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Lightning Lights Off Local Jesus Landmark

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NO DOUBT THERE WILL BE MANY REFERENCES to “a sign from above” following the overnight destruction of a huge statue of Jesus at a Monroe, Ohio, church.  The huge “King of Kings” statue has been a landmark along I-75 in the Cincinnati suburb since it was erected six years ago on the grounds of the Solid Rock Church in Monroe.

Cincinnati Enquirer

The 62-ft.-tall statuary was made of styrofoam and fiberglass over a steel frame and was situated next to an amphitheater building.  Locally, it had been dubbed the “Touchdown Jesus” for obvious reasons.  But late Monday night just before midnight, a lightning storm passing over Butler County sent a bolt directly down onto the statue setting it alight.  When the fire department arrived on the scene, it was fully involved with fire spreading into the attic of the amphitheater where it destroyed some equipment.

The Monroe FD fire chief relates their actions at the fire in this video report from WCPO-TV Ch. 9:

No injuries were reported from the fire and later this morning the fire officials are expected to release the damage estimate which could reach a half-million dollars.

Cincinnati Enquirer

Read more and view a photo gallery at WLWT HERE.
The Cincinnati Enquirer has more details plus links to additional photos and video HERE.

Posted by on June 15, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: , , ,

All-Female VFD Shuts Down

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Globe & Mail photo

THE HAMLET OF WANDERING RIVER, ALBERTA, is without fire protection this week following the voluntary suspension of service by their volunteer fire department.  The Wandering River VFD is a well-equipped department that is operated by the women of the community, most of them housewives who also have full-time jobs.

All the members, now numbering seven, are qualified as firefighters and EMT’s.  But a decision made by a distant bureaucrat has crippled the ability of the department to function.  Part of Wandering River’s first due is a 128-km (80 miles) stretch along northern Alberta’s Highway 63, known as one of the most deadly roads in the province.  Alberta has the primary responsibility for EMS service in the province, but a decision was made to relocate Wandering River’s ambulance to another location many miles south.  As the designated first-responder the FD is tapped out for every accident with injury along that stretch of 63.  After traveling as much as 30 minutes or more to get to the scene, they would stabilize the patients and then wait for as long as another 45 minutes for the nearest ambulance to get there.

Fire Chief Sheri Johnson

That demand on their time, coupled with the limited number of members available during the day, became too much of a burden for them and last week the fire chief, Sheri Johnson informed the provincial government and the citizens that the VFD is suspending operations until this situation is resolved.  The members are more than willing to resume their service if they can be relieved of the responsibility for the long stretch of highway that now accounts for more than 60% of their calls.  The townsfolk are currently meeting with provincial officials to try and resolve the problem.   Many citizens say that they will be glad to join the FD and participate if they don’t have to spend several hours every day on the dangerous highway.  Meanwhile, the highway and town are being covered by the Grassland VFD which is about a 90-minute drive away.

Grassland Fire Chief Arnie Derko says that the travel time
to calls on Highway 63 could be as long as 60 to 90 minutes.
(CBC News photo)

Read the details of this unusual story in the Toronto Globe & Mail HERE.
CBC News has more details HERE.
CBC News-Edmonton has a good video report HERE.

Posted by on June 15, 2010 • Filed under: EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, Fire-ology, labor • Tagged:

Morning Lineup – June 15

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One of the major grocery store chains that serves my region has come up with a unique program to attract customers.  They are offering significant savings on gasoline purchases to customers who accumulate a number of “points” from their grocery shopping trips.  I should begin by saying that this particular grocery chain is one of those who issue “customer cards” with bar codes on them that you need to use in order to benefit from markdowns and weekly sale items.

But back to the gas program, the store that is closest to me is a fairly new one that was part of a newly-built shopping center put up in an area where residential growth is taking place.  Recently they constructed a good-sized gasoline retail island with about 14 pumps (and the little booth) under a canopy on the other side of the parking lot.  It is very similar to those stations that Walmart and Costco have built in a lot of their locations.  And like Walmart’s, it’s a public facility that anybody can use.

