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More Space at the Top Comes Available

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THE FORMER CHIEF OF the Caribou (Maine) Fire and Ambulance Department was indicted last week on three counts of unlawful sexual contact, one count of unlawful sexual touching and three counts of assault.  The crimes all took place in Caribou and apparently a city employee is the complainant against Chief Roy Woods, 67.

Roy Woods  (Aroostook Republican photo)

The Bangor Daily News reports:

Woods resigned in January after 44 years with the Caribou Fire and Ambulance Department, including 21 years as the head of fire, ambulance and emergency management services for the city. According to a copy of his resignation letter, Woods said he was resigning for "medical reasons."

However, Caribou City Manager Steven Buck issued a statement indicating that he accepted the resignation "in lieu of termination" after an investigation into a complaint filed against the fire chief by a city employee.

"An independent investigation into the personnel matter was conducted with an expanded scope," said Buck. "After extensive review and evaluation of the results of the investigation, my own evaluation and after reviewing these evaluations with Woods and a subsequent review of his responses, I accepted his immediate resignation."

Read the detailed story in the Bangor Daily News HERE.

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IRVING, TEXAS, FIRE CHIEF MARIO MOLINA was placed on administrative leave last week for undisclosed reasons.  However, it is strongly believed that it is connected to an FBI investigation into corruption.  The Dallas Morning News is reporting:

The move came weeks after a former mayor said two FBI agents questioned him about the chief’s alleged attempts last year to secure an employment contract in exchange for reversing unpopular disciplinary decisions against two department employees.

City spokeswoman Susan Rose did not respond Tuesday to questions about what prompted Molina’s leave or who made the decision to suspend him. Molina reports to City Manager Tommy Gonzalez. Rose also did not respond to questions about whether the chief is on paid or unpaid leave.

Chief Molina

At a politically explosive council work session in March 2011, Molina accused council members of putting political pressure on him to reduce the punishments of two firefighters that angered rank-and-file department employees. The meeting preceded council elections. The firefighter association’s political arm was considered a major force in city elections at the time.

(Former Mayor) Gears, who was up for re-election, said Molina offered to "take care" of the discipline issues that angered firefighters if he would help provide the chief job security through an employment contract.

The Dallas Morning News goes into greater detail about the chief's conflict with his firefighters in their STORY HERE.

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A FORMER NEW HAMPSHIRE FIRE CHIEF was sentenced to jail yesterday (Monday) after pleading guilty to a Christmas Eve arson.  Bradley Eldridge, 51, was the fire chief in West Ossipee, N.H., until March 28, 2011, when the West Ossipee Fire Precinct Commission removed Eldridge "for cause" during an executive session.

The Boston Herald tells us:

Eldridge was sentenced to three years with all but 90 days suspended for setting a fire in the barn of William Day Jr. on Porterfield Road in Porter.  Day wasn’t home, but a family across the street called the fire in and was able to extinguish it before firefighters arrived, according to Assistant District Attorney Joseph O’Connor. No one was injured and the animals in the barn survived.

O’Connor said Day was dating Eldridge’s ex-wife, and that Eldridge had made threats that he would "make Mr. Day suffer." A camera caught a man pulling up in a car that looked like Eldridge’s car and entering the barn just before the fire was reported.

When questioned, Eldridge admitted to setting the fire, and admitted he had been drinking heavily when he decided to start the fire, O’Connor said.

Read the full story in the Herald HERE.

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Posted by on May 15, 2012 • Filed under: current events, Fire Rescue Topics, labor, News • Tagged: , , , , ,

Broken Hydrant Brings Down Gas Station Canopy

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Red Light Runner Triggers Chain Reaction

IN PANORAMA CITY, CALIFORNIA, a dolt drove his car through a red light and then collided with a delivery van and a third vehicle.  The van in turn, sheared off a fire hydrant in front of a gasoline station and sent a gusher about 90 ft. into the air. 

KABC-TV

The water mostly came down onto the canopy over the pumps and before the city crews could get it shut off, the canopy collapsed.

KABC-TV

No word on the total damage costs, but it will be substantial.

KABC-TV posted this video from the scene that includes surveillance video of the collapse:

 

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Posted by on May 15, 2012 • Filed under: current events, hydrants, News • Tagged: ,

Updated: Shopping Mall Fire Working in Los Angeles County

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2 Alarms and Holding

Update, 10:30 am Pacific:  More information and video added.  Scroll down.

LOS ANGELES COUNTY FIREFIGHTERS are on the scene of a 2-alarm fire in a Palmdale shopping mall this morning.  The fire was discovered around 4 am Pacific and is initially believed to have started in a men's clothing store.

KTLA-TV

Apparently the Fire Command became concerned about the roof or the truss viability because all the firefighters were pulled out of the building after a while and only outside streams are in service.  Reports from the scene mention that it seems to have been brought under control around 5:45 am, but that is not official.  There are approximately 150 firefighters on the job.

This is still a working fire and no other information is available yet.  We should be getting some helicopter video before long and it will be added when we do.  KTLA-TV has this early REPORT.

Update, 10:30 am Pacific:

KCBS-TV has filed this video report:

 

The fire is knocked down, but most of the units are still on the scene working the hot spots.  Reports are now saying the the fire that gutted the clothing store extended into a warehouse to the rear which provided the bulk of the fire load.  It is not clear what was inside the warehouse or who it belongs to.  This is still a working incident.

KTLA-TV is saying:

No one was inside the building when the fire broke out and there were no reports of any injuries.

