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“River of Foam” Complicates 3-Day Fire

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A GROUND-SHAKING EXPLOSION ROCKED THE STILLER’S toiletries factory warehouse at 1 pm Friday afternoon in County Durham, England.  The blast left the building on fire and caused the entire factory complex to be evacuated.  The last remnants of the fire were still burning on Monday morning.

Northern Echo photo

The warehouse was filled with 280 tons of aerosol cans which are believed to have been the source of the initial explosion.  During the firefighting operation a continuous barrage of subsequent explosions kept the firefighter back and brought the roof of the structure down.  A truck driver who was waiting to drop a shipment at the loading dock told The Northern Echo:

 “I was just getting ready to unload my wagon when someone shouted ‘Fire’ right next to me. The next thing I knew, everyone was being told to evacuate the area as a small fire broke out on one of the pallets. Within minutes there was an almighty explosion.“It took no time at all for the fire to spread and my truck went up in flames.”

Louise Sanderson, whose office at DSM overlooks the distribution centre, watched with horror as the building went up in flames.  She said: “I was sitting outside the office when I heard a loud bang and saw flames coming from the depot.  After a couple of minutes the building was well alight and there was an almighty bang as the roof blew off and the walls started to crumble down.

“I have never seen or heard anything like it – it was really terrifying. We could feel the heat of the fire in our building and the sound was incredible.

The massive explosion and fire triggered a city-wide
declaration of emergency.  (Northern Echo photo)

Close by to the Stillers plant is a chemical processing plant that immediately shut down their operations after the blast.  Their proximity to the fire caused the FD to concentrate efforts on preventing the fire from spreading to the volatile chemical storage areas.  Fire authorities credited a favorable wind blowing the heat and fire away from the polymer plant with helping prevent an area-wide evacuation.  This home video illustrates the enormity of the fire which at times had flames reaching 200 ft. high:

 

The warehouse also contained a large amount of shampoo and other personal soap products that spilled out and mixed with the water from the fire hoses creating a literal “river of foam.”  The runoff traveled into a nearby tributary of the River Skerne and was carrying a 15-ft.-high layer of soapsuds foam on top of it as it flowed toward the river.

The “river of foam” was being carried off by the
tributaries feeding the River Skerne.

The fire continued raging in the warehouse overnight and through the next day while the FD tried to penetrate their hose streams through the collapsed roof.  The runoff continued mixing with the soaps and an unknown combination of other chemicals that were in the warehouse, but downstream tests are showing no toxicity in the foam river.

The fire department had several tons of sandbags delivered to the site and they have used them to control the runoff and keep it out of the streams.  Several tank trucks have been brought in to “suck up” collections of water and remove it from the area.  Some of the sandbags are being used as filters to allow the water to runoff into drains while holding back the foam layer floating on top of the water.

As of Monday morning, the FD is still attacking hot spots as construction equipment is peeling back the metal roof that is laying on the remnants of the fire.  The firefighters managed to contain the fire to the original building and authorities say that the plant should be able to resume operations quickly after the health departments give the okay.  No injuries have been reported as a result of this unusually extensive fire operation.

The Northern Echo has the latest updated report HERE.

Posted by on November 8, 2010 • Filed under: explosion, fire, Fires, HazMat • Tagged: ,

Shameless exploitation?

7 comments

Is this explotation?

Breaking news!

We have discovered that The Fire Critic is tangled up in some type of fashionista explotation of young firefighters, as this picture reveals:

It is not clear if Rhett is a victim, participant or double agent.

This could be some type of social media stunt to promote a vendor at the Fire Department Instructor’s Conference.

We speculate

You should read Rhett’s post: LEO IS LOOKING FOR MODELS and then decide.

Mike “FossilMedic” Ward

UPDATE! Picture of Rhett’s “road warrior” office.

Kia Work Sportage at 2010 SEMA show. Autonews/Mark Rechtin

“You can sleep in your car, but you can’t drive your house”

Posted by on November 8, 2010 • Filed under: culture, current events, Fire Rescue Topics, News • Tagged: , , , ,

Morning Lineup – November 8

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I hope you have been enjoying our Sunday visits with the Emergency! crew at Station 51.  We started posting episodes of the classic fire/rescue oriented tv series back at the first of the year – January 3, to be exact – and they have been a lot of fun.  We plan to continue posting the episodes each Sunday until next September when the internet rights expire.  The series ran for six seasons from January 1972 to May 1977, but only the first four seasons have been made available for online viewing.  But those 76 episodes are enough to keep us entertained.

For me, the key to the success of the series was realism of the daily routines and responses that the crew of Engine 51 and Squad 51 performed throughout the show.  The opening scene of each episode always had the firefighters doing some routine task that is a part of firehouse life, but really never shown on tv before (or since).  As the actors were setting the scene for the upcoming story, they would be mopping the kitchen floor, finishing up a drill in the day room, or some other regular activity.  And it was this touch in the opening minutes that grabbed the firefighters who were watching and brought them right into the story.