But here’s where the savings program comes in.  The pump price is competitive with what the major gasoline brands are charging.  But if you first scan your “customer card” at the pump, the price automatically is reduced by 5¢ a gallon.  That brings the price down to the range that the discount gas retailers charge, which isn’t really that much of an incentive to go out of your way to buy gasoline.  However, when I buy groceries inside the store, the main computer credits me with a “point” for each dollar paid at the checkout.  If I buy $35.80 worth of groceries, then my sales slip will show that I have accumulated 35 points.  These will accumulate as I return on future shopping trips with the proviso that any points earned that are more than 30 days old will be erased.

Now when I scan my customer card at the gas pump, along with my nickel discount, if I have at least 100 accumulated points, then I get an additional 10¢ per gallon off, for a total of 15¢ discount.  But wait, there’s more!  If my gas points have surpassed 200, then my discount is jumped to 20¢ per gallon, plus the loyalty nickel.  The other day I filled my tank with a 25¢ markdown on the pump price.  Now we’re talking savings.  And I’m thinking, what a slick marketing maneuver.  Even though this particular grocery chain isn’t the lowest-priced store in the area, if I’m going to be buying some stuff that is pretty much priced the same (or lower) than the other stores, I will wait until I visit this one to buy them so that I can run up the gas points.  Sharp.

Apparently they’ve got the bugs worked out of program because now they are running a similar scheme at their stores that do not have proprietary gas pumps.  Instead they have partnered up with Shell Oil to utilize their stations in the program.  But I learned the other day that points earned in one store do not add to your total earned at another location.  Dang, now I have to make sure that I go to a specific shop when I’m spending the big bucks.

Anyway, whenever a big corporation lays out the money to set up an operation this big, you can expect that others will be doing the same.  So if a grocery chain in your town introduces this ploy, take the time to check out the rules and see if it’s like the plan I’m using.  Twenty-five cents a gallon ain’t small potatoes.

Before we worry about potatoes, though, we need to get this equipment checked out.  I’m going to go start the coffee.  See you back in the day room.

Posted by on June 15, 2010 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged:

“You Call That Singing?”

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THE AMERICAN IDOL TALENT SHOW isn’t making a stop in Topeka, Kansas, this year.  Apparently a hotel guest in the city misread the schedule, but decided to make the best of a lost cause anyway.  The Topeka Capital-Journal is reporting:

Topeka police were called to a singing nuisance early Sunday morning after a man reportedly set up a karaoke machine outside a hotel room in south Topeka and belted some tunes.

Dispatchers reported officers were called at 7:32 a.m. to the Regency Inn & Suites, 3802 S.W. Topeka Blvd., where a desk worker had reported a man set an “amped-up karaoke machine” on the floor outside Room 718, proceeded to serenade the hallway and refused repeated requests to stop.

By the time officers arrived, however, the impromptu concert had concluded. Dispatchers didn’t know what song the amateur vocalist chose or whether he sang in tune.

Posted by on June 14, 2010 • Filed under: current events, News • Tagged: , ,

Haunted Firehouse to be Replaced

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THE BUTTE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, BOARD OF SUPERVISORS recently voted to replace Fire Station 55 with a new station that will house both the fire company and the police department that serve the Bangor community.  FS 55 is a broken down, decrepit combination of old buildings that have been consolidated over the years into one miserable facility.

And it is haunted.

The Oroville Mercury Register reported:

The Bangor station is No. 1 on the county’s priority list for capital improvements. At the meeting, the supervisors were asked to approve $1.6 million to tear down and replace the station.

That’s when Chico Supervisor Jane Dolan commented that the old station has floors that sag and other structural problems. She said the condition of the building and the passing wind were behind the tales of the ghost of Station 55.

Chico Supervisor Maureen Kirk laughingly asked Rich Hall, county director of general services, if he could arrange an “exorcism” at the station.  “That is not included in the proposal,” responded Hall with a smile.

In a later telephone interview, Hall explained, “It seems that the firemen up at the Bangor station have the idea that the residence that they are in now is occupied by the ghost.

While tales of the ghost have been a staple in the town for decades, some folks think it’s just because of  the creaking sounds of the old building shifting and wind blowing through the ancient clapboards.  But all of the firefighters who have worked there will tell without hesitation or jest that there is a ghost in there.

Now the question is, what will happen to the appararition when the old building is torn down?  It could get very interesting up in Bangor, California.

Read the full story along with some true ghost reports  in the Oroville Mercury Register HERE.
The Butte County Fire Rescue WEBSITE.