Arson investigators were at the scene. They were waiting until the building was stable before going inside. "The building was fully involved and the roof had already caved in, so the investigation will be tough," L.A. County Fire Dept. Insp. Bill Riley said.

The store's owner, who did not want to go on camera, said he was completely devastated. He said the store had been open about two weeks, and their grand opening was planned for this weekend.

KABC-TV

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Posted by on May 15, 2012 • Filed under: fire, Fires • Tagged: , , ,

Morning Lineup – May 15

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Tuesday Morning – Let's Brush Up on Investigation Tips

Everybody gets that occasional "smell of something burning" call that scatters the whole company throughout the house, sniffing here and there to try and track down the source before your nose gets used to it and you lose the scent.  Those calls can be so maddening when you can't find the source after five minutes or so.  A hot electrical smell takes you to the furnace and all the racks of stereo equipment here and there around the abode.  All the while you're hoping that you don't have to start poking holes in the drywall to check between the walls.  That's the last resort.

You have to call upon your experience and common sense to hopefully get to the source, but sometimes it just stops before you find it.  And that's even more maddening.  The smell is gone and you wish you were, too.  But you don't want to leave with a potential incipient fire waiting to come back in big style a few hours later.  Teeth gritting time.

Many moons ago I had one of those calls and we were definitely getting a burning-wood smell in the house.  It wasn't overpowering, but you could smell it on most of the first floor and it was strongest in the kitchen.  So we went to the scatter-and-search routine and I stayed in the kitchen, poking around, especially at and behind the stove.  Nothing.  The smell was getting softer, but it was still there, just tantalizing us and seemingly playing with us.  After about 15 or 20 minutes of poking and worrying that whatever was burning might be getting bigger while we are doing the Keystone Kops routine, I finally opened the dishwasher for a peek.  And there it was….. a wooden spoon had dropped from the rack and was laying across the heating element just scorching away like a wood-burning tool.

Ever sinces then I always included that pass-along tip during appropriate drills and made sure everybody who worked for me added that to their memory banks.  And apparently I am still doing it by passing this anecdote along to you now.  What brought all this to mind was seeing a press release online about a product recall and I immediately thought, this could be added to the million or so tips for firefighters that you carry around with you. Specifically, if your "smell" seems to be localized in a bathroom, this just might be one thing to check out while you're looking around.

Last week the QMI Agency issued the following recall notice:

Rechargeable Toothbrushes Recalled

Health Canada issued a recall Wednesday of Arm and Hammer's Spinbrush Pro Clean Sonic rechargeable toothbrush due to the possibility of fire, shock or burns.

There is "a small risk that the charging base may overheat, with localized melting and sparking. The risk…appears to increase somewhat with the age of the product," manufacturer Church & Dwight said in a statement.

The company has received six reports of overheating in the U.S. and one in Canada, but no reports of injuries, the statement said.

If you own one of these yourself, then you can read the entire release that gives the appropriate serial numbers and a link to the recall page that has instructions on how to get your money back by CLICKING HERE.  For everybody, here is still one more handy little tidbit to file away and just maybe there will be time you can use it.  It is always good to be able to limit the time you need to spend in somebody else's bathroon, don't you agree?

Now let's spend some time with our own equipment and get it checked out for the day.  Coffee is coming soon.  See you back in the day room.

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NHL Playoffs – Conference Championship Round

The Conference finals are underway now and the bottom-seeded Los Angeles Kings continue their dark-horse run through the playoffs.  Sunday night they beat the Coyotes 4-2 to take a one game lead.  Last night the New York Rangers had a convincing win over the New Jersey Devils, 3-0 to start the Eastern conference final round.

Western Conference – Los Angeles (8) vs. Phoenix (3)
Game One: Los Angeles – 4, Phoenix – 2.

Eastern Conference – New Jersey (6) vs. New York (1)
Game One:  New York – 3, New Jersey  – 0.

Highlights from last night's trans-Hudson series

 

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Posted by on May 15, 2012 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged: ,

Spectacular High-Rise Fire in France

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Exterior Fire Gets Inside

La Voix

ONE PERSON IS DEAD AND SEVERAL MORE INJURED, one seriously, from a fire in an 18-story apartment building in Roubaix, France, Monday afternoon.  The fire of undetermined origin started in a 2nd-floor apartment and got into the decorative siding on the face of the building.  The highly flammable siding burned fast and hot, spreading upward the entire height of the building and penetrating into the residences.

This video shows what the firefighters found as they were arriving:

 

The fire began at 2:50 pm and brought 105 firefighters to the scene where they had to begin immediate search and rescue operations on all 18 floors.  The building has a potential population of 250.  Several people were sickened from smoke inhalation and one of them required admission to the hospital in serious condition.  Later the body of a man was discovered on one of the upper floors.

La Voix

The fire brigade had the fire knocked down at 4:40 pm, but a long time of mop up carried on.

Reuters

La Voix du Nord has the story and photo gallery HERE.

Additional videos:

 

 

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Posted by on May 15, 2012 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: ,

Let’s Pretend We Have a Rescue Squad

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Wilmington Rolls Out the Trailer Squad

WHEN THE PENCIL-PUSHERS IN THE WILMINGTON, Delaware, Fire Department decided to lay off 17 firefighters, they worked out a plan that looked oh, so good on paper.  They will just park the two, now-unmanned rescue squad trucks behind two of their front-line engines.  And then when an alarm comes in that calls for a squad in the box, the two firefighters will drop back and bring the squad.

Not so fast, says the union Local.  Their contract plainly states that there will be a minimum of four firefighters on each piece of apparatus.  An arbitrator agreed with the Local and it was back to square #1 for the pencil-pushers.

