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THIS WEEK’S PHOTO HAS got me wondering, what are these guys doing here? What’s more, I don’t know what they are talking about. The photo came through, but the caption did not. So you will have to help us out here, and tell us what is going on with this lonely pair of firefighters.
As usual, post your answer in the Comments so that we can all find out what is going on.
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Now We Know
IF YOU SAW YESTERDAY’S LOOKING BACK posting, then you were no doubt wondering where that horrible ladder truck crash occurred that was featured in the 1957 advertisement.
If you missed it, CLICK HERE to look at the ad.
It didn’t take long to learn where that tragedy took place. Within two hours after it was posted, we received an email from one of our loyal readers Roger Dilts, who recognized the photo from others he was familiar with. He very graciously sent several photos to us to share with you that appear to be official photos, such as would be taken by either the police or fire department. But we are not certain of that.
Roger tells us that this accident happened in Dayton, Ohio, in 1954. It occurred at the intersection of Main and 3rd Streets when Truck 2 collided with two automobiles, one of them the District Chief’s buggy.
Truck 2 ended up with its cab into the storefront.
The automobile on the far left is pictured in the photo below.
The fates of the occupants of this car are not known.
This is the District Chief’s car.
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District Chief Schaeff was killed in the collision.
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At the far right we can see an ambulance crew preparing to pick up one of the victims.
Below is a Google Street View image (taken with the camera facing into the sun)
of the same corner that you see in the photo above.
A special thanks to Roger Dilts for sharing these with us.
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Must Be Willing to Relocate
THE PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, BUREAU OF FIRE has seen enough of a handful of firefighters who are continually embarrassing the department by getting arrested repeatedly for a variety of offenses. Now the city is taking actions to remove the problems starting yesterday when the Public Safety Trial Board recommended dismissing Fire Lieutenant Steven Jasper who has been cited three times in the last year for DUI.
WTAE-TV covered yesterday’s hearing and outcome, then filed this video report:
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A WICHITA, KANSAS FIREFIGHTER, JARROD WOMACK was terminated yesterday for setting a fire inside his firehouse as a practical joke. Five other firefighters were also disciplined for the event. Their punishments ranged from written reprimands to short suspensions. KSN-TV Ch. 3 reports:
Back on January 12th, firefighter Jarrod Womack says he used lighter fluid to set a paper towel on fire in an upstairs shower. There was no damage, but a training exercise was going on at Station 1 at the time. Womack says it was all a practical joke – something he says is commonplace in the department.
Womack tells KSN, “I was wrongfully terminated. Some guys in upper management have done the same kind of thing more than once.”
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LAST MONTH FIREGEEZER REPORTED HERE on the arrest of a Newton, Massachusetts, firefighter who was charged with threatening to blow up the house where a teenager lives because he owed him money. Richard Desimone is on extended disability leave and is also accused of dealing drugs while he is off duty. Desimone, who is related to both the fire chief and the police chief of Newton, has a lengthy arrest record dating back to 1989 but has been immune to punishment.
Desimone
His skating away came to an end on Tuesday when the city fired him. WFXT-TV Ch. 25 reports in this video which includes a summary of his dozens of legal conflicts:
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Claimed a “Drunken Fog” Erased His Memory of the Event
David Del Toro
A FORMER LOS ANGELES CITY FIRE CAPTAIN, David Del Toro, now 54, was found guilty of second-degree murder Thursday afternoon following a lengthy trial. He had been arrested and charged with killing a 42-yr.-old woman in his home on the night of August 15, 2006. AOL News relates:
Prosecutors said Del Toro broke the victim’s nose, jaw and ribs before killing her and dumping her body a mile from his Los Angeles-area home.
“LAPD officers found tire marks that led from the victim’s body to Del Toro’s driveway,” said district attorney spokeswoman Jane Robison. “Blood was found in Del Toro’s Toyota Tundra truck parked at his house.”
The night before Flores died, Del Toro went to bed drunk and exhausted and left Flores watching television on the couch, he testified. He awoke during the night to find a “mess” that he cleaned up before returning to bed. Prosecutors said the mess was a pool of blood in his living room.
Del Toro was a 23-year member of the fire department. He will be sentenced on April 15 and is facing 15 years-to-life in prison.