Posted by on June 14, 2010 • Filed under: Fire Rescue Topics, fire stations • Tagged: , , , ,

Vote for Woof !

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WHICH FDNY FIREDOG IS THE CUTEST OF THEM ALL?  You have the opportunity to pick your favorite and vote for it.  The New York Post is cooperating with the Silver Shield Foundation to select the top three firehouse canines to represent the city on an upcoming calendar that will be sold to benefit the charity.  The Silver Shield Foundation covers college tuition and other expenses for the children and families of tri-state-area public-safety officers killed in the line of duty.

The Post is encouraging its online visitors to vote for the pooch that they’d most like to see on the calendar.  The three who get the most votes from Post readers online will appear in the calendar with fire and police dogs from upstate, New Jersey and Connecticut, said Joe Debono, head of the nonprofit MBA Corps, which is helping Silver Shield with the project.

Lucy, Bronx Dispatch Center.

The Post goes on to tell us:

The pageant of doggies is as diverse as the city they serve. Yogi and Stewie are sleek Dalmatians, and Frank is a stocky bulldog who hogs the firehouse couch. Lucy is a gentle, golden-haired stray, while Milo and Yayo are a mischievous duo who eat off plates when nobody’s looking.
The pooches do try to earn their keep. Nikita and Lightning know how to stop, drop and roll — and demonstrate it for visiting schoolkids.

The three who get the most votes from Post readers online will appear in the calendar with fire and police dogs from upstate, New Jersey and Connecticut, said Joe Debono, head of the nonprofit MBA Corps, which is helping Silver Shield with the project.

CLICK HERE to go to the page that has the online ballot and links to all the contestants photos.

Posted by on June 14, 2010 • Filed under: dogs, Fire Rescue Topics • Tagged: ,

Around the Fire Web

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*  One of Seattle, Washington’s worse life-loss fires in decades was compounded Saturday when the first-in pumper had a mechanical failure.  STATter911 has extensive coverage, including video, of the incident HERE.

*  The Rambling Chief has the info. on a quilt raffle that benefits the Wildland Firefighter Foundation.  If you have a quilt collector in your family, you probably know that this is a good opportunity.  Read about it HERE.

*  The Fire Critic has found and posted a 6-part video series that a group of firefighters made as a documentary of their firehouse.  You might want to watch each installment separately because the total run time is about 40 minutes.  But they did a great job with it.  Watch them HERE.

*  Firefighter Close Calls has the story of a motorcycle in New Jersey that strayed over the yellow line and smashed head-on into an ambulance.  Killed the biker….medics are ok, though.  Read all about it HERE.

*  Firefighters Own Worst Enemy has a discussion thread rolling on the pro’s and cons of lapel mikes HERE.

*  It’s hard to believe, but smokejumpers have never jumped on a fire in Texas.  Ever.  Until May 30, two weeks ago, that is.  Wildfire Today has the story and pics HERE.  While you’re there…take time to read Bill’s article on firefighting helicopters in Hawaii HERE.

Posted by on June 14, 2010 • Filed under: Fire Blogs

Arson String Leaves Boy Dead

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A SERIAL ARSONIST IN AUSTRALIA’s Northern Territory went on a fire-setting spree Saturday night and early Sunday morning in Darwin.  One of his targets was a car parked in an apartment parking shelter and the fire from the car spread to a living unit.  The fire trapped a woman and her two sons inside where they were all burned with the youngest, an 8-yr.-0ld dying in the blaze.

NT News photo

Police have a suspect caught on a CCTV tape taken inside a pub showing an intruder shortly before a set fire was started in it.  Over the next several hour “many” fires were set in an small area.  They have been showing the tape on all the local tv stations in the hope that someone will be able to help in identifying the man.  View the surveillance tape HERE.

The mother is in a burn unit with 60% of her body and her respiratory system burned.  Her 11-yr.-old son was treated and released.  Later yesterday the father, Glenn Middis made a public appeal for assistance in finding the culprit.

NT News has a video of the police press conference including Middis’ appearance HERE.

Posted by on June 14, 2010 • Filed under: arson, Fires • Tagged: , ,

Red Bull Air Race Near Miss

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An bit of excitement in the June 5th qualifying run by Matt Hall for the Red Bull Air Race in Windsor, Ontario.

