“BANDIT” THE RENEGADE WALLAROO FROM SYRACUSE has been found dead alongside the New York State Thruway. The bouncing kangaroo-type animal had gained world-wide attention, and was covered on Firegeezer HERE, after he had escaped his home in Madison County, New York, in April.
Although he was on the loose for nearly two months, he was always close to home as he forgaged in the surrounding woodlands near the barn where Jeff Taylor keeps the animals for his traveling petting zoo.
State highway workers found Bandit near the roadway not more than 300 yards from home. They speculate that he was struck by a large vehicle such as a truck or bus sometime over the weekend.
RECENTLY WE RECEIVED THIS INQUIRY from the Safety Department at the Norristown State Hospital in Pennsyvania:
I was looking around for possible pictures and information on our antique fire hose reel. I could not find any manufacture tag or any other identifying marks. We are tying to locate some possible information on this type of equipment.
We rescued this piece from an old barn where it had been set a long time ago. We believe that there were several of these on the grounds for the old fire brigade. Two of which have been destroyed unfortunately.
We have this one on display in our lobby and are trying to find information on it so we can locate the proper equipment that this reel was originally outfitted with for a proper display.
Any information or leads for information will be greatly appreciated.
If you can offer any help for them, call Robert A. Wood at 610-313-1142
ONE YEAR AGO TODAY, JUNE 8, 2008, the now-infamous fire at the Texas Governor’s Mansion nearly destroyed the entire historic structure. (see Firegeezer reports HERE, HERE, and HERE.)
AP / Cabluck photo
The fire was quickly determined to be an arson and also exposed an unexcusable lax in security on the location by the Dept. of Public Safety that led to the resignation of the head of the DPS (HERE and HERE). Among other deficiencies, there was only one trooper on duty on the grounds when there was a minimum requirement of two, and that one man had his back to the surveillance monitors and did not see either the intruder who set the fire nor the fire itself. The alarm was called in by a passerby who saw the entire front of the building in flames.
Also, almost half of the security cameras were not functioning because of lack of maintenance. Despite a large reward and the public release of the security photo showing the arsonist, no arrest has yet been made.
At the last session of the state legislature the funds needed to complete the restoration of the mansion were appropriated. The good citizens of Texas were fortunate that the mansion was already undergoing a restoration at the time of the fire and almost all of the antique furnishings and state’s treasures had been removed to storage.
FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, firefighters have been assigned to set up and monitor “hydrant bathing” activities during hot summer weather. Operation Cool Sweeps called for engine companies to set up fire hydrant spraying nozzles at certain selected locations in the city when the temperature exceeded 85 degrees for recreational purposes benefiting neighborhood children.
The firefighters union protested the program because it required the engine company to remain out of service and supervise the acitivity until it was time to turn off the hydrant and disassemble the equipment. Local president Jim McTiernan said the city was requiring them to supervise a recreational program, and using the fire service in a community policing role.
The local filed an unfair work practice complaint and it was heard last week in the administrative courts. Administrative Law Judge Jean Doerr ruled against the city saying such tasks represent duties “not inherent in the duties of firefighters,” and therefore constitute an unfair work practice. In her decision, Doerr wrote that “the assignment of firefighters to set up, monitor, and take down equipment” for recreational purposes entails job duties “not inherent in the duties of firefighters.” And without other city staff to supervise participants at the recreational program, “there was a de facto assignment of supervisory duties to firefighters,” another non-inherent job duty.
The fire chief and the politicians in city hall are upset with the ruling because not only are they losing some free labor from the Recreation Department, but the decision left open the definition of “inherent duties of firefighters.” The Deputy Mayor is already threatening to lay off firefighters because now they don’t have as much to do (except show up in sufficient numbers to put out a fire).
The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle has the full STORY.
The battles for internet supremacy continued this week when Microsoft unveiled its new search engine on Wednesday (http://www.bing.com/). They have inexplicably decided to call it “Bing” which doesn’t quite scream out search engine. I’ll take a wild guess and speculate that it’s an homage to Bing Crosby who, like Microsoft itself, was from Washington State.
