HICKMAN, KENTUCKY, HAS SEVERED ITS RELATIONSHIP with the Fulton County Rescue Squad after the entire organization shut itself down last Wednesday, May 21.

The rescue squad did not provide any medical or ambulance service.  The all-volunteer company responded to calls for vehicle extrication, river search and rescue, setting up helicopter landing zones and performed the town’s weather spotting.

The rescue squad went to the city several months ago telling of their need for a new truck because the present vehicle is too old and unsafe to operate.  They said that a properly-designed truck that would serve their needs would cost $89,000.  The city said that they have no funds to purchase a new truck beyond their budgeted $2,500 annual donation to the company.

After several months of discussions to no satisfaction, the membership voted to close down and all the officers resigned.  The city of Hickman has signed a 30-day contract with the Fulton City Fire and Rescue to provide extrication service while they decide what to do next.

update:
The city has also taken the legal steps to have the squad audited immediately.  Their primary purpose is to account for the equipment and tools that the city has purchased and provided to the rescue squad.

The Fulton Leader has some background in the truck controversy:

In January 2007, the rescue squad asked the fiscal court for help in purchasing the vehicle they said was needed to meet KRS specifications and allow then to transport their equipment and volunteers safely and efficiently. No action was taken on the request last year. The rescue squad returned to the fiscal court in January and March and again May 12 asking for support to buy what rescue squad leaders call the “much needed” vehicle.

The vehicle in question is a 550 Ford Quad Cab 4-wheel drive truck that would carry all equipment and haul a boat necessary when they respond to water rescues.

The rescue squad’s current primary response vehicle is a 1994 Dodge half- ton truck with a mechanics body and 142,519 miles on the vehicle.

The body has a gap making it appear as if the body, where some of the gear is stored, is pulling away from the main cab of the truck, apparently due to the fact it is hauling more weight than it was intended. 

Read the full story in the Fulton Leader HERE.
The Lexington Herald-Leader has a brief REPORT.
Hickman Chamber of Commerce WEBSITE.

BRITAIN IS NOTED FOR ITS MANY TRADITIONS and observances, such as the Shrove Tuesday pancake races, that date back to medieval times.

One of the most bizarre, and dangerous, of these events is the annual Cheese Chase held in Gloucestershire.  The contest which dates back to the Roman occupation calls for a legion of hardy (or fool-hardy) souls to chase a wheel of cheese down a very steep slope.

An eight-pound wheel of Double-Gloucester cheese is released at the top of the hill and it can achieve speeds of up to 70 mph.  The chasers try to catch it before it reaches the finish line, or at least be the first to cross the line after the cheese reaches it 200 meters below the start.  The winner gets to keep the cheese.

This year’s Cheese Chase was made a little safer by a timely rainfall that softened the ground a bit and lessened the chance of broken bones.  Nonetheless, 19 people were injured and had to be treated by the 30 members of the ambulance squad.  The year with the highest injury rate was 1997 when 33 people were hurt.

This video report shows the winner of the first race being carried off the course on a spine board by the medics:

WHEN THE TOWNE AND COUNTRY LIQUOR STORE in New York’s Hudson River Valley burned down late Saturday night, fire and police responders were met with a strange tale.

Mid-Hudson News

The fire initially set off a monitored alarm and when a policeman arrived on the scene he found the free-standing store ablaze and the owner Frank Ricca was out front with his hands tied behind his back.

Ricca claimed that just before closing time two men entered the store and began looking around.  While they were browsing, two more men came in and then the four of them pounced on Ricca, beat him senseless and tied him up.  Next they plundered the cash register, stole some merchandise, and then poured a liquid on the floor and set it alight.

Ricca somehow was able to run outside screaming for help and was heard by the neighbors.

When the Lake Carmel Fire Dept. arrived on the scene the building was fully involved.  After calling for mutual aid, the FD spent its resources on protecting exposed homes on either side of the store and were able to contain it.

Westchester Journal News

Investigators are digging into Ricca’s story while the search for the cause of the fire goes on.  Some unverified mumblings around the neighborhood say that the store’s business had fallen off drastically lately when its lottery franchise was pulled.  Also, the shelves were lightly stocked which indicates the possibility that he had been put on a C.O.D. policy by his vendors.

The Westchester Journal News has the latest REPORT.

RNN filed this video report:

WITH MONTREAL, QUEBEC’s, HOCKEY TEAM  long gone from the playoff scene, the Fire Department labor/management fingerpointing is going in a new direction this week.

Working without a contract for 17 months and a contentious negotiating program, the FF’s union is deflecting the latest problem onto City Hall.

Since the 22 departments within the greater Montreal limits were merged into one department 6 years ago, there have been NO fire-safety inspections of any buildings in the city.

“It’s worrying because there are no real objectives or goals for inspecting buildings in Montreal,” the city’s auditor-general Michel Doyon said at a news conference to present his findings. Inspections would ensure buildings have unobstructed fire exits and all necessary smoke detectors, sprinklers and extinguishers, and that flammable products are stored properly, he said.