Red Bull Air Race World Championship

Windsor is the fourth of eight air races held throughout the world this year.

Started by Red Bull in 2005, this Air Race World Championship has more than a dozen pilots operating lightweight racing planes.

Think Formula 1 in the air.

Perth – First Plane Crash

Rookie Adilson Kindlemann crashed in Perth Australia on April 15th. The first crash after six years and 45 race events.

Jersey City (New York) next June 19 and 20

The next stop on the program is Liberty State Park in Jersey City..

Mike “FossilMedic” Ward

Posted by on June 14, 2010 • Filed under: aircraft, EMS Topics, Patient Management, Rescues, Special Operations • Tagged: , , , ,

Drunk Driver Takes Out Firetruck

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A SAN DIEGO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, FIRE ENGINE was heavily damaged Sunday morning when a drunk driver pulled into the engine’s path.  The Viejas FD engine was responding to a medical emergency when Yesenia Mitre, 25, exited a parking lot at the Viejas Casino and drove right into the path of the engine.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports:

The accident was reported at 5:45 a.m. on westbound Willows Road east of the casino, said California Highway Patrol Officer Brian Pennings.  Yesenia Mitra was coming out of the casino parking lot when she was hit. “She pulled directly out in front of the fire truck which had its emergency lights on,” Pennings said.

The firefighters were responding to a medical call at the casino, Pennings said.  The engine hit the front left fender of the car, which ripped the axle off the truck and sent it into a utility pole that it knocked down, Pennings said.

The four firefighters on the engine were transported for minor injuries and the car’s driver suffered a broken wrist.  She has been charged with felony drunk driving.

KFMB-TV has the story and a brief video report HERE.

Posted by on June 14, 2010 • Filed under: apparatus, Fire Rescue Topics, Vehicle Operations & Apparatus, Videos • Tagged: , ,

Morning Lineup – June 14

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Just two months shy of her 87th birthday, one of America’s cultural icons Little Orphan Annie passed away yesterday.  After first appearing in newspaper comic pages on August 5, 1924, the plucky little girl with the “empty eyes” and always wearing a red dress spent her life helping win wars, fight economic depressions, and constantly thwarting evil-doers world wide.  Shortly after she began roaming the comic pages, she picked up with a giant orange dog that she named Sandy, and the next year she was adopted by Oliver Warbucks and his wife.  Warbucks insisted that she call him “Daddy” and from then on he was always Daddy Warbucks.  And don’t forget Warbucks’ right-hand man Punjab, the 8-ft.-tall bodyguard from India who wielded the scimitar and helped bring justice to the bad guys.

The comic strip was introduced by the Chicago Tribune Syndicate and they sheltered Annie throughout her entire literary life as she became one of the most popular comic strips in the 20th century.  Annie was created and drawn by Harold Gray who maintained the strip until his death in 1968. 

Harold Gray

 But the Tribune kept the character alive by employing a succession of artists and writers who upheld that standards and themes begun by Gray, most recently by artist Ted Slampyak.  Throughout the 1930′s and 40′s Annie had added success as a children’s program on the radio and solid sales of comic books.  Her favorite exclamation, “Leapin’ Lizards!” became a mainstay in the cultural slang.

In 1977 her popularity had a resurgence following the large success of the Broadway musical play Annie, a show that was later made into a movie that continues to sell while the play is often found performed by touring groups.  In 1995, Little Orphan Annie was one of 20 American comic strips included in the Comic Strip Classics series of commemorative U.S. postage stamps.

But the accelerating decline of the daily newspaper industry along with a rise in the variety of other entertainment sources led to a drastic drop in popularity of the comic strip.  Last month the Tribune Syndicate announced that Sunday June 13 would be the final installment of the venerable strip.  When she left us yesterday, there were less than 20 newspapers carrying the comic, many of them had been running it since its inception back in 1924.  Annie might be gone now, but I suspect that it will be a long time yet before she is forgotten.

And let’s not forget that we need to get this equipment checked out.  This is Monday, so we use the expanded checksheet today.  I’m going to get another pot of coffee started.

Posted by on June 14, 2010 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged: , , , ,

Some Sunday Fun

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So THAT’S What Happened To Him!

You have probably wondered at some time or another just what happened to this guy.
Thanks to Firegeezer, now you know.