The ordinary citizen never noticed this, of course.  But it was that insistance on realism that benefitted the entire program and gave it the quality of production that kept it on the air for so long.  You don’t have to be here on Sundays to enjoy our presentations.  Just wander over to the Categories box on the right-hand part of the page and click on the Sunday Emergency link (HERE), scroll down our past postings and pick one out.  You will have to click on the title of the posting to get the video to download into the player, but it’s worth it.

Now let’s get our own bit of realism going and get this equipment checked out.  I’m going to get some very real coffee started.  See you back in the day room.

Posted by on November 8, 2010 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged:

Sunday Morning Fire Calls Out 7 Fire Departments in Illinois

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A LARGE FIRE SWEPT THROUGH A CENTURY-OLD storage / work building in Glenview, Illinois, early Sunday morning.  The heavy fire in the 14,000 sq. ft. structure challenged  the Glenview Fire Dept. and the mutual-aid companies to contain it while several pieces of heavy equipment inside burned and created mini-explosions during the incident.

photo by Larry Shapiro

The Pioneer Press tells us that:

The first arriving fire crews encountered heavy fire in the maintenance shop, extending to the rest of the structure.  Firefighters had to break through the building’s locked gates and used several large hose streams and ladder pipes to bring the fire under control, according to a press release issued by the fire department.

About 50 firefighters, from Glenview, Morton Grove, Mount Prospect, Northbrook, Northfield, Skokie, Wilmette and the North Maine Fire Protection District, fought the blaze. The fire was brought under control at 1:14 a.m.

photo by Larry Shapiro

Five firefighters were taken to Glenbrook Hospital for treatment of various injuries, which included knee pain, back pain, exhaustion and dizziness, the release said. The firefighters have all since been treated and released from the hospital, the release said.

The property is owned by the Glenview Park District and the fire building was being used as office space and equipment maintenance and storage.  The Glenview TribLocal reported that on Sunday morning, the district’s risk assessor, Tom Kolk, toured the building and said that it was too early to assess damage. The district stored five or six pieces of equipment, such as forklifts, inside the building. Another five pieces of equipment outside the building were likely destroyed as well, he said. The roof caved in, and the building is likely totalled, he said.

The building dates to 1909 when it was built to house a nursery business.  During WWII it was used by a firm that built bombsights for warplanes.  The Park District has occupied the property since acquiring it in 1953.

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ChicagoLand fire photographer Larry Shapiro has a 127-image photo gallery of the fire HERE.
Chicago Area Fire has MORE.

photo by Larry Shapiro

Posted by on November 7, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires

Tipsy Driver Smashes Into Ambulance

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HUNTINGTON BEACH, CALIFORNIA, POLICE ARRESTED a man on suspected DUI Friday after he smashed his pickup into the side of an ambulance.

Orange County Register

The Huntington Beach FD ambulance had its emergency lights and siren on as it was transporting a patient to a hospital when the pickup came through the intersection and struck the left side of the ambulance.

There were two Orange County and two Huntington Beach firefighter/paramedics on board and all four were transported for minor injuries.  The patient did not appear to have any bad effects from the crash.

The driver of the pickup was uninjured and arrested on the scene.

KTTV Ch. 13 has the STORY.

Posted by on November 7, 2010 • Filed under: ambulances, EMS Topics, Vehicle Operation & Ambulances • Tagged: , ,

All-Hands in Green Bay

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EVERY PIECE OF FRONT-LINE APPARATUS plus units from three neighboring departments were working a downtown fire in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Friday evening.

Press-Gazette

The 2-story masonry building that was burning had one of the city’s more popular liquor stores plus a clothing store on the ground floor and eight apartments above it.  The fire broke out around 3:40 pm and at its peak employed 80 firefighters on the scene.

There were 16 people displaced by the fire and one of them, a man was trapped on the roof and had to be brought down by firefighters.  The man had some burns that needed treatment and is the only reported civilian injury from the fire along with one minor injury to a firefighter.  The cause is still under investigation, but the building will have to be demolished.  One wall is unstable, making the scene unsafe.  A contractor was brought in Saturday to knock the wall down and they will return Monday to complete the demolition as they assist the fire investigators.

The total damages are expected to exceed $1 million.

The Green Bay Press-Gazette has the details and more HERE.
There is a 100-image photo gallery HERE.
WLUK-TV has more plus a video HERE.

The Press-Gazette has also posted this video with some good fire footage:

 

d

Posted by on November 7, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: ,

Standpipe Packs Under Discussion

1 comment

OUR COLLEAGUE, FIREBALL/LAURENCE found this item yesterday on Urban Firefighter Magazine’s Facebook page and suggests that you take a look and perhaps join in the discussion thread:

Here is the link to their Facebook page:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Urban-Firefighter-Magazine/354871098828

Scroll down a short ways and you will see it.  Do you have a different standpipe pack?  It will be interesting to see how many kinds are being used.