The Eagle Rock Patch reports that some jury misconduct may be basis for a mistrial. Click HERE and scroll down.
The Los Angeles Times has MORE.
Friday Morning
The Lineup will be necessarily brief today. We have just finished gathering the early information on the double-LODD in Ontario that occurred yesterday afternoon. Our initial report on it is just below this posting, so be sure to scroll down and read it. It is my understanding that the bodies of both men are still inside the smoldering building, buried under the roof. No doubt with daybreak there will be heavy equipment gathered to begin the tedious process of removing the debris and searching for their location.
We’ve got some other interesting stories already in the queue for today, so let’s get the equipment checked while I start some more coffee. Then we’ll meet back in the day room and see wha’s happening.
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Roof Collapsed While Working Interior Fire in Store
Waterloo Record
Update: Bodies retrieved Friday afternoon. Scroll down.
TWO VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTES IN LISTOWEL, ONTARIO, perished Thursday while attacking a fire inside a dollar-store. There were several firefighters inside the store battling the blaze when the roof suddenly collapsed. Raymond Walter, 30, and Kenneth Rea, 55, were both crushed under the roof. Their bodies are still inside the destroyed building Friday morning as fire crews have been putting out the spot fires overnight and fire officials confer with building engineers to devise a plan to retrieve the two men.
Raymond Walter (left), and Kenneth Rea
(FD-supplied photos)
Ottawa Premier Dalton McGuinty issued a statement late Thursday night:
“”I was saddened to learn today of the death of two volunteer firefighters in Listowel. Our volunteer firefighters take time away from their families to keep us safe. We rely on their selflessness, and today’s tragedy is a solemn reminder that we must never take their sacrifices for granted.
“They put their own lives at risk in order to protect their communities, just as firefighters do every day across Ontario.”
An Ethel resident spoke to The Banner and said he pulled into the Dollar Stop Inc. parking lot shortly after 3 p.m. He said he saw a man who appeared to be working on the roof, pulling away the metal.
“As soon as he lifted the metal up, I saw the flame,” said the Ethel resident, who said he then called 911 at 3:11 p.m.
The fire was also reported after people inside the Dollar Stop saw smoke seeping down through the ceiling of the store. Investigations are just beginning and no definitive answers have been determined yet. The Ontario Fire Marshal office has taken over the investigation.
This home video gives a sense of how extensive the fire was:
We will be updating this report after more information is made available. Check back later.
Story sources:
The Listowel Banner
CTV
Toronto Globe & Mail
Update, Friday night:
After several hours of planned removal of debris and building sections, the bodies of Raymond Walter and Kenneth Rea were removed from the collapsed building shortly after 2 pm.
The London Free Press has a story on the afternoon events and the impact this tragedy has on the small community of Listowel. CLICK HERE to read the report and view a video report.
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“Jake” Embraces Social Media
Last summer we told you about the return of Corvette to television advertising with Still Building Rockets appearing July 13, 2010 on ESPN.
Of course, we learned that it was due to the worst sales in 40 years: Corvette Conspiracy
Racing Corvettes move to a Different Class
Drew Phillips honors the decade of dominance of Corvettes:
Ode to Corvette Racing: A decade of dominance in GT1 (Apr 21st 2009) AutoBlog.
Corvette racing moved to the GT2 class in 2010.
The 2011 American Le Mans Series (ALMS) GT racing season starts this weekend in Sebring, with the Corvette C6.R competing with Ferrari F458 Italia and 430 GT; Porshe 911 GT3 RSR, Panoz Abruzzi, Jaguar XKR, Lamborghini Gallardo LP, Ford GT and BMW M3 GT. (Sebring roster)
Corvette Racing Series Episode 2: Engine Build
In the second episode of the 2011 Track to Street season, we go in-house to learn about the Corvette race engine development and build process within GM.
The production engine serves as the foundation for the GT engine that will power the Corvette Racing cars in this weekend’s season-opener at Sebring, and throughout the season.
Take a look and see what separates one engine from another.
Keith Cornett (2011 March 17) Corvette Racing Series Episode 2: Engine Build corvetteblogger.com
Mike “FossilMedic” Ward
Campus to disconnect 135 pay phones
The flagship University of Maryland campus is 1,500 acres in north Prince Georges County with 37,000 students (and 21,000 parking spaces.)
