Some good reading for you after you finish Firegeezer:

*  If you haven’t been following Maryland medivac helicopter crash that killed 4 and left one critically injured, you should be hitting STATter911 every day.  The plane landed right in Dave’s patch and he’s been digging up all sorts of hidden details.  Today he uncovers the fact that it was nearly 45 minutes after the crash before the state police notified the fire and rescue department.  Start with that story HERE.  Then catch up on yesterday’s revelations HERE.

*  Wildfire Today has a posting today that starts off with:

Federal mismanagement of U.S. forests has increased the number, size and cost of wildfires over the past decade. Overcrowding has left 60 percent of national forest land facing abnormal fire hazards. The culprit: bureaucratic paralysis — due in part to judges or politicians beholden to environmental lobbyists overriding the decisions of professional foresters, says the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA).

Now that it’s gotten your attention, click HERE to read some of the examples he gives for it.

*  FireNews.net is on top of all things North Carolina and Jeff leads off today with a picture/article on a fire engine rollover Monday night.  Catch that and more HERE.

*  Fire Chief editor Janet Wilmoth has an important essay about the recent passage of the home sprinkler code.  She rightly points out that fire service officials still have a lot of work to do to get it implemented.  And it will take time.  Be sure to read her blueprint HERE.

*  The appointment of Montgomery County Chief Tom Carr to the post of Charleston, So. Carolina, fire chief has splashed across the fire/rescue headlines.  Make sure you catch the links that Grant has on SConFire.com HERE.  Next, catch the first (and so far, only?) interview with the new chief on FireRescue1 HERE.

*  The day isn’t complete until you’ve checked the latest from FirefighterSpot’s Best Videos.  Jason has an interesting story on a pier fire in NYC that was burning while a cruise ship was docked there.  Catch the whole site HERE.

FLINT, MICHIGAN, FIREFIGHTERS WERE PRESSED TO the limit Monday night when four working fires, three of them arsons, lit up during a 2-hour span.

The night of action began just after 6 pm when they responded to a vacant school building for a fire inside that was later determined to be set.  While they were there, a vacant house was torched and kept one alarm assigment busy for a while.

The third fire came shortly after at an occupied dwelling where the residents were barbecuing too close to the house and set it on fire causing several thousands of dollars in damage.

Before 8:00 the fourth fire came along at another vacant house.  Three neighboring departments assisted in the collective efforts and filled in stations.

WNEM has a video report of the night’s activities:

AN ELDERLY LADY IN SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, narrowly escaped injury Tuesday morning when her car went off the road and started a fire.

The driver, in her late 60s or early 70s, was heading up a hill when her older-model BMW sedan stalled and began rolling backward shortly before 9:30 a.m., Pacific time, according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.

As she rolled backwards, the car jumped the curb and slid sideways down a steep, brushy embankment.  The sliding car started a brush fire and it spread up into the car as the woman managed to scramble out.  With the assistance of several passers-by, they all managed to get her back up the hill and away from the flames.

The FD had the fire out in short order without much spread, but the car was destroyed.

Channel 6 has the STORY.  (Film at 11)

IT WAS ON MAY 21, 2007, THAT BRITAIN’S ICONIC SAILING SHIP CUTTY SARK suffered a tragic fire that destroyed most of the hull and swept through the three decks as it was undergoing renovation.

The fire was first reported around 4 am after it was well underway and the London Fire Brigade had to work hard to keep the fire from extending more than it did. The ship has been on permanent display for over 50 years and is one of London’s most popular tourist attractions.

At the time of the fire it was closed for a major renovation and fortunately all of the ship’s artifacts, decking and cabins had been removed while the ship’s wrought iron frame was being restored and preserved. However, the fire loss still exceeded £10 million and set back the completion date for the restoration by two years.

This photo released by the Metropolitan Police and London
Fire Brigade shows the damage belowdecks from the fire.

