-TV:

Twelve firefighters were reported injured, one of them seriously after he fell and lost consciousness temporarily.

NY1 News Channel has more plus additional video HERE.

Posted by firegeezer on September 2, 2010 • Filed under: Fires, Videos, fire

Devastating Fire Extends to Antique Firetruck Storage Building.

View Comments

A SERIES OF EXPLOSIONS FOLLOWED BY A LARGE FIRE wracked a Delaware County, Pennsylvania, welding supply firm Wednesday afternoon.  The fire involved propane leaking from two large storage tanks (30,000-gal. and 18,000 gal.) that had vented and presented a large danger to the industrial park and neighborhood nearby.  The fire began with a series of explosions shortly after noon that continued for about a half-hour.

The fire response soon reached six alarms as a 1,000-ft. perimeter for firefighters and 3,000-ft. evacuation zone was established by the fire command and master streams were used to keep the propane tanks cooled.  The fire itself was extinguished at 6 pm, but units remained on the scene all night controlling the hot spots.  All the evacuees were allowed to return to their homes at midnight.  About 400 firefighters attended the blaze.

WTXF-TV Ch. 29 provided this aerial video taken from their helicopter:

So far there are five known injuries with one in critical but stable condition from burns.  Three of the other four were treated and released.

The fire also had a tragic side effect for the fire/rescue community.  Among the several nearby buildings in the industrial park that burned down from the exposure to the main fire, one was a storage building that housed several antique fire trucks owned by members of the Cradle of Liberty Antique Fire Apparatus Association.  (Firegeezer recently reported on their annual muster HERE.)  The owner of the building, George Kaiser owned most of them as well as a large personal collection of antique fire artifacts.  This aerial view of the fire taken by WTXF-TV’s helicopter shows Kaiser’s building as the one with the blue roof on the left side of the image:

The loss as posted on the Cradle of Liberty AFAA’s WEBSITE is given as:

  • 1974 International Pierce Mini-Pumper
  • 1969 Hahn, 19?? Mack L-model 4 door pumper
  • International Sqrt Industrial/Refinery truck
  • A very rare 1929 Day-Elder firetruck

Currently it is believed, but not yet confirmed, that the fire began inside the welding supply depot when a forklife operator dropped four 100-lb propane tanks that broke and triggered the initial flash and started the fire.  Over the course of the blaze, literally hundreds of compressed gas cylinders inside the building exploded.  The investigators should be able to begin looking into the cause of the fire sometime today.

Local news Delco Daily Times has a good report HERE.
STATter911 has more plus additional videos HERE.
Philly Fire News has their always-good coverage HERE.
The Philadelphia Enquirer has MORE.
The Philadelphia Daily News has a REPORT.

There may be updates filed to this report.  Check back later.

Posted by firegeezer on September 2, 2010 • Filed under: Fires, Videos, antique apparatus, explosion, fire • Tagged: , , , ,

Morning Lineup – September 2

View Comments

There is a special place in hell for internet spammers who steal other people’s email addresses and then do you-know-what with them.  And Facebook with its 40-gazillion registered members is like a vacation resort for those vile people.  I bring this up now because just a few minutes ago I was prodded by one of those attempts while I was checking out my Facebook page and it brings up that old adage that is still true now more than ever:  Never give out your email address and password unless you initiate the contact.

Today’s adventure began when I heard that unique, disgusting “plup” sound that FB makes when someone plugs you in for a chat.  And this time the chat request was purportedly from my daughter-in-law.  The time of day (before 6 am) wasn’t too striking because she works shift-work at the hospital where she is an RN.  But she never has engaged me in a chatroom before, it’s not part of our usual way of discourse.  But what first raised my warning flag was “her” message began by calling me Firegeezer, the name of my FB account.  That is definitely not the usual salutation between us.  The message itself was something to the effect of, ” OMG, look at this embarrassing moment!” and had a link to some video clip.  Still out of character for her.  I figured out what was probably going on by then.

A click on the video clip brought up a screen that is a perfect copy of Facebook’s login screen with the box where you fill in your email address and password so that you can “enter” Facebook and continue on.  Of course, if you have your brain in gear, you are aware that you already are logged in to FB if you’ve gotten this far already.  It’s immediately obvious that criminal activity is going on.  What has happened is that somebody had harvested her Friends list (an easy enough task to do) and set up a program to send this message to any of them whenever they are logged on.  And then whenever somebody responds to the scam, the bad guys now have their email passwords where they will go to collect credit card information, other passwords, bank statements, etc., etc. 

I’m sure that all of you already know this stuff, but let this be a reminder to you that it can come from anywhere at anytime, so stay alert.  Especially in popular places like Facebook.  We went through this a few years ago when eBay used to be a good place to do business.  Phantom messages arrived all the time trying to trick me into “confirming” my password or some such.  Now they are in Facebook, the site du jour and still at it.  So here we go again…. join me in reminding everybody… Never give out your email address and password unless you initiate the contact.  That goes for emails from places where you do online shopping, too.  If you didn’t ask first, then presume it’s a hoax.

Now let’s presume that it’s up to us to get this equipment checked out this morning.  I’m going to get the coffee started.  See you back in the day room.

Posted by firegeezer on September 2, 2010 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged:

Radio Reference purchases Fire Feed

View Comments

Yesterday’s announcement from FireFeeds:

We wish to inform you that Radio Reference has recently acquired FireFeeds. Starting September 1st, .:: FireFeeds.com ::. LIVE FIRE DISPATCH SCANNER AUDIO FEEDS will be redirected to Radio Reference’s live feed web site RadioReference.com – Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference.

For over seven years, FireFeeds provided live fire audio offering exclusive feeds that no other service could provide. We believe you will enjoy what Radio Reference has to offer. Service is free of charge and offers many live public safety feeds.

We also encourage you to visit Incident Page Network at :: IPN :: Nationwide Fire & Police Incident Notification (FireFeeds’ sister company). A quality and professional service providing nationwide incident alerts to your phone, email or pager in the areas you specify.

The staff of FireFeeds greatly appreciates your business and would like to thank you for your loyalty.

Thank you,
Fire Feeds Support Staff

From Lindsay C. Blanton III,  President at RadioReference.com LLC:

The firefeeds.com team put out this announcement today. We are working closely with those feed providers at firefeeds that wish to make the transition over to RadioReference.com.

RadioReference blog.

Facebook: RadioReference | Twitter: @RadioReference

Posted by fossilmedic on September 1, 2010 • Filed under: Firefighting Operations, News, communications • Tagged: , ,