Spencer Israel, writing in yesterday’s Diamondback, reported that the university has decided to disconnect all 135 pay phones:
Verizon pay phones are only self-sustaining if they bring in about $100 per month, but of the 135 pay phones on the campus, only nine were generating up to $10, said Assistant Vice President for Administrative Affairs John Farley.
If the university had opted to keep the phones, Verizon would have charged $75 per month for each one, he said.
Read University eliminates pay phones to get all of the details of the decision.
What about student safety?
There was a spat of assaults in Fall 2010, both on and off campus, that created concern.
What can a student do in the event of an emergency where there is no working wireless phone readily available?
“Blue light” or Public Emergency Response Telephones (PERT) provide a toll-free, direct connection to the University of Maryland Police Department. These phones are located throughout the College Park campus either inside or outside of residence halls, administrative and academic buildings.
A list shows 316 PERT phones on campus.
Does your fire station still have a pay phone?
We used to call it the “Love Line.”
Mike “FossilMedic” Ward
Nuclear Boy has a Poo Problem
Drew Grant, in Salon.com, shares this video as part of this:
… Japanese artist Kazuhiko Hachiya has made a cartoon to help ease the small minds of the nation. “Nuclear Boy” chronicles Fukushima’s reactor cracks and radiation leaks in a way that’s easily relatable to kids:
The nuclear power plant has a tummy ache, and we’re trying to make sure it’s not going to take a great big poop all over the country.
Disturbing, but probably effective.
Mike “FossilMedic” Ward
Spectacular Blaze Brings Evacuations
A GAS MAIN BLEW OUT AND IGNITED Thursday at 8:30 am Central in the Minneapolis, Minnesota, city limits. The resulting fire that shot a blow-torch type flame up to 200 feet high caused a lot of anxiety until the gas company got the valve shut down at 9:48 am.
Fox News
As the fire burned, the area around it was evacuated as a precaution. The FD chose to let the fire burn, disposing of the product as it leaked, until the line was shut down and the residual product burned off.
Fox News
A curious passer-by had his video camera with him and got some very good candid views of the blaze (Recommended viewing!):
No injuries have been reported and there has been no apparent collateral damage from the flame during the hour+ that it was burning. By 11 am the area was re-opened to the occupants.
The Daily Reporter has more details and photos HERE.
Fox News has a 52-image photo gallery HERE.
Fox News
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Fire Engineering – April 1957
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“Kids saw some prairie dogs on fire, running and screaming …”
Got rodents?
Ahhh it’s a beautiful morning…you stroll out into the sunshine to get the paper, when you’re stopped in your tracks by the sight of your golf course-quality lawn, now sporting dozens of new holes….and none of them with the proper greens either.
What do you do? Get out the C4 like Bill Murray in Caddie Shack? No you call in the Rodenator!
Some Boulder, Colorado, urban transplants are up in arms over the use this new device called “The Rodenator” that fills prairie dog tunnels and dens with propane, and then ignites it with an explosive force powerful enough to collapse tunnels and even set the little critters on fire. In fact, this aspect of the device is what should be the most concerning to us in the fire service.
Imagine these little prairie terrorists, bent on destroying mankind’s lawns and gardens, now on fire, with pay back on their little rodent minds….and headed across our backyards towards the house and garage!
We won’t even mention the possibility of them starting grass fires along the way.
I have heard no reports of working fires caused by suicidal prairie dogs bent on revenge but you have to admit, it’s a possibility!
So there is a back up plan….the super prairie dog sucker. Yep, it’s a huge vacuum mounted on a truck that will literally suck the little guys right out of their recliners in their little prairie dog dens and deposit them into a cage, ready for forced relocation.
This all sounds rather drastic, but the truth is, these little rodents are dangerous. Their burrows cause hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses to cattle ranchers when cattle step into their holes and break legs, and they have a major problem with their fleas, who spread Bubonic Plague among themselves, and to us humans who are stupid enough to think these lawn destroyers are cute, cuddly and would make good pets.
( 80s.com )
So next time you respond on a call that includes “report of explosions underground”, don’t discount the possibility that it might be the Homeland Security Auxilliary going after the gopher / prairie dog terrorists.