Lou Angeli, publisher of the commentary blog Fire-Rescue-EMS Around the World tells us what happened next:

In a somewhat bizarre effort to meet the arbitrator’s demand, the Fire Administration has proposed purchasing three (3) 18-foot trailers, which would carry rescue and haz-mat equipment to incident scenes by towing them behind the existing Squad Pumpers (Squads 1 and 3) and the Haz-Mat pumper (Engine 6). The city says that such a change would allow the 4-person crew to remain together on a common apparatus, while at the same time carrying the tools needed for technical rescue.

This is a Rescue Squad  (Lou Angeli)

Fire administration supports their decision saying that the use of pumper-trailers by fire suppression units is "a popular trend" among the nation’s departments. It is true that the concept of using trailers to haul specialty equipment has been around for several years now, however the towing vehicle is never a pumper with a ball hitch, but rather a dedicated vehicle like a Ford F-550 or even a small 5th wheel tractor.

This is Not a Rescue Squad  (Lou Angeli)

Lou goes on to point out the folly of trying to convert a pumper into a tow vehicle, including some things the pencil-pushers never thought of, such as installing the auxilliary trailer air brakes in the fire engine, for example.

Read the entire story in his fire BLOG HERE.

At least one of the City Councilmen isn't impressed.  The Wilmington News Journal quotes him:  Councilman Stephen L. Martelli said the idea of large vehicles towing trailers "seems to be a bit problematic off the jump,"  That same article quotes the Local president as saying that pulling an 18-ft. trailer would be a navigational nightmare.  (not to mention prohibiting the pumper from laying a supply line.)

Read the News Journal's story HERE.

Firegeezer is not familiar with this "popular trend," as the pencil-pusher calls it, of pumper-trailer combo's springing up across the USA.  Can anybody help me out here?

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Posted by on May 14, 2012 • Filed under: apparatus, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing • Tagged: ,

Ambulance Crash in North Carolina

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At An Intersection …. Again

A DAVIDSON COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, AMBULANCE was involved in a collision Monday morning while transporting a patient to the hospital.  The ambulance was destined for a hospital in Winston-Salem and had its lights and siren on as it approached the intersection shortly after 8:20 am.

The Dispatch reports:

Jeff Smith, director of Davidson County Emergency Services, said Medic 20 was traveling north on N.C. 109 with lights and siren on en route to Forsyth Medical Center when it approached the intersection. He said it appeared the driver of the ambulance, whose name was not released, did not see a Land Rover that was trying to cross N.C. 109 to get on Old Greensboro Road because of a line of cars leaving West Lexington Avenue Extension that were attempting to turn left onto N.C. 109 South.

Smith said the ambulance was hit in the back quarter at the rear wheels. The ambulance spun around and struck the guardrail on N.C. 109.  "It was actually against the guardrail. They had to pull it up to get the patient out," he said.

The patient did not receive any injuries from the crash and was taken on to the hospital by another unit.  The medic in the back was taken to be checked, but does not appear to have any serious injuries.  The two drivers were uninjured as well as two children that were in the car.

The ambulance, a 2010 Chevrolet had "significant" damage and the Land Rover was totaled.  A state trooper said that the driver of the Land Rover will be charged with failure to yield to emergency traffic.

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Posted by on May 14, 2012 • Filed under: ambulances, EMS Topics, Vehicle Operation & Ambulances • Tagged: ,

6 Rescued From Burning Apartment in Illinois

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3rd-Floor Tenants About to Jump

A FIRE IN THE TOP FLOOR of a 3-story apartment building in Broadview, Illinois, had six people trapped when the firefighters arrived early Monday morning.  As the first units pulled in shortly after 1:25 am Central, they saw a crowd of people holding blankets under a window that had fire showing and several residents getting ready to jump out.  One was holding an infant and was just about to let it go when the FF's started throwing ladders.

NBC News

They were successful in reaching the six trapped occupants and removed them safely.  One of the victims was a man in his 70's who was caught in the smoke-filled stairwell and was led out by the firefighters.  He was transported with smoke inhalation problems.  The other five people were ok and checked out on the scene.

NBC News reports:

Broadview Fire Chief Thomas Gaertner said four or five people, including two children, were rescued by a ladder.

Gaertner said the blaze in the 2100 block of West 16th Street appears to have started by "unattended cooking." People living in the building said the person who left food on a stove ran around the 12 units and rang all the doorbells to get everyone out in time.

"It was scary, very scary," said resident Sharon Goins. "Neighbors were holding open a blanket ready to catch the baby until the firemen arrived with their ladders."

Firefighters went into the burning building to rescue a handicapped man on the third floor. The man was taken to Loyola University Medical Center, where his condition is unknown.

WLS-TV has some fire footage in this video report:

 

The Chicago Sun-Times has MORE.

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Posted by on May 14, 2012 • Filed under: fire, Fires, rescue, Rescues, Videos

Around The Fire Web

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Some Good Postings On the Web We Want to Share With You

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*  STATter911 posted a good video report over the weekend on a high-rise fire in The Bronx HERE.  Some good video included.

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*  Boron Extrication has posted the airbags and body graphics for the Dodge Avenger HERE.  (you should be checking this site regularly without me reminding you.)

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*  FirehouseZen publisher Mick Mayers sends off a close colleague who lost his battle with cancer the other day HERE.

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*  Wildfire Today has a good video report on an Ultra High Pressure foam system designed for wildland firefighting HERE.

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*  Mike Legeros' Raleigh/Wake Fire Blog has a couple of pix for you antique firetruck fans with a report from the Benson, N. C., fire department that displays a pair of beauties HERE.

