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Knot-Tying Training Device

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THERE IS A DEVICE ON THE MARKET THAT ALLOWS FOR SOME SELF-INSTRUCTION and practice in tying knots that are most-used in the fire/EMS service. Rob Ladd, publisher of New London County Fire Photos sent this tip along for us.

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The device, called The Fourteener, is a one-piece utensil that simulates 14 different pieces of hardware that you are most likely to be tying off to. The kit also supplies a length of braided nylon rope of the right size to practice with, along with an adjustable strap that can be used to anchor the Fourteener to a fixed object.

If you want to read more about this training tool, or wish to order one, go to their WEBSITE HERE.

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Posted by firegeezer on August 31, 2009 • Filed under: Training

Mug Shots

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LAURIE R. IS AN ASSISTANT FIRE MARSHAL IN WASHINGTON COUNTY, ARKANSAS.
She starts every morning off in the right way:
with her GeezerCup and some good, fresh coffee.

Don’t forget to send us your mug shot!

To order your official Firegeezer coffee mug,
CLICK HERE

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Posted by firegeezer on August 31, 2009 • Filed under: Mug Shots

Captain Schmoe is in a Jam

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From THIS post “Schmoe won’t play (probably)”

A District Edict came down a few weeks ago, directing us to check for this (tax) certificate as we conduct our inspections. In the twenty five years that I have been employed by the Kinda Big F.P.D. I have never been used as a tax collector by proxy, I don’t intend to be used as one now.

The collection of this tax has nothing to do with the preservation of life or property. Us checking to insure compliance is an idea hatched by a bean counter in the county finance department and is solely a method to generate additional revenue.

I have no problem enforcing the Fire Code or the County Code as it applies to fire / life safety. I try to develop a rapport with the business owners in my district. I count on them to be prudent when it comes to fire safety. I try to educate them on the various hazards that we come across. A fire in their business is not good for them nor is it good for us.That isn’t what this is about. This is about money. link to original post.

Resulted in THIS senior staff meeting:

http://report-on-conditions.blogspot.com/2009/08/schmoe-gets-jammed-up.html

You need to see the video on Schmoe’s site: Report on Conditions.

Loved the insider references!

Mike “FossilMedic” Ward

Posted by fossilmedic on August 31, 2009 • Filed under: inspections

LODD Honored 66 Years Later

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THIS STORY BEGINS BACK ON FEBRUARY 18, 1943 IN SEATTLE, WASHINGTON. World War II was in full blast on two fronts and the Boeing Aircraft Co. was developing and building warplanes on 24-hr. shifts. One of these newer bombers that would become the B-29 Superfortress, was still in the experimental stage when a prototype took off from Boeing’s airfield on a test flight. Because of the importance of this new, long-range bomber, it was being flown by Boeing’s top test pilot, the legendary Eddie Allen and ten other Boeing engineers.

It was lunch time in Seattle as the plane was taking off when quickly one of the engines caught fire. The onboard extinguishing system failed to douse it and the fire rapidly engulfed the entire wing. As Allen fought desperately to turn the plane around and get back to the airfiield, the entire fusilage filled with heated smoke and fire. The plane never got altitude and in crashed into a 5-story meat packing plant, the Frye Packing Co. The impact sprayed the fully loaded fuel tanks throughout the building starting a massive fire. Due to the lunch hour, there were but 20 employees in the plant.

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The Seattle FD brought the fire under control late in the afternoon, but remained on the scene extinguishing pockets and hot spots. It was shortly after midnight when a fire started up in the basement and spread into some sawdust. Captain Rodney Graham and Fireman Luther Dean Bonner, both assigned to Truck 1, took a hose line down to the basement in an attempt to extinguish the new fire. Ammonia fumes overcame the both of them and they had to be rescued. But Bonner didn’t survive, dying from smoke inhalation. Altogether 32 people died in the disaster and to this day it remains the most deadly fire in Seattle’s history.

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Fireman Bonner was 23 yrs. old, married with an infant daughter, and had been on the job for only 115 days. The recruit fireman was earning $180 a month. The day after the funeral, his wife Priscilla left town and moved away to live with her sister-in-law’s family. She was virtually penniless and could not afford a marker for her husband’s grave. She collected an FD pension until 1946 when she remarried and started a second family.