As man moves ever more aggressively into formerly rural areas, we will be adopting ever more aggressive ways to deal with the former residents of the area….and the Fire Service will have to deal with the results.
One of these NIMBY’s-in-the-country gave this video report to the Boulder Daily Camera as part of her campaign to bring city life to the country:
Read the entire, enlightening article in the Daily Camera HERE.
The money-quote comes not from the transplant, but from Rodenator company president Ed Meyer who tells us, “The Rodenator produces a result that has a sense of justification and revenge — I mean, you’re blowing them up. It’s pretty exciting. It really gives you that sense of, ‘I got this guy.’”
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Mayor Bing’s “Solution” Remains a Problem
WHEN DETROIT MAYOR BING DISMISSED Fire Commissioner James Mack back in January, he appointed Deputy Chief Fred Wheeler to serve as acting-commissioner until a permanent appointee could be chosen. (See Firegeezer report HERE.) City watchers were even more surprised at the selection of Wheeler to head the fire and EMS department because he had been such a failure as head of the EMS division recently with more than half the ambulance fleet out of service due to maintenance problems on any given day (Firegeezer story HERE).
Acting-Commissioner Wheeler caught leaving his
Ann Arbor home and getting into his city owned
and fueled auto to begin his 90-mile round-trip
commute to work. (WJBK-TV image)
Acting Commissioner Wheeler is back in the news today thanks to WJBK-TV’s investigative reporter Charlie LeDuff. You may recall that LeDuff has been relentless in his expose’s of the failures in the Detroit Fire Department caused by the incompetent and, in some cases, illegal activities of the appointed officials. Yesterday (Wednesday) he ran another story, this time on Wheeler’s apparent illegal residency and perjury. The city charter specifically states that all appointed officials must live in the city limits. LeDuff has exposed Wheeler as a resident of Ann Arbor, more than 40 miles away, and has a copy of a sworn affidavit by Wheeler saying that he lives in Detroit.
Watch WJBK-TV’s blockbuster report from last night:
Firegeezer believes that there is not much sympathy for Wheeler in the first place, and certainly not after this disclosure. Wheeler has openly admitted that he would like to be considered for the permanent Commissioner’s job, but would Mayor Bing want to put up with a department head that is constantly ducking the press?
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Savings Are There If You Look For Them
THE VILLAGE OF FRANKLIN PARK, ILLINOIS, was in need of a new ambulance and asked a local dealer to try and find them one at a discounted price to save some precious money. He did, locating two of them on a Hollywood film studio lot. They were used in an absolutely horrible, short-lived tv show on NBC called “Trauma.”
One tv critic wrote that the show was full of “loud noises
and big explosions” and “whiny EMTs.”
The program was cancelled before the first season ran out and the ambulances were parked. Franklin Park Fire Department now has one of them in service and saved the bank account.
“It never had a patient in it,” Fire Chief Steve Iovinelli said. “It’s never been on a call. It still smells new when you get in it.”
Read the full account of how they pulled this off on Chcago Area Fire HERE.
Flashback: Read this Firegeezer article from last year telling how the North Attleboro, Massachusetts, Fire Department bought two brand new ambulances for the price of one HERE.
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Thursday – St. Patrick’s Day
Top o’ The Mornin’ to ya, Folks. As they say, everybody’s Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, so the best to you. Also today, sunrise to sunset is exactly 12 hours. Spring is rolling in. I have my corned beef all set for the big cook pot along with the traditional cabbage and potatoes to boil along with it. I take advantage of the seasonal sale prices on corned beef briskets to buy and cook several of them together. You can freeze corned beef after it’s been cooked, so I cut them into chunks to be brought out every now and then for lunchmeat treats during the year, including the occasional reuben sandwich. Ahhhh….
On a more serious note, most people are keeping an eye on the problem at Japan’s nuclear-energy plant where there may be an uncontrolled fuel meltdown underway. As you’d expect, the Japanese government is trying to soften the reports coming from the site, but foreign atomic energy experts are starting to weigh in on what’s going on there. STATter911 has just posted a good update story along with a couple of video’s explaining the bravery and self-sacrifice being exhibited by the Japanese police, firefighters and militia as they attack this event. CLICK HERE to read this latest summary.
