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“Ricci v. DeStefano” Returns to Court

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THE INFAMOUS RICCI v. DeSTEFANO CASE that was overturned by the U. S. Supreme Court returned to New Haven U.S. District Court Judge Janet Bond Arterton’s courtroom late last week to be brought to a conclusion.  Following the June decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that Frank Ricci and 19 fellow firefighters claimed their rights were violated when the city threw out results of 2003 promotion exams because African-American firefighters performed poorly, there are two more phases of the trial  to be completed.

The New Haven Independent writes:

The first filings are due this Friday on the issue central to the case: Who should be promoted?

No one has been promoted in the six years since the city held exams for captain and lieutenant on the city firefighting force. Fourteen of the New Haven 20 would have been promoted if the city had acted on the test results as was originally planned. Many saw the SCOTUS decision as basically ordering the city to promote off of that list.

A jury trial will determine a stickier issue in the case: How much money is due the firefighters who were denied promotion.

“There’s definitely going to be a trial,” said Karen Torre, attorney for the New Haven 20. Her original suit in 2004 called for compensatory and punitive damages, both of which are determined by jurors.  A jury will decide the amount of damages, she said.

The Independent has a good, thorough explanation of how and why these next procedings are taking place.  Read the full STORY HERE.

Posted by on November 12, 2009 • Filed under: labor, Law & Justice, News • Tagged: , , , , ,

Mystery Minute 02.11

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Off the Map …. begins at Part One HERE.

Part Eleven

“OK, Red it is.  I can sure see that you come by your name honestly,” Jimmy responded.  “Say, it’s early yet.  The concert doesn’t start for another couple of hours yet.  What do you say we get a bite to eat somewhere quiet?”

Then that warm, beautiful smile started glowing from her face.  “I’m already ahead of you, Jimmy.  I’ve got a treat for you already set out at home.  I’m expecting you …. to come by and see what I’ve got.”

Again, he found himself without words for a moment.  This was not at all what he had anticipated.  She’s fixing something for him?  But she has never talked with him before.  “Are…are you sure?” he stammered.

Red let out a soft laugh.  “Of course, Silly.  You still don’t know, do you?”

No, Jimmy thought to himself.  I don’t know anything.  What is going on here?

Read Part Twelve HERE.

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Posted by on November 12, 2009 • Filed under: Mystery Minute • Tagged:

Schoolgirl Burned in Science Lab Explosion

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 A 10-YR.-OLD GIRL WAS AIRLIFTED to a burn hospital in England on Wednesday afternoon following an explosion caused by a chemical mixture.  The girl was attending an after-school science lab when the event occurred, leaving her with “significant” burns to her hand, arm and face.  While the injuries are extensive, they are not considered life threatening.

The paramedics responded at 4:30 pm and treated the girl with oxygen and used a special gel on her burns while awaiting  the air ambulance.

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Swanage Middle School

The explosion took place in the Swanage Middle School in Dorset, a county in the southwest part of England.  The Dorset Fire and Rescue Dept. needed an hour to clear the classroom of any hazards.  An early report indicated that aluminum powder was involved in the accident, but it was not corroborated.

The Bournemouth Daily Echo has the STORY.
BBC News has MORE.
Dorset Fire and Rescue WEBSITE.

Posted by on November 12, 2009 • Filed under: ambulances, EMS Topics, explosion • Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Nothing to Sneeze At

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A CHESAPEAKE, VIRGINIA, GIRL HAS GONE INTO A NON-STOP SNEEZING fit and nobody knows why or how to stop it.  Lauren Johnson, 12, started sneezing two weeks ago at the rate of 10 to 16 sneezes-per-minute, about 12,000 sneezes every day, and the only time she stops is when she is sound asleep.

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Lauren Johnson

Her mother, Lynn Johnson has taken her to six specialists so far with no satisfactory explanations or treatments found yet.  The poor girl has had to stay away from her 6th-grade class at school while the episode continues.  A neurologist said Lauren’s condition may be “irretractable psychogenic disorder,” which could have been caused due to stress.  Or maybe not.

