THE CURRENT SWINE FLU SCARE that’s being promulgated worldwide now has its own term: aporkalypse.
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THERE WERE SOME GRIPPING MOMENTS IN SWITZERLAND early Tuesday morning when a parcel containing vials of the swine flu virus exploded on a railroad passenger train.
The five vials were part of an 8-vial container that was being transported to Geneva to help develop a test to detect swine flu. They were triple-wrapped and hermetically sealed in a container packed with dry ice to keep them refrigerated. However, as the CO2 vaporized without any venting, the raised pressure eventually blew the packet apart, spraying the contents through the carriage.
Swiss police guard the contaminated train while it is checked.
(20min.ch photo)
The train, which was traveling from St. Gallen to Geneva, was stopped before it arrived at the Lausanne station and quarantined while the laboratory scientist in Geneva who owned them was brought up to investigate. He assured everybody that this was not the same strain of virus that is causing all the illness and deaths, and that it posed absoutely no hazard to human beings.
After all 61 passengers that were in the car were checked and cleared, the train was allowed to complete its journey.
Bild.de has the full STORY.
WINDOWS 7 RELEASE CANDIDATE 1 will be posted to members of Microsoft’s Developer Network and TechNet for download beginning today. Mass availability will be made this next Tuesday, May 5.
The Register, an IT newsletter, reports:
This is expected to be the last code cut before Windows 7 is delivered as final product, unless major bugs or faults are uncovered. Microsoft pointedly did not give a date for Windows 7′s release to manufacturing when it announced the RC and has been clinging to a 2010 time frame.
The smart money, though, is on release to manufacturing and OEMs this year, as early as this summer. Consumers are expected to get Windows 7 on new PCs and as boxed product in time for the back-to-school shopping window starting in September and October or the holiday shopping season a little later.
Businesses on Microsoft’s enterprise accounts are likely to get a slightly earlier lead-time on the new operating system.
The eagerly awaited browser has been in Beta use since January and MS believes that they have identifiied and removed any bugs that were in the first copy.
THE BOSTON (MASSACHUSETTS) FIRE DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCED LAST Friday that they have hired two civilian employees to oversee the vehicle fleet maintenance.
WCVB-TV reports:
Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald said in an e-mail Friday that the city has hired a fleet safety coordinator who is scheduled to begin work on Monday. MacDonald did not say who had been tasked to fill the new position. The city also selected a fleet maintenance manager, set to start work next week, who will share responsibility for ensuring city fire vehicles are properly maintained.
A report released in March gave the city’s fire truck mechanics and supervisors a failing grade, saying mechanics and supervisors do not know the most simple manufacturer’s recommendations, like when to do oil changes. The report also said firefighters do not receive any driver training at the Fire Academy.
MacDonald said that the department has also developed a daily safety checklist for fire companies to follow and has created a new driver training course for fire fighters.
Despite the new hires, the fire department has still not met several recommendations laid out in the report that officials had aimed to have in place by June 6, including implementing standard vehicle inspection procedures and preventative maintenance programs. MacDonald said that consultants will begin work on the projects once the bidding process concludes. He said that he expects the new safety measures to be in place by the June 6 goal.
Mass Casualty In Netherlands
Comments OffUpdate: Video added. Scroll down.
Update #2: Death toll rises.
Update #3: Driver dies.
SHORTLY AFTER 8 AM EASTERN TIME, A MAN MOWED DOWN DOZENS of spectators in an apparent attempt to cause harm to the Queen of Netherlands.
Large crowds were packing the street in Apeldoorn celebrating the annual Queen’s Day and watching her pass by in a special open-top bus when a man deliberately drove his car through the barriers and charged at high speed down the road, driving over all pedestrians in his path.
photos by GeenStijl
Despite massive front-end destruction from crashing the barricade, the car was able to continue its charge down the roadway.
As he came to within 30 ft. of the bus, he lost control and smashed into a road sculpture/statue.
So far there are two reported fatatlities and over 20 injuries with at least six of them critical. The Queen’s company was uninjured in the attack.
Dutch Television caught the moment when the man crashed his car:
Sky News (UK) has an early video report:
GeenStijl.ne has more photos and the story HERE.
The Associated Press has a video from another angle:
Update #2:
The death toll has risen to 4 and the police are reporting that there remain 13 injured including 5 in serious condition. Two of the injured are police officers and one of them is on the “serious” list.