We will have to start early getting this corned beef cooking, so let’s get this equipment checked out and our other morning chores out of the way. I’m going to get some coffee going (not Irish coffee, alas) and we’ll meet back in the day room.
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Good Stop by FD Saves Outback Restaurant
A FORT MYERS, FLORIDA, OUTBACK RESTAURANT WAS saved from destruction Wednesday morning by a combination of a timely discovery by a passerby and the effective attack by the local fire departments.
WBBH-TV image
A pair of tourists were leaving a nearby restaurant just before 2:30 am when they noticed smoke coming from the roof of the Outback on U. S. 41, the Tamiami Trail. They also had a cellphone with them that led to a call to 9-1-1 and the quick response of the South Trail Fire Department.
When the first units arrived they found fire breaking through the roof. Assisted by neighboring FD’s they got under the fire which was in the attic area and had it knocked down in 40 minutes. WBBH-TV filed this video report from the scene:
The fire damage itself was limited to the attic and roof, but there was smoke and water damage to the interior fixtures. The investigators say that the fire is not suspicious and is believed to be related to an electrical problem in the attic. The investigation is not yet completed. Loss estimates are approx. $500,000 and a six-month shutdown for repairs, but the Outback chain is finding openings at other company restaurants in the SW Florida region to keep their employees working until the Ft. Myers location is back in business.
News-Press photo
WBBH-TV has the story and more video HERE.
Hat tip: Kirby B.
Popular Hardware Store Destroyed Wednesday
A WIDELY-KNOWN AND FAVORITE STORE in Ottawa, Ontario, the Home Hardware store was completely destroyed Wednesday in a major fire that occupied 130 firefighters. Gone also are the four apartments on the second floor leaving 12 people homeless.
Ottawa Citizen
The fire started just before 10 am in the basement where an employee had just stacked several dozen bags of self-starting charcoal. Stored near the charcoal were stocks of paint thinnner and paint. When the fire began the employees first tried to put it out with portable extinguishers before they called the fire department.
The fire grew, spewing out thick, toxic smoke from all the chemicals and several shops in the area were evacuated as well as a close-by retirement home. People who live in the area were told to keep their houses shut.
CFRA radio
The fire burned for several hours as the dispatch was elevated to five alarms. At 7 pm Wednesday evening several fire units were still on the scene and fire officers said that they expect to remain on the scene through the entire night. The smoke advisory warning for the neighborhood was lifted at 11 pm. Several other stores in the same strip have suffered heavy smoke damages to their fixtures and store stock.
CBC News has the FULL STORY.
The Ottawa Citizen has MORE.
Hat tip: Mark S.
We Finish Our Tour Through Southern California
Yesterday (Tuesday) we left San Luis Obispo where we had dinner and stayed over Monday night…..
Dinner at “The Doghouse” in San Luis Obispo
From there is was on to Santa Cruz for a visit….
Santa Cruz (and some high coastal fog)
Leaving Santa Cruz, we headed east to Indio where we spent last night…..
Indio Station 87 – Made the Long Hop Before Dark
Today we headed to Phoenix, Arizona, and from there we will travel north to Wickenburg and hope to spend the night in Kingman. We’ll get those pics to you as soon as we can.
…….Bob Burton
The helicopters have been fitted with lead plates to shield crew members from radiation during their mission
from
Zena Iovino
Nuclear crisis: Hope for cooling the reactors?
Short Sharp Science
New Scientist
0150 GMT, 17 March 2011
Self Defense Force (SDF) begins efforts to cool down nuclear plant
Two helicopters from Japan’s Self-Defense Forces are dropping water on the Number Three building at the quake-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
The helicopters began dousing the damaged reactor-housing building at 9:48 AM on Thursday.
The SDF has dispatched two CH-47 helicopters equipped with a device for dropping 7.5 tons of water.
They’re being accompanied by another helicopter that is measuring radiation levels above the plant. The first water-dropping operation was completed at around 10:15 AM.
< <<<< Another source indicates that targeting was a problem – did four water drops in about two hours of work – assuming that means two trips per helicopter from sea to reactor – no official report on the results of the effort. >>>>
The SDF is also sending 11 high-pressure fire trucks from their bases across Japan to spray water on the reactor buildings.