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*  ChicagoAreaFire is running an occasional series on Chicagoland FD's that use color schemes for their apparatus that are not red.  Check out the latest installment HERE.  (Blue?  Orange?)

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*  LifeUnderTheLights presents the case for every medic unit equipped with 12-lead EKG capability.  He tells why and how to get it done HERE.

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Posted by on May 14, 2012 • Filed under: EMS Topics, Fire Blogs, Fire Rescue Topics

Morning Lineup – May 14

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Monday Morning
If Only More Fire Chiefs Would Do This – Cont'd.

Another fire chief has been added to the Firegeezer Hall of Fame for his unflinching forthrightness in telling his citizens the truth about the wood-chips-and-glue method of home construction.  This follows our REPORT HERE on April 25 about the Ontario (Canada) Association of Fire Chiefs taking up the megaphone and loudly telling their residents about the deadly dangers of this cheap-o construction.

The community of Carmel, New York in Putnam County, was shaken earlier this month when a house fire killed a local police captain, his wife, and two of their three children.  The prominently-known family's sudden and tragic death brought a lot of media coverage partially due to the extremely rapid burn of the house that went down a mere ten minutes after the fire started.  Yes, it was built with the so-called lightweight construction method that the fire service abhors.

Carmel Fire Chief Bob Lipton held a press conference that same day and spoke the truth about the tragedy.  WPIX-TV reported his words:

The Carmel Fire Department said the flames that early morning were unbeatable. Firefighters say it took a mere ten minutes for the Sullivan family home to catch fire, collapse, ad kill four out of five of them sleeping inside. The Carmel fire chief was quick to blame lightweight construction. It's uses inexpensive and popular building materials made of small bits of wood held together by glue and metal plates to fasten it all.

Carmel Fire Chief Bob Lipton wearily recounted the details of the home's undoing to reporters the day of the fire saying the walls gave way as metal fasteners popped off from heat. Once the walls started to buckle, the roof crashed down. It took a mere ten minutes Lipton said, and it's an all too common occurrence for homes built to code using engineered wood products.

AdditionaL fire companies we spoke with say they won't even put men onto the roof to try to knock flames down, fearful these new construction methods can lead to collapse in just minutes, as happened at the Sullivan family home.

The Sullivan family home a few hours after the fire began.
(Ossining – CrotonOnHudson Patch / Tarr photo)

Carmel's Fire Chief said the metal plates that are used instead of nails to create bonds between pieces of OSB actually heated up and popped off, causing the walls and roof to collapse. According to the Medical Examiner, the family all died from smoke inhalation–which is the other major problem with this less expensive lightweight construction.

Channel 11's story goes on to quote a prominent fire instructor who confirms the inherrant danger and then goes on to talk about the unique fire gasses that these products emit when they burn.  "The gasses that are produced as the glue is consumed by the fire is toxic as well as flammable, so as the wood is burning it produces a toxic gas that burns even more. The resulting fires are 200% to 300% hotter. Plus the fire releases heat quicker. This is just a nasty toxic recipe for killing. It really is." he told the reporter.

Take a few moments to read the entire ARTICLE HERE.  Not only is Chief Lipton doing his part in getting this message out, but we are starting to see some curiosity from the press about this stuff.  Now is the time to grab them while they are listening.  I recall that when the inexpensive home smoke detectors came onto the market in the early 1970's, there was a nationwide effort by our fire chiefs and FD press releases to get the newspapers and tv stations to always mention in their reports of house fires whether or not smoke detectors were installed.  We are still seeing the success of that program, with a near-automatic inclusion of this vital information showing up in almost all residential fire reports now.  ( Seat belt usage is seeing the same publicity success.)

It is time that we – all of us – mount a concerted campaign to include the fact that a particular building was constructed of this deadly method with every report.  It begins right in the firehouse…. on scene interviews should always tell when that is the situation.  The following press release from the FD must also state this.  And the fire chiefs lay on the third message.  When these are consistently included in the reports, then the press starts catching on and after a while they start inquiring about it and putting it in their stories.  Come on… let's go!

Let's go to apparatus now and get the equipment check taken care of.  It's Monday, so we work with the long form today.  I'll put the Bunn-O-Matic on extra duty and get plenty of coffee ready.   See you back in the digital day room in a little while.

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NHL Playoffs – Conference Championship Round

Western Conference – Los Angeles (8) vs. Phoenix (3)
        Game One:  Los Angeles – 4, Phoenix – 2.

Eastern Conference – New Jersey (6) vs. New York (1)
          Game One Monday night 8 pm Eastern

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Posted by on May 14, 2012 • Filed under: Building construction, morning lineup • Tagged: , , ,

Pull Over For The Slambulance!

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Lax Vehicle Laws in Texas Creates Confusion

AN AMBULANCE-LOOKING PARTY CAR is creating some confusion and anger in Fort Worth, Texas, this week.  The curiosity showed up in a parking lot of an apartment building and generated some questions from the local news stations.

KVUE-TV

The apparently converted former-ambulance still has the flashing red/blue light bar on the cab along with the mirrored decal on the hood.  Along the side is a mighty star of life and in big letters:  DFW RESCUE with Cougar & Kitten written out in smaller script (DFW are commonly used to connote the Dallas – Ft. Worth region).  A peek through the rear windows reveals an array of lounge-bar leather seating and a dance pole.

KVUE-TV

NBC5 News made some phone calls:

A public database shows the truck was registered just last month to Fort Worth chiropractor Joe Ysbrand at the address of the medical clinic on Camp Bowie where he works.

