A FOREST CITY, IOWA, POLICE OFFICER who was under investigation for setting his own police station on fire on October 1 was shot by Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation officers when he confronted them on his front doorstep.
The IDCI officers were investigating the October 1 arson and after conducting a series of interviews with several people at the Winnebago County Sheriif's office they noticed that Thaddeus Ellenbecker, 34, had an unusual demeanor and had made some conflicting statements. They went to his apartment Thursday afternoon to follow up on their inquiries and were met at the door with Ellenbecker brandishing a weapon. During the ensuing scuffle, one of the agents shot Ellenbecker, wounding him. He was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries. He was able to talk to the investigators on Friday however. The Des Moines Register reports further:
Ellenbecker is accused of setting a fire that badly burned the Forest City police station on Oct. 1. According to criminal complaints, Ellenbecker started the fire by placing an open flame in contact with cardboard. Authorities also accused him of stealing a Smith & Wesson M&P AR-15 rifle from the locked trunk of a police car in November 2010. Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Assistant Director Charis Paulson said that was not the gun Ellenbecker had Thursday night.
Ellenbecker reportedly confessed to both crimes Thursday and Friday.
He has been charged with 2nd-degree arson, a felony, and burglary for stealing the rifle from another officer's cruiser. The Forest City Police Dept. is refusing to give out any more information including how long Ellenbecker has been on the force or his photograph.
KIMT-TV Ch. 3 posted this video report:
The Mason City Globe Gazette has the STORY.
Read more in the Des Moine RegisterHERE.
A FAIRFAX COUNTY (Virginia) FIRE & RESCUE Department firefighter died in his sleep in the station bunkroom Friday night/Saturday morning. The Fire & Rescue Department issued the following announcement:
The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department regrets to announce the death of Firefighter Horace C. ("Chris") Pendergrass assigned to Fire Station 41, B-Shift. Firefighter Pendergrass was an honored employee who served the residents and visitors of Fairfax County for over 20 years. In the early morning hours of October 22, 2011, Chris was found expired after shift change at Fire Station 41. Currently, all units assigned to Fire Station 41 have been placed out of service with many support mechanisms on their way.
The Fairfax County Police Department and Office of the Medical Examiner states the cause of death is under investigation and will provide cause at a later date.
FF Horace Pendergrass
FF Pendergrass, age 49, was a very popular member of the department and he had been on the job for 22 years. Prior to that he has served in the U. S. Army. One of his former captains described him as "strong as an ox." He is survived by three adult children.
An interesting item came across the News Ticker yesterday with the intriguing headline: Major ALS Breakthrough – Common Cause of All Forms of ALS Discovered. ALS is the acronym for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the unpronouncible fatal disease usually referred to as "Lou Gehrigs's disease." An article published in Neuroscience News begins:
(The) fatal neurodegenerative disease that paralyzes its victims, has long eluded scientists and prevented development of effective therapies. Scientists weren’t even sure all its forms actually converged into a common disease process.
But a new Northwestern Medicine study for the first time has identified a common cause of all forms of ALS.
The basis of the disorder is a broken down protein recycling system in the neurons of the spinal cord and the brain. Optimal functioning of the neurons relies on efficient recycling of the protein building blocks in the cells. In ALS, that recycling system is broken. The cell can’t repair or maintain itself and becomes severely damaged.
They lost me on paragraph #3, but I can tell that this is great news indeed. The article goes on to tell us that there are three forms of ALS: hereditary, which is called familial; ALS that is not hereditary, called sporadic; and ALS that targets the brain, ALS/dementia. Fully 50% of the people who have the disease die within three years after contracting it. And it's a slow, excruciating death that exhibits a gradual loss of muscle strength that leads to paralysis and the inability to move, speak, swallow and breathe. The researchers also believe this breakthrough could lead to successful treatments of Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's. This is truly good news and you can read the entire article HERE.
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On the other end of the healthy-living spectrum we have the National Hockey League. Last night was an action-packed night with 28 of the league's 32 teams playing. Going into the evening there were only two undefeated teams in the young season, Detroit Red Wings with a 5-0 record and Washington Capitals carrying a 6-0 streak. And the scheduling gods happened to have those two playing each other last night. Both teams are very well balanced and top contenders for this year's championship, but most people had to give Detroit the edge in what was expected to be a very close game. Well, they had that edge as Washington scored first and then kept on going to a 7-1 victory, a very rare blowout for the Red Wings. Detroit's lone goal came on a 5-on-3 power play.
The Capitals now sit on top with a 7-0 record. Don't quote me yet, but I think the league record for season-opening win streaks is 10. Here are the game highlights:
You can view the highlight videos for all of last night's games HERE. There were some other surprising upsets last night, too.
Now let's get our own winning streak going and get this equipment checked out. I'm going to see how the Sunday breakfast is coming and get some more coffee going. See you back in the day room.
A FIREFIGHTER DRIVING A PUMPER to a training academy on Saturday morning was killed in a head-on crash. Lieutenant Frederic Jacob, 41, was alone and driving the truck to the class when the fire engine crashed head-on with a tractor trailer on a 2-lane highway near the town of Verosvres.
Lt. Frederic Jacob
The horrific crash completely demolished the entire front end of the firetruck and killed Lt. Jacob immediately.
Le Journal
The tractor cab of the transport truck was mostly demolished as well and the driver is in critical condition.
Le Journal
The police investigation is still continuing and there has been no announcement of what caused the collision.
Le Journal
Lt. Jacob was the commanding officer of the Gueugnon Fire Station and leaves a family of 2 children.
Creusot has the STORY. Le Journal has a 20-image photo gallery HERE.
A FRIDAY EVENING FIRE IN A Bath, England, sex shop has been determined to be an arson, according to police. The fire brigade was dispatched at 7:32 pm and found fire in the Private Shop, a building that has an apartment in the floor above.
Bath Chronicle
The fire was knocked down quickly and there were no reported injuries. It was contained to the shop. Police kept a guard at the site all night and investigators will begin their search today.
A CAREER CRIMINAL IN PAMPA, TEXAS, who is allowed to continue his trade, did so again early Friday morning when he found an ambulance parked at a tire shop with the keys in it at 3 am. Alberto Bernal-Terriquez, 32, just couldn't resist the temptation and decided to start driving a real emergency vehicle.
According to the Potter County Sheriff's Department, the ambulance became suspicious to the Deputy because it was driving about 10 to 15 mph lower than the posted speed limit. Additionally, it was not driving in the direction of a medical facility.
After the driver of the ambulance went through a red light at Amarillo Blvd. and Hughes without any emergency lights or sirens, the Potter County Sheriff's Department said the Deputy decided to make a traffic stop.
The driver of the ambulance refused to stop, police said. The speed of the ambulance was listed at 20 to 25 mph, a press release said. It finally came to a stop near the 100 block of North Van Buren where the road comes to an end.
The rookie driver was arrested and charged with evading arrest with a motor vehicle and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
Allow me to linger just a little longer on the subject of digital books. At Tuesday's Lineup (HERE) we were talking about public libraries going digital and allowing patrons to check-out books digitally from home on their e-readers. That naturally leads to the topic of digital textbooks and why aren't they being used in schools and colleges?
Kno
They have been around for a while, but slow to be adopted by the institutions of learning. For the last few years this has been a focus of college students who are faced with having to purchase their texts, after a lifetime of using the school's books and returning them at the end of each semester. But the key word there is "purchase" because in the American university industry, textbooks are a high-profit money maker, especially for the professors who write their own textbooks. When you see that a required text costs as much as $135 for an ordinary printed volume, you can smell something.
Not only is the college bookstore making a tidy profit, but the professor is padding his pockets by requiring you to buy his dull book, even though you have already paid a hefty fee for the class tuition. In previous years you could sell your used textbook back to the store for 50% of the cover price after the conclusion of the semester, then the store would sell the "used" textbooks for 25% off to the incoming class – a nice 50% markup on their investment. The professors got irritated with this because they weren't getting a cut of the used-book action. So they would go back to their manuscript and change a few words in a paragraph in each chapter and re-publish the book as a Revised Edition and require the new class to use the Revised copy even though the hapless student couldn't tell the difference. The Textbook Racket.
But in the public school level, e-books are rolling in and probably here to stay. When it's the schools doing the purchasing and not the individuals, there is a lot more clout behind the checkbook and if a public school system wants to go digital, then they will. And, they are. But they are not being issued as downloads like your personal e-book library is. This is understandable because not only do you have to protect the publisher's rights, but you have to make sure that the students are "on the same page" (ugh! … ed.) and using the same authorized copy. So the books are being pre-loaded onto small netbook computers that are probably purchased in bulk for about $30 apiece and these are handed out in class. Not only does the netbook have the required texts for the particular class loaded on them, but they also have additional aids for the course including links to websites and videos that are related to the subject.
Zuma
The school systems are still feeling their way around with the concept, but you learn by doing and they are properly easing into the digital textbook world. For a good description of how this is taking place and being used in a school system now, read THIS ARTICLE from the Washington Post published on September 21 where the writer goes to a high school and sees how it's working.
And I am always wondering how soon will it be when e-tablets will be used for the daily equipment check in the fire and EMS stations? Until then, we have to keep on doing it the same way it was done 100 years ago, like so many other FD operations, so let's get started. I'm going to make some good, old-fashioned coffee now. See you back in the day room.
NBC2 provides the background for this bad-outcome event:
The NBC2 Investigators first reported a billing battle between Naples Community Health and Collier County Emergency Medical Service in September.
NCH owes Collier County more than $175,000 for EMS ambulance transfers between its facilities.
Collier County Manager Leo Ochs told NCH officials by letter that inter-facility transfers would no longer be performed by Collier County EMS, effective October 1.
On October 3, 80-year-old Marco Island resident Paul Anderson died in the hospital after complications from a stroke. Family members tell NBC2 doctors were unable to operate on Anderson because it took too long for him to get to the hospital.
Please read the first part of the 65 page report provided by Marco Island, Florida, Chief Michael Murphy. You may share my rising tide of anger at a complex system that seemed to conspire to deny a prompt ambulance transfer.
The October 1 policy change by Collier County EMS was due to the unwillingness of NCH to pay Collier County for earlier transports.
Not clear if this means NCH is paying it's overdue ambulance bill.
I predict that all of the players that impeded the dispatch of an ambulance or medivac helicopter will end up spending ten times the amount of the unpaid transport fees for legal representation and settlement.
THE WELSH AMBULANCE SERVICE (UK) HOLDS an annual competition for the top five craziest 9-9-9 calls for an ambulance that are not emergencies. It is part of their Choose Well campaign that encourages people to call 9-9-9 for life-threatening emergencies only.
A WAS spokesman said: "We want the public to stop, think and choose well before selecting the appropriate medical treatment for their needs. If you dial up an ambulance for toothache instead of booking in with a dentist, that ambulance might be taken away from the next call, a person fighting for life after suffering a heart attack."
Roberts / BBC
The Daily Post tells us:
Top of the list by some distance is the woman who dialled 999 calling an ambulance for her sick parrot – because she couldn’t find the vet’s number in Yellow Pages.
Following close behind was the man who called ambulance control after biting into a plastic bag. He was concerned he had bits of plastic stuck between his teeth.
The Welsh Ambulance Service’s medical director, Dr. Paul Hughes said, "Approximately 45% of the calls we receive from patients dialling 999 are for minor illnesses and injuries like toothache, sore throats, coughs and colds. Every day, these calls are putting people’s lives at risk by taking ambulances away from those having life threatening emergencies."
Read the full STORY HERE see the rest of the "bonkers" calls and some more about the PR campaign.
* Dave Statter at STATter911 has been staying on top of the story from Macon-Bibb County, Georgia, where that ridiculous, irresponsible fire captain led the shift in a "rookie prank" made to look like an armed robbery in the fire station. If you thought the dust-up was over, well it's not. Now the fire chief (who wasn't in on it) has been fingered with giving preferential treatment in handing out discipline. Read the latest keeping this ugly story going HERE.
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* SConFire is telling about a city in South Carolina that is hiring a new fire chief secretly with closed committee meetings and a refusal to release to the public their list of candates who made the final considerations. CLICK HERE to read about this dubious exercise.
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* Bill Gabbert at Wildfire Today reprises an old favorite of his, A Top 10 List: Reasons why you can't do that HERE.
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* The Backstep Firefighter has brought out some good training points about whether to pull the line or raise a ladder first when you're first in and faced with an obvious rescue problem HERE.
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* The Rogue Medic has some thoughts about these places where you have to call for an ambulance when you hurt yourself inside a hospital HERE.
A FIRE IN A SMALL FACTORY that manufactures artificial fingernails and fingernail polish remover caused major damage Thursday. The Onyx Corporation plant which is located in North Little Rock, Arkansas, was occupied at the time when a malfunction occurred on a conveyor belt in a small building where the polish remover bottles are filled..
The main ingredient is acetone and some had puddled under the belt when it sparked and ignited the vapors. The employees saw the fire blaze up and immediately evacuated the main building. The fire soon involved a 4,000 gallon acetone storage tank and the fire department then evacuated several more businesses in the industrial park.
KLRT-TV image
Using a combination of foam and water, the firefighters were able to control the fire and prevent any spread beyond the area involved.
FIREFIGHTERS IN FLORENCE, ITALY, faced a unique challenge Monday when a delivery truck partially rolled over against a building and pinned a man underneath the cab.
all photos via Vigili del Fuoco
They used a backhoe positioned in the parking garage to stabilize the truck and were able to remove the victim safely. He was reported to have only minor injuries and will be ok.
Report from the Vigili del Fuoco National WEBSITE.
One of our readers, Jim Scano sent an interesting note telling me about a new venture that he and a friend of his have started up that they call The Firehouse Shirt Club. It certainly is a different twist on things and is worth checking into if you like to keep an assortment of different T-shirts in the drawer.
The way the club works, as I understand it, is that you subscribe for $20 mo. and each month you receive a T-shirt featuring that month's firehouse or station logo on the design. It's not a bad price because it includes the shipping cost AND the Club donates $2 for each shirt purchased directly to the fire station that is featured. The firefighters there can use the funds for their own preferred choice of either supporting a station activity or their favorite charity. It sounds like fun and a good deal, but check it out for yourself here: http://firehouseshirtclub.com/
Jim was writing to me because he is looking for some more stations to feature and would like for you to apply if you have either an interesting firehouse or station logo and you would be interested in being featured. If you want to learn more about how to do that, CLICK HERE.
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If you are planning ahead and thinking about where to take your vacation next, or perhaps even scouting out potential retirement havens, you might want to consider the northeastern County of Yorkshire, England. They are having a beer rennaissance, partly because of their regional brewing skills, and rapidly supplying a larger and larger share of the country's famed beer consumption.
Yorkshire now has (just this one county, mind you) 98 independent breweries. In spite of the slumping economy overall, there have been 16 new breweries to open in the past year alone. Check out this video report from Yorkshire:
I have always said that the two best businesses to be in when a recession hits are barbering and bartending. Sales always hold up at the bars and barber shops.
Now let's hold up our clipboards and get this equipment checked out. I'm going to head over to the coffee brewing center and get some more of that good stuff started. See you back in the day room in a little while.
THE MONROE, LOUISIANA, FIRE INVESTIGATOR IS FACING a career change this morning after being tossed in jail Wednesday for threatening a man with his gun. The Monroe News-Star reports:
Chief fire investigator David Hill, 47, and his wife, Dana Hill, 30, both of 209 Fairfield St., West Monroe, were arrested by West Monroe police Tuesday and booked into Ouachita Correctional Center, each on an obstruction of justice charge. David Hill was also booked on an aggravated assault charge.
According to police, patrol units responded to report of a disturbance involving a firearm around 10 p.m. Friday.
The investigation revealed a victim was driving north on Fairfield Street when he was flagged down by David Hill. The report stated Hill flagged down the victim because he was reportedly speeding through the neighborhood.
Police said Hill reportedly approached the driver's side of the victim's vehicle and an argument ensued. During the verbal altercation, the victim stated he told Hill he was calling 9-1-1. As the victim reached for his cellphone on the center console, Hill reportedly displayed a handgun from the back of his pants area and pointed it at the victim.
When the police started showing up, Hill passed the pistol to his wife who then dashed inside their house with it. Witnesses told police that they saw Hill take something out of his back pocket and point it at the victim's head.
Hill's wife Dana was also arrested and charged with obstruction.
THE FORMER DEPUTY CHIEF OF THE Friendship Volunteer Fire Department in Smith's Station, Alabama, has resigned from the fire department where she had served for 30 years and pleaded guilty before the court to one count of embezzlement in a plea bargain agreement.
Angelia Curran
Angelia Curran, 45, was charged with stealing $28,000 of grant monies from FEMA that was intended for equipment and training. Her guilty plea will probably spare her from any prison time. The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer has the FULL STORY.
Amarillo Fire Chief Steve Ross announced his retirement from the Amarillo Fire Department on Tuesday after 33 years of service.
Ross served as fire chief for the past 15 years and has been with the fire department for 33 years. Ross announced he and his wife are relocating to the Fort Worth area, where he will soon begin service as the new fire chief for the Haltom City Fire Department.
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THE WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS, Times-Record-News tells us:
Scott Burkett, former Archer City volunteer fire chief, turned himself in to authorities about 5 p.m. Tuesday, according to 97th District Attorney Jack McGaughey.
Burkett has been the center of an investigation into the unauthorized use of department funds since August, and he resigned from his position around the same time.
After the investigation, a grand jury indicted him on 52 counts of theft Oct. 3.
A LUMBERTON, NORTH CAROLINA, FIRE CAPTAIN Chad Thomas Evans, 40, was arrested Tuesday and charged with nine felony counts of 2nd-degree sexual exploitation of a minor.
Evans is accused of possessing child pornography and was arrested by the State Bureau of Investigation's Computer Crimes Unit, said Noelle Talley, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Justice.
Evans, a senior fire captain with the Lumberton Fire Department, has been suspended without pay pending the outcome of the investigation, said James Moore, the city's human resources director.
Evans has been on the job for nearly 12 years and has no previous disciplinary problems.
A 28-YR.-OLD WOMAN WAS ARRESTED Wednesday morning and charged with DUI after she collided with a Decatur, Alabama, ambulance. The 7 am crash occurred when Paula Nicole Campbell made a left turn in front of an oncoming Decatur EMS ambulance that was returning from a call. The ambulance struck the side of Campbell's SUV and knocked it on its side while demolishing the front end of the ambulance.
Air ambulance arrives at crash scene for seriously-injured
passenger. (WAAY-TV photo)
Campbell's passenger, a 32-yr.-old woman was flown to a Huntsville hospital with life-threatening injuries. Campbell was transported to the hospital where she was treated and released into the custody of a waiting police officer. It is reported that she went directly to jail without passing Go.
The two paramedics were also transported with injuries. The Decatur Daily reports:
The driver of the ambulance, Will Nessman, and his passenger, EMT Cassey Rutherford, were taken by ambulance to Decatur General Hospital.
“The driver’s doing fine. He’s been released,” said Debbie Cox, operations manager for Decatur EMS. “The paramedic is OK. She’s still in the hospital, but she’s in good condition. She’s got a few broken bones, all in one arm. A bunch of bumps and bruises and soreness.”
They were “very lucky,” Cox said.
The ambulance was returning to Decatur after taking a patient to Huntsville and was driving non-emergency.
Back in February 2009, we posted a story about the paramedics in Lambton, Ontario, taking on the mission of restoring the sole, remaining horse-drawn ambulance in the province. They are not doing the restoration themselves, but they have been gathering donations and fund-raising to pay for the restoration of the classic ambulance that is housed in the Lambton Heritage Museum.
At the time we wrote: The ambulance was built in 1908 by the Petrolia Wagon Works Co. and was in use up until the first motorized ambulance was put in service. The ambulance was originally commissioned by the Town of Petrolia and was used to bring the sick and injured to the hospital. It was kept with the fire apparatus at Victoria Hall. The men working in the oil industry surrounding Petrolia were particularly vulnerable to injury in such a dangerous occupation. The ambulance was needed to go out into the oil fields around town to retrieve injured workers and transport them in relative comfort.
We heard from the group yesterday with an update on their activities that have progressed very well over the past two years.
Despite the outward appearance of the buggy, there is still some work to be done and they have commissioned two paintings and are selling the artist-quality prints to help advance the continuing restoration. One of them is a rendition of the ambulance responding in the oil fields 100 years ago.
The other is just coming available and is a view of Petrolia's 1882 Amoskeag steam pumper (image not yet available). These are quality prints as reflected by the price, but if you or anybody you know are collectors, then this will be a good consideration to add. CLICK HERE to order the ambulance print and when we can, we will publish the link to the steamer page.
For you antique restoration buffs, CLICK HERE for a photo gallery of the restoration job.
Now we need to fast-forward to the 21st century and get our own equipment checked out. I'm heading for the Bunn-O-Matic…. see you back in the day room.
A DRIVER WAS KILLED MONDAY NIGHT when his car rear-ended a disabled tractor-trailer that was partially blocking the travel lane and burst into fire. The crash occurred on U. S. Rte. 20 east of Burns, Oregon, shortly after 9 pm.
Oregon State Police Sgt. Brian Williams said that the truck driven by Allan McLain, 57, of Hines, had become disabled, partly blocking the right westbound lane. Highway 20 has two westbound lanes and one eastbound lane at the location, Williams said, adding that conditions were dry, and there is no overhead road lighting in the location.
After the truck became disabled, other people arrived on scene and were working to repair the truck's mechanical problem when the trailer was struck from behind by a westbound passenger car, Williams said.
Immediately on impact, troopers said, a fire quickly started and spread to the car, flatbed trailer and the load of cardboard bales. The driver, who was alone in the car, was found dead in the burned wreckage.
The car and the trailer were completely destroyed by the fire, but the tractor was saved.
THE MOLINE, ILLINOIS, FIRE CHIEF RON MILLER walked off the job Tuesday night after the city council voted to permanently lay off 12 firefighter/paramedics and eliminate the emergency ambulance service, instead turning it over to a private EMS firm.
Chief Ron Miller
Last week when the plan was first discussed, KWQC-TV 6 reported:
The fire chief told the council privatizing EMS would jeopardize public safety.
"This is not about an ambulance service; it is about 12 fire fighters. Moline and Rock Island have a luxury that our firefighters do both. I still don't think you have a full understanding of what a firefighter does. Our job is about having manpower to accomplish the job on the fire scene. When you cut manpower you're increasing the chances of someone losing their life or a firefighter losing their life. I had an alderman thank the police chief for not throwing public safety in their face when asked about cuts, I'm sorry this is about public safety, that's what we do. If I'm saying it's going to affect public safety it's not throwing it in your face, it's speaking the truth. I will never back down from that, because I am a man of integrity and I will tell it like it is," says Moline Fire Chief Ron Miller.
Despite his protestations, the council voted last night (Tuesday) to go through with the "money saving" plan and eliminate the 12 FF/Paramedic positions on January 1. Chief Miller then promptly resigned his position effective immediately before the council session was concluded.
WQAD-TV Ch. 8 was at last night's council meeting and filed this video report:
Brian Vyncke, president of Moline Firefighters Union Local 581 said, "He was never asked by the union to do what he did last week. His comments were that if he didn't have the support from the city, then he can't run the department. The sad part of the deal is that we look at all of this as a public safety matter."
Moline's City Administrator, Lew Steinbrecher, says that public safety won't be impacted by the layoffs. (Don't they always say that? … ed.)
This week Firegeezer is beginning a collaboration with TheFireStore to have
firefighters in the field test and review products found in their catalogue
and then publish the reviews here and in TheFireStore's
own fine blog, On Scene, which is posted several times each week.
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Recently the Stafford County (Virginia) Fire & Rescue Service tested three of the FoxFire Illumination products for us by TheFireStore and relayed their experience with them. Deputy Chief Steve Weissman along with Training Coordinator Lieutenant Matthew Warren tried applying and using them with a current recruit school that is in progress. They sampled, used and abused three products, the Illuminating All-In-One Coating Kit, the Illuminating Grip Wrap, and the Illuminating Green Helmet Band. Following is the first of their three reports for us:
We have had the privilege of demonstrating the Foxfire Illumination line of products during our Recruit Academy 6 live fire burns. We were able to apply the product to our tools and use them during live fire evolutions. We applied the product to a six foot hook, two sets of irons, a flat-head axe, and a short-handle sledge hammer.
The application of the Foxfire All-In-One Coating Kit took a total of 24 hours. Thirty minutes were spent applying the coating with the remainder as the drying period. The process was clean and easy, and the instructions were easily navigable.
The kit includes the special mixing paddle drill bit
We used the tools during six live fire evolutions. We observed the tools before, during, and after each evolution. Some equipment was intentionally placed in a superheated environment and exposed for long periods. All of the Foxfire Illuminating products performed well. The product held the illuminating charge throughout the exercise. We were able to photograph each tool, showing the illumination effects. We also used the tools during non-fire training exercises on multiple days.
The Foxfire products were easily recognized in smoky environments and performed well.
We initially deployed these tools at the Hanover County Fire and Rescue Training Academy. We completed six live fire evolutions with the tools advanced in each. The following week we trained in an acquired structure under manufactured smoke conditions with much the same results and continuing to abuse these tools. We burned the structure on Friday with the tools performing as predicted.
From an instructors standpoint, I was pleased to be able to track our recruits as they performed searches, advanced hoselines, and ventilated rooms. The All-In-One coating held up well on most tools. The coating did appear to adhere better to non-metalic handles.
For more information on the All-In-One Kit along with an instructional video and to order one from TheFireStore for your department, CLICK HERE to go to their catalogue page.
To follow their blog On Scene, CLICK HERE.
Wednesday Morning – Is That Something in the Bushes?
There are some really strange goings-on in Zanesville, Ohio, this morning. If you haven't read the story yet, it is the next one below this posting that we put up last night around 11 pm about the wild animal preserve breakout. In a nutshell, last evening the local sheriff's department began getting calls from people in the rural area of Muskingum County about seeing some of the wild animals in the preserve wandering loose in the area.
Loading up a truck load of deputies armed with high-power rifles, they went out to the farm to investigate and when they got to the house they found the owner of the preserve laying dead in his yard and dozens of lions, bears, wolves and other beasts roaming around. The sharpshooters immediately began picking off the animals, killing two dozen of them in a short time while sending out the alarm to the entire greater Zanesville area.
We will be updating the early report later this morning when more information arrives with the sunrise, but ABC News has prepared this video report this morning that is pretty well up-to-date:
If you listen to the sheriff in his press conference that we posted in the article below, you can tell by his controlled exasperation that this particular occupancy has been a pain in the a– for a long time for these people. That got me to thinking (there I go again… danger zone), there are no textbooks or detailed articles on how firefighters and EMS agencies should prepare for this sort of incident. But when you have a unique and deadly hazard like this in your area, you sure ought to have some sort of preplan or cautionary S.O.P. to provide a uniform and predictable response to an emergency relating to the property.
This would make a good, 30-minute drill in the day room later this morning. Talk this over and come up with your own suggested S.O.P.'s for this hazard. It's a good way to exercise your imagination and get to thinking about unique hazards. The more you mull this over, the longer the list will become, but you will find it fun while you practice your "emergency thinking" skills. Hey, you might even discover that you have a local hazard that could cause you a major problem some day. Has anybody looked in C-Shift's refrigerator lately?
Ok, let's get started on the equipment check and I'll get a couple more pots of coffee ready. I'm looking forward to our instant-drill in the day room in a little while.
Update, Wednesday AM: Preserve Owner Death Was Suicide. Only 3 Creatures Still Loose. SCROLL DOWN FOR DETAILS.
A MYSTERIOUS EVENT HAS OCCURRED NEAR ZANESVILLE, OHIO, where at least 48 wild animals have escaped or been set loose from the Muskingum County Animal Farm. The exotic animal preserve normally contains lions, tigers, wolves, giraffes, bears, camels and other big cats.
The Sheriff, who is holding a press conference as this is being posted, says that his deputies have shot about 25 so far, but they do not know for certain what kinds of animals are on the loose. Their main concern is with the bears and cats for their exceptional ferociousness and everybody for miles around are being told to stay indoors tonight.
One of the lions lies dead in a field (WBNS-TV)
Some of the animals have been spotted along I-70
The body of the farm's owner, Terry Thompson has been found dead outside near his home. Police are not saying how he might have been killed.
Update, 11 pm:
The sheriff has said that the animals escaped sometime around 6 pm, but he has not said how or why there got out, other than to say that the fences had been left unsecured.
Neighboring Licking County sheriff's office is reporting at least 4 sightings of the animals in their territory. The Licking County Sheriff's SWAT team has been mobilized with night-vision equipment and high-powered rifles as has the Muskingum County Sheriff office.
All the schools in the Zanesville area have announce they will remain closed on Wednesday.
WCMH-TV is reporting:
Deputies were called to a home on Kopchak Road after a report of escaped wild animals, including cougars, tigers, lions, cheetahs and grizzly bears at about 7:20 p.m.
Upon arrival, deputies found the owner of the private farm dead and the animals' cages open.
The sheriff said deputies shot up to 25 animals on the way to the home to check on the owner, but that there could be up to 48 animals still on the loose. Deputies have been given the order of "shoot to kill" in the effort to keep the public safe.
Police and deputies are searching from pickup trucks with the night vision equipment, but are not going on foot or entering any wooded territory. They are putting feed in the animals' cages in hopes that some will return during the night looking for food.
Channel 10 has posted the sheriff's press conference:
Update #2:
NBCNews has added information from the just-concluded press conference:
Muskingum County Sheriff Matt Lutz said, "These are wild animals that you would see on TV in Africa." He called the escaped animals "mature, very big, aggressive" but said a caretaker told authorities the animals had been fed on Monday. He said police were patrolling the 40-acre farm and the surrounding areas in cars, not on foot, and were concerned about big cats and bears hiding in the dark and in trees.
Lutz said his office started getting phone calls at about 5:30 p.m. that wild animals were loose just west of Zanesville on Kopchak Road, which runs under Interstate 70. Lutz said four deputies armed with assault rifles arrived to check on the owner and found animals outside their cages and others that had escaped past the fencing. The deputies began shooting them.
The body of Terry Thompson, owner of the farm, was found outside of his home, and Lutz said that every cage had been left open.
Lutz said his office had had issues with the owner in the past but did not elaborate on how Thompson died. "This is a bad situation, its been a bad situation for a long time," he said.
Staff from the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium and the Wilds were on scene, hoping to tranquilize the animals and return them to safety.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol was assisting in the search with an infrared-equipped helicopter.
The Zanesville Times-Recorder has some background information on Thompson's many problems in the past with law authorities involving serious firearms issues and continuing problems with the animals. Read the STORY HERE.
Update, Wednesday morning:
WBNS-TV Ch. 10 is reporting that Muskingum County Sheriff Matt Lutz disclosed this morning that the wildlife preserve owner's death was a suicide. Terry Thompson released the animals himself before he took his own life yesterday afternoon.
At least 44 dead animals including a 300-lb Bengal tiger have been recovered, one of them struck by a vehicle on I-70, the others shot by law officers. It is believed that only three more creatures remain at large, a grizzly bear, a mountain lion, and a monkey.
There is another press briefing scheduled for 3 pm this afternoon.
THERE ARE MORE THAN ONE CENTENARIANS among the veteran firefighters. Following the Firegeezer report on Sunday HERE about long-time VFD member Nicholas Peluso celebrating his 100th birthday, FG reader Rick G. pointed out to us the similar circumstances surrounding Bud Bennett of Bloomingdale, New Jersey.
He celebrated his 100th birthday on October 14th and on Saturday night the entire community turned out for a centennial birthday party in his honor. Mr. Bennett joined the Bloomingdale VFD in 1946, just one year after it was organized and went in service.
Bud is remarkably active and astute for a man his age, looking and moving as a man thirty years younger. You will see what I mean if you view the video report posted by the Tri-Boro Patch HERE.
Bud is still active with the department helping out at the fund-raisers and fire hall activities.
Congratulations, Bud! May you see many more birthday bashes.
You may have seen this article about how neighborhood fire stations are to become health clinics in one California county. I guess a fire department in my county is a trendsetter then because they opened a new station last year with clinic space in it, but for a slightly different reason. It's a place the affluent of the community can come have their vitals checked in comfort by a friendly fireman. That department only makes five or six calls a day, protects one of the busiest stretches of interstate in the country, a couple of major petrochemical research labs, a hospital, and about half a dozen highrises. It's true that they don't have many fires, being an affluent bedroom community, but I guess that means they don't need to train on any of that other stuff or even be too terribly ready to respond.
Scott County Public Health Service
As usual, this is part of a trend that attempts to maintain relevance by broadening services. I think the real way to maintain relevance is not to broaden services, but to deepen them. We need to be better at the things we legitimately do and quit pretending like no one goes to fires anymore. We have plenty of emergency functions that most departments didn't have 30 years ago and we have plenty of action in the totality of them to warrant maintaining focus on emergency response. There is nothing we should be doing that should ever take precedence over emergency response. Except for emergency response, nothing should take priority over preparedness.
Too many people in the fire service act like every town was the South Bronx once upon a time and that now the firefighters are just barely holding down the wool over the eyes of the citizenry. Stop saying we just don't go to fires anymore! We do still go to fires, in many places we go to a lot more, and besides that, we go to rescues, hazmat calls, and major medical emergencies. The fire service seems to wallow in self-defeating rhetoric that the public will misperceive and absorb when making decisions about supporting their local fire departments. If you say things that downplay the importance of emergency response then you should not be surprised when your officers, city bureaucrats, and public opinion leaders favor things that have nothing to do with emergency response and your funding and strategic vision shift accordingly.
Take A Number ….. (Commentary)
2 comments….. And Wait For Your Number To Be Called.
You may have seen this article about how neighborhood fire stations are to become health clinics in one California county. I guess a fire department in my county is a trendsetter then because they opened a new station last year with clinic space in it, but for a slightly different reason. It's a place the affluent of the community can come have their vitals checked in comfort by a friendly fireman. That department only makes five or six calls a day, protects one of the busiest stretches of interstate in the country, a couple of major petrochemical research labs, a hospital, and about half a dozen highrises. It's true that they don't have many fires, being an affluent bedroom community, but I guess that means they don't need to train on any of that other stuff or even be too terribly ready to respond.
Scott County Public Health Service
As usual, this is part of a trend that attempts to maintain relevance by broadening services. I think the real way to maintain relevance is not to broaden services, but to deepen them. We need to be better at the things we legitimately do and quit pretending like no one goes to fires anymore. We have plenty of emergency functions that most departments didn't have 30 years ago and we have plenty of action in the totality of them to warrant maintaining focus on emergency response. There is nothing we should be doing that should ever take precedence over emergency response. Except for emergency response, nothing should take priority over preparedness.
Too many people in the fire service act like every town was the South Bronx once upon a time and that now the firefighters are just barely holding down the wool over the eyes of the citizenry. Stop saying we just don't go to fires anymore! We do still go to fires, in many places we go to a lot more, and besides that, we go to rescues, hazmat calls, and major medical emergencies. The fire service seems to wallow in self-defeating rhetoric that the public will misperceive and absorb when making decisions about supporting their local fire departments. If you say things that downplay the importance of emergency response then you should not be surprised when your officers, city bureaucrats, and public opinion leaders favor things that have nothing to do with emergency response and your funding and strategic vision shift accordingly.
………. Patrick Mahoney
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