The 38-yr.-old driver has been arrested, but he is in emergency surgery and has been unable to be interrogated.
The Public Prosecutor said at an afternoon press conference that it was a deliberate attack on the Royal family, but there were no explosives found in his car. His house was search immediately following the incident, but there was no mention if anything was found there.
Der Spiegel reports:
Eyewitnesses say the black Suzuki crashed through the crowd barriers at the Jachtlaan at 11.50 a.m. at a speed of about 80 kilometers per hour. He was headed in the direction of the open bus carrying the royal family, which had just turned onto the street. The car came to a stop when it hit a monument. Crown Prince Willem Alexander and Princess Máxima immediately jumped up and covered their mouths in consternation.
The bus continued on to the Royal Palace, but all remaining festivities for the day were cancelled.
Update #3, Friday AM:
The death toll now stands at five.
The man who attacked the Royal family in his car has died early this morning. For the details read today’s Morning Lineup HERE.
SHORTLY BEFORE 6:30 THIS MORNING, the corner section of a 5-story building in lower Manhattan, NYC, suddenly collapsed.
New York Times photo
The building is undergoing renovations and it is believed that nobody was inside at the time. FDNY is on the scene searching for any possible victims that may have been in the building or walking along the sidewalk at the time.
Update, 1:00 pm:
It has been found that there were no casualties from the collapse or the debris. The Associated Press is REPORTING in part:
Lewis Largent, who lives directly across the street, was looking out the window at 6:15 a.m. when “the bricks started trickling off the top corner. I was thinking was it raining or something. Then within 10 seconds it just all came down like a wave or an avalanche.”
On Wednesday, violations were issued for loose bricks and cracks throughout its north and west side, according to city records. On Tuesday, the city cited it for being vacant, open and unguarded after a caller complained the building was abandoned. On April 10, the city cited the property for having unrepaired cracks on its parapet and window sills.
WNYW-TV has a video report:
Sometimes you wonder if anybody our there really cares anymore. When you have days like Tuesday where two cities (Flint, Michigan, and Warren, Ohio)simultaneously have tragic fires that were compounded by deliberately understaffed fire departments, you would think that people would be a bit upset about that, wouldn’t you?
Sure, the politicians show up and do their usual on-camera hand-wringing and the canned sympathy statements. But you’ll notice that there is no outrage from the people beyond those directly affected. Especially notable is the disdain from other citizens throughout whatever state the latest tragedy occurs. “Tsk, tsk. That’s a shame. Excuse me, I have to go out for my jog now.”
I think that one reason that they have accepted these tragedies as now-normal daily diversions is because the only solution that the politicians that they elected ever put forward is to raise still more taxes. People are over-taxed now and they don’t want that. To them it’s more desirable for somebody who lives across town to lose their house than to have their own mortgage/rent/utility payments keep going up.
You’ll find that in most cases these municipalities/counties/states are those that have lost large portions of their businesses. Empty stores, empty factories and no new commercial growth. And it’s the commercial activity that provides the economic blood that keeps a communitiy alive. Not just the taxes that they pay, but the jobs that they create which in turn generate more tax revenue. Not to mention the economic growth that occurs just from churning the cash flow through the community. Basically, a dollar that is spent in a store passes through nine “hands” before it comes to rest.
downtown Gary, Indiana
When you drive business away, the economic base bleeds to death. These same politicians who created the problem by putting too many burdens on the commercial community are now refusing to take the measures needed to bring the stores and manufacturers back into town. Still-higher taxes and empty promises won’t do it.
Despite this current recession, there are places doing much better than others and look at where they are. They are in states that have pro-business policies designed to bring jobs in, not send them away. One simple example: Silicon Valley, that breeding ground of the computer industry. They are down to one final chip factory, an Intel facility. Intel recently announced they are closing it, the last one in the birthing grounds of digital development. Is Intel going out of business? No. They have lots of new, modernized production facilities. Where are they? They are in Oregon, Nevada and Arizona. All states that border California.
As firefighters and paramedics, we can’t do a whole lot about that except ride it out if we can. Or relocate to where the “applications accepted” signs are out. Despite what you hear on the daily news, there are fire departments and ambulance services that are hiring. But you might have to go to one of those places where the people still care about things like that.
And we still care about our equipment, so let’s make sure it’s ready for today’s activities. I’ll go make some more coffee.