"It's a limo," he said in a telephone interview.  (Yeah, right… a limo ….FG)

Asked what it's used for, he said, "There's a couple doctors who use it. We don't rent it… We just take friends and family out, that's about it."

Later, an attorney who claimed to work for the owner of the vehicle called NBC 5 to say Ysbrand doesn't actually own it — even if that's what the registration shows. The attorney, Fletcher Johnson, said, "It was inadvertent. They filled out the paperwork incorrectly."  (Oh, sure …. the bone-crusher just didn't understand what 'Your Name' means and accidentally wrote down his buddy's address?…FG)

Johnson wouldn't identify who does own the truck and added that it's not intended to look like a real ambulance. (Except for the flashing lights and ambulance decals all over the red body….FG)  The owners plan to use it for corporate and sporting events and even children's parties, he said.  (Children's parties?  With bar seating and a dance pole?  Where did they find this lawyer, at the Sleezeball wing of the state bar? ….FG)

Did we mention that this ambulance that is NOT owned by the bone-crusher, but registered to him at his work address, is also parked in front of HIS apartment building?

All of this is disconcerting to the local ambulance service, MedStar.  They are worried about both the reputation of their firm as well as the possibility that people will naturally think it's a real ambulance and expect it to stop and accidents and stuff.

KVUE-TV gives us a good look at the non-ambulance for cougars in this video report:

 

The Fort Worth police say that it is perfectly ok to have flashing red and blue lights on your truck, just so long as you don't turn them on.  Apparently there are no laws restricting the usage of ambulance decals of all sizes on your personal vehicle, either.  Don't mess with Texas.

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Posted by on May 13, 2012 • Filed under: ambulances, EMS Topics • Tagged: , , ,

Downtown Fire in California

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Entire Row of Shops Destroyed

THE TINY, OLD-WEST TOWN OF MARIPOSA, CALIFORNIA (Pop. 2,200), is best known as one of the gateways to the Yosemite National Park, seeing thousands of visitors passing through on their way to the park.  Friday night a fire started in a large 90-yr.-old building currently used as a restaurant and within minutes it had spread through an entire row of six other shops along the block of 5th Street.  The entire row was one building that had been added onto many times since the original portion was constructed in 1920.  It covered 9,000 sq. ft. and had a common attic and basement as well.

Merced Sun-Star photo taken in an early stage of the fire.

The fire began in The Pizza Factory located on the corner of 5th Street and Route 140 around 8:30 pm Friday night when the popular local hangout was packed with customers starting their weekend.  The Modesto Bee continues:

It was standing-room only with about 80 people in there," said Luke Willey, co-owner of the Mariposa Pizza Factory. "We ripped the wall down trying to put (the fire) out, but it got into the attic. The building was so old, it went up fast."

Everyone escaped safely, and the crowd watched helplessly as flames spread from one shop to the next.

"I felt the heat (from a block away)," said Sean LaFleur, who lives and works in Mariposa. He described the inferno as "hell on Earth," and he used his iPhone to record the horror. "It gave me nightmares, and I really could not sleep at all (Friday night)."

By dawn, nothing was left of the pizza parlor or the adjacent businesses: Pony Expresso Coffee House & Trading Post, Tracy's Yarns, Larry's Coins, Grace Notes Chimes, the Mariposa County Arts Council Gallery and the Windows on the World bookstore.

KMPH-TV filed this video report:

 

More than 70 firefighters from Mariposa, Merced, and Madera Counties, plus units from CalFire fought the blaze, mainly concentrating on containment.  They did keep it from spreading to a nearby church and other commercial parcels on the street.

The Modesto Bee has the STORY HERE.

Google Street View of the extended building and shops prior to the fire.

Same view as above Saturday  (KMPH image)

KGPE-TV Ch. 47 Fresno filed this video report:

 

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Posted by on May 13, 2012 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: , , ,

Morning Lineup – May 13

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Mother's Day Sunday Morning

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So far, it has been a fairly quiet weekend around the fire and EMS world.  That means it's probably going to blow sometime this afternoon, so let's take it easy while we can for a couple of hours.  An exception is a report coming from China where still another weather-related catastrophe has stricken one of the millions of "remote areas" that they have.  A hailstorm that lasted one hour killed at least 40 people and sent 87 to the hospital (wherever that place is), and another 18 people are still missing.  Xinhua, the official news agency for the communist country, tells us:  "Roads were blocked, houses collapsed, farmland was destroyed, and the power supply and telecommunications services were disrupted by the extreme weather." 

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While you're taking it easy waiting for the bells to ring, click on over to STATter911 and watch the video Dave posted last night HERE.  It's a fun-view of a 1953 film taken in Austin, Texas, showing a "routine day" in Fire Station 5, complete with training evolutions, fire response, and of course…. equipment check!  I always get a kick out of those vintage reports.

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Rich H. has been a loyal and steady reader of Firegeezer ever since we went online five years ago.  He is a retired firefighter who also holds a commission in the military and he sent us this photo of a T-shirt that seems to be growing in popularity around the various military bases.  It looks like this one is focused on the Marines.  I don't know where you would order one, but we can all enjoy the humor in it:

It's time to get this equipment checked out now before the Sunday breakfast is ready.  I'll check on it while I start up some more coffee.  See you back there in a little while.

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NHL Playoffs – End of 2nd Round

The final game of the 2nd round of playoff games was played last night and the New York Rangers defeated the Washington Capitals 2 – 1 to advance to their Conference finals.  The Rangers scored first, just 1:32 into the first period and held the lead through the entire game.  The other two goals came in the third period when NY scored midway through the period taking a 2-0 lead, but the Caps scored just 38 seconds later, keeping them in the game until the final buzzer.  Here are the matchups for the Conference finals:

Western Conference – Los Angeles (8) vs. Phoenix (3)
           Game One Sunday night 8 pm Eastern.