While I’m pretty much of a digital klutz, I can’t relate my own review of Bing due to my non-expertise. But I did read a few professional reviews of it and I can’t say that any of them created any excitement for me. I am glad, however, that there is new competition out there for this facet of the “internet experience,” because that is what makes the other outfits better. And MS has the deep pockets and know-how to hang in there and push Google and Yahoo! to keep working on improvements. Before we go any further, take a couple of minutes and watch this video review of Bing that ran on KTVI-TV St. Louis on Wednesday that gives a good introduction:
That’s the kind of innovation that competition will bring to anything, so we can probably look forward to the others scrambling to add more bells and whistles to their search engines. At the least, they will want to appear to be keeping up with the latest. Some of the IT experts are saying that Bing’s challenge is not initally aimed at Google, but more realistically going after Yahoo! for second place. You’ll recall that last year MS made an offer to purchase or cooperate with Yahoo! and they were rebuffed. So they have some incentive to show them that it was a mistake. Currently Google has about 71% of the U. S. search traffic (87.6% worldwide) with Yahoo! a distant second at less than 20% depending on whose estimates you’re reading.
Personally, I don’t care who’s #1. Just so long as I get results. One novel stunt that Bing uses is the preview feature. When you request a search and get your resulting listings, just run your cursor along the right edge of each result and you get a brief view or paragraph of what is on that entry. It can help you home in on your specific interest is on the subject. That’s the kind of innovation I like to see.
And if you’re too young to know who Bing Crosby was, run his name through your favorite search engine.
Now let’s go from search engine to fire engine and get this equipment checked out. I need to search out the coffee supply and get another pot started.
While waiting for lunch at the Dolphin Mall,noticed a confluence of data on Twitter:
Amazon’s business model for Kindle supported bloggers:
The good news is that Amazon now lets anyone create a blog and sell subscriptions to owners of its Kindle e-reader device. The bad news? Amazon sets the prices, and Amazon keeps 70 percent of the money.
But, that business model may not make much difference, As 95% of the bloggers go dormant:
According to a 2008 survey by Technorati, which runs a search engine for blogs, only 7.4 million out of the 133 million blogs the company tracks had been updated in the past 120 days. That translates to 95 percent of blogs being essentially abandoned, left to lie fallow on the Web, where they become public remnants of a dream — or at least an ambition — unfulfilled.
Douglas Quenqua “Blogs Falling in an Empty Forest” 05June2009 New York Times… HERE
(also posted by the Kawasaki machine)
Meanwhile, YouTube has seen an exponential growth, with 20 hours of video being posted EVERY MINUTE.
NAILING JELLY TO A TREE (AND TAKING A SNAPSHOT)
Stealing a classic 1981 title on the difficulty in managing software development, HERE, these information nuggets are important to me.
I am completing the final edit for the “Communications” chapter of the Fire Officer book this weekend. In Sept 2007, when I submitted the manuscript, Technorati was following 106 million blogs, now it is 133 million … and the definition of what a blog is has evolved.
The editor wants to make sure that the information is accurate and will endure for five years. Twitter may be history by 2013 and the free sharing of news articles from main stream media may be prohibited.
That implies the three or so folks that are employed to maintain Guy Kawasaki’s Alltop “online magazine rack” (HERE) may be working elsewhere in five years. But I am sure that Firegeezer will still be here.
IF YOU’VE GOTTEN BEYOND THE “CHUG-A-MUG” phase of beer drinking and now appreciate the fine qualities and flavors of craft beers, here’s some good information for you.
Jim Koch, founder and president of Boston Brewing (Sam Adams beers) shows us on this video the proper way to pour a beer, and why it is, along with what makes a quality beer taste so good.
If you are wondering about that unusual-shaped beer glass, Firegeezer carried the story of the “perfect beer glass” in August, 2007. We tell you how and why it’s the perfect shape for beer drinking HERE.
THE NUMBER OF SMALL CHILDREN WHO PERISHED in Friday’s nursery school fire at the ABC day-care center in the northern Mexican city of Hermosillo, Sonora, has risen to 35. (Firegeezer report with video HERE.) Also many of the 40 that are hospitalized are suffering from life-threatening burn injuries.
After investigating the roll documents of the school, officials believe that there were 142 children inside the building when the fire took place Friday evening. Their ages ranged from 3 months to 4 years. “We began to smell smoke and the alarm went off,” a school aide said in an interview with the Hermosillo newspaper El Imparcial. “But it was explosive and there was no chance to get more children out.”
Investigators walk around the rear of the day-care center.