ITV carried this video of the fire:

Initially the fire was believed to be “suspicious,” but after 16 months of exhaustive investigation the cause has been determined to be accidental. The police invesitgators have reported that the fire likely started with an industrial vacuum machine that was being used to collect concrete dust in the work area and had carelessly been left turned on over the weekend for over 48 hours.  The dust collector previously had overheating problems and at one time had been sent back to the manufacturer for repairs.

But the mitigating factor in the fire spread was the dereliction of duty of the two watchmen who were supposed to patrol the location and make periodic fire checks and log their activities. Instead, one of them was sleeping on the job while the other was sitting in the visitor’s cafeteria reading his Bible. The log book was found to have been forged ahead of time by filling out all of the entries for the entire night at the beginning of the shift, including an entry for 7 am (after the ship had burned down) saying ‘Off duty, all is in order.”

The investigation also found that work practices during the weeks preceding had ignored all basic fire prevention standards.

The Times (London) has more details of the invetigation HERE.

The Telegraph has posted this video report today:

BRIAN DUDDY, FIRE PHOTOGRAPHER and Firegeezer reader, has just posted a batch of pics from the Catskills Muster held in June and he’d like to share them with you HERE.

AN ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, JURY ORDERED AMERICAN MEDICAL RESPONSE (AMR) to pay nearly $24 million damages to a man who was permanently paralyzed after a traffic accident involving one of their ambulances.

On April 16, 2007, Louis Del Barba, 85, was driving his auto and making a turn when he was broadsided by the ambulance.  The ambulance’s speed was measured at 65 mph in a 35 mph zone. Experts agreed that such a speed, in rush hour conditions, was reckless and unsafe.

A press statement released yesterday by the plaintiff’s lawyers stated:

Mr.

Del Barba had the right of way and was wearing a shoulder and lap seat belt when the crash occurred. As a result of the accident, he received
numerous traumatic injuries and is paralyzed completely, save for some movement of his head and left arm. He is constantly dependent on a ventilator.Doctors believe that he can return to his 110-year-old family home if there are funds to fit a room for medical care. The jury felt strongly that Mr.

Del
Barba had a right to a dignified death at his own home, if he so chose.  Evidence was produced to show that American Medical Response had contributed nothing to his care.

You can read the entire press statement HERE.

VERMONT CHEESE, ONE OF FIREGEEZER’S FAVORITES, took a hit in the supply chain Monday night when a large fire destroyed a major portion of the Saputo Cheese factory in Hinesburg.

Burlington Free Press / Ryan Mercer photo

The first call came in at 9:30 pm with fire reported in the production area.  Soon there were units from 12 departments on the scene fighting the blaze that had flames as high as 100 feet.  A haz-mat company was dispatched also because of a large ammonia tank known to be in the complex along with a variety of other industrial chemicals.

The plant operates 24 hrs. a day, so there was a full staff in the building.  All of them made it out safely.

The Burlington Free Press has the latest REPORT.

WCAX-TV had cameras on the scene during the fire for this video REPORT.

THE TOWN OF COCHRANE, ALBERTA, covers just under 12 sq. miles and is home to 13,700 souls.  But its proximity to Calgary, only 22 miles away, is cause for rapid growth lately.

Cochrane, Alberta

Trying to keep up with their projections, the city has just taken possession of a Rosenbauer platform that was special-built in Germany and boasts a 525-horsepower engine along with eight computers.

No doubt there are a lot of places with 10 times the population that would like to know how they came up with $1.3 million to pay for it.

The Vancouver Sun tells about it HERE.
Town of Cochrane WEBSITE.

Our posting yesterday about the neighbors who chased down the local arsonist (HERE) reminded me of a case of vigilantism that I came in touch with.  It’s been quite a few years ago, way back when I was an engine driver.

We were on our way back to quarters from a 3rd-due run  late at night, somewhere between 11 pm and 2 am, as I recall.  When we were back in our 1st-due area passing an apartment complex, we spotted an auto on fire in one of the parking lots.  So I started driving into the lot towards the fire while the Lieu checked with dispatch, and we learn that no calls have come in on it yet, so we marked out on it.

The car, which was parked on the back row of the lot, was in full blaze and there were a few people standing around watching it as we pulled up and did our thing.  A few feet away from the curbstone was a 3-ft. high anchor fence that separated the property from a vacant lot, but that didn’t hinder us any.  After we knocked the fire down and cooled it off good, maybe 5 or 8 minutes had gone by, we started asking around if anyone knew whose car this was.

Nobody knew who owned it for sure, but a couple of them said, “You want to know who set it?”  That was the first indication we had that it was a deliberate fire. 

“Yeah, we’d like to know who started it.”

“It was him.” said one fellow who was pointing over the fence into the field next door.  So we walk over to the fence and squint into the darkness where we can just barely make out what looks to be a body laying there.  Over the fence we go and check it out.  Sure enough, there’s this poor sap that the neighbors caught setting the fire, laying there all this time still unconscious.  Of course, nobody knew who did this deed to the arsonist, but we didn’t need to know.  But I was always curious how he got so far over the fence, unless that’s where they caught him.

So we called for the ambulance and the police, then went back to bed.  Good job, Guys.

And we’d better be ready for the next one, so let’s get the equipment checked and I’ll go start the coffee pot.

JOEY “JAWS” CHESTNUT OF SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, retained his World Hamburger Eating Championship title Sunday by eating 93 hamburgers in 8 minutes in front of a crowd that exceeded 10,000 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Takeru Kobayashi (l.) kept the race close until
the final two minutes when Joey Chestnut pulled
away with a decisive win.

Chestnut handily beat his constant rival Takeru Kobayashi of Tokyo, Japan, who came in a disappointing third-place consuming only 84 burgers and being edged out by Pat “Deep Dish” Bertoletti of Chicago who gulped 85 on his way to second place.

Chestnut takes home $20,000 for his win, along with the coveted Krystal Square Off Champion’s Belt and Trophy made out of crystal. Bertoletti earns $10,00 for his second place finish while Kobayashi takes away $5,000. The remaining top eleven finalists receive payouts ranging from $3,000 to $500. The $50,000 total cash purse is the largest in competitive eating history.

Kobayashi is legendary in competitive eating circles because of his past accomplishments, but he has slipped in the past couple of years.  He won the Krystal Square Off contest three years running, in 2004, ‘05, and ‘06, but missed last year’s contest due to a sore jaw.  That was when Chestnut stepped in and took over the title with a still-record 103 Krystal burgers in eight minutes.

Krystal Square Off Championships WEBSITE.
Major League Eating WEBSITE.

And of course, our cameras were there thanks to Press Association:

THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIREFIGHTERS (IAFF) has filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Montgomery, Alabama, Mayor Bobby Bright and other city and fire department officials, to obtain relief from unlawful retaliatory actions.

The IAFF issued a press release today announcing that they have amended the suit to include another plaintiff who has also been retaliated against because of his union membership.

The statement reads, in part:

Toney D. Stephens was added as a co-plaintiff in an Amended Complaint filed September 25 with the Federal District Court in Montgomery as part of a federal court suit filed September 5 on behalf of Ronnie Bozeman Jr., president of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1444.

Stephens has been a target of defendants named in the suit because he joined the fire fighters’ association and resisted coercion by fire department officials to make a cash contribution to the Public Safety Insurance Fund. Stephens then was transferred and told that he should have contributed to the fund. Ultimately, Stephens was suspended without pay for 29 days. 

Fire Chief Milford Jordan indicated that Stephens and other members of Local 1444 would be better off if they got out of the labor association. Jordan also has told African-American fire fighters in the fire department that they should drop out of the fire fighters’ association because their membership in it would hurt their careers in the department.

There’s more.  Read the entire press statement HERE.

THIS UNDATED VIDEO FROM RUSSIA SHOWS that things were going alright until the fire department got there.