Eastern Conference – New Jersey (6) vs. New York (1)
          Game One Monday night 8 pm Eastern

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Posted by on May 13, 2012 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged: , , ,

Museum Pumper Burns

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Heavy Damage Estimate

THE DENVER FIRE MUSEUM in Colorado saw one of its antique pumpers heavily damaged by an engine fire late last week. 

All photos via Denver Fire Museum

The 1953 Seagrave pumper is used for funeral service and is available for hearse duty for any firefighter, active or retired, in the area on request.  On May 4 Dan Farley, a retired Denver FD engineer, was driving it and had just returned from a funeral detail.  He  was still outside on the street getting the truck prepped to be parked back inside the museum when the motor backfired and started a fire in the engine compartment.  "The backfire was a real throaty backfire. I expected the worst when I saw the heat rise from the hood," Farley told the press.

As the DFD was being called, Farley and others in the museum grabbed three fire extinguishers and tried to knock the flames down.  The fire soon burst one of the radiator hoses and the coolant knocked down a large part of the flames.  Engines 1 and 6 responded and finished the job.

The loss will be strongly felt because all of the parts that were damaged are largely unique and will have to be custom fabricated to restore the engine.  Their early estimate is for $100,000 in restoration costs.

All photos via Denver Fire Museum

Channel 9 News covered the fire in this video report that includes an interview with Dan Farley:

 

Farley also stated that when he went to work for Denver FD in 1977, this was the pumper in service at his first assignment, Station 4.  The Denver Fire Museum has owned E-4 since 1999.

Visit the Denver Fire Museum WEBSITE HERE.
View the museum's photo gallery of the Eng. 4 fire on their Facebook page  HERE.

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Posted by on May 12, 2012 • Filed under: antique apparatus, fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: , , , ,

Morning Lineup – May 12

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Saturday Morning – Getting From Here to There

Let's take a couple of minutes to look at some items that don't really fit anywhere else in the daily postings.  First off, Ron Y. passed along this brief report from Middletown, Connecticut, where a high school was caused to evacuate when the fire alarm triggered Thursday afternoon.  The Associated Press tells us:

Officials say a fire alarm that went off at a Connecticut high school was activated by a student's "overabundance" of body spray in a locker room.  Firefighters were called to Middletown High School shortly after 3 p.m. Thursday.

Officials told The Middletown Press that the student used an excessive amount of the scented spray and created a cloud of mist right below a heat sensor, which tripped the fire alarm.

Now that the kids know how and where to make it happen, how long will it be until another hygenically-challenged boy decides to override his bodily effervescence at that same spot?

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Fort Lee, New Jersey in Bergen County, apparently has more than its share of simpletons walking the streets.  So far this year, which is barely more than four months old, at least 20 pedestrians have been struck by autos after they wandered off the sidewalk and into traffic because they were so engrossed in "texting" that they lost their bearings and were oblivious to the curbstone and stuff like that.  In an attempt to jolt the dolts into reality, they have enacted an ordinance prohibiting the sport.  In the first 45 days of enforcement, the police have issued about 120 tickets, at $85 a pop.

However, the champion Dumbo-texter is still this woman shopper from eastern Pennsylvania:

 

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The Discovery TV Network announced recently that they have chosen not to renew their popular series Cash Cab.  The impromptu quiz-show-in-a-taxi has run for six years on the channel and has been nominated several times for Emmys (and won two).  No more deciding whether to make a mobile or a street shout-out.  And we no longer get to see if anybody gets three strikes on the first three questions.

The host/driver Ben Bailey, who is a stand-up comedian by trade, makes the show even better than its premise takes it.  The concept originated in England and after it became a hit, the program was licensed to local production companies in more than two dozen countries around the world.  The U.S. producer, Lion Television retains the option to sell their program to another network if they can strike a deal.  Discovery will continue to air reruns until September.

We need to begin our own reruns now and get the equipment checked out.  It's Saturday and the weekend shoppers will be out soon, looking for new ways to get in trouble.  I'll get some more coffee going before we meet back in the day room.

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Posted by on May 12, 2012 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged: ,

Update: Arrests Made…. 4-Alarms at Oregon High School

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Damage Appears To Be Contained to One Wing

Update, Saturday morning: Three juveniles arrested on arson charges.  Scroll down for details.

A FIRE STARTED DURING CLASS HOURS at the Woodburn High School in Woodburn, Oregon, Friday morning and went to four alarms.

KPTV

The blaze began shortly before 9:30 am Pacific and is still burning at the time of this writing.  Some early, but unconfirmed, reports say that it began in a classroom in the woodshop class area.  One student told the Salem Statesman-Journal:  "We went out like it was a planned fire drill, but when we were told to go to the football field we knew it was real. We’d never done that before."

The school principal told the press that 1,250 students along with 150 teachers and other staff were all evacuated safely.  After roll call in the football field, the students were walked to a nearby clinic where their parents would be able to pick them up.

KPTV News posted this raw video taken from their helicopter:

 

The Woodburn Fire Department was assisted by Aurora, St. Paul, Hubbard, Tualatin Valley and Marion County firefighters.  No further information has been made available yet.

Hat tip:  Mark Donovan

Update, Saturday morning:
Woodburn Police Dept. detectives announced that they have arrested three 15-yr.-old boys and charged them with 1st-degree arson, reckless burning and reckless endangerment.  NWCN is reporting:

As the fire was brought under control investigators learned it was not accidental, according to Detective Sgt. Nick Wilson.

"Detectives were able to take the information and it led them to the arrest of three 15-year-old juveniles, who were students of WHS," Wilson said. They were lodged in the the Marion County Juvenile Detention Center.

All three of the juveniles are students at the school.

It was also announced that the school will be closed all next week and will reopen on the 21st.  The fire destroyed the wood and metal shops.

KOIN-TV posted this video update:

 

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Posted by on May 11, 2012 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: , , ,

Looney Trustee Update

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Inexplicable Actions Have Many Wondering

FOLLOWING THE FIREGEEZER REPORT on Sunday about the loose cannon Trustee of St. Joseph Township in Indiana, we all were wondering how this man was legally able to do the things he did.  (See the Firegeezer REPORT HERE.)  Robert Uhrick has arbitrarily disbanded the EMS activities and sold off the two ambulances at a fraction of their value.  Then last week he sold the boat, motor and trailer without telling anybody until it was done and delivered.  Nobody in the fire department was aware that the boat had been taken from its storage shed until the next day.

Trustee Uhrick  (WANE-TV)

Now the Trustee has told the fire chief that his next move is to sell the fire engine and other equipment, then ask for bids from neighboring departments to provide coverage to their area.  In effect, he wants to shut down the fire department entirely.  It is staffed by three paid volunteer chief officers and the rest of the members are all volunteers as well.

Firegeezer recently had a telephone interview with Fire Chief Jerry Lencke who gladly answered my questions about these topics and filled me in on some of Uhrick's recent actions and the problems they have caused.  Chief Lencke tells us that St. Joseph is one of the most prosperous townships in the state and they do not have any sort of a budgetary problem.  In fact, the twp. has not had to take out a loan for anything in the past 20 years.

The township which is located in Allen County, is overseen by one Trustee who is elected by the citizens.  That is the aforementioned Robert Uhrick.  He has held that position for many years and is usually uncontested at election time.  The Trustee is guided by a committee of three "advisors" who do not have any direct authority over him.  Uhrick's daughter is one of the advisors and his wife is the Township Clerk.  (Nepotism, anybody?)

St. Joseph Twp. Fire Station  (Fire Dept. photo)

The Township owns the fire station and all of the equipment in it.  The VFD is a chartered corporation/fire department, but it does not own any of the equipment.  Trustee Uhrick is solely responsible for the budget and he creates it.  Chief Lencke tells me that they do not have any problem staying within the budgetary limits and this current fiscal year he is under-budget.  There is no monetary problem with the fire department.

The boat that was recently sold sub rosa was worth approx. $8,000 and was fully paid for.  Uhrick offered it to a fire department in another county for half-price, $4,000, and they accepted the offer.  After the boat and trailer were picked up, Uhrick had his wife send an email to Chief Lencke at 9 pm that said, in its entirety:

We have received an offer for purchase and have sold the boat, motor and trailer.  It was picked up this evening……Trustee Uhrick.

That was the first anybody had learned that this was even being considered.  Just as surprised was the Allen County Dispatch Center who still had the emergency unit marked in service.  They next had to go through the labor of revising all of their run cards for the water rescue running orders.  Also, the clueless trustee let the purchaser go off with the equipment that was in the boat (safety vests, throw bags, strobe light, etc.) forcing the township to purchase replacements to be placed on their squad truck.

Chief Lencke  (WANE-TV)

Up until four months ago the dept. had four full-time firefighters to provide constant coverage, but they were laid off.  Then Uhrick had a locksmith come in and padlock the locker room and bunk room.  The department had four live-in volunteers who provided full coverage at nights, but now they are unable to stay there because of this psychotic behavior.  Now when there is a night fire, there is a several-minutes delay in response because everybody is coming from home.

Eighteen months ago, the township purchased $500,000 in vehicles including a pumper, two utility vehicles and a new ambulance.  Like the boat, the ambulance was sold off at a fraction of its value when Uhrick disbanded the EMS coverage and turned it over to a private ambulance firm.  Now he says that he will do the same thing with the fire engine.  As township trustee, he has the legal authority to do these things, even destructive actions such as we have pointed out.

Nobody knows why Uhrick is doing these things.  He has been ducking any questions and has refused for several weeks to have any face-to-face meetings with the fire chief.  Attempts to call him are screened by his wife and she refuses to connect the calls.

Firegeezer will be staying with this situation and will keep you informed of whatever transpires in this Bizzaro world that Uhrick has set up.

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Posted by on May 11, 2012 • Filed under: apparatus, current events, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing • Tagged: , , ,

Small-Town Police Chief / Vol. Firefighter Charged With Sexual Assault

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One of Those "Over Many Years" Cases

OLD FORGE, PENNSYLVANIA, POLICE CHIEF LARRY SEMENZA was arrested Wednesday and charged with six counts of aggravated indecent assault, unlawful contact with a minor, indecent exposure, and failing to report suspected child abuse.  Another police officer and a third vol. FF are also implicated in the unfolding story following formal complaints filed by a woman who was age 14 when the series of sexual misconduct began.

Semenza being led into the courthouse for
his arraignment Wednesday  (Times-Tribune)

Semenza was also a volunteer fire captain in the local VFD and the incidents covered in the complaints took place in the firehouse between November 2004 and March 2007.  The Scranton Times-Tribune continues:

The alleged victim is the same girl Old Forge police Capt. Jamie Krenitsky and former volunteer borough firefighter Walter Chiavacci are accused of sexually assaulting between 2004 and 2005.