Posted by on November 7, 2010 • Filed under: Training, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged:

A Sunday Emergency !

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Season Four, Episode 16

The Smoke Eater

 

A senior fire captain sneers at the new methods used by Squad 51′s skilled paramedics.

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Posted by on November 7, 2010 • Filed under: Sunday Emergency • Tagged:

Shopping Mall Fire Kills 19 in China

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A FIREFIGHTING AND RESCUE OPERATION that lasted 24 hours was completed Saturday in Jilin, China, leaving 19 people dead and at least 27 more injured.  The disaster occcurred just four days before the Chinese fire authorities will be holding National Fire Prevention Day.

The fire broke out Friday in the 5-story Jilin Commercial Building on the first floor where mostly home appliances are displayed.  But it rapidly spread through the building and up to the top floor.  The firefighters were taxed with a massive rescue effort as the shopping mall was filling with shoppers and an unknown number of rescues were effected.  Xinhua, the official news agency for China, reported:

On Saturday, officials expressed relief about news that over 80 older women who were trapped in the blaze managed to escape unharmed.  Zhang Liying, one of the women, said they were participating in their usual morning dancing group on the mall’s fifth floor when the fire broke out.

“We saw flames and thick black smoke surge from downstairs. We called the firemen, told them where we were, and then climbed out of the window to the balcony, one by one,” Zhang said.

After being rescued, some of the women tearfully hugged each other following their near-death escape.

The fire burned for 12 hours before the last of the hot spots were extinguished in the complex of 64 shops.

One of the Chinese TV networks broadcast this video report that includes fire footage:

 

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Evidence of the widespread destruction in the shopping
center is visible on both sides of the building.

Posted by on November 7, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires, rescue, Rescues, Videos • Tagged: ,

Morning Lineup – November 7

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Did you enjoy the extra hour’s sleep this morning?  Or did you show up for work an hour early before you realized that Standard Time returned today?  Those lucky folks in Arizona and Hawai’i don’t have to be concerned about that sort of foolishness, though.  They keep normal hours all year long.  Wherever you are though, for most people it’s going to get dark outside before dinnertime.

I saw an interesting gadget in a catalogue that arrived in the mail last week.  It is a knife designed to safely open these super-sealed packages that we see more of  these days.  The main feature of this particular knife is its claimed ability to easily and safely open the so-called clamshell plastic packaging that is so difficult to penetrate.  I’d be willing to bet that there isn’t anybody who has stuck themselves or caused some sort of harm while trying to get into the darned things.  One time, I even broke a pair of scissors on one of those maddening  packages.

So at a glance, this looks pretty neat.  I realize that sales claims and constucted photographs always make things like this show up better than they really are sometimes, but it’s worth a try.  Maybe.  You can read all the details and view the photos of the tool in action HERE.  The price isn’t too bad at $9.95 (let’s just call it $10, ok?).  But if you follow through the links you learn that this seller computes their shipping charges based on the selling price and not on the weight or actual cost of shipping.  And this outfit charges $6.95 (let’s call that one $7!) for “shipping”, even though you could drop it into an envelope and mail it 1st-class  for a dollar or two.

Sorry guys, but I’ll continue to use the small blade on my Swiss army knife to get into the armored packages.  Most likely they will start showing up in the variety stores, probably on those “As Seen on TV” tables that they set out.  When that happens I might go ahead and grab one.  If any of you see these gadget in a chain store where the rest of us could go pick one up, send me an email and I’ll pass it along.

Right now I’m going to pass along these equipment check sheets so we can get this chore done before the big Sunday breakfast hits the table.  I’ll take a look and get another pot of coffee started.  See you back in the day room.

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Posted by on November 7, 2010 • Filed under: morning lineup, shopping

The “N” ……. Point It At The “N”!!

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A DRIVER IN LONGVIEW, TEXAS, GOT A LITTLE disoriented Friday morning as he approached the Skinner’s Grocery store just before 10 am.  As he pulled into the parking space, instead of pressing the brake pedal to stop, he mashed down on the accelerator instead.  You know what happened next.

KLTV

His pickup plunged right through the glass double doors in the store entrance, terrifying the check-out clerks and scatttering 30-some customers.  The truck came to a stop just inside the door, but instead of getting out of it and making things safe, the driver put the car into Reverse and sailed out of the building…..and directly into another pickup truck where he got stuck with his wheels spinning on the pavement and smoking the place up.

Did he get it figured out yet?  Nooooo….  Pulling the gearshift lever into Forward, he then made another run at the store employees and smashed a second time into the shopping area, decommissioning an ATM.  Finally getting the hang of how to do this, he slammed it back into Reverse and went screaming out of the store and directly into a UPS delivery truck.

Fortunately, nobody was seriously injured in the mishap, but the building suffered substantial damage.  The driver was transported to the hospital for observation.  KLTV Ch. 7 wasn’t far away, so they loaded up the video camera and arrived not long after the ambulance to get this report and a snippet of the surveillance videos:  (CLICK HERE  if the video player doesn’t load.)

 

d

Posted by on November 6, 2010 • Filed under: EMS Topics, rescue • Tagged: ,

Will It Ever Fly Again?

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WE DON’T KNOW.  BUT IT’S BEGINNING TO LOOK THAT WAY.  Back on Thursday we talked on the MORNING LINEUP HERE about the recalcitrant space shuttle Discovery and its oft-postponed launch for its final flight. 

When we last talked, the launch had just been postponed (again) from Thursday until Friday.  You can guess what’s coming next.  Allow me to quote from the National Geographic’s website:

A “significant” hydrogen gas leak from part of the space shuttle Discovery has forced NASA to scrub the craft’s planned liftoff until at least the end of the month.

Discovery and her six-astronaut crew, led by commander Steven W. Lindsey, were initially set to launch on its final flight from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center on Monday. But a series of last-minute issues—including helium and nitrogen leaks in one of the craft’s engine pods, electrical glitches in a backup computer controller in one of the main engines, and bad weather—led to multiple delays.

Space shuttle managers decided this morning to cancel Friday’s launch after a hydrogen gas leak was discovered at the Ground Umbilical Carrier Plate, or GUCP, an attachment point between Discovery’s external tank and a 17-inch (43-centimeter) pipe that vents hydrogen gas exhaust safely away from the shuttle.

After discussing the issue, NASA announced today that the shuttle will fly no earlier than November 30 at 4:05 a.m. ET, the start of the last launch window for the year.

“Discovery is not going out easy,” (launch director Michael) Leinbach told reporters during a Tuesday briefing. “She’s giving us a little bit of trouble. But that’s fine. She’ll fly perfectly when she does.”

The article goes on to say that if they miss this next “window” that only lasts five days, then the next opportunity will be in February.  But that bumps up against the planned launch for Endeavour’s last flight.  Oh, my.

Read the full STORY HERE.  They go into detail on what this next flight’s mission will include….once it gets up there.

Posted by on November 6, 2010 • Filed under: current events, News • Tagged:

Grass Fire Runs Over Firetruck

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OUT IN THE MIDWESTERN PRAIRIES, they get Grass fires with a capital G.  Part of every firefighter’s well-rounded education should include some time spent in Kansas or Oklahoma during brush season.  And that time of year just about always brings the loss of at least one brush truck that gets trapped or run over by a fire.

Such was the case Wednesday afternoon in Stafford County, Kansas, when fire companies from four counties worked together for over five hours fighting a grass fire that was whipped along with 30-mph-winds. consuming 700 acres of grass and corn stubble.

Pratt Tribune

The fire started shortly before 2:30 pm when the exhaust from an ATV being used to check soil samples in a corn stubble field caught the corn stubble on fire.  The Pratt Tribune REPORTS:

The Stafford County firefighters were in a “mini brush truck” fighting the fire when smoke suffocated the carburetor. The truck was next to burning corn stalks. The fire overtook the truck and destroyed it, said Stafford County Emergency Services employee Nick Lauffer.

St. John News photo

The firefighters quickly abandoned the truck and since they were in a burned out area they escaped to safety and were not injured.

The fire was finally extinguished with no other damage than to the grassland and corn fields.  No building, farm equipment or livestock were harmed.  This was one of a half-dozen fires in the area Wednesday.  KSN-TV Ch. 3 Wichita has a good video report HERE.

The Pratt Tribune has the STORY.
The St. John News has an interesting 11-image PHOTO GALLERY.

Posted by on November 6, 2010 • Filed under: apparatus, fire, Fires • Tagged: , , ,

Fire Delays Historic Bridge Restoration

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A LOCAL LANDMARK BRIDGE IN ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA,  has been undergoing a restoration and conversion to recreational use for the past 18 months.  The historic span that crosses the Mississippi River has been known as the Rock Island Swing Bridge and was built in 1895.  It was one of the country’s first double-decked bridges, carrying railroad trains on the upper deck and horse-drawn carriages on the lower level.  Later when automobiles became prevalent, the Rock Island Railroad charged tolls for the auto crossings.

Original bridge with the swing span open to allow
river traffic to pass.  (image by Ksodbartman)

When the railroad went bankrupt in 1980 the bridge closed.  Although for a few years later a private entrepreneur bought the bridge and reopened it as a toll crossing until the deteriorating structure became unsafe.  More recently the bridge had become a river hazard and was being demolished except for the west span that is being restored for use as a public pier.

Thursday afternoon, just a few weeks before the span was scheduled to be re-opened, a welder’s torch apparently started a fire in the 115-yr.-old timbers supporting the lower deck and a large portion of the span was destroyed.

KARE-TV

Pioneer Press

Initial inspections disclosed that the steel superstructure was unaffected by the fire and the restoration of the span will be able to be completed, albeit at a later date.  The park authority has insurance on the project, so financing should not be a propblem.

KARE-TV Ch. 11 has some dramatic views of the fire in this video report:

 

The St. Paul Pioneer Press has the STORY.
You can read a full history of the bridge HERE.

Posted by on November 6, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires, history, Videos • Tagged: , ,

Morning Lineup – November 6

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In most parts of the country deer season is opening up soon and in Wisconsin, like many other states, bow season is here before the regular kablooey season starts up.  And leading off the hunting news for this year is a story about a fellow from Jackson County who bagged two bucks with one arrow the other day.  Sure, there’s a catch to it…. but still it’s a good story.

Rodney Hurst  was standing at the edge of a cornfield keeping an eye out for a buck when two of them showed up, locked in battle, moving slowly through the woods.  One was a 12-pt. and the other was a younger buck with 10 points and when the fight was over, the youngster had killed the other buck.  But the two were hopelessly locked with their antlers entangled and the winner was unable to dash off.

Hurst had only one ticket for a buck, so he didn’t want to kill the 2nd one until he found out what the regulations allowed.  He called the Dept. of Natural Resources and they told him that he could go ahead and take the two of them, but he would need to pay $42.20 for the privilege.  So he went ahead and took the other buck down with a well-placed shot from his bow.  “I kind of thought it was a mercy shot.  It’s not like I was a wild hunter, it was a pretty easy shot,”  he told a reporter.

The next challenge was how to get them out of the woods.  They were completely entangled and their combined weight was well over 400 lbs.  So Rodney called on a friend who has a tow truck and he was able to drag the pair out and then lift them onto a flat-bed truck. 

His plans are to have them pair mounted just as they are.   He also jokingly said that he will enter his “22-pointer” in the buck pool.  WEAU-TV ran this nice video report yesterday:

 

You can read the full story from Ch. 13 HERE.

Ok, let’s get this equipment checked out before we start daydreaming about venison steaks.  And keep in mind that there are more hunting injuries from falling out of tree stands than there are from gun accidents.  I’ll get the coffee started.

Posted by on November 6, 2010 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged: , , , , ,

The F-word in EMS

25 comments

Mike Hudson is a southern California Colorado flight paramedic who objected to JEMS.com posting this news release from the International Association of Fire Chiefs:

IAFC Launches New EMS Resource.
Resources for Leaders is a brief, web-based selection of critical facts, documents and videos.
Link to the IAFC/IAFF fire-based ems resource HERE

Here is his post on the JEMS Connect forum:

IAFC IAFF ALS EMS smoke screen and JEMS is buying in

… this is not an ad but it is posted (i assume) as an article and as a resource for JEMS readers since it was put on the web site listed a resource for leaders.

I think it is about time someone stands up to IAFF and IAFC and every other fire union that stands to tear apart functioning non-fire EMS services accross the country by the utilization of public scare tactics and disinformation.

Very few people have the eggs to stand up to the IAFF or IAFC while fire departments play their “public will suffer the consequences” fear campaigns.

Look at Collier county FL or Pinellas county FL. fire departments they are utilizing scare tactics and half truths to attempt to save their area’s grossly duplicated EMS performance plan.

Departments in California (SDFD , orange county, and in LA county) are playing scare tactics to avoid brownouts in order to save 6 figure FF/PM positions and protect inflated pensions that have contribute to the financial crisises in the very cities they are supposed to serve.

JEMS was founded by a former FF/PM LA CO Battalion Chief, James Page (R.I.P.) a great man in EMS, no doubt about that. However during and after his tenure as the editor and chief, the Fire Department EMS agenda will, and always will, be at the forefront of this magazine’s mission. They should probably rename the magazine FEMS and be done with it.

Does anyone else feel the same way or not?? speak up especially FF/PM FF/EMT but make sure you have your facts straight and by that I mean don’t quote studies funded by fire department unions, associations, or RFP preperation documents.

Any legit information is welcome either in support or not in support of a stance of fire departments taking over EMS duties. Bring it

Mike Hudson NREMT-P

Hi Mike! Lotta passion and frustration in your post. Your post and the subsequent discussion thread covered a lot of issues.

SCARE TACTICS TO AVOID BROWNOUTS

For Los Angeles City, budget cuts are reversing a decade long effort to increase the number of ambulances on the street. From 2000 to 2005 LAFD increased it’s transport fleet by 40% (to 128 ambulances). Even with that expansion, there were pockets of coverage that required the staffing of three ambulances out of one fire station to meet the response time and TRANSPORT UNIT WORKLOAD goals.

The brownouts are happening. That means there are longer response times. Structural firefighting, vehicle extrication and hazardous mitigation actions will start with smaller crews (fewer units). Critical tasks will be delayed.

There may be a disagreement between the fire chief and the firefighters over the impact of these reductions. It is not right to assure the public that “everything remains the same” when there are 10 – 25% fewer firefighters on the job.

SIX-FIGURE FIREFIGHTER/PARAMEDIC POSITIONS

Unionized public safety employees that have multiple capabilities will always get paid more than single role employees who do not have an effective labor representative. The IAFF has been around since 1917.

I seem to recall San Francisco and Los Angeles passing emergency legislation in 2000 – 2002 to relax their hiring procedures so they could offer employment to candidates who held National Registry Paramedic credentials and could pass the entry physical, criminal background and drug screen. LAFD established 210 additional paramedic positions between 2000 and 2005.

None of the pay, work schedule or benefits came from the generosity of the municipal leadership. To repost an observation made by Skip Kirkwood in the discussion forum:

I keep wondering why EMS labor can’t muster the same 200,000-plus members, the big sums of money, and the effective lobbying at the national, state, and local levels. It seems pretty clear – they CARE, and they WANT IT more than the non-fire guys do. Otherwise, the non-fire guys would organize, fight, and win.

And people are wrong to blame JEMS for reporting about it. Instead of whining, give JEMS something different to report about!

SYSTEM CONFIGURATION/PARAMEDICS ON EVERY FIRETRUCK

To be addressed in a later post. But here is one item related to your question:
The Neon Red Elephant of EMS

Mike “FossilMedic” Ward

Posted by on November 5, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, ambulances, Command & Leadership, EMS Topics, labor, Urban Commander • Tagged: , , , , ,

Honus Wagner Baseball Card Update

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ON OCTOBER 28 WE REPORTED ON the rare Honus Wagner baseball card  that was placed on auction in Dallas.  The bids were also accepted online and the sale closed Thursday night at 10 pm Central time.

The winning bid came from a collector named Doug Walton who paid $262,000 for it.  The charitable order of nuns who inherited the card will receive $220, ooo which is the amount bid on it.  The remainder is the 19.5% buyers premium that goes to the auction house.  The pre-auction estimated value of the card was $150 to $200 thousand.

You can read the full story on this unique collectible in our earlier REPORT HERE.

Earlier, after the news went out that the School Sisters of Notre Dame had inherited the card and put it up for sale, Sister Virginia Muller, who served as spokeswoman for the order, told the Catholic Review about a phone call she received:

After news of the card began to circulate across the country, Sister Virginia received a telephone call from South Carolina. It was Leslie Roberts, Wagner’s granddaughter.  “She was absolutely thrilled that the School Sisters had this card and will be receiving such a gift,” Sister Virginia said.

Sister Virginia noted that Roberts recounted how her famous grandfather sat her on his lap while chewing tobacco and feeding her bits of Hershey’s chocolates. The retired baseball star enjoyed telling tall tales and once explained to his granddaughter how he hit his longest homerun when he smacked a ball out of the park and into a train heading to California.

Posted by on November 5, 2010 • Filed under: culture, current events, News, shopping

Weekend Caption Contest

6 comments

 

IS THIS FIREFIGHTER SHOWING US  how much can be done with 5 gallons of water?  I’m not sure, but I’d like to find out.  Tell us what you think the caption under this photo should read.  As usual, post your suggestion in the Comments section so that everybody can find out.

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Posted by on November 5, 2010 • Filed under: caption contest • Tagged:

Toxic Waste Facility Ka-Boom in Italy

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A THUNDERING EXPLOSION AT A TOXIC WASTE handling facility Thursday afternoon rocked the area near Milan, Italy.  Seven people were severely injured in the blast and fire and were all transported by helicopter to burn units.

ANSA photo

One of the employees of Eureco Paderno Dugnano, has reported seeing the bodies of his colleagues to be transported away completely burned.   One of the workers who is age about 30 was hospitalized in intensive care at Fatebenefratelli Hospital. Another man has severe burns on 45% of his body and has not yet been identified.  Another employee is being transferred to the burns unit of Turin Center San Raffaele hospital in Milan because the burn center of Milan is already overburdened.

Witnesses say they heard an explosion so strong that it shook the walls of their homes. Others say that in July there had been another explosion in the same company that had caused casualties.  Twelve people have been flown out to hospitals for various burn and blast injuries.

YouReporter has a video showing some of the ambulance/rescuer activity HERE.

The fire at the Eureco Holding plant in the town of Paderno Dugnano, some 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of Milan, was put out later on Thursday by 13 “teams” of firefighters.  There is no estimate of damages yet, nor is there any indication of what triggered the blast.  It occured in an area where toxic byproducts are burned, but there was no indication of any contamination to either the air or ground in the area.

 

Il Sole 24 Ore has the STORY.

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Posted by on November 5, 2010 • Filed under: EMS Topics, explosion, fire, Fires, Mass Casualty Incident

Great Space Shots

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DID YOU KNOW THAT WE HAD A SPACE PROBE that was seeking out a comet for a close look?  The spacecraft made its pass yesterday and then sent back some astounding images of the Comet Hartley 2′s nucleus that were taken from only 435 miles away.

The nucleus of Hartley 2 is about three-quarters of a mile across.
(NASA / Univ. of Maryland image)

William Harwood of CNet News tells us about it:

A recycled NASA spacecraft passed within 435 miles of Comet Hartley 2 (Thursday) and beamed back spectacular pictures revealing a strange, peanut-shaped nucleus spewing multiple jets of icy debris.

The Deep Impact spacecraft, the centerpiece of a repurposed mission known by the acronym EPOXI, flew past Hartley 2 at more than 7 miles per second, or 27,000 mph, making its closest approach at 7 a.m. PT.  A few moments later, the spacecraft reoriented itself and aimed its high-gain antenna back toward Earth to begin relaying stored pictures and telemetry.

Principal Investigator Michael A’Hearn at the University of Maryland said last month the primary goal of the encounter was to learn more about the evolution of the so-called “dirty snowballs,” believed to have formed during the birth of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago, what causes differences in appearance and behavior and how those differences might reflect the initial composition of the solar nebula.

The comet is named after Australian astronomer Malcolm Hartley who discovered it in March 1986.  In what must have been a very exciting day for him, he was present in the control room at  NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, during the fly-by and photo transmissions.

It’s a great story and very informative, too.  Read William Harwood’s entire ARTICLE HERE.

Posted by on November 5, 2010 • Filed under: current events, News • Tagged: , , , , , ,

Occupied Theater Burns in Ohio

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THE MAJESTIC THEATER IN CHILLICOTHE, OHIO, caught on fire around 8:30 pm Thursday night while 150 people were in attendance for a Gospel concert.  Thanks to the quick and proper actions of the stage crew, the town’s historic venue was spared from destruction.

Majestic Theater (Google street view)

WBNS-TV Ch. 10 reports this morning:

Witnesses said there was a crowd of about 150 people inside the venue when the curtains near the stage caught fire and ash began falling from the ceiling.  

“(We were) sitting backstage and noticed the wall across from us was glowing,” said performer Casey Rivers.  “I looked to my left and the back curtain was just totally engulfed in flames.”

One of the theater employees pulled the manual fire alarm while another grabbed an extinguisher and held the fire in check.  The employees, performers, and audience members all calmly and safely evacuated the building.

The Chillicothe FD arrived promptly and thanks to the worker’s initial attack with the portable extinguisher, they were able to quickly put the fire out with very little water.  The initial investigation suggests that the fire was started by a light that was placed too close to the back curtain.  About seven people, mostly performers, were treated for smoke inhilation and released.

The Chillicothe Gazette has MORE.

WBNS-TV filed this good video report from the theater:

 

The Majestic Theater was built in 1853 and enlarged in 1876.  Visit their WEBSITE HERE.

Posted by on November 5, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: , , , ,

Pedestrian Crashes Into Fire Engine

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A LONG BEACH, NEW YORK, MAN was killed Wednesday night shortly after 10:30 pm when he suddenly ran into the street and charged head-first into the side of a fire engine that was responding to a call.

The Long Beach Fire Department engine was traveling with its lights and siren on to an automatic fire alarm sounding when  Fidias Amaya, 67, of Long Beach, “struck the side of the fire truck,” according to Nassau County Police Department report.   The Long Beach Patch reports:

 LBFD Chief Scott Kemins said that Amaya was walking westbound on the south side of West Park Avenue and then ran into the fire truck.

“Witnesses said that the pedestrian ran into the side of the fire truck head first,” Kemins said, noting that the fire truck had its sirens and lights blaring was it drove thorough a green traffic light at the National-West Park intersection.   

A Long Beach fire ambulance transported Amaya, who went into traumatic cardiac arrest, to a South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside, where he was pronounced dead at 11:21 p.m.

The Long Beach Patch has a later report and more details HERE.

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Posted by on November 5, 2010 • Filed under: EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, Vehicle Operations & Apparatus • Tagged: ,

Morning Lineup – November 5

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I think I have detected a rather interesting trend in the fire and ems service.  While the country is going through a fiscal squeeze, many public safety agencies are looking for ways to keep the seats filled in their firetrucks, ambulances, and cruisers all the while that tax revenue is shrinking.  This is a problem that will most likely be around for another two to four years until the real estate market rights itself and property values return to the levels that can support the local budgets.  Meanwhile, the budgets themselves are being pared down out of necessity because the money just ain’t there right now.

It has been observed (by me, of course) that quite a few smaller and medium-size departments are hoping to fill out their response needs by hiring part-time firefighters and paramedics, or by relying on paid-on-call firefighters to (eventually) show up and bolster the attack.  Whether this is a practical solution or just wishful thinking remains to be seen.  To the number crunchers and the casual citizen it looks practical on the surface and I can understand their willingness to give it a try.

The fire service really hasn’t done a good job in educating the public on the need of minimum manning and how it can reduce fire loss, and therefore the overall effective cost of basic fire protection.  So for Joe Citizen, it makes sense to just  send somebody to catch up with the trucks on the scene later.  After all, we are still putting all the fires out eventually, right?

On the other hand, volunteer departments are losing firefighters and EMT’s for a variety of reasons that we have discussed before.  In their case, it isn’t the lack of funds causing it.  After all, they work for free.  But they’re not showing up like they used to for the past 120 years.  So what are they doing to fill their seats?  Warren County, Virginia, is taking measures to counter the shortage instead of just doing a bunch of hand-wringing and wishing.  The largely-rural county saddles the Blue Ridge mountains in the northern part of the state and has seen its demographics gradually trend toward a more suburban population that commutes to their jobs.  The Northern Virginia Daily newspaper reported Wednesday:

The Warren County Board of Supervisors approved an immediate staffing plan Wednesday that will temporarily add four part-time firefighter positions as the Department of Fire and Rescue Services continues to seek ways to address its volunteer shortage.At Fire Chief Richard E. Mabie’s request, the supervisors unanimously agreed to take $70,200 from the fire department’s cost recovery special project account and use it to fund two positions each at the South Warren and Front Royal fire companies.  The added positions are somewhat of a Band-Aid approach toward providing short-term solutions for a staffing crisis that has been magnified by a lack of volunteers.

The staffing plan furnished by Mabie states that the fire department is “still highly committed to being a volunteer system, supplemented by career staffing as necessary.  The fact is, we are a combination system and will be for many years to come,” the staffing plan states. “This request is not an admission of failure of the system, but a request necessary to keep the system from failing the citizens.”

Front Royal VFD

Warren County is doing the right thing.  They are looking for a practical solution instead of hoping for a miracle.  Read the entire ARTICLE HERE.  There is a good example of problem solving to be observed there.  (The Warren County Fire Rescue website is HERE.)

So what do we have now?  We have paid departments that can’t fill their vacancies, and we have volunteer departments that can’t fill their vacancies either.  What are they doing about it?  Gradually they are all drifting towards part-time employees (including the P.O.C. help) to provide the needed numbers on the emergency scenes.  Is it safe to say that part-time help will soon be the fastest-growing segment of fire and EMS recruitment?  If it is, then you’d best have a contingency plan that can be adopted for your department sometime in the future.  Just in case, you know.

For now though, we are here and we’d better get our equipment checked out now.  I’m going to get the coffee started.  See you back in the day room.

 

Posted by on November 5, 2010 • Filed under: Funding & Staffing, labor, morning lineup • Tagged: , , , , ,

Lexus’ Hiromu Naruse Tribute Video

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We covered the unexpected death of Hiromu Naruse (HERE).  He was refining this Lexus supercar in Germany.

Lexus LFA Nürburgring

Lexus has posted this tribute:

Hirumu Naruse, from NewsOXY.com

It is with great honor that we recognize Lexus’ chief test driver, Hiromu Naruse for pursuing more than 47 years of racing inspiration.

Naruse helped inspire and develop nearly every iconic racing vehicle created by Toyota.

Just as he guided Lexus in our relentless pursuit of perfection … we thank him for allowing us to be part of his.

More from Justin Hyde at Toyota Remembers Hiromu Naruse, The “Nur Meister” at Jalopnik.

Mike “FossilMedic” Ward

Posted by on November 4, 2010 • Filed under: cars, culture, News, Training & Development, Videos • Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

London FF’s Call Off Bonfire Night Walkout

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THE LONDON FIRE BRIGADE UNION CANCELLED THEIR SCHEDULED 47-hour walkout that was to begin at 10 am Friday morning.

Earlier today the FBU leaders held a meeting and decided that the public would be too endangered over the Guy Fawkes Day celebrations, popularly known as “Bonfire Night” without a full, professional force on duty.

Matt Wrack, the union’s general secretary, said: “We have listened to the concerns about public safety. We have watched the work of the private contractors who are supposed to protect Londoners with mounting concern.”

This appears to be a negotiated action between the FBU and the Fire Authority because they also announced that the two sides would begin meeting with a third-party adjuticator on November 16 to try and negotiate a compromise settlement to the dispute.

Sky News posted this interview with the FBU secretary Matt Wrack:

 

The Telegraph has MORE.

Posted by on November 4, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, current events, Fire Rescue Topics, labor, News • Tagged: , , , , ,