Fire inspectors issued no tickets to building owners for safety violations from 2003 to 2006 after issuing 497 in 2002.  The FF’s union claims that the department is short 500  people, so there are not enough to fulfill the inspection program.

A just-released report from the city’s auditor-general also disclosed that of the 772 City employees that earned over $100,000 last year, nearly a third of them, 202 work for the fire department.  And most of them are fire captains working under the labor contract.

The crux of the problem is the mandated method of calling back captains at overtime pay to fill a vacancy instead of using on-duty firefighters to fill in as a detail assignment.  The union says it has been trying to get the City to adopt the more reasonable method  of fill-ins, but the City claims that they can’t because of a pending grievance that was filed nearly two years ago (!) and hasn’t yet been solved.

Read the full report in today’s Montreal Gazette HERE.

A FIRE BROKE OUT TUESDAY NIGHT at a farm in Scotland.  It began in a barn that stores tractors and propane cylinders.  The smoke plume rose quickly and could be seen for miles away.

Tayside FF’s work the tractor barn.
(Courier photo)

Unfortunately for the farmer, the people living in his end of the county had a faster response time than the fire brigade and filled up his access road with abandoned cars as they dashed in to watch their neighbor’s misfortune.

When the fire engines arrived, they were met with a column of empty cars and the FF’s had to get out and literally push the cars off the side of the road.

The BBC News REPORTS:

Station Manager Neil McKay said: “The smoke plume from this fire was visible for two to three miles over Monifieth, this caused many casual observers to arrive like moths attracted to a flame.

“Access to the fire scene for fire engines was down a track which became totally blocked due to a lack of consideration and foresight of some car drivers who, by blocking this track, delayed the arrival of two of the fire engines for more than 10 minutes.

“Despite this, 250 pigs in an adjoining building were saved due to the efforts of the fire crews.”

The Tayside Courier has a detailed report on the fire HERE.
 

17 HOURS REMAINING and still no bids have been placed on Donna’s pumper.

Don’t let this chance slip by.

Update #2, 7:35 pm Eastern:
With just over 5½ hours remaining, still no bids have been placed.

But the heavy money never shows up until the last minute of the auction.  That’s when the real action takes place.

It’s hard to believe that there are only three more days left in this month after today.  Sunday will be the first of June.  In my corner of the world it has been such crazy weather that we haven’t noticed that Spring has even started, let alone being almost over.  The weather experts are saying that the temperature will be back down in the 40’s tonight.  Like I said, crazy.

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One of the items on yesterday’s “On This Day…” feature along the right sidebar was the note that in 1919 Charles Strite patented the first automatic toaster.  Strange person that I am, I got to thinking about that.  Here is one of the handiest kitchen appliances that has been invented, then refined over the years, and yet we take it for granted.

Toasting bread was originally used as a method for prolonging the life of bread, dating back to the time of the Roman Empire.  The Latin word “tostum” means scorched, or burned.  Until the use of electricity became commonplace, people would lay bread slices against a rack near the fire and turn it when one side was done.

But Charlie was really doing civilization a big favor.  He saw the need and worked at meeting it.  More precisely, the need was to cut back on the labor required to make toast.  Strite’s machine was developed for the restaurant trade so that they wouldn’t have to pay someone to stand at the range and just toast slices of bread.  Now they could drop the “toaster” off the payroll and assign someone else to push the lever down on their way to do something else.  Cutting back on the payroll has been going on for a long time.

A home model of the automatic pop-up toaster didn’t arrive until 1926 when the Waters-Genter Co. began selling the Toastmaster A-1-A model.  And home economy took another leap forward.  Ten years later in 1936 Toastmaster incorporated a pneumatic shock absorber into the bread carriage to make a “smoother, quieter” toasting operation.

This is no doubt more than you ever wanted to know about toasters and I can see you shuffling your feet around waiting for the nutty captain to finish up.  So I’ll leave you with this link to the Toaster Museum Foundation where you can even buy a slick calendar with pictures of vintage toasters on each page.

Alright, let’s get the equipment checked out.  I’ll go start the coffee pot and make some toast.

THE SUMMIT FIRE IN SANTA CRUZ COUNTY is close to full containment.  During the last night, the fire did not grow any and today the firefighters have been blessed with cooler tempeatures and high humidity.

Fire officials expect that the fire which has burned more than 4,300 acres now, will be completely contained tonight, according to Chris Morgan, CalFire spokesman. 

Members of the Fremont/Hayward Combined
Task Force work the Summit fire near Gilroy.
(AP/Sanchez photo)

The San Jose Mercury News reports that the cost of fighting the Summit fire has reached $11.2 million, and there have been seven firefighters injured, all with minor strains and sprains, Morgan said. Currently, there are 2,631 firefighters assigned to the blaze, and Morgan said that number “will start going down drastically pretty quickly.”