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Here’s a bit of fun with numbers:

If you multiply the number 111,111,111 by itself, ie: 111,111,111, the product will be:
12,345,678,987,654,321

Now my little calculator won’t register a number with that many digits, and I didn’t
take the time to try and prove it out to see if that is accurate.
But it is my understanding that a constipated mathemetician worked it out with a pencil.

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Can you turn an old fire engine into a profit-making venture?
Our colleague Steve Marshall found somebody who has done just that.
But first you have to become an ordained minister and then hit
the road with your traveling wedding chapel.

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And last, some great markdowns in car electronics for Father’s Day HERE.

Posted by on June 13, 2010 • Filed under: fun, News • Tagged:

Acetylene-Fueled Warehouse Fire in Marseille

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A FIRE DESTROYED MOST OF A WORKSHOP AND WAREHOUSE early Sunday morning in the naval seaport of Marseille, France.

The shop is a maintenance facility for Sud Moteurs (Southern Motors) servicing French Naval Vessels.  The fire broke out at 3:30 am and brought 20 firetrucks and about 100 sailor/firefighters (marins-pompiers)  to the scene.  The warehouse contained machine tools as well as several vehicles and a supply of acetylene bottles that would occassionally vent and fuel the fire.

The blaze was brought under control by 5:30 this morning but the cause has not yet been determined.  This brief video report was filed by BFM-TV:

La Provence has the STORY.

Posted by on June 13, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: , ,

Flying Car Lady Flames Out

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WHEN YASMINE VILLASANA LEFT THE DALLAS-FORT WORTH AIRPORT a couple of weeks ago on Memorial Day she decided to take off like the planes do.  Racing up to the toll booth plaza to enter the parkway, her car climbed the protective barrier in front of the toll-takers booth and sailed over it, landing on the other side in a heap with the car catching on fire from the smasheroo.

According to the police report filed by the responding officer, the woman who has plenty of tattoo’s but no job, told him that she was rear-ended and that caused her to crash.  When asked if she had been drinking, she said no, not since she had one drink the night before.  The officer also noted that she kept trying to get back into her car while it was burning.

The 125 feet of skidmarks and lack of any rear-end damage tended to make her story a little suspect.  The clincher though, was the toll road authority’s surveillance tape showing her takeoff and landing practice:

After giving her a breathalyzer test, the officer arrested her on  DUI charge.  Amazingly, her only injury was a broken wrist.

The Dallas Observer carried the STORY.

Posted by on June 13, 2010 • Filed under: cars, fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: , , ,

A Sunday Emergency !

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Season Three, Episode 13

Understanding

Gage and DeSoto rescue a horse from a burning stable.

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Posted by on June 13, 2010 • Filed under: Sunday Emergency • Tagged:

Lightning Strikes Gasoline Storage Tank

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A LIGHTNING STRIKE EARLY SUNDAY MORNING set a gasoline storage tank on fire in a Greensboro, North Carolina, tank farm.

WXII-TV / Beck

The facility is operated by the Colonial Pipeline Company.  The fire began shortly before 1 am but was brought quickly under control even though it continued burning throughout the night.  Greensboro Assistant Fire Chief David Douglas told reporters that the fire was under control at 5:15 a.m., even though it didn’t look like it.  “This is not a catastrophic, cataclysmic event. It is simply a tank fire,” Douglas said.

Chief Douglas told WFMY News 2 the tank that was on fire contained about 20,000 barrels of gasoline, less than half of its 50,000 barrel capacity. There are about 42 gallons in one barrel, according to Douglas. He says the tanks adjacent to the one that burned contained about 3,000 barrels or 120,000 gallons of gas each.

WFMY-TV Ch. 12 filed some raw video taken during the early stages of the operation:

Throughout the night, firefighters let the fire burn itself. Once the amount of fuel in the tank was reduced to about 10,000 barrels, firefighters used foam to cover the fire and knocked it down around 6:30 a.m. Firefighters sprayed water on the nearby tanks overnight to keep them from igniting.

The tank farm is in an isolated area and no evacuations were called for.  However, nearby I-40 had to be closed and is not expected to be reopened for traffic until 2 pm Sunday afternoon.  No injuries have been reported.