(Reuters)
Earlier reports said that the fire began in a tire warehouse, but the owner vehemently denies that the fire began there. Now investigators are concentrating on a garage next door to the day-care center that is used by a state agency to keep its vehicles. The are certain, however, that the fire began outside of the nursery.
Mexican President Felipe Calderón said he has ordered the country’s attorney general, Eduardo Medina Mora, to launch an investigation into Friday’s fire.
The Associated Press has just filed this updated video report:
A DETROIT, MICHIGAN, FIRE DEPARTMENT AMBULANCE was transporting a patient to the hospital Saturday evening when a car apparently drove through a red light into the path of the ambulance. Witnesses are saying that the ambulance not only had its lights and siren on, but it also had the green light at the controlled intersection.
WDIV-TV
While all traffic was stopped as the ambulance entered the intersection, a station wagon pulled out in front of it. There were two adults and two children in the van, apparently neither of the children were buckled in as they were both ejected in the collision. Their ages are 1 yr. and 5 yrs. old. The one-yr.-old was killed in the wreck and the 5-yr.-old is in critical condition. The two adults are in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries.
WDIV-TV
The ambulance was transporting a cardiac patient who had no vital signs and he was later pronounced dead at the hospital. The ambulance driver and the medic were both treated for minor injuries.
A very nice, quiet Sunday morning so far. Let’s hope it lasts long enough that we can have an uninterrupted breakfast. I think it’s going to be pancakes and sausage today.
Did you catch FossilMedic’s posting the other day on the McLaren sports car that caught on fire in So. California? It wasn’t a total loss, but it took a heavy hit as the entire rear end where the engine is housed burned up, including the engine. The car was insured for $3 million. That’s right, “million.” And it only seats three people. The driver sits in the center of the (cabin?) and there are two seats behind him, kind of spread apart leaving room for the front seat.
If you missed it, CLICK HERE to check it out and be sure to click on the video link to catch the fire department’s viewpoint on the unique incident. The closest I ever came to something like that was a high-end Lotus that disintegrated before we arrived on the scene. It was a mid-engine roadster with a fiberglass body and there was nothing but a big puddle of plastic with an engine sitting in the middle of it. I wish I could have gotten a photo of that. It was almost funny. Almost.
That story reminded me that the Formula 1 racing circuit looks to be collapsing after this year. Two or three big-name teams have said they are going to pull out after this season, including Ferrari. It’s a combination of runaway costs in tight financial times and the strange behavior of the “dictators” who run the FIA and the F-1 organizations. I think I’ll sort out what’s going on and write up a report on the chaotic situation which seems to be changing weekly.
But for right now I’m going to get the coffee started while you get the equipment checked out. See you in a few minutes at the breakfast table.
It’s just a bit of Sunday photo art.
Don’t try to figure it out.
SHORTLY AFTER NOON TODAY (SATURDAY) a fire broke out at a lumber yard and DIY complex in Lowestoft, England. Rushmere’s is a home improvement business that sells lumber, concrete products, fencing, gates and sheds primarily to do-it-yourselfers.
The business was open and filled with weekend customers when the fire started around 12:30 and one of them just happened to have his videocam handy and shot this footage prior to the arrival of the fire brigade:
Two engines arrived promptly and four more were called in to help fight the fire which was burning in a one-story wood frame building that was used to store lumber products. The firefighters were able to contain the fire to that one building despite the closeness of several others in the complex.
They had the fire under control by 1:30 and extinguished by 2:00 pm.
BRITAIN’S NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE (NHS) continues to set new standards for lack of service. The North West Ambulance Trust is chasing the Welsh Ambulance Service for the title of worst ambulance service in the kingdom. After a much-publicized campaign to encourage people to act quickly if they suspect someone is having a stroke, last week the NWAT left a stroke victim waiting for nearly an hour before an ambulance arrived to treat him.
On Thursday a drink deliveryman in Northwich, Cheshire, was unloading some cartons of bottle drinks to take into a liquor store when a stack of them fell onto him, crushing his foot. It happened around noon and the ambulance service was called immediately. An employee of the newstand next door tells the Northwich Guardian:
“The poor man was in terrible pain sat on the pavement with his foot stretched out. We didn’t know what state his foot was in, it was swelling.
“The ambulance service said they had to prioritise and asked if he was still breathing but I think it’s terrible that if you want an ambulance you have to stop breathing.”