KCBA Ch. 35 in Monterey has this video report:

A FIERY COLLISION INVOLVING SIX VEHICLES IN SOUTH LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, Monday evening killed 7 people and sent 16 more in critical condition to area hospitals.

KNBC

Police say that a speeding SUV ran through a red light and crashed into a van carrying 8 members of one family.  The SUV went airborne and when it landed on the sidewalk broke out in fire.  The two people in the SUV burned to death inside the car.

The collision led to a chain-reaction crash involving four more vehicles.

Three children in the van, ages 12, 7 and 4, were declared dead at the scene.

More than 100 firefighters responded to the scene and a full triage area was set up.

 
KNBC

KNBC Ch. 4 has the STORY and VIDEO.

The Associated Press has this video report:

photo courtesy STATter911

A METROPOLITAN WASHINGTON AIRPORTS AUTHORITY fire engine was running its annual pump test last week when a pressurized transmission fluid line burst, spraying the oil on the hot engine.

Dave Statter at STATter911 has the exclusive story with a full set of photos HERE.

ONE LESS HOUSE SIREN IN SELIGMAN, ARIZONA, this week. Frederick Cross, aka: Donna Clark, the self-appointed fire chief of the one-weirdo Bridge Canyon Volunteer Fire Department, has packed his trunks and left town. Uncle Charlie quit his janitor’s job at the general store and apparently left with him.

The struggling FD known for having the world’s largest engine bay - as big as the whole outdoors - is no more.

Freddie sold off most of his vehicles. The local scrap dealer got the water tanker at a great price. The 1964 Boardman pumper is currently up for sale on eBay. Scroll down to the next posting for the complete details of this great offer. He hasn’t come up for trial yet, so we don’t know if he’s gone on the lam, or just liquidating his ill-gotten assets before an expected trip up to the Big House in Phoenix.

Attention newer readers: If you’re not up to speed on who funny Freddie is, go over to the Categories list on the right sidebar and click on “Donna.” Scroll back the to bottom of page 2 and then read forward. It’s worth the trip, believe me.

*  *  *  *  *

Have You Seen This Man?

He’s usually dressed in women’s clothing and likes to talk Fire Department talk. Lately he’s been seen riding on the passenger’s side of the camper because the Sheriff took away his phony driver’s license. Wherever he pops up he will likely be peddling off some FD hand tools, equipment or running gear that he’s scammed off of some unwitting donors.

His full name is Frederick Renan Cross. D.O.B. Aug. 10, 1966.

He often uses a different name, perhaps because of his criminal past, and most recently went under the alias of Donna Clark.

Other aliases he has used are: Donna White; Donna Dorothy Clark; Donna R. Clark; Don Clark; M. Mann; Michelle Denise; Donna Fredericks; Meg Young, Attorney.

If you see him/her, or hear of any activities that suggest his presence, please let Firegeezer know right away.

Now scroll down to the next posting and see how you can get a piece of fire department history for your very own by purchasing the infamous BCVFD pumper.

YES, AS PART OF THE BCVFD LIQUIDATION, Fire Chief Donna has his/her 1967 Boardman pumper up for sale on eBay (HERE).

Now you can own a piece of history for only $3,500 (or more).

Donna may be gone from town, but his accomplice is handling the sale of his favorite pumper.

The seller’s nom de plume is Javidad1 with a “12″ feedback rating.  If you look up his feedbacks you will find that most of them are from only two people who are both no longer registered with eBay.

The closing date of this sale is tomorrow, Wednesday May 28, shortly after 10 pm Pacific time.

The vehicle description is really pushing the limits of credibility here.  They are saying that the vehicle is in “excellent” condition and that “everything such as hoses ….. are in mint condition.”  It’s going to be hard to prove that fire hose that has been sitting outside for years in the desert sun is in mint condition.  Not mentioned is if the dozen sets of new running gear that he conned out of a donor is included.

If you have any questions, they give you a phone number:  (928) 699-8185 where you can ask “Bud.”  For example, you might want to know when the pump had its last test and certification.  Or what the pump capacity is and how much water the booster tank holds.  Give Bud a call and let us know these answers.  Inquiring minds want to know.  The phone number is listed to a cell phone that was issued in Flagstaff, Arizona.

If you’re the winning bidder, you need to send your 10% deposit to damkrtchyan@yahoo.com.  Full payment is required in 7 days and you have to pick up the pumper.  It’s location is never disclosed other than it is somewhere in Arizona.  But at the top of the listing, the item is registered as being located in Glendale, California.  Ever the con man.

Maybe Bud can tell you where it is when you call for information.

Make sure you scroll down to the thumbnails and view the nine photos that they have put up for our informative amusement.

For instance:  Look at this!
Have you ever seen a firetruck with a necker’s knob on the steering wheel?
“We don’t need no two hands to drive a fire engine”

Just CLICK HERE to visit the eBay selling page.  Remember, the auction closes Wednesday night shortly after 10 pm Pacific time.