Fast-forward to 2008 when some members of Seattle Local 27 became curious about this LODD who seemed to have been forgotten and because of the ongoing war was never commemorated by the Department. Poking around a section of the Evergreen Washelli Cemetery where many of the early 20th century firefighters are buried and armed with a plot map, Firefighter Dave Peery came across a simple concrete marker identifying Luther’s grave that had been completely overgrown and covered with grass. The ”temporary” marker didn’t even identify Bonner as being a fireman. KING-TV Ch. 5 filed this video report last month illustrating FF Peery’s search for the missing gravesite:

After getting a commitment from the cemetery to provide a grave marker that’s similar to the other firefighters’ graves, they next set out to track down Luther’s daughter. This heart-warming video report from KING-TV Ch. 5 picks up the story from here:

Local 27 published a special report on the Frye Packing Plant fire and their search for Bonner’s grave. It is reproduced online in a .pdf document. It is very thorough and has several photographs along with it. I urge you to take the time to read it HERE.

KING-TV story on the search for the gravesite HERE.
Time Magazine story on test pilot Eddie Allen ( “the greatest test pilot aviation had ever had” ) HERE.
Local 27 WEBSITE.
Last Resort Fire Dept. – SFD Museum WEBSITE.

Posted by firegeezer on August 31, 2009 • Filed under: history

Constant Flashing Red – - or Yellow

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AN AMBULANCE IN ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA, UPSET THE TRAFFIC SIGNAL SEQUENCE this morning when it strayed off the normal pathway.

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AdelaideNow / Milnes photo

AdelaideNow.com reports in full:

PEAK hour traffic was disrupted after an ambulance took out a set of traffic lights this morning.

The crew was on its way to a job about 8.30am, turning off Goodwood Rd, on to Cross Rd, when a front tyre lost traction on a metal man-hole cover. The ambulance slid before clipping a set of traffic lights, tearing them out of the ground.

The crew was uninjured, but all traffic lights then flashed amber until they were repaired.

Posted by firegeezer on August 31, 2009 • Filed under: ambulances

60 Buildings Lost in Small Mountain Town

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Update, 3 pm: More video added. Scroll down.

THE SMALL GOLD-RUSH COUNTRY TOWN OF AUBURN, CALIFORNIA, was hit hard by one of the state’s many ongoing wildfires Sunday night. The blaze dubbed the 49er Fire began Sunday afternoon and has destroyed more than 500 nearly 300 acres, small by western wildfire standards, but has swept through the northern part of the town and estimates are given that more than 60 structures, homes and businesses both, have been destroyed. It won’t be until daybreak before a more accurate count will be made.

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Auburn Journal / Kirby photo

The Grass Valley Union reported:

Firefighting departments that already had committed engines to fires in Yosemite and Southern California were stretched thinner with the North Auburn blaze Sunday.

Responding were 50 fire engines, eight air tankers, six helicopters, 10 hand crews, three bulldozers and 450 firefighters, Calfire spokesman Daniel Berlant said. Several arrived after first battling a fire in a large apartment building in downtown Grass Valley.

The grassland fire was reported at 2:22 p.m. at Rock Creek Road off Highway 49; by 2:41 p.m. the fire had jumped Locksley Lane and Shale Ridge Road and was heading toward Dry Creek Road. At 3:13 p.m., Bell Road was closed at Highway 49 and air tankers were called in.

At 4:15 p.m., the fire was estimated at nearly 500 acres, and voluntary evacuations were under way north of Rock Creek Road.

Mandatory evacuations were ordered for Saddleback Estates and another subdivision in Christian Valley.

At 5:30 p.m. officials were evacuating the Moss Rock Road area north of Auburn Municipal Airport, as the fire continued to burn to the northeast.

At 6:30 p.m., the forward progress of the fire had been halted, but firefighters still worked to put out fires at multiple structures, Calfire spokesman Darin Nelson said.

KTXL-TV has some raw video here:

Sacramento Channel 10 has several videos posted including some raw video showing a crew working a lumber yard fire in town HERE.

The Auburn Journal is the best source for any updates on this fire HERE.

Update: KCRA-TV Ch. 3 has added this aerial video:

Posted by firegeezer on August 31, 2009 • Filed under: fire

Morning Lineup – August 31

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I wake up this morning and learn that there has been still another double-LODD, this time in California. Two Los Angeles County firefighters were in a smaller fire vehicle that went over the side of a mountain road and tumbled down the hill. This happened around 2:30 pm Pacific time on Sunday while working the “Station fire.” Dave Statter, who works all night it seems, has a collection of video and print links about the tragedy posted HERE so that you can find the latest info. on that sad event.

