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Taking Security Seriously

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THE AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL GOVERNMENT will be taking a fresh look at security procedures at one of the country’s major regional airports.  The Dubbo Airport in the state of New South Wales was discovered with a huge security breach when a good citizen armed with a camera  took a picture of a sign posted over the entry keypad that contained the “secret” code numbers to gain access to the restricted areas of the airport.

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Gate Access Code
“please touch pad softly”

2046#
Please remember code to re-enter

Was this a surreptitious attempt by one of the baggage handlers to let some of his buddies inside to steal stuff?  Nope.  It was airport policy.  A clueless spokeswoman for the airport told the Daily Telegraph that the PIN code was signposted on the gate to allow “itinerant airport workers who have security clearance to use this gate.  We had a security audit last year, which we passed.”

A spokesman for Federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese told the Telegraph the posting of access codes on the gate was “not acceptable.  We expect the urgent implementation of better arrangements,” he said.

The curious citizen who took the photo sent it to the Daily Telegraph and they in turn alerted the authorities.  The entry codes were changed last Tuesday following the disclosure.  The Dubbo City Regional Airport is owned by the Dubbo City Council.  Read the complete account in the Telegraph HERE.

Posted by on April 11, 2010 • Filed under: News, technology • Tagged: ,

Pumper-assisted Slip and Slide

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Fire Department Makes Slip And Slide Awesome – Watch more Funny Videos

Tip of the helmet to Ladder8 from the International Association of Crusty Old Jakes for noticing this unique community service opportunity.

I think the guy in the blue t-shirt, shorts and black work boots may be performing quality control. (At the 00:41 spot) :)

Mike “FossilMedic” Ward

Posted by on April 11, 2010 • Filed under: Fire Rescue Topics, Videos

A Sunday Emergency !

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Season Three, Episode 4

An English Visitor

A visiting fireman causes jealousy when the paramedics take him on the rounds.

 

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Posted by on April 11, 2010 • Filed under: Sunday Emergency • Tagged:

Southampton LODD Update

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THE POST-MORTEM ON THE TWO Southampton, England, firefighters has been completed and it determined that they had both died from “exposure to excessive heat.”  James Shears, 35, and Alan Bannon, 38, were both found inside the apartment where the fire was seated by other firefighters.  See the earlier Firegeezer report on the fire from April 7  HERE.

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The young couple who live in the 9th-floor apartment are distressed and feel responsible for their tragic deaths.  BBC News is reporting:

Kirsty Hoffman, 21, who is five months pregnant, said: “I blame myself for their deaths. It was because our curtains were on fire that they went into the flat and didn’t come back.”  Her husband Karl, 27, said: “I feel sorry for their families. They were very brave to go in there and they didn’t deserve to die. I’m devastated.”

The Hoffmans, who are both unemployed and have a one-year-old son, told a local paper that a curtain draped over a lamp had ignited and engulfed the flat in flames.

The couple said they had at first ignored the burning smell as they cooked dinner in the kitchen because they thought the smell was coming from outside the flat. They said that when they saw the flames Karl threw a bottle of Dr Pepper over the flames. Instead of putting out the fire, the flames and smoke spread and the family fled from the flat.

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Press Association

Posted by on April 11, 2010 • Filed under: Fire-ology, Line of Duty, News • Tagged: , ,

Ambulance – 1, Motorcycle – 0

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A MOTORCYCLIST WHO HAD JUST PURCHASED his machine a few days previously, was critically injured Friday morning when he drove into the path of an ambulance in Arkansas.

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Log Cabin Democrat

The sequence of events began on I-40 when an Arkansas State Trooper observed Gregory Wallace, 22, driving his motorcycle at a very high rate of speed and he attempted to pull him over.  Instead of pulling over, however, Wallace decided to try and outrun the trooper and took off at speeds estimated to be as high as 90 mph.  When he entered the city of Conway, the Conway PD picked up the pursuit as Wallace entered a high-traffic area.

As he attempted to elude the police, he drifted over the yellow center line and struck an ambulance in its front left corner, demolishing his motorcycle and pitching him into a nearby parking lot.  The ambulance crew, who were not on a call, were able to immediately begin life-saving procedures on Wallace.  He was then transferred by air ambulance to a trauma center in Little Rock.

The police have no idea why he was fleeing as he didn’t have any outstanding warrants and the bike was properly registered.

The Log Cabin Democrat has the full STORY  and a VIDEO HERE.

Posted by on April 11, 2010 • Filed under: ambulances, crime, EMS Topics • Tagged: , , ,

Morning Lineup – April 11

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Ah…. Spring weather is definitely here, and in most other places, too.  It gets the urge going to get outside and "do some stuff" like cleaning up the winter debris from the back yard, going shopping for plants at the garden center, or maybe getting the camping trailer ready to go:

(Video removed for technical reasons)

Ok…so maybe it was a staged stunt.  But I thought you'd get a chuckle out of it anyway.  Think Spring!

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There is some tech. news out there this morning that isn't on my list of exciting happenings, but some of you are likely interested in what's going on in the Twitter universe.  There is an app. on the market for iPhones and Blackberrys called Tweetie.  It's a thingy that lets you post Twitter  messages from your cellphone if that's important for you.  Apparently Twitter thinks it's important enough in their future that they just bought out the company that makes Tweetie for an unannounced sum.  The app. has been selling for $3 and Twitter says they will be offering it for free.

PC World has the update on this move by Twitter HERE.

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And lastly, a bit of Celebrity news to pass along.  Longtime popular actress Dixie Carter passed away at age 70.  The date, place and cause of death have not been released by the family.  Carter had a long and successful career on the stage and came into national prominence performing in the TV sitcom Designing Women that ran for seven seasons beginning in 1986.  She was also known from being married to the famous actor Hal Holbrook.  You can read more about her life and career HERE.

It's Sunday, so that means a big breakfast will be ready soon.  So let's get this equipment checked out.  I'll go start some more coffee and Think Spring.

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Posted by on April 11, 2010 • Filed under: morning lineup, Twitter • Tagged: , , ,

Firetruck Rollover Injures 4 FF’s

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A FRAMINGHAM, MASSACHUSETTS, FIRE ENGINE WAS DESTROYED Saturday morning when it inexplicably went out of control and rolled completely over, landing back on its wheels and injuring the four firefighters on board.

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MetroWest Daily News / Bartlett

The pumper was returning from a call and driving at normal street speed when it suddenly started skidding, went into a 180-degree spin then rolled over, taking out a utility pole,  and landed in a front yard just 20 feet from a house.  All the firefighters were wearing their seat belts and their injuries were minor.

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MetroWest Daily News / Bartlett

NECN has this video report from the scene:

A heavy-duty crane was brought in to lift the 20-ton truck from the yard and placed it on a flat-bed.

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WCVB-TV

The engine is 9 years old and is considered a total loss.

MetroWest Daily News has the story and more photos HERE.
Framingham Firefighters Local 1652 WEBSITE.
Ted’s of Fayville Towing WEBSITE.

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MetroWest Daily News

Posted by on April 10, 2010 • Filed under: apparatus, Vehicle Operations & Apparatus, Videos • Tagged: , , ,

“Firestorm” LAFD Station 65

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From the Firestorm website:
AMB06030_1232

Every minute in the United States, an ambulance gets turned away from an emergency room because hospitals are simply too full. In Los Angeles, where the wait time in some ERs is as long as 48 hours, the entire 911 system is being challenged in ways that are alarming.

FIRESTORM follows Los Angeles Fire Department Station 65, located in South Los Angeles, a neighborhood with a largely uninsured and undereducated population.

The LAFD handles all emergency medical services for the city of Los Angeles, and currently 82% of the department’s work is medical, rather than fire-related.

Eleven hospitals have closed in just five years in LA, and the challenge of delivering more than 500 patients per day to a shrinking number of hospitals is overwhelming to the LAFD.

With resources strained, and 911 being used for everything from heart attacks to stomach aches, LAFD paramedics have become virtual ‘doctors in a box’.

The film will debut at the Council on Foundations Annual Conference in Denver, Saturday, Apriil 24. Finished film should be ready by September.

You should explore the Firestorm website, a rich repository of information on the health care crisis and it’s impact on emergency medicine/EMS. Start with the FACTS.

Mike “FossilMedic” Ward

Posted by on April 10, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, News, Patient Management, Urban Commander, Videos • Tagged: , , , , ,

Drunk Smashes Into Ambulance

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A TOKOROA, NEW ZEALAND, AMBULANCE WAS SMASHED UP Saturday night when a car operated by a suspected drunk driver hit it head-on.

The sequence began when the car sailed through a stop sign and crashed into the side of a car occupied by two young women.  It then careened across the road another 300 feet into a traffic circle where it hit the ambulance, causing extensive damage to both vehicles.

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NZ Herald

The driver of the sole-provider ambulance was shaken up, but still able to get out and begin rendering aid to the car’s driver.  There were no patients in the ambulance.

The NZ Herald has the full STORY.

Posted by on April 10, 2010 • Filed under: ambulances, EMS Topics, Vehicle Operation & Ambulances • Tagged:

Will the “Warm Air summit” create Fire 3.0?

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While Firegeezer and FossilMedic worked in the same fire station “back in the day,” Firegeezer.com collaboration is accomplished through phone calls and emails.

The only face-to-face time is when we staff a Firehouse Expo booth in Baltimore
….. and all of those STATter911 groupies, fans and “haters” keep interrupting us :)

Until today.

THE WARM AIR SUMMIT

Bill and Mike are meeting in an undisclosed restaurant near a major interstate in northern Virginia … to plan digital domination.

chilimacOr, just enjoy a couple of bowls of chili-mac while envying this year’s EMS 2.0 buzz.

FIRE 3.0 “Great Things Come In 3′s”

If Mark and Justin are becoming the “Johnny and Roy” of the digital generation, maybe Firegeezer, FossilMedic and Lightrock can emulate this legendary firefighting trio:

FDIC MEET-UP

If your are in the metro Indianapolis area on Friday April 23, please plan to stop by the Rock Bottom Brewery at 8 pm for the next great blogger meet-up.meetupatIndylogo1

May have our Fire 3.0 manifesto ready for review, hear that it will go great with a microbrew!

Mike “FossilMedic” Ward

Posted by on April 10, 2010 • Filed under: Fire Rescue Topics, News, Videos • Tagged: , , , , ,

Explosion Obliterates New Jersey Home

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A CLIFTON, NEW JERSEY, HOUSE WAS COMPLETELY destroyed Friday afternoon when a natural gas accumulation inside it was ignited.

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CBS News

Police are saying that the explosion occurred at 2 pm when a private contractor who was working in the front yard hit and broke a gas line.  It is believed that it went unnoticed (or ignored) and the leaking gas followed the pipe into the house where it accumulated until an unknown source sparke it, triggering the devastating explosion.

Nobody was in the house at the time, but five people outside suffered minor injuries from the flying debris.

Fox5 New York has this video report:

NorthJersey.com has the full story and additional video HERE.

Posted by on April 10, 2010 • Filed under: explosion, Fire Rescue Topics, Videos • Tagged: ,

FF Arsonist Gets Life Sentence

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A FORMER VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER FROM LONG ISLAND, New York, was sentenced yesterday for crimes he committed just over a year ago.  Firegeezer has been following the case of Caleb Lacey, 20, a former member of the Lawrence-Cedarhurst Fire Department in Nassau County, was charged in March 2009 with setting a fire the previous month in a house at night that killed four residents, a woman and her three children ages 9, 13 and 19.  See the Firegeezer report with video HERE for the details of the incident.

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The fire was just a few doors down from Lacey’s home and it was determined that his motive was to “be a hero” and save the victims.  He was charged with 1st-degree arson and four counts of 2nd-degree murder.  On February 20, exactly one year to the day after he set the fire, Lacey was convicted on all counts following a five-day trial.  (See Firgeezer REPORT for the trial details.)

Yesterday, Friday April 9, he was sentenced  to serve 25 years-to-life for his crimes.  The New York Daily News reports today:

Emotions ran high in the courtroom. Children who survived the fire were in the audience, crying. Edit Vanegas who lost his wife, two daughters and a stepson, was in court but recorded his statement ahead of time because he was too distraught to read it in person.

Lacey was found guilty of four counts each of murder and manslaughter for setting the fire in a stairwell leading to apartments above a coin-operated laundry in Lawrence, N.Y. It was the only entrance and exit for tenants on the second floor; a fire escape had previously been removed from the building.

WNBC-TV has more on the trial HERE.
Posted by on April 10, 2010 • Filed under: arson, Fire Rescue Topics, Law & Justice, News • Tagged: , ,

Morning Lineup – April 10

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It might seem to be a little overkill to talk hockey again so soon.  But as we talked about earlier this week, there’s a lot of drama playing out in the NHL’s regular season wrap-up.  With only one game left to play, there are still some undecided positions that will not be determined until after those final games are played.

You can see the standings and records as of this morning by looking HERE, then follow along.  In the Western Conference the eight teams going to the playoff rounds have been decided.  Despite Colorado’s miserable finish, they still hung on to the #8 slot as Calgary flamed out winning only 4 of their last ten games to finish just four points behnind Colorado (2 points for a win, 1 point for an overtime loss).  But the top of the chart shows Chicago tied with San Jose for first place, each team with 111 points.  San Jose led the entire league for the first half of the season, but Chicago has been very tenacious and clawed its way up to the top.  If they finish tied in points, the tie-breaker will give Chicago the top seed.  San Jose plays Phoenix tonight, so Chicago fans will watch to see how this one turns out.  A San Jose loss in regulation will give the Blackhawks the title.  But a Sharks win or overtime loss will force Chicago to win their final game Sunday to stay on top.

Another skirmish going on is between Los Angeles and Nashville, tied for 6th place.  But L. A. has two games left to play, so they can control their own destiny by picking up at least 3 points.  Whichever  team finishes in 7th place will face either Chicago or San Jose in the first round.  Not something to look forward to.

Over in the Eastern Conference,  Washington clinched the conference title over a week ago with their 20+ point lead.  But there are two very hotly-contested spots remaining to be settled.  Notice that New Jersey, Buffalo and Pittsburgh all have either 98 or 99 points and they are truly scrapping for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th slots.  Pittsburgh and New Jersey are also tied for the lead in their division, which puts a lot of meaning into their remaining games.  All three teams have two games left to play, one today and one tomorrow.

The other unsettled position is even more crucial to the teams involved.  New York Rangers and Philadelphia are tied for the 8th and final playoff spot.  They played each other last night with the Rangers having to win in order to stay alive, and they did in a close game, 4-3.  Now here’s the kicker, they play each other again for their final game tomorrow.  It’s literally do-or-die for the loser will be done for the season and the winner goes into the playoffs.  I hope that one will be televised somewhere because that will be one heck of a game to watch.

Hey, we’d better get this equipment checked out now.  I’m going to start some coffee.  See you back in the day room and then we can watch this collection of highlights from some of last night’s games:

Posted by on April 10, 2010 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged:

University Dorm Fire Kills 1, Injures 22

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A FIRE STARTED EARLY FRIDAY MORNING in a student dormitory of the National Institute of Applied Sciences in Toulouse, France.  The fire began around 7 am in a 4th-floor apartment of a 7-story building and spread to several floors, eventually burning out 15 living quarters and damaging 25 more.

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AFP

The fire department had a challenging time because of the high number of ladder rescues that had to be made along with a fierce fire.  It was knocked down four hours later around 11 am.

At 1 pm the body of an 18-yr.-old male student who had died was found and removed from his burned-out apartment.  Most of the victims that are hospitalized are suffering from smoke inhilation.  The cause of the fire is not yet known.

toulouse a AFP

A security guard tried to awaken the victim who died by phoning
him, but he was unable to get him to respond.  (AFP)

Le Figaro has the STORY.

BFM-TV has a good video report HERE.

Posted by on April 9, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires • Tagged: , ,

Friday Shopping Tip

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THE DIGITAL AGE OF MINIATURIZATION HAS reached the point where now anyone, including you, can out-sleuth Maxwell Smart and James Bond.  For less than $50 you can not only spy on anyone handily, but you can photograph or record any event you attend.

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It looks like a pen…..in fact it writes  like an ordinary pen.  But this handy little gadget also contains a 4 GB digital video/audio recorder.  It has enough storage to record up to 5 hours of clandestine video w/sound.  When you’re ready to see/hear your recording, you just pull it apart to expose the USB plug like any other flash drive and download directly to your computer.

The built-in battery is rechargeable and the pen has a replaceable cartridge.

You can order yours today…. and get free shipping….by just CLICKING HERE to the Heartland America online catalogue and following the directions.  Have fun!

Posted by on April 9, 2010 • Filed under: shopping, technology, Technology & Communications • Tagged:

Firetruck Crash in Indiana

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A McCUTCHANVILLE, INDIANA, FIRE ENGINE collided with a pickup truck at a contolled intersection north of Evansville this morning (Friday).  The accident left the firetruck wrecked in a ditch pinning the pickup with the driver entrapped inside.

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The three firefighters in the engine were transported with only minor injuries.  The driver of the pickup was extricated after a 20-minute operation and was transported by helicopter ambulance with multiple leg and hip fractures. 

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The Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s office says that the driver, 40-year-old Alan Stackhouse of Princeton, Indiana, does not appear to have any life-threatening injuries.  He was conscious and talking as he was carried away from the scene.

Witnesses say that the pickup was traveling through a green light, but other cars in the roadway had pulled over to yield the right-of-way.  There is no report from the police yet on the circumstances of the crash.

WFIE-TV has this video report from the accident scene HERE.

CP News has this video report also:

The Evansville Courier Press has the early STORY.
McCutchanville Fire Department WEBSITE.

Hat tip:  Jeff N.

Posted by on April 9, 2010 • Filed under: Fire Rescue Topics, rescue, Rescues, Vehicle Operations & Apparatus, Videos • Tagged:

Who Ya’ Gonna Call?

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CATS OR BATS OR SNAKES….the firefighters always get the call to help.  On March 18 in Muelheim, Germany, a young man’s poisonous pet, a monacle cobra escaped from its tank and disappeared somewhere in his apartment.  The fire brigade was called and they then brought in the animal control people.

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They had to  be careful in their search, though, because the juvenile snake which will become five feet long in adulthood, is deadly poisonous.  With the police joining in, all the crews literally stripped out the apartment, taking the furniture and upholstery apart, then removing everything.  After stripping the apartment completely bare without finding the critter, they next tore out all the drywall and pulled up the floorboards.

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Failing to locate the snake after demolishing the apartment, they felt it necessary to evacuate the entire building and keep everyone out until the cobra was located.  Then the fire brigade set out traps in the building.  Finally yesterday, Thursday April 8, three weeks after the adventure began, the snake was found in one of the sticky-traps, dead from exhaustion.

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Everybody has been allowed back into their apartments now, except the man whose apt. is in shambles.  Instead, he has been issued a bill from the city for 100,000 Euros for the costs of the FD, Police, animal control officers and housing the displaced tenants.  No telling yet how much the apartment owner will be seeking.

Der Westen has the STORY.

Hat tip:  Christian Lewalter

Posted by on April 9, 2010 • Filed under: Fire Rescue Topics, News

Weekend Caption Contest

8 comments

WELL, HERE WE GO AGAIN……another picture came across the news desk without a caption.  It’s getting awfully crowded inside this ambulance and we don’t know why or what’s going on here.

Help us out and tell us about this mass casualty operation that is still in progress by posting  your caption in the Comments section.

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Posted by on April 9, 2010 • Filed under: caption contest

Large House Fire Claims Collection of 5 Restored Autos

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A SMALL BRUSH FIRE, WHIPPED UP BY WINDS, traveled up a ravine and onto the property of a large home in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, area on Thursday afternoon.  Within moments, the fire spread onto a large 2-story home where it spread rapidly throughout.

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WTAE-TV

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports:

Renton Volunteer Fire Chief Jason Davis said the call came in as a mulch fire.  Davis said when he arrived within three minutes of the call, the entire roof of the home was engulfed in flames.

 ”Everyone was out,” Davis said. “The homeowner was out.”

Seven fire companies, including Plum’s four departments and crews from Monroeville, Murrysville and Upper Burrell, worked to extinguish the flames in about an hour, Davis said. Plum Emergency Medical Service also was on scene.

The house is a complete loss, Davis said. Five vehicles, which were parked in the garage and driveway, were damaged.

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WTAE-TV

WTAE-TV Ch. 4 Pittsburgh has this video report:

The house is a total loss and damages are expected to exceed $250,000.

Posted by on April 9, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos

Arson Ring Roundup Continues

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TWO MORE ARRESTS WERE MADE THIS WEEK relating to a string of arsons in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.  This story was reported in Firegeezer last week HERE after four members of the Friedensburg Volunteer Fire Department were arrested and charged with a string of arsons that collectively caused over $2 million damages.

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Republican Herald photo

The Allentown Morning Call reports:

Two more Schuylkill County men, including another firefighter, were accused Tuesday of conspiracy in at least one of several arsons that damaged nine barns and a home late last year and early this year.

Charles J. Ferguson Jr., 19, of Schuylkill Haven, a member of the Friedensburg Fire Company, was arrested in connection with a Dec. 29 fire in West Brunswick Township.

Devin C. Smith, 21, of Auburn was arrested for his alleged role in a Nov. 16 arson in East Brunswick Township. He is the only one of the six now charged in the arson spree who was not a Friedensburg firefighter.

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Ferguson (left) and Smith

The Reading Eagle has MORE.

WNEP-TV Ch. 16 Scranton has this video report on this latest pair of arrests:

The Pottsville Republican Herald filed a good story on April 1 that gives the background of the case and how the Friedensburg Fire Chief became suspicious and then turned the case over to police authorities.  We suggest that you take the time to read it HERE.

Posted by on April 9, 2010 • Filed under: arson, Fire Rescue Topics, investigations, Videos

Charges Dropped Against “Reckless” Amb. Driver

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THE SOUTHSIDE VIRGINIA EMERGENCY CREW Lieutenant who was cited for reckless driving last week has had the charges against him dropped.

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In what turned out to be one of the most controversial postings in Firegeezer’s short history, we REPORTED HERE on the actions taken by Lt. Mark Talbott to help bring a police chase to a conclusion during a high-speed chase through the city streets of Petersburg, Virginia.  A few hours after the incident, a State Trooper arrested Lt. Talbott and charged him with reckless driving, a decision that didn’t set well with most people in the fire/EMS community.  If you missed it last week, click on the link to read the story and see the video report.

Yesterday, Thursday, WTVR-TV reported:

Petersburg Commonwealth’s Attorney Cassandra Conover went to court Thursday afternoon to get the reckless driving charge against Mark Talbott dropped.  Talbott was charged after stopping his ambulance in the path of a driver who was running from police last week.

State police say they filed charges because Talbott put his life and the lives of others at risk, even though he was trying to help. Prosecutors say when they took a closer look at the case and the circumstances surrounding it they decided to drop the charge.

WTVR-TV Ch. 6 Richmond filed this video report last night which includes a nice interview with Talbott:
 

Firegeezer notes that in Virginia the Commonwealth’s Attorney is an elected position.

Posted by on April 9, 2010 • Filed under: ambulances, EMS Topics, Vehicle Operation & Ambulances, Videos • Tagged: , ,

Morning Lineup – April 9

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Some Odds ‘n’ Ends this morning:

Yesterday, Thursday, the New England Journal of Medicine released a report that is of interest to fire/EMS people titled Lung Function in Rescue Workers at the World Trade Center after 7 Years.  A study group of 13 doctors and scientists studied 12, 781 FDNY firefighters and EMT’s who performed work at the WTC site from September 11 to September 21.  They based their results on comparative studies on the rescue workers  Forced Expiratory Volume (FEV) and these are the results from that study.

They were surprised to find that there was little or no recovery of average lung function during the 6-year follow-up period.  From 2002 through 2008, FEV values continued to decline.

You can read the complete Abstract of the study here:  http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/362/14/1263#F4 .

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In November 2008 we reported on a grain elevator fire in Worms, Germany that took the life of a firefighter (HERE).  You may recall that it took several days for rescuers to retrieve his body that was located 100 ft. above ground and trapped under several tons of concrete that had collapsed onto him. 

This past March 3 we reported (HERE) that the fireground operations manager Peter Jung, 42, had taken his own life in a suicide.  Jung was one of four firefighters who were critically injured in the explosion and had since been confined to a wheelchair, a paraplegic.  Following that incident there was widespread concern that he had done that out of remorse from fear that he had made a wrong decision on the fireground that may have led to the tragedy.  However, it is more likely that he could not adjust to the difficult results of being a paraplegic himself.

Firefighter Close  Calls is reporting this morning:

The death of the Firefighter in Rheindürkheim on November 30th, 2008 along with 8 other Firefighters who had serious injuries was not due to negligence of the fire brigade or the incident commander. The Chief Prosecutor based this conclusion on two reports and his own investigations. The charge that the now deceased incident commander Peter Jung (who had committed suicide-see below) had caused the explosion by a fateful mistake, is “definitely off the table,” said the prosecutor.

Read FF Close Calls’ complete summary on this latest report HERE.

We’d better start our own summary now and get this equipment checked out.  I’m going to start some more coffee.  We’ll meet back in the day room in a little while.

Posted by on April 9, 2010 • Filed under: morning lineup

Pompiers de Wranglers

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WHEN THE CIRCUS ZAVATTA ARRIVED AT THE CAMPGROUNDS just outside of Saint Claude, France Wednesday morning, they started setting up their tents and caravans.  While driving stakes for their tents, one of them struck a gas line bringing everything to a halt while waiting for the fire department and the gas company to respond. 

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Le Progress

There are two gas lines under the ground, one is for the campgrounds and its recreational faclilties and the other serves the City of Saint Claude.  Lieutenant Capelli, fire chief of the FD of Saint Claude, said they had to check which gas pipe was perforated.

An engine company and a haz-mat team responded along with several policemen and gas co. workers.  While awaiting the repairs, the FD set up a safety perimeter of 50 meters and then they were pressed into service with the circus workers to evacuate the animals along with the people.

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Le Progress

By late afternoon the repairs had been made and normal service was restored in time for Cirque Zavatta to run its scheduled evening performance.

Le Progress has the STORY.
Cirque Zavatta WEBSITE.
Jura (Saint Claude) Fire Brigade SDIS39 WEBSITE.

Posted by on April 8, 2010 • Filed under: Haz-mat, HazMat • Tagged: , ,

Looking Back

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………. Fire Engineering, November 1972

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Posted by on April 8, 2010 • Filed under: Looking Back • Tagged: ,

Hospitals Can Be Dangerous, Too

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THIS WEEK HAS BEEN A TOUGH ONE FOR HOSPITAL PATIENTS in Germany as two hospitals suffered challenging fires.

Monday night in Bergisches, a 68-yr.-old man in a lung hospital was on oxygen, yet he lit up a cigarette which immediately flared up set his bedding on fire.  As the room became well involved, a patient in the next room called in the alarm to the FD via cell phone which was fortunate because the hospital’s automatic alarm failed to trigger.  With no alarm bells or signal to the emergency dispatch, the fire grew, filling up the entire 3rd floor with smoke.

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RP Online

When the fire brigade finally received the alarm, they dispatched 220 firefighters to the scene where they found 19 lung patients on the outside balconies needing rescue.  The entire operation went well though, and excepting the lone fatality, there were no serious injuries.  Fire walls helped contain the fire and only two rooms were heavily damaged.

RP Online has that story HERE.

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EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING, SHORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT a fire started in a basement kitchen of a hospital in the northern city of Kassel. The fire was reported and handled readily by the responding fire companies, but the smoke got into all of the air shafts and ventilation system causing distress of the patients.  There was also a fear that the smoke had picked up poisonous contaminants in the ductwork, so the decision was made to evacuate all 220 patients from the hospital.

A general alarm was sounded and 250 firefighters along with 30 police officers participated in the evacuation and then transfer of them to other wings of the hospital and some to other clinics.  The extent of damage was not given, but the kitchen has been destroyed.

HR online.de has this STORY along with a video report.

Hat tip:  Christian Lewalter

Posted by on April 8, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires • Tagged: , , ,