A high-pressure fire truck from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is also set to begin spraying water onto the Number Four reactor building.
Thursday, March 17, 2011 10:34 +0900 (JST) Click HERE for entire NHK article.
Mike “FossilMedic” Ward
IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger at
The 2011 Alfred K. Whitehead Legislative Conference
Highlights of keynote address.
IAFF Fighting Back web page
Complete 40 minute speech HERE
Mike “Fossilmedic” Ward
Small-Town Mayor Puts Expediency Ahead of Responsibility
IN LONG VALLEY, NEW JERSEY, THE WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP Committee was holding a special meeting Tuesday night to refine their budget. It seems that they had tried to raise their taxes by a higher amount than state law allows, so they had to lop some things off to bring it down a bit. They decided to take the easy way out and just cut out things that aren’t seen instead of the things that aren’t necessary, and thus crippled both their fire department and their emergency ambulance service.
The Long Valley Patch attended this work session and reported:
Among the major items cut from the budget was the Long Valley Fire Company’s request for a new engine to replace Engine 1-1. The engine, which is about 20 years old, is due for replacement; however, a brand new engine would cost the township $450,000.
Engine 1 – 1
“I would love to buy a new truck, but this is not the year to buy a new truck,” said Washington Township Mayor Ken Short. “It’s pretty much a utility vehicle that’s used quite often. It’s working, it’s functioning, but until economic times change we’ll just have to polish it up.”
Also denied from being a part of the 2011 budget was the Long Valley First Aid Squad’s request for a new ambulance, which would have replaced the group’s Ambulance 38-53. The aging unit broke down on multiple occasions in the middle of emergency calls in 2010. However, the committee hopes that a repaired transmission—with an 18-month guarantee—will be enough to get the vehicle through the year.
“Other than (the transmission), it’s performed very well,” said Mayor Short. “(A new ambulance) is nice to have, but I don’t think that we need it this year.”
You can read the entire article in the Long Valley Patch HERE.
Also read their reports on the requested budgets from the fire department HERE and the first aid squad HERE.
Long Valley Fire Company WEBSITE.
Long Valley Fire Station (with a great-looking house siren!)
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Firegeezer is not surprised that the good citizens have elected somebody so clueless about reality to be their mayor. It happens a lot. But I am suprised that nobody has given any thought to lower-cost alternatives for this problem. Or if they did, they haven’t spoken up.
For instance, how about buying a used fire engine instead of a new one? The purchase of an 8-yr.-old pumper to replace the 20-yr.-old pumper would be a lot better than doing nothing. Or, how about leasing a fire engine? And then again there is the option of buying a smaller pumper that will do the job for around $200,000 for a new one.
There is no such thing as a good, used ambulance. Replace it.
But by refusing to consider these options, Mayor Shortsighted Short has demonstrated that he doesn’t think the emrgency services are needed at all. How else can you explain an opinion that claims an ambulance that regularly breaks down on emergency calls has “performed very well” and that a piece of heavy machinery can be refurbished by applying some polish to the outside? That’s pretty shameful, Short.
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The second largest recall in United States
Carlos Alvarez, the former county police director, was elected mayor in 2004.
Matthew Haggman and Martha Brannigan pick up the story in today’s Miami Herald:
In dramatic revolt, Miami-Dade voters fire Mayor Carlos Alvarez over pay hikes, tax increase
In 2007 Alvarez launched a successful petition drive in which voters granted him strong-mayor powers, giving him direct control of the county bureaucracy. He was given the increased authority in large part after arguing that only an empowered executive could tame a massive government plagued by scandal and mismanagement.
… re-elected mayor in 2008 (read the entire article for details)
When Alvarez pushed for a 12 percent property tax-rate increase in September, it was the last straw for many voters. Particularly galling to many, Alvarez pushed for the increase while supporting labor agreements that included salary increases this year.
Shortly after, [car dealership owner Norman] Braman launched a petition drive to recall Alvarez. By November he submitted some 114,000 signatures with the Clerk of Courts, and by December 95,499 — almost twice the number needed — were certified as valid.