Posted by on June 13, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires, HazMat, Videos • Tagged: , , , ,

Fire Claims Illinois 3-yr.-Old

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AN EARLY-MORNING FIRE IN THE CHICAGO SUBURB of Prospect Heights, Illinois, killed a toddler and injured the father and an infant Saturday.

photo by Larry Shapiro

When the first units arrived at 3:25 am they found the distraught father standing on the front lawn of his blazing house with his infant daughter in his arms.  He told the FF’s that his other child was still inside.  They found the 3-yr.-old boy immediately and brought him out, then attempted to rescusitate him on the lawn before transportation.  But the child was pronounced dead at the hospital shortly after. 

photo by Larry Shapiro

The father and infant were also hospitalized.  Nobody else was in the house at the time.

Prospect Heights Fire Captain Mark Oeltgen said the house was in an area without fire hydrants and water had be brought to the scene. Seven local fire departments responded for the upgraded response.

photo by Larry Shapiro

The fire was knocked down in 15 minutes and the investigation for the cause was still underway on Saturday afternoon.

Fire photographer Larry Shapiro has posted a 26-image photo gallery HERE.
The Chicago Tribune has more details HERE.
The Daily Herald has MORE.

Posted by on June 13, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires, rescue, Rescues • Tagged: , , ,

Morning Lineup – June 13

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Now this ought to make you feel good.  Just over two weeks ago, the inspector general of the Department of Justice issued a report on the readiness of the DOJ to act if we are dealt another major attack from terrorist elements.  While the Dept. of Homeland Security is the primary “first responder” for the federal government, every agency has designated responsibilities.  In the case of a WMD attack, Justice is assigned to manage and coordinate law enforcement and step in if state and local authorities are overwhelmed.

Writing in Friday’s edition of Wall Street Journal, Peggy Noonan reports that:

 ”The Department is not prepared to fulfill its role . . . to ensure public safety and security in the event of a WMD incident,” says the 61-page report. Justice has yet to assign an entity or individual with clear responsibility for oversight or management of WMD response; it has not catalogued its resources in terms of either personnel or equipment; it does not have written plans or checklists in case of a WMD attack. A deputy assistant attorney general for policy and planning is quoted as saying “it is not clear” who in the department is responsible for handling WMD response. Workers interviewed said the department’s operational response program “lacks leadership and oversight.” An unidentified Justice Department official was quoted: “We are totally unprepared.” He added. “Right now, being totally effective would never happen. Everybody would be winging it.”

Couple that with the fact that our Homeland Security Dept. is currently headed by an incompetent boob, and most of the federal agencies are just as lax, then we have the probablility of a real failure in the case of that kind of disaster.  We’ll all be “winging it.”  Read Noonan’s complete article HERE.  It will give you pause. 

You can read the entire 73-page .pdf copy of the report yourself HERE.

We’d better make sure that we’re ready, so let’s get this equipment checked out.  I’ll see how the Sunday breakfast is coming and get some more coffee started.  We’ll meet back in the day room in a little while.

 

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Posted by on June 13, 2010 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged:

16 FF’s Injured at 2-House Blaze

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Update:  Video added.  Scroll down.

SIXTEEN MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, FIREFIGHTERS SUFFERED a variety of injuries and 2nd-degree burns Friday night at a fire involving two houses next to each other.  Some of the injuries occurred when the attic floor fell down on them.

The fire that was reported at 7:20 pm started in a vacant house where it grew rapidly and spread to an occupied dwelling next door.  That house was divided into three dwelling units housing 12 people who were all displaced and lost all their possessions to the fire.

Because of the high heat of the day, extra alarms were struck to bring a total of 120 firefighters to the scene so that a rotation could be set up.  The fire was contained to those two buildings.

FireSceneAudio posted this recording of the radio traffic at the beginning of the fire:

The Examiner has the STORY.

Update:  WITI-TV Ch. 6 has some good video from the fire scene:

d

Posted by on June 12, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos

Sounds of the Nation’s Capital

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Last night was providing academic advising to a couple of 4th Battalion B-shifters that are enrolled in the university.

Also visited with an old friend, “Senior Fire Official.”
We got talking about unique features of life in the Nation’s Capital.

HARLEY-DAVIDSON THUNDER

Newly admitted university students know that they are getting acclimated when they no longer call their parents every time a motorcade blasts by the urban campus.

A unique aspect of a presidential motorcade are the full-throated Harley-Davidson police motorcycles.