THE FIREFIGHTERS IN LACEY FIRE DISTRICT 3, WASHINGTON, AREN’T HAPPY with the current members of the Lacey city council. With a council election coming up later this year, it looks like the only choices for the voters will be the incumbents who are mostly unopposed. Four of the seven seats will be open.
So the IAFF Local 2903 wrote a letter to the public saying that the union has been “actively searching” for interested residents to run, and mentioned its willingness to endorse candidates who are “fair, engaged, and open to communication with the public safety professionals that serve this community.”
A Firegeezer correspondent gives us some background:
Lacey Fire District #3, located in central western Washington State, serves a 70-sq. mile area just outside of Olympia WA, which includes the City of Lacey (under contract).
Two recent Levy funding measures have failed, resulting in LFD3 closing a fire station (their slowest house). As a result, the City of Lacey feels that LFD3 is in breach of contract and has started legal proceedings to reopen the house. The City of Lacey recently voted unanimously to terminate the contract (in effect for over 40 years) and form their own Fire Department by 2012.
The union added to the council’s misery by sending the letter to the local Democrat and Republican parties, asking for potential candidates to step forward. Two of the incumbents feigned outrage at the move because the city council seats are supposed to be non-partisan positions. The mayor even went so far as to say that the firefighters’ action was “completely uncalled for.” (Hopefully somebody will explain to hizzonor about the citizens’ rights of free speech and association…..Ed.).
The Local’s president says the union has been in contact with 16 people who have expressed an interest in running. He declined to identify them. He said the union would raise money for the candidates who do run.
The Olympian has the complete STORY HERE.
THE CITY OF WARREN, OHIO, LAID OFF AN ENTIRE ENGINE company, 11 firefighters, back in January and closed a firehouse. Tuesday morning a fire started before daybreak at a group-care home located just a couple of blocks away from the shuttered fire station. The blaze, later determined to be an arson, was set on the front porch and was discovered by a passerby who was delivering newspapers. She found a policeman and reported the fire to him, and he radioed in the alarm.
Vindicator / Yosay photo
Then the police officer went to the house and started banging on the door to roust the caretaker who let him in. By then the fire had alreadyextended into the building. The two of them went upstairs to get the three mentally-handicapped residents and started to lead them to safety when the fire cut them off. The caretaker was in a different stairwell and she escaped, but the policeman and three patients were trapped and in a desperate situation. By then the town’s two remaining engines and ladder truck had been dispatched.
When the FD arrived on the scene they had to concentrate on rescuing the four victims, which they heroically accomplished. All four of them are in critical condition and the policeman is in an induced coma, although breathing on his own.
“He’s a very brave, dedicated police officer, and we just pray to God he’s going to survive these injuries,” Police Chief Tim Bowers said Tuesday afternoon.
IAFF Local president Mark Titus said he is frustrated firefighters were unable to get to the blaze any sooner. He said closing of the nearby fire station on Atlantic Street Northeast because of manpower issues slowed response time by three to four minutes. “If that station was open, this would not have happened. He would not have had to go in there,” Titus said.
When the 11 firefighters were laid off in January, the remaining force agreed to a pay freeze this year. Just last week on Monday, April 20, the FF’s were called into the mayor’s office and given an ultimatum. They were told that if they didn’t now agree to a pay cut, then another 15 firefighters would be laid off immediately.
The Local then went public, approaching the newspaper and local radio and tv stations where they let told of this latest arm-twisting by the mayor. The mayor then became angered that they disclosed this gambit declaring, “This is a private matter that should be kept private.” (Firegeezer is willing to bet that the taxpayers have a different opinion on that.)
Today we see why the mayor is disappointed that his plans became known.
Read the details of yesterday’s fire and rescue in the Youngstown Vindicator HERE.
IAFF Local 204 WEBSITE.
Addendum:
This fire occurred just four hours after a similar event in Flint, Michigan, where a man died in a fire and three FF’s were burned trying to rescue him. The FF’s had arrived on a ladder truck and had no water because their engine was shut down due to layoffs that took place this past Sunday. STATter911 has the full story on this tragedy HERE.
Hat tip to Jim McC.
Massive Wooden Structure Burns
Comments OffTHERE ARE FEW THINGS MORE SPECTACULAR THAN A PIER FIRE. Last evening a fishing recreation pier in Calvert County, Maryland, lit off from end to end.