That massive wildfire has been burning, and growing, for about 2 or 3 days now and has 0% containment so far. They are expecting it to be another 8 days at least before they get it completely contained. One of the peculiar features of this one is the encroachment on Mt. Wilson which is where most of the Los Angeles area television stations have their transmitter towers. The FD was trying to make a stand to save the transmitters, but conditions got so treacherous that they have pulled out after clearing as much of a fire break around them as they could. (Firegeezer wonders why the tv stations don’t keep their towers cleared as a matter of policy? Don’t they run enough stories about why people should do that for their homes?) The fire was expected to completely overrun the mountaintop by 7 pm last night.

Update, 7:30 am: Firefighter Close Calls has forwarded to us this link to a liveCam on Mt. Wilson. I believe it’s maintained by UCLA and it gives a good view of the fire threatening the transmitter farm up there. I refreshes itself every few minutes. Click here:
http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~obs/towercam.htm#imagetop

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If you’re one of those folks who stay away from the computer over the weekend and then log on Monday morning and try to catch up with what’s been going on, you’ve missed some really good stuff on Firegeezer the last couple of days. I would encourage you to scroll back at least two more pages this morning so that you will catch FossilMedic’s report on a big step forward in career development protocols, our report on a vol. fire chief who was shot by a policeman in a courtroom after his traffic ticket had been dismissed, and the surprising visit by a medic crew to a house that had over 200 live animals inside of it (and 230 more outside in the yard). There are some real jewels waiting for you there, so set aside some time to catch up.

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Only 12 more days of summer, unofficially. It’s on September 12 that the National Hockey League training camps open. I’m in a better mood already. Let’s get the game on!

First, we’d better get this equipment checked out and run the Monday morning systems-checks. I’ll go start the coffee and we’ll meet later in the day room.

Posted by firegeezer on August 31, 2009 • Filed under: morning lineup

Around the Fire Web

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* Firehouse.com has a story that invites all kinds of headline leads. At the Miami Beach City Council meeting on Thursday night, they were discussing possible budget cuts for the police and fire depts. when one of the councilmen keeled over in cardiac arrest. A firefighter and a policeman who were on hand to testify rushed up and administered a successful CPR effort, saving his life. What better testimony is that? Read the STORY HERE.

* Firegeezer has been posting some stories lately about fire chiefs who run afoul of the law. But Dave Statter has gone us one better with the story of a fire chief in Florida who wangled jobs in three fire departments simultaneously. The State Police knew something wasn’t right when investigation showed that his payroll records were showing him working 50 hours a DAY. Read STATter911’s story on that one HERE.

* A couple of weeks ago the Happy Medic gave us a list of 10 productive activities for fire depts. to do between calls. Now he gives us a new list of 10 first responders who don’t have fire engines HERE.

Posted by firegeezer on August 30, 2009 • Filed under: Fire Blogs

Welsh Ambulance Bungles Another One

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THE WELSH AMBULANCE SERVICE NHS has been criticized repeatedly for the past three years for long, inexplicable delays in getting ambulances to arrive within a reasonable time after they are called for. Despite constant demands from governmental officials and periodic replacement of their chief executive officer, they seem to be unable to solve their problem.

Thursday evening in Grangetown, South Wales, at 6 pm a woman collapsed unconscious on the street after falling while exiting a taxi. Several people immediately called 9-9-9 and a police officer arrived within three minutes. He said that an ambulance had already been dispatched and began to care for the woman as best he could.

Local residents and passersby stopped and tried to help, yet time kept going by and no ambulance yet. One of the neighbors told the South Wales Echo:

“The whole thing seemed to go on and on. Someone brought out a quilt to put over her and there were cushions under her head and then it started to rain and it was lashing down. The police were holding an umbrella over her. I went back into my house and got hold of shower curtain to put over her because she was soaking wet.

“I was back and forth to see how things were going and it was getting darker and darker. Groups of people were gathering to see what was going on but the police were marvellous and were there for three hours waiting for help.

Around 9 pm a police van arrived with an officer who is a qualified first-responder and he began an assessment of the victim. At 9:20 pm the police officers picked her up and placed her in the police van and took her to the hospital. After 3 hrs. and 20 minutes, the ambulance had never arrived.

The Welsh Ambulance Service issued the same statement that they do every time this happens: “We would like to express our concern about this incident and we take all complaints seriously. We are unable to comment on individual cases but we will investigate this incident internally.”

WalesOnline has the complete story HERE.

Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust WEBSITE.

Posted by firegeezer on August 30, 2009 • Filed under: ambulances

Chest Pains Lead to Gunfire

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AN OKLAHOMA CITY AMBULANCE CREW RESPONDED TO A HOME Saturday expecting to find a patient suffering chest pains. Instead they were met with a fusilade of gunfire aimed in their direction. They immediately ducked to a refuge and called for police assistance.