Eventually the driver’s colleagues from the delivery company arrived and took him to the hospital themselves, an hour and twenty minutes after the ambulance was called.
A spokesman for the North West Ambulance Trust told the Guardian: “ The trust aims to respond to emergency calls in the shortest time possible and has a prioritisation system to ensure that resources are allocated to incidents with the greatest emergency need.
“Based on the information provided by the caller, the call taker established that the patient was conscious, breathing and alert, therefore it was classified as a non life threatening call.
“NWAS has a one hour target time to reach patients of this nature of call.”
North West Ambulance Service WEBSITE. Firegeezer notes: This is the first ambulance service website that I have noticed that has a large box on the home page where you can file complaints.
A FIRE RACED THROUGH A DAY-CARE CENTER IN SONORA, MEXICO, Friday afternoon killing at least 29 31 children and leaving another 30 or more injured, many with varying degrees of burns. The disaster took place in the city of Hermosillo which is close to the American border.
By 3 pm when the fire started, many of the child care center’s children had already been picked up by their parents, but 170 more were still on the premises, all of them ages 1 to 5. The fire began in a tire warehouse next door to the nursery and spread rapidly into the adjoining child care center.
The Associated Press has this early video report:
Teachers made a valiant effort to get as many of the infants out as they could, but much of it was futile. There is no report that there was any attempt to evacuate when the initial alarm was sounded for the warehouse. Search efforts are continuing Saturday morning.
Firefighters breached the walls in several locations as they
made attempts to locate the infants in the smoke and fire.
(AFP photo)
Mexican news agencies are reporting that many of the children were newborn, and that part of the roof had collapsed during the blaze which lasted for about two hours. Many of the burn victims have been transferred to a burn hospital in Arizona, USA, and Mexico has dispatched 15 burn specialist doctors to the scene.
Jose Larrinaga, a spokesman for the Sonora state prosecutor’s office, said that most of the dead children had died of asphyxiation.
One of my favorite spectator sports is watching major businesses, especially retailers, operate and adjust to their market conditions. I also like to observe their various methods of promoting their products such as advertising techniques and sales promotions. I’m telling you this so that maybe you’ll understand why I was interested in the announcement yesterday that Roger Penske will be buying the entire Saturn brand, plants, inventory, etc. from General Motors as they reorganize under the distress of bankruptcy. More correctly, it is the Penske Automotive Group corporation that is purchasing the waif brand from GM.
Most people associate the name Penske with auto racing. The highly-successful race teams associated with winning lots of Indy Car races and being competitive in NASCAR are really a rich man’s hobby rather than his occupation. Penske’s huge truck rental and leasing business puts his name on almost every highway you choose to drive on. The guy really knows how to make his chosen businesses work well.
Less known among the public-at-large is the Penske Automotive Group of automobile dealerships, the 2nd-largest such companies in the U. S. with 156 dealerships plus another 148 in other countries. The guy really knows how to sell cars and how to make a big company turn a profit. That’s probably why all 350 Saturn dealers were celebrating yesterday when the announcement was made.
Instead of dissolving the brand like they are doing with Pontiac, GM will be selling all the brands, trademarks, service and parts operations, as well as the distribution operations to Penske. He is NOT buying the assembly plants, however. His business model appears to be based on contracting other auto manufacturers to build his cars to his design and Penske will take care of the marketing. Initially GM will continue to build the Saturn cars under contract for about three years and then they will have to compete for the business.
His major innovation – and this is what I find fascinating – will be welcoming foreign car manufacturers to bid on supplying cars to Saturn. Currently smaller auto companies in other countries don’t have the resources to build and market their products in the U. S. If they can produce a vehicle that meets the American safety and environmental standards, then they will have the opportunity to access Saturn’s hundreds of already-existing dealers. In an interview with AP, Penske said he expects to begin making money immediately on Saturn, which has never been profitable for GM. “I would expect that the model that we’re putting together, the distribution model, will be profitable Day One,” he said. “We’ll have less costs. We’ll not be in the manufacturing side of it.”
One of the things that put GM and Chrysler out of business was overproduction. They had to keep the factories running, turning out more cars than they could sell, just to maintain their operations. Under this revolutionary arrangement, Saturn will only be building as many cars as they are able to sell. And they can quickly adjust to market conditions by changing their purchasing contracts.
We’re going to be witness to a genuine overhaul on how cars are built and sold, not just here but worldwide. Maybe Toyota will have some genuine competition after all. But I don’t think we have to worry about them getting into the firetruck business.
So let’s stick with what we have and get our own equipment checked out for the day. I will take care of the coffee distribution network. See you later in the day room.
RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE W. Charles Morgan handed down the death sentence for convicted arsonist/killer Raymond Lee Oyler. Oyler, 38, was convicted in March for setting the wildfire in October, 2006, that killed five forestry firefighters who got trapped in the blaze and burned to death in and around their fire engine.
When the jury rendered their verdict of guilty for 5 counts of first-degree murder, 20 counts of arson and 17 counts of using an incendiary device in several other fires that he set during the same year, they recommended that Oyler receive the death penalty. By California law the judge has to review the case and decide whether the sentence will stand. Fox News reports:
“After evaluating the same evidence that the jury had heard and going through that, I find that the aggravating circumstances do outweigh the mitigating circumstances,” Riverside County Superior Court Judge W. Charles Morgan said.
“In particular, Mr. Oyler set on a mission … to wreak havoc in this county by setting fires by his own design for his own purposes and as proven by the evidence he became more and more proficient,” Morgan said. “He knew that young men and woman would put their lives on the line to protect other people and property and he continued anyway.”
KTTV Ch. 5 was at today’s hearing and filed this video report:
TWO NEW BEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS, EMT’s have been sanctioned by the state health department and are facing disciplinary action by the city EMS department.
Rosemary Nunes and Ivan Brody failed to follow state protocols on an emergency call this past December when they failed to perform CPR on an infant that was in cardiac arrest. They were also cited for filing an inaccurate report on the incident according to the investigation by the Dept. of Public Health.
Shortly after they arrived on the scene and EMS supervisor arrived and began infant CPR but was unable to revive the child. The state has recommended 30-day suspensions for both EMT’s and the city is expected to dole out that punishment.
AN EDITORIAL COLUMN IN YESTERDAY’S NEW YORK POST sides with New York Governor Paterson’s anti-firefighter/police stance that he took recently when he vetoed a bill that would have extended current retirement benefits to newly-hired FF’s and police officers.
The editorial that you can read in its entirety HERE, says in part:
Gov. Paterson yesterday raised the stakes in New York’s public employee pension debate by vetoing the extension of an overly generous law covering police and firefighter benefits.
The law, renewed every two years since 1981, gives newly hired cops and firefighters full retirement benefits after 20 years — a scheme closed to most other public employees for more than two decades.
The pension veto comes at a time when the city projects that it will soon be spending more on former employees than it does on current ones. (Emphasis added by Firegeezer.)
First of all, the gratuitous statement that the plan is “…. closed to most other public employees…” is completely irrelevant. It doesn’t matter for the sake of the argument whether they have been getting it or not. Whatever the reason was for creating the discrepancy in the first place is still a valid reason now. That phrase was tossed in to the debate solely to sway the reader’s sympathy away from the firefighters and toward the writer’s view.
As far as the expenditure for pensioners exceeding that for the still-employed workers, there are two things left out of the presentation. First of all, the state and the municipalities have been laying off workers and eliminating positions for several years now. That is largely due to a shrinking population and a loss of businesses in the entire state over the past 20 years. It is only logical that as the rolls shrink, the gap between the two groups will diminish. But logic is not being taught in the public schools anymore and the politicians (along with the newspaper editors) are glad to take advantage of it in order to promote their own causes.
Secondly, if the affected governments had been fiscally responsible years ago and established pension funds that were properly funded and administered, they would not have this crisis today. Good, honest governments do not pay pension benefits out of current tax revenues. A viable pension fund pays its own way from its investments and contributions.
The New York Post continues:
Paterson’s veto — which came with no warning — challenges this status quo, and thus is to be applauded.
Sure, it may be overridden — but only if lawmakers are willing publicly to defend the indefensible.
Paterson’s own pension proposal contains new terms for cops and firefighters, including a minimum retirement age of 50, while increasing minimum service requirements for most individuals from 20 years to 25.
Bloomberg notes that such a shift would save the city $200 million next year — and $7 billion over the next 20.
The unions are the losers.
Mayor Bloomberg’s claim that the city would “save” $7 billion is bogus. The city will not be saving anything because the money not spent on the pensions will just be spent on other government programs. It’s a transfer of wealth out of the pockets of the public safety employees onto other favored expenditures. The only way a savings is effected is when the money is returned directly to the taxpayers who sent it there in the first place. And there sure haven’t been any tax cuts proposed in New York lately. Just who are the real losers in New York these days, Mr. Editorialist?
EVEN THOUGH WE’VE DISCONTINUED THE ANIMAL STORIES (see posting earlier this morning), we are forced to report on this Archbald, Pennsylvania, ladder company that responded to a call for something other than a cat that was stuck in a tree:
A PACKED TRANSIT BUS CARRYING MORE THAN 100 COMMUTERS into downtown Chengdu, China, caught on fire Friday morning while traveling across a viaduct. Despite calls from passengers that there was a bad smell in the rear of the bus, the driver insisted on completing the bridge crossing before stopping the bus. By that time a fire had erupted in the rear and was rapidly filling the coach with smoke and fire.
Reuters
The air-conditioned bus had sealed windows except for the two at the very rear and almost everybody was trapped in the vehicle as the flames raged through. Passersby stopped and started smashing the bus windows out and thus provided escape routes for the trapped passengers.
The Associated Press has filed some raw video of the fire:
25 passengers never made it out and were burned to death in the coach. Another 75 were injured, 6 critically, and only 10 got away without any injuries.
The fire brigade was on the scene in seven minutes and had the fire extiguished within two minutes after arrival.
Xinhua
Early reports say that the bus is one that is powered by liquified natural gas which leads to speculation that it may be related to the cause of the fire.
The state news agency Xinhua has more details and photos HERE.
MAY / JUNE HAS EVOLVED INTO ANIMAL SEASON AT FIREGEEZER for some inexplicable reason, beginning with our Moose Updates. This led to a side trip into Bear Scares and now we’re being swamped with reader submissions for all kinds of weird animal stories. Maybe it has something to do with all the weird animals hanging around most fire/rescue/ambulance stations. Whatever, let’s get these out of the way and just maybe we can get back to things like hose lines, open-IV’s and texting-while-driving.
Has Anybody Seen My Wallaroo?
Up in the rolling farmland near Syracuse, New York, a 1-yr.-old wallaroo escaped from the stables of a petting zoo back on May 2. He hasn’t gone far because there are plenty of friendly woods filled with fresh berries and ponds for water. “Bandit” has been sighted almost daily since then, but he is eluding his hopeful captors.
What is a Wallaroo? It looks like a kangaroo, but is isn’t one. And contrary to many assumptions, it is not a cross-breed between a kangaroo and a wallaby. It is its own species and stands about 3 feet high.
Jeff Taylor bought the creature in April to add to his Wild Animal Experience exhibit that he takes to fairs and festivals on weekends. He doesn’t know how Bandit escaped his cubicle, but he’s been having a fit trying to catch him. Bandit is shy of humans and if you approach him he runs away. His 6-ft.-long bounds will propel him up to 30 mph making it impractical to try and catch him or throw a net over him. Taylor has some traps set out now in hopes that he can trick Bandit into stepping into one.
One of Taylor’s neighbors shot this home video of Bandit romping through the meadow:
How Did He Get That Name?
Earlier this week a cat named Lucky lived up to his monniker while losing at least 7 of his allotted lives. Lucky was on the window ledge of his 32nd-story apartment home in lower Manhattan when he misstepped and took the big dive landing on a 6th-floor balcony, a drop of 26 stories.
Both Lucky and the balcony survived without any injuries. Fortunately, nobody was on the balcony at the time.
Some window washers across the street saw what was developing and started taking pictures. Lucky’s owner has her 15 minutes of fame and gets some television interviews:
Oh, Deer!
Indianola, Iowa, police officer Dan Deffenbaugh was driving through town and had his dashcam rolling when a pedestrian made an unexpected decision to cross the street without looking both ways first:
KCCI-TV in Des Moines relates his tale:
Deffenbaugh said he spotted the deer trying to make a very fast run for it across the busy street.
“For some reason, instead of going straight across — maybe it doesn’t like cops — but it decided to go for the patrol car,” he said. “That’s when it jumps over the vehicle. I don’t know who was scared more, the deer or me.”
He adds that the deer made a clean getaway.
Update, 9:45 am:
Firefighter Nation has just added a video that shows two deer jumping out in front of a Pennsylvania engine/tanker that’s responding to a night fire. CLICK HERE and then play the video and watch what happens at the 0:44 mark.
Watch it, Pardner
In Springfield, Massachusetts, (yes…Massachusetts) city authorities are warning residents about an identified band of coyotes that has been stalking and killing deer and small animals in one of the neighborhoods:
It seems like topics and happenings come in batches. Just the other day we had a story about the Memorial Day reunion of some former Centralia, Pennsylvania, residents who had come back to decorate graves in the vacated town’s cemeteries. Centralia is the coal-mining town that had to be permanently depopulated because of an underground mine fire that is expected to burn for another 100 years yet. If you haven’t read it yet, CLICK HERE and read our story from November 2007 about the systematic demolishment of this former small city.
It showed up in the news again Wednesday when another of the town’s few remaining residents was forced by the State to move out, leaving only about a half-dozen homes still occupied. The state agency that oversees the Centralia situation will be paying him for his house and then they will demolish it. WNEP-TV Ch. 16 documented this latest move-out:
This one is a little puzzling, though, because there isn’t any indication that his health was being threatened. That is usually the basis for the removals, but the bureaucrats refuse to explain why they are carrying this one out. I will speculate that the government probably has a desire to move everybody out regardless of the situation so that they can go ahead and shut the entire operation down. As in “budget cuts.” They’ve already laid off all the firefighters.
Meanwhile, I’m glad to pass along the news that Son of Geezer had a successful surgery and was allowed to go home yesterday afternoon. While there’s still another 6 months healing and recovery ahead, when it’s over he’ll be so much better.
Now before we get released, we need to make sure this equipment is ready for the day. I’m going to get a fresh pot started and then we’ll meet later in the day room.
Picture from Wrecked Exotics, click on picture for larger view
A fourteen year old supercar caught fire Monday afternoon on Airport Road in Santa Monica, California. An engine company from the Rincon Valley fire protection district extinguished the 11 am fire.
Details about the incident from the Press-Democrat. Video on YouTube HERE
Paul Hardiman profiled a 1997 version for Sports Car Market magazine HERE. A tune-up costs $7,500 at one of two U.S. McLaren service centers.
Go to the McLaren official website HERE. Sixty-five of the 107 F1′s built were sold to the public as road-going cars. The rest were competition or research vehicles.
Does the NFIRS reporting system allow you to show a vehicle value of $2,500,000?
Fiscal Imprudence
Comments OffAN EDITORIAL COLUMN IN YESTERDAY’S NEW YORK POST sides with New York Governor Paterson’s anti-firefighter/police stance that he took recently when he vetoed a bill that would have extended current retirement benefits to newly-hired FF’s and police officers.
The editorial that you can read in its entirety HERE, says in part:
First of all, the gratuitous statement that the plan is “…. closed to most other public employees…” is completely irrelevant. It doesn’t matter for the sake of the argument whether they have been getting it or not. Whatever the reason was for creating the discrepancy in the first place is still a valid reason now. That phrase was tossed in to the debate solely to sway the reader’s sympathy away from the firefighters and toward the writer’s view.
As far as the expenditure for pensioners exceeding that for the still-employed workers, there are two things left out of the presentation. First of all, the state and the municipalities have been laying off workers and eliminating positions for several years now. That is largely due to a shrinking population and a loss of businesses in the entire state over the past 20 years. It is only logical that as the rolls shrink, the gap between the two groups will diminish. But logic is not being taught in the public schools anymore and the politicians (along with the newspaper editors) are glad to take advantage of it in order to promote their own causes.
Secondly, if the affected governments had been fiscally responsible years ago and established pension funds that were properly funded and administered, they would not have this crisis today. Good, honest governments do not pay pension benefits out of current tax revenues. A viable pension fund pays its own way from its investments and contributions.
The New York Post continues:
Mayor Bloomberg’s claim that the city would “save” $7 billion is bogus. The city will not be saving anything because the money not spent on the pensions will just be spent on other government programs. It’s a transfer of wealth out of the pockets of the public safety employees onto other favored expenditures. The only way a savings is effected is when the money is returned directly to the taxpayers who sent it there in the first place. And there sure haven’t been any tax cuts proposed in New York lately. Just who are the real losers in New York these days, Mr. Editorialist?
Says the Firegeezer