This link takes you to a December 23, 2008, Frederick News Post video interview with Michael J. Vantucci, owner of  Harley Davidson/Buell of Frederick (here).

Ike Wilson’s related FNP article (HERE).

DCFD “Report of fire in the building”

The Washington D. C. Fire Department has a tradition of aggressive interior fire attack.

“Senior Fire Official” and I have experienced the arrival of a box alarm assignment to a reported structure fire in Washington DC. It is an awe-inspiring performance.

Smoke showing or not, the fabric hits the street and aerials go up. Every time.

This helmet video from Truck 17′s tillerman gives you a feeling of what we were talking about:

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Both the Presidential motocades and response to a possible structure fire are organized chaos evolutions where each response is handled as “the real thing.”

Or, as “Raising Ladders” blogger and recently off-probation DC paramedic/firefighter points out:

From "Raising Ladders" blog

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To see more of Raising Ladders Demotivational Posters, click HERE.
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Mike “FossilMedic” Ward

Posted by on June 12, 2010 • Filed under: cars, Vehicle Operations & Apparatus, Videos • Tagged: , , , ,

Montreal Mafia Making More Molotovs?

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FOLLOWING A RESPITE FROM THE long string of arsons within the Montreal, Canada Italian community, another five firebombings were launched in a 2-day span earlier this week.  All of them had the identifier of being ignited by a Molotov cocktail in the same manner that more than 20 arsons were committed between last August and this past January.  See the Firegeezer report HERE  for a review of that string.  All of them were presumed to be connected with a “turf war” between two organized gangs with Mafia connections.

Early Tuesday morning there were three attacks on restaurants, each of which were easily handled by the Montreal FD and damages were fairly low.  On Wednesday a paint company in an industrial park was the target of a Molotov cocktail, police said. A small fire broke out, but it was quickly extinguished by firefighters.  Later that night a carpet store in a shopping center was firebombed and it suffered extensive damage while the neighboring shops has lesser, mostly smoke damage.

QMI

Police say that only one of the attacks is believed to be mob-related, the arson of the Cafe Vegas Tuesday morning.  But the similarity of all five along with the timing is suspicous in itself.  The previous arson sprees were also committed in batches.

TVA has more HERE.

The Montreal Gazette ran THIS STORY  (English language) last month on the deadly internal war going on inside the Rezutto crime family.

Posted by on June 12, 2010 • Filed under: arson, Fires, Montreal Mafia Madness

News Reporter Gets Some O.J.T.

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A NEWS REPORTER FOR WCBS-TV IN NEW YORK got a vocabulary lesson on Friday as he handled a snapping turtle while recording a segment on the creatures’ annual egg-laying odyssey.  Reporter Tony Aiello now knows what the work “snapping” means.

WCBS-TV reports on themselves: 

Aiello was at the historic Boscobel House and Gardens in Putnam County, which is celebrating turtle nesting season Saturday with its annual “Turtle Walk.”   More than 800 turtles live in a marsh on the Hudson River, several hundred feet below the estate.  Each June, female snapping turtles make a perilous climb up from the marsh to dig nests on the lawn behind Boscobel.

Audubon Society turtle expert Richard Anderson gave Aiello a lesson on how to safely pick up and handle the turtle.  As Aiello taped an on-camera stand-up holding the reptile about chest high, the turtle got testy, reared back, and snapped at Aiello’s face.

“I knew the creature walked slow, but snapped quick,” said Aiello. “I sure found out just how quick. No wonder snapping turtles have been around for more than 50 million years. They know how to fend for themselves.”

Posted by on June 12, 2010 • Filed under: current events, News, Videos

More Firefighters in Trouble

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A PORT ORANGE, FLORIDA, FIREFIGHTER WAS OFFICIALLY FIRED ON FRIDAY following his second arrest in a week on burglary and other charges.  The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports:

Michael Michaud, 38, an 11-year-veteran with Port Orange Fire and Rescue, was arrested May 24 and June 1 and charged with burglary and scheme to defraud, and later with burglary and burglary of an occupied dwelling.

Michaud is accused of lying his way into several different houses he visited earlier on medical calls, police said, and stealing oxycodone and other prescription pills for his own use.

When Michaud was arrested in May, police said they found more than 12,000 pain pills in his home, along with bloody syringes, gauze and latex bands used for tying an arm for injection.