The AP filed this video report:

“There’s less than 40 cases ever documented ever in the entire world,” her mother says.  “Nobody really knows how to treat it, what’s going to work, and even in the cases where it might have worked or turned the sneezing off for awhile, a lot of times it comes back again and then you’re right back to where you started.”

While sleeping is her only escape from the attack, that doesn’t come easy.  “It’s pretty hard,” she said. “I have to kind of be physically exhausted before I can, because I just sneeze and sneeze until I eventually can hold off for a couple of seconds before I can go to sleep.  I just wish the sneezing would stop. I mean I feel fine now, but it’s just the sneezing going on, and on, and on, and I can’t really do anything,” said Lauren sneezing 5 times in 15 seconds.

Posted by on November 12, 2009 • Filed under: current events • Tagged: , , , ,

“Howler” Credited With Lower Accident Rate

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EMSA, THE PRIMARY EMERGENCY AMBULANCE SERVICE in central Oklahoma, including Tulsa and Oklahoma City, outfitted its entire ambulance fleet with the “Howler” sired add-on last November.  A year later, they are touting the success of the installations and crediting it with cutting their vehicle accident rate markedly.

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From January 1 to October 31, 2008, EMSA had sixteen accidents at intersections while on emergency calls.  After upgrading their fleet a year ago, the number of accidents at intersections for the same period (Jan. 1 – Oct. 31) this year was reduced by 50% to eight.  During that 10-month span they logged 4.3 million miles on their ambulances.

KOTV reports:

EMSA estimates that the reduction in collisions has saved $80,000 in ambulance repair and replacement costs alone.

“Of course, that’s just damage to our ambulances. It’s not at all unusual for cars that collide with ambulances to be totaled,” says EMSA Fleet Manager Kelly Smith.

The Howlers cost less than $400 each. EMSA and Acadian Ambulance Service in Louisiana were the first ambulance agencies in the nation to outfit their entire fleet with the sirens.

The Oklahoman has this video report:

Related articles:
Firegeezer video report on EMSA’s demonstration of their new installation last year HERE.
Firegeezer video report on the Howler compared to Federal Signal’s similar product, the “Rumbler” HERE.

Posted by on November 12, 2009 • Filed under: ambulances, safety, Vehicle Operation & Ambulances, Videos • Tagged: , , , , , ,

An Icy Rescue

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IN NORTHERN CANADA, A 17-YR.-OLD HUNTER WAS STRANDED on an ice floe  for three days along with a polar bear.  Jupi Nakoolak and his uncle, age 67, had set out on a snowmobile last Thursday for a 3-day polar bear hunting trip.  But their snowmobile broke down on the first day and Jupi began walking back to the town of Coral Harbor (pop. 750) about 7 miles away.

While he was returning, the ice that he was walking on broke away and started drifting toward the Hudson Bay carrying him as well as a bear and two cubs.

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When the pair failed to return on Saturday, the locals organized a search party on Sunday and set out, soon finding the uncle who had just started walking back himself.  But the boy was nowhere to be seen.  The Nunavit director of protective services then downloaded a recent satellite photo of the area and they identified a drifting floe that was most likely where Jupi would be found.

A Canadian Air Force Hecules aircraft located the boy at first light on Monday but they were unable to land any rescuers at the moment, so they dropped a supply of candy bars to him and returned to pick up a rescue team.  They also saw a bear carcass not far from him.  It turned out that the bear had begun stalking him and Jupi had used his rifle to kill it.  “Polar bears are the only animal that will definitely stalk a human and eat them,” said one official. “Nobody goes out on the land here without a gun.”

Two search-and-rescue technicians later parachuted from a C-130 aircraft to a larger ice floe nearby. They swam to where the boy was and treated him for frostbite and dehydration while they waited for a boat to arrive.

The Associated Press has this video report of the rescue:

Posted by on November 12, 2009 • Filed under: rescue, Rescues, Videos • Tagged: , , , , , ,

Morning Lineup – November 12

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Back on Tuesday we linked over to an article in FireRescue1 that was written by Mike McKenna who is chairman of the NFPA technical committee that writes the standards for gloves.  If you missed it, or passed over it at the time, I’d urge you to take a couple of minutes this morning to CLICK HERE and read his story.  It’s a good explanation of what facets of glove construction they have to consider as the committee is revising the standard.  It’s more complex than you realize.