The recall also ousted one of the major power brokers in the county:
Overwhelming vote ousts Miami-Dade County Commissioner Natacha Seijas
South Florida politics are unique, with a strong Cuban influence.
Miami-Dade is one of the richest counties in the United States. Providing employee raises and increasing the tax rate, along with some nepotism and personal behavior, drove the recall effort.
There was a light turnout Tuesday, 205,355 representing 16.94% of the eligible voters
More than 61% of the eligible voters, 15.4 million, participated in 2003 recall of California Governor Gray Davis
California got Arnold Schwarzenegger, what will Miami-Dade get?
They will also need a new County Manager
Miami-Dade County Manager Burgess to resign
Burgess has run the county bureaucracy for nearly eight years, serving as Alvarez’s top administrator since the former police director became county mayor in 2004. Burgess was the architect of many policies that ultimately proved to be the mayor’s undoing, including a property-tax rate increase, labor agreements that include pay increases this year, and the publicly financed baseball stadium for the Florida Marlins in Little Havana.
Get out the vote message from Local 1403:
The recall election for Mayor Carlos Alvarez will be held on Tuesday March 15, 2011. As you know, our Local has fully supported Mayor Alvarez and is asking everyone to vote “against” the recall efforts. Mayor Alvarez was instrumental in maintaining our current level of service and maintaining our current staffing levels. Even under pressure, the Mayor refused to recommend layoffs of firefighters and police officers last year. As a labor organization and as public safety employees, we understand the need to maintain our service and we must stand with Mayor Alvarez and show our support.
Mike “FossilMedic” Ward
Both Hospitalized With Extensive Burns
KYLE FRANKLIN AND HIS WIFE AMANDA WERE PERFORMING their wingwalking act at the Air Fiesta 2011 air show in Brownsville, Texas, Saturday when the plane’s engine caught fire. Amanda was on the top wing of the aerobatic bi-plane when the engine started sputtering. Immediately she climbed back into her seat just as the engine started catching fire.
WOAI-TV Ch. 4 posted this home video of the act in progress when the engine started failing:
The Brownsville Herald published a sequence of photographs by Dave Stubbington including these three:
The engine starts catching fire during the act.
Amanda begins to descend into her seat behind the pilot.
Kyle brings the plane down for a soft landing.
CNN has more information HERE and has posted this video that recorded the plane’s drop and crash into the trees:
Kyle, who was piloting the aircraft, took it down in a controlled crash into a thicket of trees at the Brownsville – South Padre International Airport. The crash magnified the fire and the couple who managed to get out of the plane suffered burn injuries. They were airlifted to a San Antonio hospital where they are being treated. Kyle is the least-injured of the pair and is in stable condition. Amanda suffered more burn injuries. The Brownsville Herald reported Monday:
Chris Hughston, operations officer of the Rio Grande Valley Wing of the Commemorative Air Force, said Amanda Franklin’s burns from the fiery crash were not as deep as they first appeared, but she remains in critical condition.
Amanda’s husband Kyle Franklin, who was piloting the plane as she walked on its wing, is in better health, Hughston said. He said Amanda underwent her first surgery for treatment about 1:30 p.m. in a San Antonio hospital.
“Her chances of survival are increasing by the hour,” he said. “But she still has a long way to go. … Kyle is gonna be okay.”
The couple are from Neosho, Missouri, and travel the air show circuit performing their “Pirated Skies” wingwalking act. Both of their fathers were stunt pilots as well, but died tragically in 2005 when their aerobatic planes collided in mid-air at an air show.
The Brownsville Herald has a 9-image photo gallery HERE.
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Innocents Laid to Rest in Pennsylvania
NEARLY 1,000 MOURNERS ATTENDED THE FUNERAL TUESDAY for the seven children of the Clouse family in Perry County, Pennsylvania. The children ages 9 months to 11 years were the victims of a tragic fire last week that raced through the family farmhouse suffocating them in the smoke before the flames consumed the entire structure. (See the Firegeezer report on the tragedy HERE.)
Only one child in the family, 3-yr.-old Leigha was awakened and ran out of the house to alert her mother who was in the barn milking the dairy herd. The father was in his delivery truck taking milk to nearby dairies at the time. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports from yesterday’s funeral:
Speaking for the family, the Rev. Doran Wray, senior pastor of their church, the Church of the Living Christ in Loysville, said the Clouses, as Christians, have faith they will see their children again in heaven, but the family is, at the moment, “crushed” with grief.