It all began around 12:30 pm when Wanda Smelley, 25, (her real name) called 9-1-1 complaining of chest pains. The police tactical squad confined her to her house and an almost 4-hour standoff took place until the Smelley woman surrendered peacefully and was taken away by the police.

KWTV Ch. 9 has this video report:

Posted by firegeezer on August 30, 2009 • Filed under: ambulances, crime

Ambulance vs. Motorcycle in Indianapolis

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A WISHARD HOSPITAL AMBULANCE IN INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, WAS STRUCK by a motorcycle Saturday afternoon leaving the bike rider critically injured. The ambulance was making a turn onto a cross street and was stopped while waiting for his preferred lane to clear. At that time two motorcycles pulled out of a parking lot and one of them accelerated rapidly, neglecting to notice the box-style ambulance directly in his path and hitting it at a high rate of speed.

WISH-TV Ch. 8 has this video report:

Police say that the rider’s injuries are not life-threatening, but they are critical.

More than 90,000 motorcycle enthusiasts are in Indianapolis this weekend to attend an international motorcycle race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Posted by firegeezer on August 30, 2009 • Filed under: ambulances

Texas Judge and Wife Escape Arson Charges – Again

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THE LONG-RUNNING SAGA OF TEXAS SUPREME COURT JUSTICE David Medina and his wife Francesca popped up again Thursday when the Harris County prosecuter decided to drop the arson indictment against Francesca and not prosecute the case.

The Medina’s first gained Firegeezer’s attention back in January, 2008, when a grand jury returned indictments against both of them for arson and tampering with evidence in the case of their June, 2007, house fire that caused over $1 million in damages. The fire burned their house down completely and caused damages to two of their neighbors’ homes as well. It was the second time in ten years that a suspicious fire burned down their home, both times starting in the garage.

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KVUE-TV image of the 2nd fire

The public was outraged when the indictments were handed down because the District Attorney who was a political crony of Medina’s immediately dropped the charges, claiming there was “insufficient” evidence. The grand jury was outraged also and immediately approached the county judge seeking permission to go public with the evidence that they heard. The Distric Attorney himself was being investigated for unrelated illegal activities and was in the process of being run out of town at the time.

At the time of the fire, the Medina’s were suffering some severe financial problems that included:

Losing the fire insurance on their home because of failure to pay the premiums.
A $10,000 lien on the home for back taxes owed.
Fighting off foreclosure proceedings because of missed payments by taking out equity loans at 16% interest from a shady mortgage company that was being investigated by the State.
Failing to pay their homeowners association dues.

The grand jury then reconvened and indicted them again. However, the District Judge overseeing them decided that their term had run out and wasn’t legally extended. So he threw the charges out again.

Read the Firegeezer reports from these early days with more details HERE, HERE, and HERE.

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David Medina

In May, 2008, the D. A. had fled and a new District Attorney convened a new grand jury to hear the evidence again. This new grand jury re-indicted Francesca Medina and charged her with felony arson, felony criminal mischief and state jail felony criminal mischief. (Firegeezer report HERE.)

This past Thursday, August 27, the current district attorney dropped the charges against Francesca citing “new evidence” that precluded her from bringing the case to trial. This current grand jury has now joined the list of outraged players in this soap opera, claiming that the case should be heard so that a trial jury could weigh this “new” evidence for themselves.

Meanwhile, six grand jurors from the first panel had filed a lawsuit against the county last year seeking to be allowed to talk about the evidence their jury heard, but were denied. In October they will argue their appeal before the Court with Criminal Appeals.

The Houston Chronicle has the details on this latest chapter of politico-legal cronyism from Harris County HERE.

Firegeezer notes: Don’t bet that this is the last we’ll hear of this case.

Posted by firegeezer on August 30, 2009 • Filed under: Law & Justice

Morning Lineup – August 30

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FossilMedic is genuinely excited this morning. He was up early and beat me to the keyboard with his report on the progress of the fire officer professional development program that integrates academic achievment with training programs. He has been working on, and promoting this concept for a long time now and it looks like it’s all coming together. So after lineup this morning, make sure you scroll down to the next posting and see what it is that he’s all pumped up about.

A couple of weeks ago I put a 22-inch monitor in service on my desktop computer. I have to tell you that I am quite impressed with it. I was using a 19-inch screen previously, so it doesn’t sound like much of an increase. But it really is. Those extra 3 inches have some sort of exponential result in the appearance I guess, because this baby is like a billboard up there. I’ve got the screen resolution set to 1280 x 768 and it’s just amazing how well – and huge – everything looks on there. The prices of monitors have been coming down steadily over the past year and it’s not unreasonable to upgrade now. Since I’m not a “gamer,” I probably wouldn’t get any particular benefit from advancing to a 25-inch screen later. But who’s to say?

When I was a wee lad, the largest tv screen you could buy was a 12-inch model. When the 16-inchers came out, it was worth a visit to the neighbor’s just to see the thing. And now people are willing to sell their youngest so they can get a 50-inch monster to fill the wall. But as we’ve noted before, computers and tv monitors are already cross-compatible so that you can browse the internet with your laptop plugged into your tv screen. Hey, can you imagine reading Firegeezer on a 50-inch screen? If any of you are doing this now, send us a photo of what it looks like, would you? That would get me almost as excited as FossilMedic is this morning. Maybe we need to get out more.

One thing we need to do is get this equipment checked out. I’ll go see how the Sunday breakfast is coming and get a fresh pot started.

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Posted by firegeezer on August 30, 2009 • Filed under: morning lineup

Professional Development gets an FRI Push

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ED KAPLAN IS OBSESSED WITH FIREFIGHTER EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.

He is the architect of the Fire and Emergency Services Higher Education (FESHE) initiative started 12 years ago at the National Fire Academy (click HERE for related article). He has encouraged, cajoled and conceptualized the concept of linking training with academic achievement and professional development.

In a series of 3 am posts on the FESHE FaceBook page, Ed excitedly shares developments from meetings he had at the IAFC Fire-Rescue International Conference in Dallas this week.

KAPLAN’S REPORT (edited for clarity, see the FESHE facebook (HERE) for original posts)

Reporting from Dallas at FRI. FEMA Director Fugate said he’s “going to put the ‘fire’ back in the U. S. Fire Administration.” He and new Fire Administrator Kelvin Cochran were a great one-two combination of speakers. Major progress on standardizing professional development happened today.

I met with Center for Public Safety Excellence (CPSE website) which announced a new fire officer designation program based on the National Professional Development Model (see NPDM webpage/presentation HERE) Fire Officer I & II competencies. Complete them with requisite experience & you’re a designated CPSE Fire Officer.

Also in the meeting was IAFC Professional Development committee and NFPA Pro-Board managers, the latter who announced testing for certification is no longer the only means to achieve it. You can now use portfolio development combining education, training & experience.

THIS IS A BIG DEAL as it enables education to apply towards your certification, particularly NFPA 1021 while crosswalking with the competencies in the NPDM. Next step is follow up video conference to add new columns in matrix for Chief Fire Officer Designation at Fire Officer III and IV.

FESHE Schools: In addition to adopting the model fire science curriculum, the time has come to require the general education courses prescribed in NPDM and provide your students a competency-based education that prepares them for CPSE Fire Officer I & II designation AND NFPA 1021 certification.

I invited CPSE, PDC & NFPA to present this united front at FESHE conf next year. A standardized professional development system is nearly at hand!

FESHE students: Your Fire and Emergency Service career development path is now clearly laid out for you.

Take as many of those general education courses in the NPDM as you can & you’ll be eligible for Chief Fire Officer & Fire Officer designations AND NFPA 1021 certification with minimum to no duplications of effort.

Welcome to the new day of inter-operability for professional development where training, education & certification are integrated like radios & hoses on a major multi-alarm, mutual aid fire.

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FIRE OFFICERS AS PROFESSIONALS

I share Kaplan’s excitement at these developments. These are huge steps forward in establishing fire officers as a national profession and not a local vocation. Expanding the Center for Public Safety Excellence portfolio process for company officers and tying formal education and experience to the credentialling process is brilliant!

Mike “FossilMedic” Ward

Posted by fossilmedic on August 30, 2009 • Filed under: current events, education

Fire Engine vs. Auto Leaves 2 Dead in K.C.

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KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, PUMPER 18 WAS RETURNING FROM A CALL shortly after 4 am this morning and was only 100 ft. from their firehouse when a Camarro auto smashed into it. The driver of the engine saw the car coming right at him and made a sharp turn to try and avoid the collision, but the car barreled into the side of the engine anyway.

The crash was so violent that the type of car wasn’t readily apparant at first. Two passengers in the car were killed immediately, one of them was the mother of the car’s driver. She was 47 yrs. old and the other passenger who was in the back seat, a 32 yr. old woman was killed also. The driver was a 24-yr.-old man who is listed in “extremely critical” condition.

WDAF-TV Ch. 4 has this video report from the scene earlier:

None of the four firefighters was injured except one of them was checked for some rib pains and released.

Posted by firegeezer on August 29, 2009 • Filed under: apparatus

Police Officer Shoots Asst. Fire Chief Inside Courtroom

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FOLLOWING A STORY LINE THAT COULD HAVE BEEN written in the 19th century, a small-town cop pulled his gun and shot a man who just had his ticket thrown out by a judge.

Jericho, Arkansas, is a tiny, rural town of about 150 souls that sits on a gravel road. The town hall/courthouse is a small, woodframe building that stands alone alongside a railroad track. And the Jericho Police Dept. has been under investigation by the state police for several weeks.

On Thursday night the courthouse was packed while the judge heard the monthly traffic cases. Around 8 pm he threw out every single ticket that the PD had written during the entire month. This so enraged one of the police officers that he got into an argument with one of the defendants and then pulled out his service revolver and shot the community’s assistant fire chief in the back. The next day, the judge resigned.

WHBQ-TV Ch. 13 Memphis visited Jericho yesterday and filed this report:
(Note: Our video news service ClipSyndicate is experiencing some computer problems periodically today, Monday. If this video does not play, please check back later and try again…..thank you, Firegeezer)

The Crittenden County Sheriff’s Office says the Jericho Police Department’s been under investigation for weeks for allegedly writing tickets outside their jurisdiction and for things that are not crimes. Dep. Sheriff Martin says, “they write a large amount of traffic tickets, that’s one question that arose is are they trying to use this as a funding source of their city.” He also said that charges against the officer could be filed this week.

Update, Sept. 4:
For an update on the events that have taken place since this report was filed, read our update posting HERE.

Posted by firegeezer on August 29, 2009 • Filed under: crime

The IACOJ 7 "ins" of a successful fire officer

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The INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CRUSTY OLD JAKES is a northeast oriented discussion board that promotes intelligent conversation.

Last week DaGonz posted a response he made to an Eagle Scout candidate who asked “what is your opinion on what it takes to be a successful fire officer?” dagonz

Responses from IACOJ members martinm (UK), and E229Lt(ret) (FDNY) expanded the list from five to seven.

THE “INS” OF A SUCCESSFUL FIRE OFFICER

Successful fire officers have to take the INitiative… to make the most of every opportunity, situation and challenge that come their way.

Successful fire officers need to have INsight. The have to be passionate about the job and serve the best interests of their personnel.. even when they feel that they are being wronged.

Successful fire officers have to INnovate. They have to think outside of the box on occasion in order to get to what the “big picture” looks like. They should also cultivate innovation amongst their personnel. Not all of the brightest minds in the fire service wear bugles on their collars; some are content with being the grunts and doing the job.

Successful fire officers have to have INtegrity. They are held to higher standard by virtue of their rank, from the newly minted LT to the grizzled old Chief. They have to meet the needs of the Department as a whole and build relationships across the ranks with professionalism.

Successful fire officers INstruct – pass you skills, expertise and knowledge on to others in order they become more skilled, knowledgeable and experts in their own right. martinm

Successful fire officers have INstinct….it’s the only thing we trust on the fire floor. It’s the memory of a thousand fires past and what worked and what didn’t. It will never be put into print or on a power point. It is created through trial and error and the ability to critique yourself after every job, good or bad. No two fires are alike but every flame is the same. e299lt

In life, successful fire officers have to balance their family and personal life with the professional side. Ignoring one or the other can lead to problems at home and at work.

Click on the logo to get to the site. A tip of the helmet to the IACOJ crew!

Mike “FossilMedic” Ward

Posted by fossilmedic on August 29, 2009 • Filed under: Command & Leadership, Fire Blogs, Fire Rescue Topics, Training & Development • Tagged: DaGonz, IACOJ

Paramedics Repelled by 400+ Animals

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“Every time we would drive by it, the front yard was torn up and there were geese all over the place,”

That was the comment of one neighbor after the Marion County, Florida, paramedics transported Ileana Verguizas to the hospital after wending off 432 animals and their accompanying stench that filled her 2,500-sq. ft. home and yards. The call came into the emergency dispatch center from a man who said that his wife had an unknown medical problem. When the ambulance arrived, the medics found that they couldn’t stay inside the house long enough to treat the woman at first because of the high level of ammonia fumes.

This video report from WOFL-TV Ch. 35 Orlando shows what they found:

The Ocala Star-Banner reports:

Almost 200 animals were living cramped inside the home, including more than 150 birds, 37 dogs and two cats. The rest, including 23 goats and sheep, 74 geese, 15 turkeys, some exotic birds, snakes and gopher tortoises, were scattered around the fenced, half-acre lot in a rural area of Citra, officials said.

What surprised investigators, beyond the sheer number of animals at the home, was the variety. In most cases of animal hoarding, the owners collect a certain type of animal – dogs, cats or pigs, for example.

“Obviously, everybody hears stories about the crazy cat lady,” (the animal compliance officer) said, “but in this case she had so many different kinds of animals. That’s unusual.”

Read the full story in the Star-Banner HERE.

Posted by firegeezer on August 29, 2009 • Filed under: rescue

Morning Lineup – August 29

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First, let me send out a webwide “Thanks!” to everybody who invited me to be their Facebook “Friend” yesterday. I have 56 friends after just one day. That’s nice, I think. One of my intentions is to use my Facebook page to give some “behind the scenes” tips and stories that don’t make it onto the website. We’ll just see how it evolves. I still have some learning to do on how to find my way around the Facebook layout. But anyway, thanks again. If you want to be my friend, I’m easy to find…. just look for “Firegeezer.”

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I spotted this photo posted on FireNews.net this morning, and my first thought was (believe it or not), Look at the street. Middle of the night when fire came in, so it took how long to get ahold of a highway worker and roust him out of bed. Then he had to go over to the yard and get a truck and some road barriers. And then get to the scene and set them up. And after all that, the fire is still that big. Now that’s a Fire!!

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You can read up on what’s burning and what happened at Jeff’s website HERE.

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In case you haven’t heard yet, the producers of the TV show Rescue Me announced yesterday that after they finish filming the next batch of 19 episodes, that will finish the run. The first ten will be the 2010 season and the remaining nine will be shown in 2011. That will be a total of seven seasons completed.

To be honest, I’ve never watched any of the episodes, mainly because I’m not much of a network-tv fan in the first place. But I know that this show has been very popular among fire and EMS people everywhere. And their DVD sales have been especially successful. But every show runs its course and when the creators decide that it’s time to finish it, then you can’t argue with that.

Firefighter Nation talks about it and has a discussion thread going on it HERE for the fans of the show.

Ok, Twittering, Facebook, Rescue Me fans …. let’s get this equipment checked out for today. I’ve got to get the coffee started.

Posted by firegeezer on August 29, 2009 • Filed under: morning lineup

Mid-Atlantic Life Safety Conference in September

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THE ANNUAL MID-ATLANTIC LIFE SAFETY CONFERENCE, sponsored by a consortium of Maryland fire protection agencies, will be held on September 22 at the Kossiakoff Conference Center in Laurel, Maryland.

midatlantic-a

Following the morning address, there will be five concurrent workshops. After the lunch break there will be another five workshops with topics including: A Safety Culture; Planning to Protect Millions; and Large Scale Evacuation and Sheltering Plan.

The cost to attend is $40 prior to Sept. 11 and $50 after that. There is a limited number of seats alloted for the conference.

You can read the details including the full schedule and get a registration form on this .pdf file:

http://www.mfri.org/announcements/lsc/2009lsc.pdf

Posted by firegeezer on August 28, 2009 • Filed under: Training

AMTRAK Dashcam Verifies Cause of Fatal Crash

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BACK ON JULY 9 AN AMTRAK PASSENGER LINER collided with a car at a crossing. The event was widely covered in the news because there were four males and one female ages 14 to 21 stuffed into the car and they were all killed instantly.

The crash took place in a rural area in Canton Township, Michigan, when the car driven by a 19-yr.-old approached the crossing with the warning gates down and signals flashing. The car’s “black box” indicated that he was traveling 68 mph when he dodged around the crossing gate and was struck by a 6-car Amtrak train that was traveling 70 mph.

The locomotive engineer applied the emergency brakes and it took 40 seconds for it to come to a full stop, all the time shoving the crumpled car ahead of it down the tracks.

Train Hits Car

The young driver of the car already had a notorious driving record accumulating a collection of speeding and reckless driving tickets before his license was suspended on the day before the crash.

Yesterday the Canton Twp. police released the Amtrak loco video and announced that the investigation was closed, blaming the crash entirely on the actions of the car’s driver. The video clearly shows the crossing gates are down, the lights are working, and you can hear the train’s horn sounding for the crossing warning.

MLive.com has a file posting with all of their articles pertaining to the crash over the past six weeks HERE.

Posted by firegeezer on August 28, 2009 • Filed under: current events

Flash Fire Triggers Mass Casualty Response in Ohio

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A FLASH FIRE IN A PHARMACEUTICAL FACTORY IN VANDALIA, OHIO, this afternoon (Friday) had the potential for a true tragedy, but fortunately it was averted.

When the alarm came in just before 2 pm, there was a report of several burn casualties at the Eurand America plant where medicines for epilepsy, AIDS and heart disease are developed and manufactured. The report was for several injuries and a fire in a chemical-handling area. The FD responded with a precautionary 2-alarm response which included several neighboring departments, a full haz-mat complement and initially many ambulances, ready to treat the 200 employees that were in the building.

In this instance, the sprinkler system put the fire out quickly and the FD only needed to ventilate and check out the people in the area. The haz-mat team had some chemical cleanup to oversee and EMS transported four victims with injuries ranging from severe to minor.

This is from an early report by the Dayton Daily News HERE and may be updated after a news conference scheduled for this afternoon.

WDTN-TV Ch. 2 Dayton has this early video report from the scene:

Posted by firegeezer on August 28, 2009 • Filed under: fire

How Much For 3 Grams of Rib Cartilage?

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DID YOU EVER WONDER WHERE THOSE PIECES OF BONES COME from that are used in reconstructive surgery? Do you think that maybe there’s 7-Eleven that deals in body parts? Well, it’s something like that.

Martina Keller and Marcus Grill have an article in Spiegel International where they tell, in part:

The incident in the Ukrainian capital is part of the secretive daily routine of a little-known but highly lucrative branch of the medical industry, in which companies use corpses to make medical spare parts. In doing so, they reuse almost everything the human body has to offer: bones, cartilage, tendons, muscle fascia, skin, corneas, pericardial sacs and heart valves. In the jargon of the profession, all of this is referred to as tissue.

Bones and tendons, the parts that interest Tutogen (a medical harvesting company) the most, are subjected to complex processing. The company degreases and cleans bones, cuts, saws or mills them into the desired shapes, then sterilizes, packages and sells the finished product in more than 40 countries around the world. With a prescription, it is even possible to order Tutogen’s products through online pharmacies.

The market for tissue products is still small in Germany. When it comes to bones, for example, experts estimate that only about 30,000 transplants a year are used in hospitals nationwide, mainly for use in bone reconstruction for hip surgery and in spinal column surgery.

It’s a completely different story in the United States. According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, more than a million bone parts are used in transplants every year. In no other country is it possible to make so much money with body parts. If a body were disassembled into its individual parts, then processed and sold, the total proceeds could amount to $250,000 (€176,000). For a single corpse! The US tissue industry generates total revenues of about $1 billion a year, says journalist Martina Keller, a co-author of this article and the author of the German book, “Cannibalized: The Human Corpse as a Resource.”

In many countries, the next-of-kin are often asked if they will donate “some tissue” from the fresh corpse in order to help some burn victim better survive their tragedy. But they are never told that in the medical profession “tissue” means more than skin. It can also be tendons, bones and cartilage, as mentioned above.

Writing about one such harvesting company, Tutogen Medical, Spiegel continues:

Many hospitals collect and reuse bone fragments removed from patients who have received artificial hips. In the United States, doctors have far fewer qualms about using body parts from corpses than their German counterparts — in such areas as spinal surgery, sports injuries and cosmetic surgery. For instance, doctors used pulverized skin particles to enhance lips and smooth out wrinkles.

The article is rather lengthy, but you get the idea of what they’re talking about. If you’d like to continue, read the entire ARTICLE HERE.

Posted by firegeezer on August 28, 2009 • Filed under: current events

What If You Google "Fire" …..

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….. WILL YOU GET THE GOOGLE FIRE?

The London Fire Brigade was called out yesterday to respond to Google’s UK headquarters where a fire was reported on a 5th-floor terrace of the 6-or-7-story building. Google occupies half of the building but the entire structure was evacuated as a precaution as 20+ firefighters attacked the blaze. The fire appears to have begun in an outdoor barbecue grill and spread to some wood decking and a tree.

Twitter photo

The Daily Telegraph has it’s offices directly across the street, so they were first on the scene with their camera crew and shot this video encapsulating the blaze that was readily contained. Firegeezer notes that this is the first time I’ve ever seen a ladder pipe used on a barbecue grill:

The fire brigade had the situation wrapped up in about 90 minutes.

The Daily Mail has MORE.

Posted by firegeezer on August 28, 2009 • Filed under: fire