Then there is an important follow-up link on that page where you can click over and fill out a brief survey that the committee is taking where you can express your own opinion, experiences and preferences.  This is your chance to have some direct input into the design process.  It’s the link titled Share Your View in the Gloves Survey.  So take advantage of this opportunity and participate.  Make sure that you read the article first, though.

One of committee’s dilemmas is the trade-off required between improved dexterity and better thermal protection.  If you improve one, then the other has to be correspondingly degraded.  I’m not going to fill out the survey for obvious reasons, but if I was, I’d express a preference on the side of better dexterity.  My reasoning says that the greatest portion of your time while gloved is used to perform manual tasks such as operating hand and power tools, twisting knobs (such as radio channels), picking up things, and so on.  As far as trying to max out your protection against thermal blasts, or inadvertantly grasping something extremely hot, the chances of that happening are very much lower.

Since everything that we do is based on taking a chance with potential injury, I choose to consider the odds of inviting a problem when making that sort of decision.  For me, it’s more of a practical choice rather than a theoretical choice.  What are your thoughts on this?

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I saw a story last week that I bookmarked because it was novel, but it was kind of brief and I never got around to posting it.  A Portland, Maine, tv station, WMTW ran a short item that I would sort under the There are days you shoulda’ stood in bed category:

A duck hunter on one of Portland’s offshore islands placed a call for help, claiming that he was suffering from hypothermia.  So the Portland FD sent out one of their rescue boats to check him out.  But the tide was low at the moment and the boat became grounded in the Casco Bay.

So the dispatchers sent another boat on the mission, and it became grounded, too.

The Coast Guard was called for next and they sent out their 25-ft. rescue boat.  You guessed it, they became grounded, too.

On try #4, the Coast Guard took into account the results of the previous attempts and dispatched their low-draft vessel that finally reached the distressed man.  They successfully got him ashore for treatment.  As far as all the other sailors and their crafts went, they had a rather boring day waiting about 10 hours for the tide to come back in and float their boats.  Do you think the firehouse ribbing has let up yet?

All kidding aside, we’d better get this equipment checked out now.  I’ve got to get some coffee started.  See you back in the day room later.

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Posted by on November 12, 2009 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged: , , , ,

Around the Fire Web

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*  Maybe you recall (and maybe you don’t) our posting back in February HERE about Jeff “Matches” Boyle, the well-connected Chicago firefighter who got a merit promotion while he was out setting about 20 arsons around town.  After serving a small part of his time in the slammer, he sued the city to get his pension restored.  STATter911 has caught the recent court decision handed down by a well-connected judge HERE.  And while you’re there, scroll down a little more and read the update on the Haverhill power-hungry fire chief’s decision to withold the flu shots from his FF’s.

*  There’s a new addition to the FireEMS Blogs network that we think you’ll enjoy.  It’s called Raising Ladders and is a running commentary from a probationary firefighter recording his thoughts and experiences as he works to complete his probationer’s assignments.  Well written with a sly bit of humor inserted.  Check it out HERE and see what you think.

*  In case you missed it earlier, SConFire has a new name and web address.  They are now SCFireWire and the new address is http://www.scfirewire.com/ so make sure your Favorites list is updated.  Same good quality coverage of everything related to South Carolina fire and EMS news, but with a new look, too.

*  Wildfire Today has a story about a firefighter who built his resume using forged documents and training certifiicates.  His day in court came up and WT has the story HERE.

Posted by on November 11, 2009 • Filed under: Fire Blogs • Tagged: , , , , ,

Mystery Minute 02.10

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Off the Map …. begins at Part One HERE.

Part 10

It didn’t take him long to get over to her side.  “Hey, there,” he called out.  “Caught up with you at last….. how ya’ doing?”

“Hi, Jimmy,” she responded.  “I’m glad you made it!”

That stopped him cold.  “How did you know my name?” he inquired, puzzled.

“Oh, a little bird told me,” she said with a wink.

“Well that birdie never visited me.  I don’t know your name.”

“Sure, you do.  My real name is Ryde, but everybody calls me ‘Red’.”

ReadPart Eleven HERE.

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Posted by on November 11, 2009 • Filed under: Mystery Minute • Tagged:

Secondary Wreck Flips Ambulance

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A JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA, POLICE OFFICER was conducting an accident investigation at an I-95 ramp in the city Tuesday and an ambulance was stopped at the scene while the medics checked the passengers.  While they were doing their tasks, a delivery truck failed to clear the wreck scene and crashed into the back of the ambulance, ramming it into the barrier and then flipping it on its side.  The truck continued farther and ended up demolishing the rear end of the police cruiser.

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WJXT-TV

Five people, including one of the police officers, were taken to the hospital for non-life threatening injuries.

WAWS-TV has this video report from the scene:

WJXT has the details HERE.

Posted by on November 11, 2009 • Filed under: ambulances, Vehicle Operation & Ambulances, Videos • Tagged: , , , ,

Fire Takes Entire Apartment Bldg. in Missouri

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KMBC-TV

A PRE-DAWN FIRE IN AN INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI, apartment building destroyed the entire 3-story structure that had 24 units in it.  The fire was discovered just before 5 am Central time Wednesday morning, yet all 42 residents were able to escape safely with no reported injuries.

The fire moved swiftly into the attic and early on the roof collapsed into the building.  The fire department contained the fire to the one building in the large complex and had the fire under control by 6:30 am.

KCTV Ch. 5 Kansas city has some early helicopter video of the fire as it’s spreading through the building:

KMBC-TV has the story and more video HERE.

The Independence Fire Chief talks about the fire in this video report:

Posted by on November 11, 2009 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: , , ,

Tough Traveling in Tennessee

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JUST OVER TWO WEEKS AFTER A MAJOR ROCKSLIDE on I-40 in the Smoky Mountains closed that highway for up to three months at the Tennessee/North Carolina border (see Firegeezer video report HERE) , another slide has sealed off  U. S. 64 a little farther south in Polk County.  The two-lane highway is the only major roadway connecting some towns in that area.

This slide came in two doses.  The first one came down about 5:30 am Tuesday morning.  The highway department responded immediately and began clearing the roadway well enough to let a single lane of traffic through.  Just as they were removing the last few rocks at 1 pm, a second slide came roaring down and buried the roadway once again.  This time the video crew from tv station WDEF had their cameras rolling and caught this rare footage of a real rockslide:

There is still so much instability in the ground that the crews will have to wait for a geologist to assess the situation and give them advice before they begin what is expected to be at least a week of work to clear this latest slide.

The problem for the entire area is the unstable soils from an unusually-wet autumn that has sent a lot of water down the hillsides.

Posted by on November 11, 2009 • Filed under: current events, News, Videos • Tagged: , , ,

School Fire Begins While Classes Are In Session

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KATU

A DESTRUCTIVE FIRE STARTED IN A Portland, Oregon, elementary school Tuesday morning while the students were inside attending classes.  The fire in the Marysville  ES took hold quickly and spread up into the roof area.  Everybody in the school, about 460 students and teachers, evacuated safely and orderly according to plan.  There were two adults who suffered breathing problems from the smoke, however.

The fire response was immediately upgraded to three alarms and brought over 100 firefighters to the scene.  The major part of the fire was in the kindergarten and 3rd-grade classrooms, but eventually about 1/3 of the building was destroyed.

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KPTV

The Oregonian has a video report:

Marysville Elementary Fire

Damage is extensive and the school will be closed for a long time for repair.  The wood-frame school was built in 1921 with fire safety in mind and was limited to one story with multiple doors on each side of the building.

KPTV has the STORY and several video files.
The Oregonian has an extensive story HERE.

The Associated Press provided this raw video that shows the FF’s doing a terrific job with a trench cut that does everything it’s supposed to:

Posted by on November 11, 2009 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: , , , ,

Morning Lineup – November 11

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As you well know, today is Veterans Day, a holiday that honors and celebrates all the people who have served in the military and thus have effectively preserved our own freedoms and repelled the never-ending attempts to suppress and destroy our country.  The holiday is celebrated in most of the Western countries as well as the British Commonwealth nations.  In some places it is known as Remembrance Day and others retain the original Armistice Day.

It began as a commemoration of the end of the First World War which was supposed the be “the war to end all wars.”  It was so costly and horrible (for its time) that people honestly believed that the experience of it would preclude there from ever being another war again.  The Armistice that was signed between the warring countries was signed on November 11, 1918, and it was decided that the ceremonial signatures would be placed at the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of the day.

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When I was a very small boy, schools were not closed for the myriad of holidays that they are now, and we had classes on Armistice Day.  But it was common practice that, following a lesson from our teachers about the importance of the Armistice, we would all stop what we were doing and stand silently by our desks, offering a moment of prayer and reflection at exactly 11:11 am.  It was not only in the schools, either.  In most communities people would pause wherever they happened to be at that moment and do the same.  It was not at all unusual to see cars pull over and stop while the occupants got out, stood next to them and offered their prayers as well. 

Armistice Day was created to honor all of the veterans of WWI, but in 1954 the U. S. Congress passed a law that changed the name to Veterans Day and the focus on giving thanks and appreciation to the military veterans from all generations and conflicts.  Nowadays people don’t give it a thought, they just go shopping.  But we haven’t forgotten and the Firegeezer family extends a heartfelt “thank you” to everybody who has worn the uniform in the defense of freedom.


Veterans Day Tribute – More amazing videos are a click away

We had better get this equipment checked out now.  I’ll make sure there’s plenty of coffee.

Posted by on November 11, 2009 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged: , , ,

Phony Radio Contract Costs Chicago Official His Job

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IN LATE SEPTEMBER THE CITY OF CHICAGO Inspector General’s office disclosed that the first deputy of the Office of Emergency Management and Communications, Jim Argiropoulos had issued a bogus contract for 18,000 spare parts from Motorola and spent the $2.25 million on a radio console upgrade that was never built.  See the Firegeezer report HERE from September 29.  At the time, the IG recommended that Argiropoulos be fired from his $149,832-a-year job.

On Tuesday it was announced that he has resigned to avoid being fired.  He cleaned out his desk over the weekend and has departed while using up his leave until the end of this month.  By resigning, he is protecting his  pension which could be jeopardized if he was fired.  He also stands to lose it if he is convicted of a felony related to his office.

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The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting:

The alleged irregularities took place in 2004 and 2005 while Chicago Public Schools CEO Ron Huberman was running OEMC.

Huberman has accepted responsibility for what the inspector general has called a “significant management failure” that set the stage for the contracting scheme.

Sources said he has also ordered Adrienne Hiegel, his top deputy at OEMC at the time, to take a 30-day suspension.

The inspector general’s office has said Hiegel was so complicit in the phony voucher scheme, she should be fired if she still worked for the city. She was specifically accused of directing underlings to “work backwards to get to $2.25 million — the cost of developing the Motorola software — by using 18,000 radio parts to add up to” the same amount.

On the surface, it appears that there could still be a chance of a criminal charge arising from this scheme.

Read the full STORY HERE.

Posted by on November 10, 2009 • Filed under: current events, investigations • Tagged: , , , ,

Mystery Minute 02.09

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Off the Map …. begins at Part One HERE

Part Nine

The afternoon sun was getting lower in the sky and the expected crowd was starting to wander into the park.  Bringing folding chairs and blankets, people were picking out favorite viewing spots for the anticipated concert.

Jimmy kept scannng concert-goers looking for his dream-girl.  After all, she said she would be here.  Or did she?  She just told him to be here, but didn’t make any commitment for herself.  Is this just a game?

But he had his answer just a few seconds later as he spotted her drifting along with the crowd entering onto the grounds.  “That’s her, all right,” he thought to himself.  “I would never miss that red hair anywhere.  Now if I can just get over to her before she disappears again.”

Read Part Ten HERE.

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Posted by on November 10, 2009 • Filed under: Mystery Minute

Around the Fire Web

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*  STATter911 has a report on how Boston city officials skewed a NIOSH report on two LODD’s from August 2007.  At the time of the fire, one of the two FF’s who perished was intoxicated and the other had cocaine in his blood.  But when NIOSH investigated the fire, the city refused to provide the autopsy reports.  Dave also has the latest update on the Bourne FD’s calendar girl.  That scandal just keeps getting bigger.  Check out both stories by going to the homepage and then scrolling down HERE.

*  The Montgomery County (Maryland) Fire & Rescue office of public education is running a “test” lesson on candle safety using a new online resource called Screenr.  It appears to be a video presentation that you can create directly from your computer without having to down load a program to do it.  Check it out HERE and see if it’s something that you might be able to utilize.

*  FireRescue1 has a very good article by Capt. Mike McKenna who is chairman of NFPA 1971 Technical Committee Task Group on Gloves.  He writes about the future of glove construction with regard to the trade-off between thermal protection and dexterity available.  After you read the article HERE, click on his link titled Share Your View in the Gloves Survey where you can take part in the survey.

*  New London County Fire Photos has just posted a couple of fresh incidents worth taking a look at.  One is a 1,000-lb. propane tank with a generous leak after a car crashed into it, and the other is a sizeable house fire that got into the owner’s ammunition storage.  Read both of them HERE.

*  FireRescue Magazine/Firefighter Nation are preparing to present a training webcast on December 2 titled Detecting Biothreats in the Field:  Practical Tips for the Company Officer.  

In this Webcast, Chief Bevelacqua will bring hazmat training down to the ground level, using real-life examples to demonstrate how any department, large or small, urban or rural, can respond effectively to hazmat calls. Topics covered will include:

  • Common hazmat calls that departments across the country—not just in population-dense urban areas—must be prepared for.
  • Risk Based Response Approach toward an incident: Steps for proper identification and assessment of a potential bio attack.
  • Equipment, technology and education that can aid first responders with identifying biothreats at the incident scene.
  • Tactical tips for responding to hazmat calls, from basic (little or no specialized resources) to complex (the “latest and greatest” resources).

Registration is required to receive the webcast, but it is free.  You can read more and sign up for it HERE.

Posted by on November 10, 2009 • Filed under: Fire Blogs

2 Injured When Wheel Flies Off Firetruck

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A DANIA BEACH FIRE RESCUE DEPARTMENT (Florida) fire apparatus lost a wheel while it was responding to an emergency on Monday morning.  The wheel went bounding across the roadway and struck the front wall and window of a business office.  The manager of USA Air Duct says that the wheel injured two employees.  One of them had to be transported to a hospital and the other was treated on the scene.

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WPLG-TV

WPLG-TV reports that Fire Rescue officials said no one in the fire truck was injured and that the vehicle was badly damaged. The representative said the truck has had no previous problems and that the department would investigate why the wheel came off.

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WPLG-TV

Posted by on November 10, 2009 • Filed under: apparatus, Vehicle Operations & Apparatus

Oh, Deer !

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NOVEMBER IS WHEN 25% OF ALL DEER VS. VEHICLE accidents occur.  This is largely due to three factors.

  1. It is mating season and they are actively looking for partners.
  2. Hunters have them on the move.
  3. Deer are feeding more in an attempt to fatten up for the winter months.

Keep in mind that ambulances are vehicles, too.  While the most vulnerable time for a deer collision is at sunup and sundown, anytime during the night is potentially hazardous for drivers.  The danger isn’t limited to rural areas, either.  Suburban areas and many metropolitan areas have hundreds of deer collisions every year.

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KAAL-TV

The excellent website Everyday EMS Tips has a good article about this hazard along with a brief 7-point checklist for ambulance drivers on what to watch for and how to react in these situations.  Read the ARTICLE HERE and then get the troops together for a 15-minute drill on the topic.

Posted by on November 10, 2009 • Filed under: ambulances, safety, Vehicle Operation & Ambulances • Tagged: ,

Fire Chief Refuses Swine Flu Vaccinations for FF’s

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THE FIRE CHIEF OF HAVERHILL, MASSACHUSETTS, Richard Borden has been engaged in a long-running confrontation with his firefighters with a series of antagonistic stances.  He took another swipe at his troops yesterday (Monday) by preventing the city’s public health department from administering swine flu shots to the firefighters.  The city received a shipment of vaccine to be used for all its 1st-responders, police, fire, EMS.

Late last week the clinic advised the FD that they could begin showing up for their innoculations and the deputy chiefs began rotating the FF’s through for their shots.  But yesterday the fire chief ordered them to cease getting their shots.  The Eagle-Tribune reports:

“We got a call this morning from the city’s public health nurse that she has the vaccine for the firefighters,” Paul Weinburgh, president of the firefighters union, said yesterday. “The deputies started sending the men over to City Hall to get their shots this morning. But the chief stopped it. The nurse said the chief ordered her not to give the vaccine to any firefighters.”

Reached yesterday afternoon, Borden said the dispute is the result of a misunderstanding, combined with his deputies acting inappropriately without checking with him first.

The chief was apparently miffed that the deputies were doing their jobs and making decisions instead of sending everything to his desk for action.  Borden later told the Eagle-Tribune that he had things “already taken care of” and he wanted to make sure that the non-EMT’s in the department got their shots, too.

Weinburgh said there are only three firefighters who are not EMTs.

“Are you telling me he has denied us all the vaccine so he can give it to three other firefighters first?” Weinburgh said when told about the chief’s explanation. “I can’t imagine why he wouldn’t want his men to have the vaccine as soon as it is available. In my opinion it’s about control. He’s mad the deputies sent us over (for shots) before he had a chance to do it.”

Read the entire story HERE.

Haverhill Fire Department WEBSITE.

Firegeezer adds:  “What a guy!”

Posted by on November 10, 2009 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, health & safety, labor • Tagged: , , ,

Asheville Apartment Explodes, Burns

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Citizen-Times photo

AN APARTMENT IN AN ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA, PUBLIC housing complex had an explosive-type event just before noon Monday that started a major fire in the building.  Nobody was home at the time of the blast, but a man working in the vacant apt. next door was slightly injured as he was escaping from the building that contains six dwelling units.

The fire got into the attic area and spread along the roof structure presenting a challenge to the Asheville FRD.  The Citizen-Times has a brief raw video taken during the early stage of the fire HERE.

Arson investigators do not expect to know cause of the fire until later today (Tuesday) at the earliest.  At the time of the fire, the woman who lives in the apartment was in the county courthouse seeking a restraining order against her former boyfriend. An arrest warrant has been issued for him.

Early estimates place the damages at $375,000.

Read the full story in the Citizen-Times HERE.  They also have several photo galleries linked from that page.

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Citizen-Times

Posted by on November 10, 2009 • Filed under: explosion, Fires • Tagged: , , ,

Morning Lineup – November 10

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If you’ve been reading either of two EMS blogs, both of which are part of the FireEMSBlogs community, The Happy Medic and/or Medic999, you know about their unique “exchange program” that has just begun.  Justin Schorr, The Happy Medic, is a firefighter/paramedic in San Francisco and Mark Glencourse, who publishes Medic999, is a paramedic for the North East Ambulance Service in the UK.

After a few months of preparations, approvals, and signing-on-the-dotted-line, their respective departments are supporting this cultural and professional exchange where they are visiting and riding with each other’s EMS service.  Mark arrived in San Francisco just the other day to begin the Stateside portion of the project.  A few days after he returns home, Justin will pack up, walk barefoot through the airport and travel over to Newcastle to view operations from “across the pond.”

Another of our fellow bloggers, The Fire Critic has put together a good introductory posting about how all this came about.  And he has assembled a good listing of all the links that will be covering their adventures, including the video portions that they promise to upload as this moves along.  So start by reading the viewer’s primer at The Fire Critic HERE.  And then check in daily at The Happy Medic and Medic999 to keep up with what’s going on.

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Last week we posted a story about the rescue of a tree trimmer in California who was trapped by a limb while out of sight from anybody.  You can review the story HERE.  One of our regular contributors, Dal90 posted a Comment that I believe has good training value, so I want to repeat it here at Lineup to make sure that it gets the exposure that I think it deserves.  It’s a good topic for an informal drill and certainly worth following up on.  So with that in mind, here is Dal90′s contribution to tree-trimmer rescues:

A good discussion to have locally is with some of your local professional arborists.

Especially among the climbers, many have training in co-worker rescue work. Ideally the groundsman has a cellphone with the cell phones for other climbers he can call if there is an emergency with his climber.

You can ask them at the same time if they’d like the cat in the tree calls.  Smiley aside, they are the profession better equipped then us to handle those calls.

Last summer East Windsor, CT had a bi-plane crash land in a tree well off road. They ended up using a climbing arborist to make the rescue (IIRC he had witnessed the incident and offered his services — still took a long time to access the scene and decide his way was the least risky).

http://www.treecareindustry.org/articles/magazine/TCI0409_p24.htm

Today’s lineup is necessarily brief because I have some paperwork that I have to get started on.  But first I’ll get some fresh coffee going while you get the equipment checked out.  I’ll see you back in the day room in a little while.

Posted by on November 10, 2009 • Filed under: morning lineup

Mystery Minute 02.08

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Off the Map …. begins at Part One HERE.

Part Eight

Jimmy got a quick breakfast at Grimm’s and was out early.  Parking close to the park, he strolled over to see what was going on.  And who was maybe there.  But the only people around were the county employees setting up the stage.  The tractor had been unhitched and they were deploying the stabilizers and leveling it while another crew began unloading the big sound system. 

So Jimmy started wandering over to the edge of the park, looking for his “angel” and watching the everyday life of the townsfolk.  And then something dawned on him.  He had subliminally noticed it before, but it struck him outwardly just now.  Everybody in this town was constantly smiling.  Perpetual pleasantness.  What kind of a place is this?

Then Jimmy pulled out his road map and decided to see just where Springdale is before he tries to find out what this nonstop happiness is all about.  Following his path down the highway with his finger, he looked for the turnoff where he started following the road to this place.  But he couldn’t find it.  Skimming down the Index under the S’s, he looks for Springdale.  Nothing listed.  No road, no town.  They’re all off the map.

Read Part Nine HERE.

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Posted by on November 9, 2009 • Filed under: Mystery Minute

“Drinking and Cooking Simply Don’t Mix”

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THOSE ARE THE WORDS OF A SENIOR OFFICER with the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service following a house fire where the tenant was too drunk to hear his smoke detector.

The man had fired up his indoor grill to cook a supper, but fell asleep from an excessive alcoholic intake while it was heating up.  The fire spread to the kitchen and was threatening the entire home when a neighbor saw smoke pouring out of the house and called the fire brigade.  The responding firefighters forced entry and guided the man, the only occupant, to safety.

BBC News has the STORY HERE where they impart “Crews used four sets of breathing apparatus and two hose reel jets in extinguishing the fire.”

Posted by on November 9, 2009 • Filed under: fire, Fires

GPS + Internet = Boats Afloat

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GRADUALLY WE ARE LEARNING MORE WAYS that businesses are maximizing the usage of new digital devices to make their operations better.  One of them that many of you learned about recently was publicised when a Russian freighter went missing in the Atlantic Ocean and it was quickly located by its GPS positioning signals.

It turns out that all ocean traffic now have these devices onboard which explains the shutting down of all those colorful lighthouses around the world.  All navigation is done by satellite and computer now.

It was only natural that this information would eventually make its way onto a website where we can all play Titan of Industry and follow the merchant ships around the Seven Seas.

live ships a

At the moment I took this screen capture, there were 11,190 ships being tracked.

Over on the left is the log of display symbols and some search boxes where you can enter a specific ship’s name or port.  For more detail, you just zoom in on a location to see the activity in any specific area.

live ships b

Start your ocean odyssey by CLICKING HERE on the Live Ships Map homepage.

Posted by on November 9, 2009 • Filed under: fun, technology, Technology & Communications • Tagged: , , , , ,