Ted Clouse, father of the seven children killed in the fire carries his surviving daughter, 3-year-old
Leigha, who escaped the blaze, as they arrive for the burial. (Philadelphia Inquirer)“Everybody is in shock,” he said after the 75-minute service here, where he and two other pastors spoke to a crowd of nearly 1,000 mourners. “It’s going to be a very long time before the family is in a state of mind that’s normal or OK. But the outpouring of help from the community is phenomenal, and it helps.”
He said Perry County, just west of Harrisburg, “is a community where people understand what it’s like to struggle.” The rural, sparsely populated area, with many farmers, is “not affluent. It’s working class. But there’s a camaraderie here.”
Rev. Wray said everything from food to blankets to clothes to money to building materials has been donated by county residents as well as people statewide, nationwide “and even as far away as Australia.” Even the caskets and grave sites, at the Living Christ church, were donated.
WNEP-TV Ch. 16 filed a video report:
The remnants of the house were knocked down and hauled away by friends and neighbors last week and construction has already begun on a new home nearby. It is being built with volunteer labor and all donated materials.
The State Police fire investigators were unable to definitively state the cause of the fire, but they believe that a propane heater in one of the bedrooms may have caught a blanket on fire.
The Post-Gazette has a full report on yesterday’s service HERE.
The Patriot-News has a very good report on the funeral HERE.
Mourners file past the tiny caskets at the funeral service.
(Patriot News photo)
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Are You Belted?
2 commentsIf Not, You'd Better Start Now
I suppose you've seen the news out of the San Antonio Fire Department, where the promotion of the safety culture has been taken to a coercive extreme likely never before seen in the American fire service. To make a long story short, a big ladder truck took a corner too fast and rolled over en route to a box alarm. None of the four guys inside was wearing a seatbelt and one, whose first day at the station it was, broke his neck. The other three guys have been handed brutal suspensions; the captain got 60 days off without pay.
KSAT-TV
The push to take safety seriously just got really real. Some might be second-guessing their stands as too harsh to be realistic, but others are undoubtedly celebrating this victory, perhaps the first on this scale anywhere in North America. I'll let others parse the greater meaning but I suspect this just may be the turning point in the ongoing battle to take the little things seriously in safety. This might set the example nationwide for how to handle seatbelt violations. A department this size with an incident with national play in the fire press followed by this monumental disciplinary action is the kind of thing that reverberates.
So what is the discipline accomplishing? For one, the headlines in San Antonio like to point out that this accident destroyed a $600,000 truck. The public will see this as leadership admonishing recklessness with the taxpayers' resources. (Nevermind that the public really has no idea of the issues at play here on both sides.) More to the point, though, the second benefit is that this discipline will set an example for the rest of the department, at least as long as the current chief is around. Can anyone believe that seatbelt usage in the SAFD isn't significantly greater today than it was the day before this happened?
There may be a third benefit that has gone largely unremarked: while the captain was hammered extra hard for failing to supervise his guys, two of the three members had their own responsibilities and are paying for failing to take care of them. The third member, if I read the reports right, was a rookie on his first shift; that guy broke his neck and is still in treatment. He has been punished enough but, unlike the other three on the apparatus, he really had only a minimal responsibility. The captain and the other two members had added responsibilities to take care of him and in that they failed. If that angle to the punishment were to be made explicit I can't help but think that more people would take seriously there charge to "raise the rookies right."
It is worthwhile to remember that discipline should be a function of actions and not a function of consequences. Here the chief has punished some guys who had a bad outcome while leaving unremarked the countless violations of the same principle before or since. That may not be good technique but it will probably work. I really do feel for these guys who were only doing what we've all done countless times. But those days are over forever. It is no longer acceptable to run those risks any more than it was acceptable in 1980 to not wear an air pack, or in 1930 to ride a horse-drawn steam engine. There is a better way today just as in decades to come there will be more better ways and this particular battle will be long-since resolved. What the chief in San Antonio has done may be the drop that starts the flood that permanently washes away the old way.
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