STATter911 has the story, more pics and a video HERE.
Another Stolen Ambulance
Comments OffA DES PLAINES, ILLINOIS, WOMAN has been arrested after stealing an ambulance and taking it for a “joy-ride” into Chicago on Monday evening.
Chicago Police photo
Estera Bulbucan apparently saw the Advance Ambulance parked at the loading dock of the Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, hopped in and drove it away around 5:30 pm. She took it into downtown Chicago and drove into Millennium Park where she started driving on the grass.
The Sun-Times REPORTS that Bulbucan was observed sitting in the driver’s seat of the Advance ambulance, and as park security approached, she drove off in circles, tearing up the grass in the park before the security officers flagged down Central District tactical unit officers, who stopped her and determined that she did not belong in the vehicle. She was arrested and charges were approved about 10:40 p.m. Monday, according to police News Affairs.
She was charged with felony possession of a stolen vehicle and misdemeanor damage to public property.
Update: Game video added.
It’s time to talk hockey again with the first round of the NHL playoffs wrapping up last night. Two of the eight best-of-seven elimination contests went all the way to seven games and they were both decided last night. And both were gripping games to the finish.
Just about every year there is at least one upset in the first round, and this year was no exception with two teams fooling everybody and knocking off a higher seeded competitor. Going into the playoffs, my guess was that New York Rangers would be the surprise upsetters this year and they almost did it when they took a commanding 3-games to 1 lead over the Washington Capitals. But the Caps got their act together and shut down the Rangers by winning three games in a row while allowing only 7 goals in the last 6 games.
The major upset was carried out by the Western Conference 8th-seed Anaheim Ducks handily dispatching the top-seeded San Jose Sharks, 4 games to 2. But the series that will get all the press this morning is the Eastern Conference tilt between New Jersey and Carolina. The NJ Devils should have had an easier time of it, but the Hurricanes took them to seven games. The defensive-oriented Devils held a 3-2 lead for half the game in their home stadium last night, but Carolina improbably scored twice in the final 1:20 of the game to steal it. Talk about a “stunner.” If I can find some video of that last couple of minutes of the game, I’ll post it here later this morning.
There were three 4-0 sweeps in the first round, Boston took out Montreal, Detroit put away Columbus, and Vancouver dispatched St. Louis. None of them were surprises except to the residents in Montreal. This was the team’s 100th-Anniversary year and a lot of people up there expected Providence to grant them an automatic cruise to the championship. Didn’t happen.
Down to eight teams now in the Conference semi-finals and here are the matchups (first team mentioned has home ice advantage):
Eastern Conference:
Boston Bruins vs. Carolina Hurricanes
Washington Capitals vs. Pittsburgh PenguinsWestern Conference:
Detroit Red Wings vs. Anaheim Ducks
Vancouver Canucks vs. Chicago Black Hawks
Check back in a little while for some highlights videos. First, let’s get this equipment checked out. I’ve got to get some more coffee going. We’ll meet later in the day room.
Update: This highlights video shows all the goals from last night’s Hurricanes game.
Vallejo Punts Again
Comments OffVALLEJO, CALIFORNIA’S LARGEST BANKRUPT CITY EVER, has decided to change the table settings by firing their city manager Joe Tanner. The city is working out the details of his severence package with the goal of being able to vote on it in next Tuesday’s city council meeting.
Tanner is the city’s seventh manager in the past four years. That’s a lot of severence payoffs to handle for a city that’s broke. He has held the post for 2-½ years, logging in some seniority, and was at the helm nearly a year ago when the city filed bankruptcy. Tanner has consistently argued that the police officers and firefighters were overpaid and the budget suffered for it. Tanner, who earns $341,000 yr., offered to take a 10% pay cut himself, but he never implemented it.
The city closed two of its eight fire stations and is considering closing two more. ISO has said that half of the city is likely to have its rating down graded from Class 3 to 10. The police are unable to get their cars repaired and don’t have enough ammunition for training. And yet the council is proposing to sell more junk bonds to purchase the city post office building and lot to build a multi-story parking garage.
Last August the AP reported: About 20% of the police officers have left the force in the past year and another 15% are actively looking to leave as soon as they can. And the word is getting around among the criminal element. Robberies and burglaries are soaring and many citizens don’t even call the police anymore because they often don’t even show up.