WESH-TV Ch. 2 Orlando has the video report:

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IN GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA, A (now former-) TAYLORS FIREFIGHTER WAS found guilty and sentenced on Friday for filing a false police report and related crimes that he committed in February 2009.  Michael Polston had picked up a vagrant one night and drove him around town, all the time calling 9-1-1 repeatedly and texting his girlfriend telling everybody he had been kidnapped.

The Taylors police launched a vigorous manhunt and an entire neighborhood was startled and frightened.

A jury convicted him and the judge ordered him to to serve at least 90 days in jail and pay $2,700 in restitution to the Greenville Police Department and Greenville County Sheriff’s office.

WHNS-TV Greenville has the video report:

The Greenville News has more details HERE.

Posted by on June 12, 2010 • Filed under: crime, Fire Rescue Topics, labor, Videos • Tagged: , , ,

Light Plane Crashes Into School

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Update, Sunday am:  Death toll doubles to 4.  Scroll down for video report.

A SMALL CESSNA AIRPLANE PLUNGED NOSE-FIRST into a high school in the small eastern Arizona town of Eagar on Friday afternoon.  The hard crash caused an immediate explosion and fire that destroyed one entire section of the school, and killed the pilot and his passenger in the plane.  There were no injuries on the ground.

E. W. Scripps / Waters

Northern Arizona Today reports:

Apache County Sheriff’s Office Commander Matrese Avila says a small Cessna crashed into the high school, and officials evacuated homes in the neighborhoods to the north and east of the school because of high winds and some fuel tanks located nearby.

After taking off from the Springerville aiport, the Cessna circled the area two or three times before it suddenly crashed into the main building at Round Valley High School in Eagar at about 2 p.m., Apache County sheriff’s Sgt. Richard Guinn said.  Several reports are indicating that the plane may have been trying to make an emergency landing on the practice football field next to the Round Valley Ensphere Dome, which is the football stadium on the high school’s campus.

E. W. Scripps / Crick

Fire departments from 12 surrounding communities responded to work the extensive fire that was being fanned by high afternoon winds.

KNXV-TV Ch. 15 Phoenix has this video report from the scene:

The victims have not been publicly identified other than the fact that they are not locals.

The Round Valley High School in Eagar was closed for the summer.  It serves about 500 students in Eagar and nearby Springerville and is about 200 miles east of Phoenix.

E. W. Scripps

The White Mountain Independent has MORE.

Update, Sunday morning:
After investigators were able to physically get into the wreckage, they discovered that there were two additional passengers in the plane for a total of four on board, all of whom were killed immediately.

KNXV-TV Ch. 15 has this video update along with some interesting inteviews:

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Posted by on June 12, 2010 • Filed under: aircraft, fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: , , , ,

Morning Lineup – June 12

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While looking over some fire-rescue websites this morning I came across THIS POSTING on STATter911.  It’s a video news clip about a Lockport, New York, firefighter who has been on disability leave for 15 months, claiming he hurt his back moving some boxes in the office.  But the tv stations in Buffalo have gotten ahold of some movie clips that were filmed in Buffalo showing this incapacitated firefighter performing in a bit part where he does lots of running and other agile activities. 

Now the City of Lockport wants to fire him and is filing criminal charges against him for felony fraud.  Of course the firefighter’s side of the story isn’t being told because his lawyer told him to clam up, but on the surface it doesn’t look good.  But even if it turns out that he is really unable to perform his job in the FD, it’s got me wondering, “What was he thinking?” 

Many municipalities contract with specialized firms who check up on people who are on long-term disability leave just to see if they catch them doing inappropriate activities that belie their claim.  And I’m wondering too, if you don’t like your job all that much where you are fabricating reasons to not do it, why not just quit or retire and do something you like?  It’s sure not worth going through what this guy’s about to put up with.

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Speaking of STATter911, we’ve got Dave Statter to thank for finding this bit of amusement for us this morning.  It’s a light-hearted look at how British Petroleum (BP) would handle a coffee spill.

Ok, now that we’ve got that cleaned up, let’s get our own equipment checked out.  Obviously I need to get some more coffee started.  See you back in the day room.  It’s Saturday, so light schedule today until the weekend shoppers and DIY’ers start acting up.

Posted by on June 12, 2010 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged: