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Downtown Fire in Georgia

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About Ten Businesses Burned Out

A FIRE SUNDAY MORNING IN DALTON, GEORGIA, destroyed a large indoor shopping center that housed 8 businesses.  The fire also caused extensive damages to two adjacent shops.  The vintage commercial building was known as Peacock Alley and was one of Dalton's heritage buildings.

Daily Citizen

The fire was reported via monitored alarm at 6:30 am Sunday and when the FD arrived they found the building charged with smoke.  When they made entry into the structure the fire grew quickly and soon required the firefighters' withdrawal.  The bulk of the fire attack was geared on containment at that point.

Daily Citizen

Dalton Fire Chief Bruce Satterfield told the Dalton Daily Citizen:

"Once they made entry, the fire immediately started boiling on them," Satterfield said. "We had very low water pressure, which isn’t common in downtown. Between the intensity of the fire and the low water pressure, we were forced out of the building. It wasn’t safe to be in there so the firefighters started defensive measures" to save surrounding businesses.

Firefighters focused their efforts on preventing the fire from spreading to the state probation offices on the north side of Peacock Alley and the accounting office, Satterfield said.

The fire prompted a full-callback of Dalton firefighters.

WDEF-TV Ch. 12 Chattanooga posted this video report:

 

Read the full story in the Daily Citizen HERE.

Posted by on October 10, 2011 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: , , ,

Morning Lineup – October 10

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Monday Morning
"In Fourteen-Hundred, Ninety-Two,
Columbus Sailed the Ocean Blue…."

Here we are, celebrating Almost-Columbus Day in the U. S.  For the first few hundred years his celebrated landing in the New World was marked on October 12.  But in 1971 the U. S. Congress decided that he would be better honored if his landfall was always marked on a Monday so that the government employees could enjoy a 3-day weekend.  So now we honor Chris and his hardy explorers on the 2nd Monday of October each year.  Happy Columbus Day, everybody!  (I hope you're not waiting for an important letter in the mail.)

By a pleasant coincidence, the 2nd Monday of October is also designated as Thanksgiving Day in Canada.  So we will add a "Happy Thanksgiving!" to our friends up North.

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A few weeks ago a building at East 26th St. and First Ave. in downtown Manhattan was demolished that was originally used as the Bellevue Hospital Medical College more than 100 years ago.  As the building was being torn down, they came across a time capsule that was placed in the cornerstone in 1897.  Among the usual souvenirs and mementos of the day was a more unusual keepsake, a laboratory vial that had some bacterial spores in it that were gotten and cultured from a patient in 1896.

In an interview with radio station WCBS 880, Dr. Martin Blaser said:

Blaser says his team is trying to wake up those spores and grow them so they can study the organisms.

"We are interested in the question of whether seventy years of antibiotics is changing the organisms that live in the body. The organism that was put in the time capsule was a normal organism that lives in the human body. By having this organism and comparing it to present day organisms, we may have a chance to answer the question of whether our own organisms are changing or not," said Blaser.

Blaser says the specimen was put there by a bacteriologist named Edward Dunham. He says Dunham was one of the city’s early bacteriologists and that it was he who first described that these bacteria actually form spores.

Blaser says that scientists knew spores could last a long time, but they didn’t know how long. There was even a note saying that he hoped future generations would record how long they lasted.

Period photo of Bellevue Hospital

A more in-depth article posted by ABC News says that Blaser and his team found spores of the bacteria, called Clostridium perfringens, inside a small glass vial. These microbes still live in the intestines of modern humans, but don’t usually cause many infections these days, besides some forms of food poisoning. But at the turn of the 20th century, they often caused infections that led to gangrene.  This was before the discovery of penicillin.  When you get a chance, read that entire article HERE.

First we have to check out those germs and things in our equipment and get it checked out for today's business, so let's get started with that.  I'm going to get a new pot of coffee started before we meet back in the day room.

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Posted by on October 10, 2011 • Filed under: morning lineup

2012 Camaro ZL1 Hits 172 mph at Nurburgring

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Added to my Christmas list

 

From Chevrolet YouTube posting:

Watch as the 580-horsepower Camaro ZL1 carves up Nurburgring in 7:41.27 – bringing the Camaro neck and neck with the Porsche 911 Turbo S and Lamborghini Murciélago lap times. The Camaro ZL1 used for the lap was a production-intent model, with no performance modifications, driven by Camaro Performance Engineer Aaron Link.

Marc Urbano photo

Shaun Bailey (2011 March 10)  "2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 – First Look" Road & Track

Mike "FossilMedic" Ward

Posted by on October 9, 2011 • Filed under: cars, Vehicle Operation & Ambulances, Videos • Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Truck Slams Ambulance, Drives Away

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Significantly Damages the Ambulance

A GREATER VALLEY EMS AMBULANCE was returning to Sayre, Pennsylvania, from a transport to Rochester, New York, Friday morning when they became involved in an accident.

WETM-TV

The medics were on I-86 passing near Corning when they observed a tractor-trailer ahead of them that was driving in an erratic manner.  As they began to pass the truck, it suddenly swerved into their lane and crashed the ambulance into the median barrier.  The truck driver never slowed down or stopped, but instead continued on its way.

WETM-TV posted this video report:

 

The New York State Police are actively looking for the truck, but have not yet located it.

WENY-TV has MORE.
Greater Valley EMS Ambulance Service WEBSITE.

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Posted by on October 9, 2011 • Filed under: ambulances, EMS Topics, Vehicle Operation & Ambulances, Videos

Manufactory Destroyed in Connecticut Fire

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Building Had Two Tenants

A LIGHT-MANUFACTURING BUILDING IN NAUGATUCK, Connecticut, was completely destroyed in an early-morning fire Saturday.  The facility housed a hardware screw manufacturer that had been in business for over 35 years, and a yogurt treat ingredients warehouse for the Yo Crunch brand.

NBC Connecticut image

The fire was first discovered by a manager at the Yo Crunch shop who noticed the fire burning in the Multi-Metal plant.  He went back to where his employees were making crunch toppings and told them to evacuate right away, which they all did safely.

Early into the firefighting operation the windows in the open-space building blew out and the roof collapsed shortly after that.  The Naugatuck Fire Department had several mutual aid companies assisting, but their only recourse was to stay outside and contain the flames.

The Hartford Courant filed this video report from the scene:

  

WTNH-TV Ch. 8 also prepared a video report:

 

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Posted by on October 9, 2011 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: , , , ,

3 Vehicle Wrecks = 56 Dead in China

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Poor Driving Skills Blamed

THREE MAJOR ACCIDENTS, ALL ON FRIDAY,
killed 56 people and injured dozens more on Chinese highways.

Thirty-five people were killed and 18 others injured when a bus collided with a car and flipped over in the city of Tianjin in north-eastern China.

EPA

The official Xinhua News Agency cited a Tianjin traffic official as saying the bus was speeding and that many passengers were thrown out of the vehicle when it hit the car and rolled over. The bus was carrying 55 passengers, most of them college students on their way back to school after a seven-day national holiday.

Read the full report in China Daily HERE.

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At least six people were killed and another 19 injured in seven pileups on the expressway linking China's eastern Lianyungang City with the northwestern land port city of Huorguosi, which looks across a river to Kazakhstan.

AP

The pileups occurred amid heavy fog on the expressway in Xiaoxian County in Anhui Province in east China at about 6:45am, Xinhua news agency reported, citing Xu Yunhuai, a traffic police official in charge of the area.

China News Service said that the pileups involved a total of 24 vehicles, including a police patrol car.

Not even the police could escape the day of the crunch.  (AP)

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Another accident claimed 11 lives in Sheqi County in central China's Henan Province, when a truck crashed onto a minibus on a highway at around 6:30am.

All 11 people killed were traveling in the minibus, police said. Most of the dead were students. The driver of the truck fled the scene but was later detained by police.

Serious traffic accidents are common in China due to often overloaded vehicles and poorly trained drivers who often ignore traffic laws. Friday was the end of a weeklong holiday marking China’s National Day.

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Posted by on October 9, 2011 • Filed under: Fire Rescue Topics, rescue

Morning Lineup – October 9

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Sunday Morning – Do You "Like" Your "Friends"?

Yesterday we shared the pleasing story from Wales (HERE) about the man who had the dire medical emergency but was unable to phone for an ambulance.  He spent an agonizing 90 minutes crawling inch-by-inch across the floor to his laptop where he then logged on to Facebook and asked his FB Friends to help.  Phone calls to the Wales Ambulance Service started coming in from around the world and the paramedics were sent.  The ER doctors said that he would have died without the timely intervention.

It turns out that not all is love, peace, and harmony in Facebook Land.  We have a recent news article HERE from Carlsbad, New Mexico, where a man has been jailed after assaulting his estranged wife.  He traveled from Pecos, Texas, to bop her a couple of times because she wouldn't "Like" his Facebook status update.  The Carlsbad Current-Argus tries to sort it out:

Police arrived to find several people outside of the residence, and a woman yelling inside of the home. The woman, later identified as Dolores Apolinar, was taken aside by police to get her statement.

The woman told officers that she and Apolinar had been married for 15 years, and have children together, but were recently separated. Police said Benito Apolinar was in Carlsbad to drop off his children with their mother, where he allegedly arrived drunk.

According to the complaint, Dolores Apolinar would not let him into her home because she is on house arrest and feared she would get in trouble.  An argument ensued when Benito Apolinar refused to leave the home. The two reportedly yelled at each other before Apolinar came into the residence and allegedly pulled Dolores Apolinar's hair before punching her in the cheek.

Benito Apolinar reportedly told his wife that "he had so many comments on his status" and was apparently unhappy that she did not respond to the post.  "That's amazing everyone 'likes' my status but you, you're my wife. You should be the first one to 'like' my status," he allegedly told his wife.

Ahhh….. love blossoms in many colors, including black and blue.

We had better "like" to get this equipment checked out now.  I would "like" some more coffee, too.  We will all take care of our tasks and then meet back in the kitchen for our Sunday breakfast.

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Posted by on October 9, 2011 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged: ,

Air Tanker Crash in France

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Pilot Escapes Serious Injury

AN AERIAL TANKER WORKING A SCRUB FIRE in southern France Saturday afternoon crashed while making a drop and paritally burned.  The pilot of the Morane class plane was able to extricate himself and escape the flames with only minor injuries.

TF1 News

The Herault region has been experiencing unusually hot and dry climate for several months and on Saturday the wind was blowing at 50 to 80 km/h as at least 13 wildfires sprang up.  Two hundred firefighters were mobilized in the area along with a dozen aircraft including two helicopters.  A Morane-type aerial "bomber" was making a drop on one of the fires when a sudden and violent wind burst slammed it into the ground.  The pilot suffered a head injury, but was able to get out of the wreckage that soon became mostly consumed with a fire.  He will be ok, the medical authorities have said.

In the late afternoon the winds died down and all the fires were either extinguished or brought under control before the sun set.

TF1 News has the STORY.

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Posted by on October 8, 2011 • Filed under: aircraft, Fire Rescue Topics, forestry, Wildland

Suds for Sophomores

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Columbus Weekend High School Fundraiser

According to the mom supervising the car wash, the bike owner made a GENEROUS donation.

So did I after (a) getting his permission to take the photograph and (b) her permission to take a picture of the wash crew.

Supporting your community

We had a high school band crew wash the pumper one weekend day. They just had to wash the lower part of the white over red paint scheme. 

Have you supported the local community fundraising efforts?

Mike "FossilMedic" Ward

Posted by on October 8, 2011 • Filed under: Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing • Tagged: , ,

Facebook Is a Lifesaver

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"Friends" Around the World Come to Rescue

 A 59-YR.-OLD MAN IN WALES IS GRATEFUL to his Facebook Friends today after they were able to come to his virtual rescue on September 25.  Peter Casaru woke up that morning in extreme pain and partially paralyzed when a back spasm struck him while he slept.

Australia Channel 9 News picks up the story:

The south Wales resident was unable to call an ambulance because his mobile phone battery was dead, so spent an hour crawling three metres to his laptop where he began posting calls for help on his Facebook page.

"Can someone call 999 ambulance for me, I need one now, " he wrote. Mr Casaru, who was not wearing his reading glasses, wrote in jumbled text that he had fractured his back and was stuck on the floor typing.

Mr Casaru's friends in New York and Vancouver saw his messages, calling paramedics who arrived at his house in Brecon only 20 minutes later.

A happy and friend-filled Peter Casaru
is on the road to recovery, thanks to
his Facebook friends.  (Wales News Service)

Mr. Casaru, who lives alone, told the Daily Mail (UK): 

'I could see my laptop on the table but it took me an hour-and-a half to reach it. I was literally screaming in pain every inch of the way and when I got there I realised I didn't have my glasses.

'I couldn't see the keyboard or the screen but I managed to type out a garbled message asking for help and my Facebook friends responded immediately.'

The businessman said he was close to passing out when he heard emergency services entering his home. He said: 'I was close to passing out with the pain and just lay there hoping that help was on its way. I was so relieved when the door opened and a team of paramedics walked in.'

The doctors at the hospital were able to treat Casaru successfully and after four days in the hospital he was released and ambulatory with the aid of crutches.  They said that his spasm attack could have been fatal if he had not received emergency treatment.  He injured his spine four years ago in a bicycle accident and has suffered varying degrees of pain since then.

A Welsh Ambulance Service spokesman said, "We had a number of calls thanks to the message the patient sent out on Facebook. We are glad we got to him in time and he's doing well"

Read the full story and details in the Daily Mail HERE.
The Telegraph has MORE.

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Posted by on October 8, 2011 • Filed under: ambulances, EMS Topics • Tagged: ,

Serial Bombers Arrested in Poland

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Ka-Boomed in 5 Different Countries

TWO MEN HAVE BEEN ARRESTED IN POLAND suspected of setting explosions in Ikea stores around Europe.  The two men, as yet not publicly identified, are accused of perpetrating a violent extortion scheme against Ikea in an attempt to collect $8 million in a ransom payout.

The bombings began in May and progressively increased in intensity as they went along.  The two suspects, both age 39, deliberately traveled outside of Poland to set their devices in an attempt to prevent indentification.  The bombings occurred in France, Germany, Netherlands, Czech Republic, and Belgium.

Last day of freedom for two Poles arrested on international
bombing and extortion charges.  (Reuters)

BBC News reports:

Nobody was killed in the attacks, which involved booby-trapped alarm clocks, but two people were injured in Germany.  Polish prosecutor Wieslaw Bilski said it was still unclear how the two detainees would plead. They had, he added, "testified extensively".

Hundreds of Polish police officers had worked on the investigation along with counterparts in the countries where the attacks occurred, Polish police said.  The attacks, which occurred over five months this year, included incidents when:

  • booby-trapped alarm clocks blew up at Ikea stores in Belgium, France and the Netherlands on 30 May
  • a blast in the kitchen equipment department of a store in Dresden, Germany, left two customers needing hospital treatment on 10 June
  • police evacuated two stores in the Czech Republic, defusing a booby-trapped device found near one of them on 2 September

The suspects were arrested on Wednesday in the Kujawsko Pomorskie region of north-western Poland.

One of the suspects is fluent in four languages and the ransom notes sent to Ikea were written in several different languages.

The Associated Press has MORE.

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Posted by on October 8, 2011 • Filed under: crime, explosion, Fire Rescue Topics, News • Tagged: , ,

Morning Lineup – October 8

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Saturday Morning – Welcome to the 19th Century

Earlier this week all the newspapers and tv stations that cover Butte County in northern California were reporting on an arrest of an arsonist, similar to these words from the Paradise Post:

CAL FIRE announced tonight that a Butte County volunteer firefighter has been arrested in connection with the fires at De Sabla Market, Lovelock Inn and the Old Magalia Depot.

Jairo Perkins-Grubbs, 31, was arrested (Tuesday) at 9 p.m. on six counts of arson to a structure, and three counts of arson to wildland. Perkins-Grubbs is suspected of starting a series of fires in the Magalia area beginning in July.

It turns out that after Pekins-Grubbs' arrest they learned that he has served prison time in another state for a felony arson conviction.  Even more shocking to the locals was finding out that Cal Fire, who is contracted to provide fire service to the county, makes no attempt to screen volunteer applicants who wish to join their local fire station.  KHSL-TV Ch. 12 in Chico went around interviewing residents and fire officials in this video report that they filed yesterday:

 

To me, the most striking thing about this entire escapade is the fact that not only the local fire authorities, but Cal Fire itself never considered running a background check on these strangers who show up "wanting to help."  In the 4-½ years that Firegeezer has been online we have reported on case after case of various fire departments, both paid and volunteer, who never gave any thought to checking on applicants.  This is a practice that practically all fire departments, including most volunteer FD's, have been following for decades.

The Cal Fire official who responded to Ch. 12's inquiry said that "….the current budget cuts have prohibited them from doing background checks on the hundreds of volunteer applicants that apply every year."  Cal Fire, in case you are unaware, calls itself the nation's largest "fire department."  Established primarily by the state forestry division as its wildfire protection agency, Cal Fire also contracts with scores of localities, mostly smaller rural towns, to provide their fire protection by supplying fire engines and equipment along with the staffing of them.

Cal Fire employs 7,800 full- and part-time firefighters and oversees 4,300 institutional firefighters along with 5,600 volunteers who serve their local communities.out of 803 fire stations.

In my opinion, this whining about "budget cuts" is just a standardized cop-out for a failure to perform.  Yes, background checks can be costly, especially when inefficient government agencies are doing it.  But how about this for a possible solution?  The nation is awash with private detective agencies who perform basic background checks that include criminal histories for private businesses including your local convenience store, for a very reasonable fee.  Putting the service up for bid with the expectation that "hundreds of annual applications" will be processed will generate an even lower cost-per-applicant.  And then Cal Fire includes within their local contracts that the locality will pay for the background checks that affect their own departments.  That way the people who want the volunteers will be the ones paying for them, much as they pay for the Cal Fire professionals.

After all, how much did it cost Butte County to NOT run a background check on Perkins-Grubbs?

Speaking of checks, we'd better get started on our own equipment now.  I'm late getting the coffee refilled, so I'll tend to that now.  See you back in the day room.

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Posted by on October 8, 2011 • Filed under: morning lineup, Videos

Shipwrecked Silver Hoard Due to Surface

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Huge Cache of Silver Found

WHAT MIGHT BE THE LARGEST-EVER PRECIOUS METAL retrieval from a shipwreck is set to take place in the North Atlantic next Spring.  Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. announced last week that they had successfully found and identified the wreck of the SS Gairsoppa, a merchant freighter sunk by a German submarine in February 1941.  The ship was in service to the British Ministry of War Transport and was carrying an estimated 7 million ounces of silver bullion when it went down about 300 miles off the coast of Ireland and 15,000 feet below the surface of the water.  The total value of the cargo is estimated to be at least $200 million.

Site of shipwreck indicated by red button

Greg Stemm, Odyssey CEO, said, "We were fortunate to find the shipwreck sitting upright, with the holds open and easily accessible. This should enable us to unload cargo through the hatches as would happen with a floating ship alongside a cargo terminal."

The stern compass remains at its assigned spot on the rear poop deck.
(Odyssey Marine Exploration photo)

Of the 85 seamen on board, most of them went down with the ship or were murdered by the U-Boat crew who opened their machine guns on the sailors as the attempted to leave on their lifeboats.  About 30 did make it away in the lifeboats, but only one man survived the venture spending two weeks at sea until he landed on the coast of Cornwall.  He lived until 1992, the sole survivor.

Odyssey Marine Exploration has released this video taken by their ultra-deep explorer as it traveled around the ship recording identification evidence:

 

Read the entire press release from Odyssey Marine Exploration HERE.
Wikipedia has a good description of the ship and the torpedoing action HERE.

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Posted by on October 7, 2011 • Filed under: history, News, Videos • Tagged: , ,

Flip-Flop in Hialeah – Mayor Caves

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THE CITY COUNCIL OF HIALEAH, FLORIDA, reversed their decision to lay off 40% of their firefighters Thursday after an agreement was reached with the IAFF Local.  Just days after the city council exhibited unprecedented buffoonery and voted to effectively destroy the fire department (see Firegeezer article HERE), they rescinded the first round of layoff notices just as the affected firefighters were arriving to turn in their gear and pickup their final paychecks.

Hialeah firefighters, surrounded by supporters from Miami, Miami Beach,
and Orlando, celebrate the announcement of the temporary reprieve.
(Miami Herald photo)

As the newly laid-off employees showed up at the central fire station to complete their separation, Mayor Hernandez and Local president Mario Pico arrived to announce a temporary settlement.  The Miami Herald explains:

The dramatic turn of events was announced after a round of last minute negotiations, in which union leaders agreed to give up time-and-a-half pay for the next two holidays, Columbus Day and Veterans Day, in order to rehire their members. The savings to the city: about $230,000.

"Nobody stepped up and made this happen through the city. Who stepped up and made this happen were the firefighters," said Union Vice President Eric Johnson. "The fire fighters paid for their members to return to work to protect the citizens."

The agreement is only good until Nov. 30 and requires the union and the city to drop various issues, including charges of unfair labor practices and of negotiating in bad faith. It also requires the city to "expeditiously provide all financial data requested." The union’s only reason for not giving into concessions thus far had been Hialeah’s refusal to conduct a forensic audit.

Though the agreement falls short of that, Johnson said the union will continue to fight for a thorough review of the city’s finances after this temporary agreement expires.

The mayoral election will be held on November 1 and the outcome of that will no doubt have a commanding influence on the next round of negotiations.  Former mayor and current candidate in the upcoming election, Raul Martinez was quoted as saying,  "He (Mayor Hernandez) was getting beat up on this issue, he had to blink. He looks like a wimp and the temporary deal postpones the problem."

Read the entire article in the Miami Herald HERE.
Hialeah Fire Department WEBSITE.

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Posted by on October 7, 2011 • Filed under: Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, labor • Tagged: , ,

Gasoline Tanker Ignites While Offloading Product

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Driver Uninjured as Tanker Blows

A GASOLINE TANKER BURNED FOLLOWING AN "EXPLOSION" early Friday morning in the New York City suburb of Pelham Manor.  The truck was making a delivery around 2 am at a Gulf station that was closed at the time when something ignited the vapors.

Journal News photo

The ka-boom and resulting fire completely destroyed the gas station and caused heavy damage to a nearby convenience store.  The fire also spread into an adjoining auto repair shop, but the 70 firefighters that responded to the call were able to extinguish it.

WNYW-TV Ch. 5 has this early video report:

 

The Journal-News reports:

"This had the potential to be an enormous conflagration," Pelham Manor Fire Chief Joseph Ruggiero said from the scene shortly before the sun came up. "We had a tanker truck off loading and something went wrong which is yet to be determined, causing a fire in the tanker itself."

The chief spoke with the driver briefly and said a more extensive interview is planned.

"He claims he felt something hot, saw fire, and ran," the chief said.

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Posted by on October 7, 2011 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos

Fiery Train Wreck in Illinois – Working

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Ethanol Explosions Lead to Evacuations

Updated:  Scroll down.

A FREIGHT TRAIN CONTAINING TANK CARS OF ETHANOL derailed around 1:45 am Central near the small town of Tiskilwa, Illinois.  The wreck resulted in a major fire breaking out followed by explosions as the tank cars became involved.

WGN-TV

The entire village of 800 in Bureau County has been evacuated as the fire continues to burn out of control at the time of this posting.  NBC News has posted this raw video of the burning railroad cars:

 

View more videos at: http://nbcchicago.com.

The Associated Press is reporting early:

The train had 126 cars and more than 60 carried ethanol, said Aaron Whittington, a dispatcher for Oglesby's police and fire departments. The railroad company planned to bring another engine to the scene to move some of the cars and open up some of the railroad crossings so fire trucks could pass, he said.

Capt. Steve Haywood of the Ottawa Fire Department said the train's tanker cars were shipping ethanol for Decatur-based corn processor Archer Daniels Midland, and possibly other materials and chemicals. At least six tanker cars are burning, Haywood said.

The train was operated by Iowa Interstate Railroad. A dispatcher with the railroad said company officials were headed to the scene Friday.

Several fire departments have been dispatched to the scene, but since water cannot be used on the ethanol they are not making any attempt to extinguish the flames.

Update, 7:45 am Central:
All residents have been evacuate safely and there are no reports of any injuries so far.  A local high school is being used as the evacuation center and the Red Cross is providing cots and meals for the evacuees.

WGN-TV

Residents nearby say that they have heard at least three tank cars explode so far.
The fire department has decided to allow the fire to burn itself out.  It is still burning out of control at this hour.

Firegeezer will  be updating this report as more information is made available.

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Posted by on October 7, 2011 • Filed under: explosion, fire, Fire Rescue Topics, Fires, Haz-mat, HazMat, Videos • Tagged: , , , , , ,

Morning Lineup – October 7

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Friday Morning – Still Looking Back

I have written several times about topics and happenings that are just repeats of the same events from decades ago.  I usually finish up the article with the reminder that, Everything that's old becomes new again…  And it's amazing that it's true about so many problems and challenges in the fire and rescue business.  Sometimes it's a matter of  "new" equipment or procedures.  Well, this morning I'm going to do it again.

While preparing this week's Looking Back feature for yesterday's posting (HERE) that came from the April 1957 issue of Fire Engineering, I took time to read the monthly editorial that the magazine's editor files in each issue.  In 1957 the editor was Roi B. Woolley and he addressed an issue that will look awfully familiar to all of you today.  Take a moment to read his thoughts on this challenge that never seems to die out:

Keep in mind that this editorial was written 54 years ago.  Shall we say it again?  All together now:  Everything that's old becomes new again!

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Ok, hockey fans.  You all know that the new season started last night, and I suspect many of you have already checked the scores to see who is starting the season off with a perfect, undefeated record.  But…. do you know who has the distinction of having scored the first goal of the new season?  Firegeezer is here to tell you that challenging piece of useless information.  It was Brad Marchand of the Boston Bruins who deked Philadelphia's goalie with a beautiful move at 7:51 pm Eastern time.  And here's the video of the goal that kicked off the scoring race:

 

Unfortunately for the Bruins fans, that was the only score the B's got last night as the Flyers took the game 2-1.

Let's get ready for our own scoring race now and get this equipment checked out.  I need to get some more coffee going…soon.  See you back in the day room.

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Posted by on October 7, 2011 • Filed under: morning lineup

Building Collapse Kills 5, Injures 5 More

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Buried In Basement

A 2-STORY BUILDING IN BARLETTA, ITALY, COLLAPSED during the noon hour Wednesday with ten people inside.  Most of the occupants were women working in a small knitting mill in the basement of the building.  Also inside were the owners of the property and their 14-yr.-old daughter.

all photos La Repubblica

Everybody was trapped inside the collapsed building and five of them perished under the rubble.  The Vigili del Fuoco (fire department) responded promptly along with other rescue and search teams and began pulling off the debris aided by dozens of civilians and construction workers from nearby.

The first to be extricated was the young girl who was killed.  The final two victims to be removed were both alive when they were found and rescued ten hours later.

The cause for the sudden collapse is initially thought to be from some work being done to shore up an adjacent building that was deemed unsafe.  The structure on the other side had already collapsed about a year ago.  There is much local anger against the city council for allowing the situation to continue that led to Wednesday's collapse.

La Repubblica has the detailed story HERE.
Extensive photo galleries HERE, HERE, and HERE.

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Posted by on October 6, 2011 • Filed under: Fire Rescue Topics, rescue, Rescues • Tagged: ,

Bus – Truck Collision Injures 30

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Overturned Trucks on Dark Interstate

A PASSENGER BUS COLLIDED WITH AN OVERTURNED tractor-trailer truck in Nebraska at 2 am Thursday morning leaving about 30 people injured including the drivers of both the truck and the bus.

Nebraska State Patrol photo

Early reports say that the truck had drifted off the roadway into the median strip of I-80 near Gibbon, Nebraska.  The trucker then over-corrected and flipped his rig, blocking both lanes of the highway.  A 2nd truck then clipped the first one and glanced off into the ditch along the outside of the pavement.  Immediately after, a Burlington Trailways bus crashed into the overturned rig and smashed up the front of the bus leaving the driver in critical condition.

Of the 41 passengers on the bus, 30 of them were transported to hospitals for a variety of mostly-minor injuries.  The bus driver and the driver of the first truck were both admitted with critical injuries.  The driver of the 2nd truck was uninjured.

The original truck was carrying a load of dry cereal.  The Trailways bus, which is only 2 weeks old and just in service, was destroyed.  The bus driver has a 10-year unblemished record of safe driving.

TV Channel 7 Denver has the STORY.

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Posted by on October 6, 2011 • Filed under: EMS Topics, rescue, Rescues • Tagged: , ,

Save Money – Play Football (Commentary)

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Keeping Millionaires Happy

The Minneapolis Fire Department has a manpower/revenue problem that is resulting in gimmickry and layoffs. Will the taxpayers be on the hook for a brand-new $600+ million football stadium? That is the question before the citizens of Minnesota. There is some pushback but it looks like some pols will give it their best shot.

One recent proposal  (AP)

Is there any good reason this is not a civil rights issue? I'd like to see this sort of reverse Robin Hood-ing generate as many comments on as many websites and blogs as some guy not wearing an air pack on a car fire does.

………. Patrick Mahoney

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Note:  Thursday night the Minneapolis City Council addresses (once again) a plan to shrink the fire department.  KSTP-TV reports on tonight's scheduled hearing:

 

Recent Firegeezer reports on Minneapolis smoke and mirrors HERE and HERE.

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Posted by on October 6, 2011 • Filed under: commentary, FireHat, Videos • Tagged: , , ,

Looking Back

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Fire Engineering – April 1957

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Posted by on October 6, 2011 • Filed under: Looking Back

3 Family Members Perish in Mysterious RV Fire

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Father and Two Young Children Found Dead in Burned-Out Motor Home

A FATHER AND HIS TWO CHILDREN FROM WOODBURY, MINNESOTA, were found in a burned-out motor home near the entrance to the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona on Monday.

KARE-TV

The RV had pulled over on the shoulder of the roadway leading to the park entrance and passersby noticed smoke coming from the cab of the camper.  By the time the fire department arrived the vehicle was fully involved and after it was knocked down and firefighters could get inside, they found the bodies of a man and two young children.

They were later tentatively identified as Anthony DeHaven and his two children Jersey, a kindergartner, and Jace, a 6th-grade student.  An autopsy was performed Wednesday, but the results have not been made public.  Positive identification of the victims has not yet been determined, either.

The Associated Press and other news agencies are reporting that there is evidence that it may have been a murder-suicide incident.  Back in Minnesota the Woodbury police say that they have a document that lends credence to that supposition.

KMSP-TV Ch. 9 Minneapolis has this video report from Woodbury:

 

NPS: Grand Canyon Deaths Likely a Double-Murder Suicide: MyFoxTWINCITIES.com

AP report HERE.
The Woodbury Bulletin has MORE.

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Posted by on October 6, 2011 • Filed under: crime, fire, Fire Rescue Topics, Fires, Videos • Tagged: , , , , , ,

Vol. FF Nabbed For Firehouse Thefts

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Caught by Stupidity

A WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER and his girlfriend were arrested this week and charged with stealing more than $40,000 worth of brass items and other pieces of equipment from the New Eagle Fire Department.  They were caught after selling some of the items to a local scrapyard that in turn informed the police.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting:

Michael Edward Griest, 25, a New Eagle firefighter, is charged with theft, conspiracy, receiving stolen property and related offenses. His girlfriend, Tiffany Marie Gola, 22, of Centerville, is charged with conspiracy and receiving stolen property.

Not Bonnie and Clyde

The chief of the New Eagle fire department contacted Monongahela police on Sept. 27 to report numerous missing items, including a radio, video game console, fire hoses with brass fittings, an aluminum ladder, an aluminum shelf, a steel tub, sirens, oxygen tanks and an electric generator.

Monongahela Iron & Metal reported to police that on Sept. 22 Michael Griest brought in several pieces of fire department equipment and was paid $44 for 27 pounds of yellow brass. He came in the next day with multiple pieces of red fire hose brass fittings with the fire hose removed and sold them for $40.

Thinking they had a good thing going, they started bringing oxygen tanks to the scrapyard.  Everything they "sold" to the dealer has been identified as fire department property.

New Eagle VFD photo

Full story in the Post-Gazette HERE.
New Eagle Fire Department WEBSITE.

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Posted by on October 6, 2011 • Filed under: crime, Fire Rescue Topics, News • Tagged: , , , ,

Morning Lineup – October 6

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Thursday Morning – Drop the Puck

Along with the early autumn temperatures, October brings another sign of the approaching winter, the start of the National Hockey League season.  The dedicated fans already know this after following their favorite team's training camp activities over the past month and watching the process of whittling the roster down as players are gradually reassigned to the minor league teams during the course of the camp.  Yesterday at 3 pm was the deadline for all teams to be down to their 23-man limit and turn in their rosters to the league.

Tonight the 2011-2012 season officially begins with three games to get things rolling skating including one good rivalry, Montreal vs. Toronto.  Going into the weekend there will be six more games Friday, and then on Saturday the league reaches high gear with 13 games engaging 26 of the league's 32 teams and the show is on!  For the past five years or so (I don't recall exactly how many) the NHL has had four teams begin their seasons playing two games each in European cities to demonstrate the league's skills to the hockey fans over there.  This year's teams are the New York Rangers, Buffalo Sabres, Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks.  They will play a sort of round-robin against each other, but the results will count as official league games in the championship run. 

NHL.com

Each year there are different teams selected for the trip abroad and the games are played in different cities, usually places where current NHL players come from and interest is higher.  This year they will be playing a game each in Helsinki and Berlin with two games in Stockholm.  It makes for good PR for the league and provides a good connection for all the European skaters who play in the NHL.  While the teams themselves seem to really enjoy the unusual "road games" and the exposure to another continent, I have observed in the past that the upset of the players' routines and time-zone shift seems to affect their play when they first return to North America.

The league prepares them for the 6-hour time shift by sending them over a week early to complete their training camp and get adjusted, but after the games are played they return immediately and only get a 2 or 3 day rest and jet lag adjustment.  In previous years it seemed like the teams' play was affected for the next 2 or 3 games and they performed at a lower-than-expected level.  This year though, they are giving them a 4 and 5-day break to recover, so we will see how that works out.  After all, games lost in October cannot be made up in March.

One major change to the league this year is the off-season relocation of the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg where they adopted the name of the former team that was there for many years, the Jets.  Following the move, the league didn't have enough time to realign the division and change the schedules, not to mention the arena bookings, so this year only the Winnipeg Jets will be playing in the Southeast Conference and doing a LOT of air travel.

Side note for you dedicated NHL fans:  The NY Rangers put Sean Avery on waivers the other day and nobody picked him up.  He's on his way to the AHL now and it looks like his oft-embarrassing playing days in the big show are over.

Now let's get our own big show ready and get this equipment checked out.  I'm going to get some more coffee ready pronto.  See you back in the day room.

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Posted by on October 6, 2011 • Filed under: morning lineup

At Least Their PPE Won’t Smell Like Smoke For a While

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Did Anybody Self-Dispatch For the Assist?

A BEER DELIVERY TRUCK IN MUNICH, GERMANY (of all places), was making its rounds to bars and markets last Thursday when the driver took a corner too fast and hurled a major part of his load from the trailer onto the street.

The local fire lads were very willing to help clean up the mess and the police cordoned off the block to keep the other people from intruding and offering to assist with the clean-up. After the front-end loader cleared all the broken glass off the street, the firefighters hosed the rest of the debris down the sewer.

One fire spokesman told the German Herald, 'You always get a few who want to sneak a bottle or two from a crash but there's broken glass everywhere and it's really very dangerous because the rest of the load could fall at any time.  (Yeah, right.  That's what you tell the locals while your guys are pretending to be "picking up" while the cameraman is still there.)  'You might love a beer but you wouldn't want to be be buried under a landslide of it.'  (Speak for yourself, Heinrich.)

The shifting load damaged the trailer enough that the un-hurled cartons had to be offloaded to another truck before the first one could be driven away.

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Posted by on October 5, 2011 • Filed under: beer, News