IAFF Local president Kurt Henke said he would wasn’t surprised at Tanner’s ouster. “We’re ambivalent, at best,” he said. “As far as we’re concerned, Mickey Mouse would run this city just fine.”
Today’s San Francisco Chronicle has the latest details on this new chapter HERE.
Read the Firegeezer report on last year’s bankruptcy filing HERE.
IN ALBERTA, CANADA, LAST THURSDAY the Yellowhead County Council suspended all operations at the Evansburg VFD and dismissed the entire membership.
Mayor of Yellowhead County Gerald Soroka said there was a lack of training and documentation, as well as personnel problems that came to a head about a month ago. The county will rehire volunteers and train them to standard before the fire service will be reinstated. “We’re dealing with (a low) level of training, of proper rules of protocols, and procedures that need to be adhered to,” Soroka adds.
They estimate that it will take up to 90 days to admit and train enough new members to restore service to the community. There are several experienced and already-qualified applicants ready to begin. During the interim arrangements have been made with neighboring departments to cover the town.
The Edmonton Journal has the STORY.
Soon They'll Have To Ride 3 To A Cruiser
Comments OffTWO WEEKS AGO WE REPORTED (HERE) ON a streak of bad luck in Kansas City, Missouri, when the police demolished 3 squad cars in a span of 15 hours. Two of the three wrecks were caused by somebody running stop signs.
Yesterday morning (Monday), the stop-sign-curse bit again when a car ran a stop sign and was broadsided by a cruiser. The crash spun both cars onto the grounds of a fire station, so help was close at hand. The two police officers were transported, but had minor injuries.
The unlicensed, uninsured, 19-yr.0ld driver was not injured which permitted the police to arrest him that much sooner.
KCTV Ch. 5 has the video report:
A MEMPHIS, TENNESSE, WOMAN PLEADED GUILTY MONDAY to a vehicular homicide charge that occurred 17 months ago on November 18, 2007.
Memphis firefighter Janeal Williams and Lt. Eddie Rone were off-duty when they had stopped their motorcycles on the shoulder of I-240 around 10:30 pm. One of the bikes had broken down and they were awaiting assistance. Dolly Cox, 46, admitted that she had been drinking and had taken the anti-depressant Zoloft before her car struck and killed Williams and critically injured Rone.
WHBQ-TV has the details of the story and the results of yesterday’s sentencing in this video report:
Firegeezer adds: One of the main things that is always taught in driver’s ed. courses and safety clinics is that when you are stranded on an Interstate highway you should always get your person over the guardrail and away from the traffic. This is why.
Florida Firehouse Reverts To All-Volunteer Status
Comments OffFOUR YEARS AGO THE LAND O’ LAKES VFD in Pasco County, Florida, ran out of volunteers and couldn’t operate their station or equipment. The Pasco County Fire and Rescue Dept. agreed to take over the station on a “temporary” basis and even built new quarters for the department.
Now the county is pulling out and turning the responsibility back to the inactive volunteer organization, saying that the budget deficit no longer allows them to operate the station and that the area is adequately covered by a county station that is just 2-½ miles away.
WTVT Ch. 13 Tampa has the report:
The major brush fire in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, is expected to be 100% contained today, six days after it started near Conway and burned 30 sq. miles while destroying 74 homes and damaging over 100 others.
The man who was charged with setting the fire continues to proclaim his innocence saying that when the trash pit fire flared up, the FD came out twice to put it out and told him that everything was ok. Forestry, though, says that no matter how many times the FD showed up, it is still the fault of whoever first kindled the fire.
* * * * *
Investigation of Saturday’s fatal fire in Kalamazoo, Michigan, was begun yesterday (See the Firegeezer report HERE). Four children perished in the fire from smoke inhalation. Several questions have been raised so far. One is why so many people were permitted to live in the house. There were 3 adults and 13 children in there, sixteen in all. The landlord says that he had smoke detectors in the house, but a resident said that they (the residents) had removed them because the detectors “didn’t work properly.”
The sheriff also disclosed that there have been 39 complaints at that address in the past two years. We expect more things to turn up during this week.
WOOD-TV has more in this video report:
Prison Fire Kills 10 In Chile
Comments OffA BRAWL BETWEEN TWO RIVAL GANGS in a Chilean prison started a fire Sunday that killed 10 inmates and injured many others, some severely.
Prison officials say that a cooking stove was overturned during the fight and started the fire in the Colina prison near Santiago. The fire department had the blaze out in about an hour. Officials are still trying to identify some of the charred bodies.
Prison authorities are saying that the brawl was neither a riot nor a jailbreak attempt, but was a fight between the two gangs. The prison houses about 3,000 inmates.
All the news media peppered the public with the announcement yesterday that General Motors will be dropping the Pontiac brand, effectively killing off one of the oldest marques still active in the American auto industry. Firegeezer readers already knew about this happening though, because we covered it HERE on Saturday, leading to the posting of the sidebar video of Little GTO.
For nostalgic reasons, it’s sad to see another of the old-line auto brands die off. I think my first disappointment on that score was when the Hudson line shut down in 1957. All boys my age were just crazy about the Hudson Hornet with the “step-down design.” But along with the Hornet, the Hudson name became just a part of the auto industry’s past. It was the name of one of the early leaders in the business but Joseph Hudson was only the entrepreneur who financed the company when it was founded. He made his fortune in that super-size department store in Detroit and was rewarded for capitalizing the new car plant by having his name branded on it.
So I don’t miss the name itself so much, as I don’t feel any loss for the LaSalle, DeSoto, Nash or Kaiser being dropped off. I’m disappointed that some of the real pioneers of the business have lost their names, like Duryea, Stanley, Dusenburg and more recently, Olds.
Ransom E. Olds
1864 – 1950
Ransom E. Olds was one of the real leaders and innovators of what became the dominant industry of the 20th century. Born in Ohio in 1864, he landed in Lansing, Michigan, while a young man and married there. With his mechanical skills and a vision he started the Olds Motor Vehicle Co. in 1897. Needing capitalization, he sold the promising firm to a copper and lumber magnate two years later and was kept on as vice pres. and general manager. The burgeoning business relocated to Detroit and was renamed the Olds Motor Works. It was the 1901 “Curved Dash” Oldsmobile that became the first mass-produced, low-priced American motor vehicle, selling for $600.
After a few years, Olds was having too many policy clashes with the owner and his son, so Ransom left the company in 1904 and started his own automobile factory using his intials REO as the brand. REO Motor Car Co. made some mighty fine cars in their day, but in 1936 they dropped the passenger car lines and concentrated on their truck and bus business. The REO truck carried on fairly well until 1957 when it became a subsidiary of White Motors, another truck manufacturer. In 1967 White merged REO with Diamond T Trucks. The Diamond-REO line struggled until 1975 when they shut down and liquidated. GM discontinued the Oldsmobile car in 2004.
Ranny Olds racing the “Pirate” on Ormand Beach, Florida, in 1896
There’s an entire story in itself for someone to tell about Ranny Olds’ racing career. He was also a pioneer in racing the new-fangled machines, building several cars designed strictly for racing and driving them himself (no helmets then, either). So I really hope that somebody, somewhere finds a way to keep the Olds name alive on an automobile. My 1990 Olds 98 was the best car I ever had.
Hey, it’s time to get this equipment checked out now. I’ll go make some more coffee.
1935 Hale / REO photo by Jack Sull
BEEN WONDERING WHY WE HAVEN’T BEEN SEEING as many helmet-cam videos showing up on YouTube lately? There are probably several reasons, but expect to see a resurgence of them later next month when the ContourHD hits the marketplace.
This snazzy technological wonder weighs only four ounces and snaps on goggles straps such as the ski goggles pictured above. And it has many never-before-available features including:
- No wires or separate recorder. It’s all-inclusive and stores the video on a microSD card up to 16 Gb space. That’s 8 hours of Hi-Def video or 16 hours of standard 30 fps video.
- Twin lasers for viewer alignment. Just turn on the lasers and turn the lens ring until the laser beams align horizontally to get your picture aligned.
- 135º lens capture width.
- Internal microphone with wind filter.
- One-button oversized record switch – just slide forward to start and back to stop.
There are many more features along with a sample video that you can look at HERE. It goes on sale May 15th for $300. But if you pre-order, you can get it now for $280 which includes the shipping costs. Just click HERE and follow the ordering directions.
There is also an accessory available that permits the ContourHD to be mounted directly on the helmet instead of the strap.
Maybe we can talk The Happy Medic into clipping one on the next time he’s assigned to the vomit-comet and we could meet some of his “satisfied customers.”
Hat tip to Neil McD.
Stubborn Fire In North Carolina Warehouse
Comments OffDUPLIN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, FIREFIGHTERS HAVE BEEN on the scene of a produce warehouse fire since 9:40 pm Sunday. The Faison FD was first-due and arrived with heavy fire showing in the Division A and extending.
WTVD photo
The dispatch eventually reached five alarms for the 40,000 sq. ft. building that was filled with crates of sweet potatoes. After a few hours, the town water supply became short and they have continued operations using a constant tanker shuttle from static water sources.
The owner of the company says that the value of the building and the contents are between $10-million and $15-million.
FireNews.net has full coverage and you can read the details HERE.
Alabama VFD Finds Member In Crash Scene
Comments OffTHE MONROVIA VFD IN MADISON COUNTY, ALABAMA, responded to a fatal auto wreck early Sunday morning and found one of their own members to be the victim in the one-car crash.
Andrew “Drew” Vaughn, 38, was driving his jeep when it went out of control around 2 am and crashed into the corner of a brick home, ejecting him from the vehicle. He was already dead when his compatriots at the fire department arrived on the scene. FF Vaughn was a Life Member of the department. He was not married.
The occupants of the house were asleep in another section of the home at the time and didn’t know anything had happened until a firefighter roused them by knocking on the front door.
WHNT-TV has more of the story HERE.
The Monrovia VFD has details on Tuesday’s funeral on their WEBSITE.
WAFF-TV has this video report:
The Annual Flaming Spider Story
Comments OffIT HAPPENS EVERY SIX MONTHS OR SO. SOMEWHERE, SOMEBODY tries to get rid of those pesky spring spiders in their house by burning them out. Back in November a Coweta County, Georgia, man used a blowtorch without first reading the warning label (see the Firegeezer REPORT).
This Spring’s winner resides in Portsmouth, England, where a man in his 40′s tried to use a lighter to set fire to a spider as it crawled up the front of his house Sunday. The itty-bitty-spider was just under the roof soffit and apparently the lighter sparked a bit of insulation just behind the cladding (covering).
It was later, around midnight, when the brave homeowner learned that things hadn’t gone well after all and the fire blossomed into the free-burning stage.
The Telegraph continues with the STORY:
Three fire engines raced to the scene in Portsmouth, Hants, and found the man trying to put out the flames with a garden hose. Firefighters in breathing apparatus removed the cladding and spent two hours putting the fire out.
Watch manager Steve Pearce said: “The man was trying to put the fire out with a garden hose when we arrived. The whole thing had clearly scared the life out of him. There was a gap in the cladding where he was trying to kill the spider and so the sparks got through to the material behind and started spreading upwards towards the roof.
“Surprisingly there wasn’t much damage to the house other than to the cladding. We obviously had a chat with the man but I don’t think he’ll be doing this again.”
Florida Fertilizer Factory Fire Fuels Four Alarms
Comments OffA FERTILIZER PLANT IN SARASOTA COUNTY, FLORIDA, had a small fire with a large quantity of toxic smoke on Sunday afternoon that brought a large FD response to contain it.
The fire began in a machine used for heating the fertilizer chemicals and infusing them with plastic to slow the fertilizers’ release and limit nutrient runoff. The plastic and dust in the machine caught fire, causing a chemical plume. The building is fully sprinklered and that is what contained the fire. But the ongoing plume of toxic smoke was an immediate concern and several roads in the immediate area were closed.
The drainage ditches around the Florikan plant filled up
with purple water from the sprinkler runoff.
(Herald Tribune / Wagner photo)
The sprinkler runoff went into drainage ditches that were dammed to contain it and they soon filled up with purple-colored water. A private contractor is being brought in to mitigate the runoff and other contaminants.
The Sarasota Herald Tribune reports:
About half a dozen employees working at the plant at the time left the building and called 911, prompting a four-alarm signal that brought five fire engines to the industrial park. None of the employees were injured.
Plant owner Jon Rosenthal was at the scene early and told fire officials that the plant did not use ammonium nitrate, a chemical in fertilizer that can explode under certain conditions. Still, fighting the fire was complicated by the hazardous chemicals on site.
“We’ve got a hazmat incident going on at the same time we have the fire,” Fire Chief Brian Gorski said Sunday.
Read the full Herald Tribune STORY HERE.
Three firefighters were transported to the hospital complaining of eye and throat irritations, but all were treated and released.
Fox News Tampa has a brief video:
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