The victim, now 23, was 14 when she became involved the Old Forge Fire Department, where Chief Semenza was fire captain at the time, according to the criminal complaint. The victim said she attended fire house training taught by Chief Semenza, describing him as a friend, teacher or mentor, according to the criminal complaint.

The victim told police Chief Semenza took her for coffee, gave her rides to training and took her to purchase new fire equipment, which she was not required to pay for, the complaint says. He also took her to purchase a new fire helmet that cost several hundred dollars, which she did not pay for, according to the criminal complaint.

During the fall of 2004, the victim said the relationship progressed to more of a dating relationship, with the victim visiting Chief Semenza dressed in her Halloween costume in 2004, according to the criminal complaint. Shortly after the Halloween visit, "things became hot and heavy," between her and Chief Semenza, the victim said in the complaint.

The Scranton Times-Tribune has a more detailed report outlining the series of complaints HERE.

The Times-Tribune provided this brief video taken at the courthouse following Semenza's arraignment:

 

Apparently Semenza took recorded admissions from the other two men that they had also participated in the long-term indecencies.  The State Police raided the Old Forge police station earlier this week and seized several records.

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Posted by on May 11, 2012 • Filed under: crime, Fire Rescue Topics, News, Videos • Tagged: , ,

Case Closed on Topless Coffee Shop Arson

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Thursday Sentencing Concludes the Case

RAYMOND BELLAVANCE, PREVIOUSLY CONVICTED for setting the fire that destroyed the Grand View Topless Coffee Shop in Vassalboro, Maine, was sentenced yesterday (Thursday) to serve 30 years in prison for the deed.  The Kennebec Journal is reporting this morning:

Justice Michaela Murphy imposed the maximum sentence in Kennebec County Superior Court on Thursday.

Raymond Bellavance, 51, listens to his
sentence being handed down.  (Kennebec Journal)

"In the view of this court, the defendant presents a profound threat to public safety and has demonstrated that on multiple occasions," said Murphy, who presided over the 10-day jury trial that resulted in Bellavance's conviction Dec. 30 on two counts of arson. Each count carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, but they will be served concurrently.

Acting District Attorney Alan Kelley characterized Bellavance as incorrigible and recommended the 30-year sentence. "He is a very bad man who committed a very bad crime completely in character with what he has been and done his entire life," Kelley said.

Bellavance set the fire on June 9, 2009, at the small-town business located in a former motel.  The coffee shop's owner and his family along with two others resided in the living spaces of the motel and had to flee for their lives from the fire.  Fortuitously, the fire was discovered by a passing ambulance crew that just happened to be going by on their way back from a call.

AP / Joel

Firegeezer covered this story from the beginning with a report on the FIRE HERE. This was followed by a report HERE on the re-opening of the business under a tent while the former motel dining room was being rebuilt.

Later in the following December it was announced that the fire was an arson and that a warrant was issued for Raymond Bellavance. But he immediately beat feet to South Carolina where the U. S. Marshals found him in May 2010 (see Firegeezer report HERE). After being extradited back to Maine he had been held without bail since then.

In the trial several witnesses said that Bellavance was always hanging around the shop vying for the favors of one of the waitresses who was a former girl friend of his. He became angry when she rebuffed him while she was having a sexual affair with the owner whose wife and another two girlfriends of his also lived there. It gets complicated.  The prosecution's key witness was a man who was with Bellavance that night and witnessed him setting the blaze.

WCSH-TV had a camera in the courtroom yesterday and filed this informative video report:

 

At his sentencing, Bellavance did not speak but did issue a written statement:

You can read the entire statement (.pdf) HERE.  Bellavance has a lengthy criminal record already.

Crabtree gave up trying to re-establish the business last year and sold the property while moving to another community in Maine.

Read the detailed report on yesterday's court activity in the Kennebec Journal HERE.

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Posted by on May 11, 2012 • Filed under: arson, Fire Rescue Topics, Law & Justice • Tagged: , , ,

Morning Lineup – May 11

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Friday Morning – Let's Go Shopping

We have been observing and commenting on the growing e-reader usage and product lines for several months now.  In fact, back in January we ran a 4-part series of reviews of the various e-reader devices on the market and how they differ.  (If you missed them, click HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE to review them and start your learning adjustment process.)  The e-reader wars took an interesting turn last week when retailing giant Target announced that they will be discontinuing in-store sales of all Kindle products from Amazon after they sell off their remaining stock-on-hand, certainly by the end of this month.

Post-Standard

Target also announced that they will be setting up dedicated departments to Apple products, featuring their iPad tablet/e-reader, in most of their 1,700 stores in the coming weeks.  On the surface it looks like a part of the Target / Apple alliance is to remove the iPad's competitors within the stores.  But reading farther down the story line we see that Target will continue selling the Barnes & Noble Nook e-reader.  So, what gives here?

It is believed that Target's decision was made back in the Christmas season when Amazon came out with a phone app that allows a the user to use their smartphone to scan the bar codes of products in stores and will send back immediately the price that Amazon sells the same product for.  And in practically every instance Amazon's price will not only be significantly lower, but in most states there will be no sales tax added.  Add in the free 2-day shipping that Amazon Prime customers get, and you can see what the logical results will be.  Now we have this new shopping phenomenon of people browsing throught the bricks-and-mortar stores to see their potential purchases physically and deciding if it's something that they like.  Then they scan to barcode to get Amazon's lower price and simply sending the Buy Now command to purchase the widget before they casually walk out the door empty-handed.

This hand-to-hand retailing combat is concerning other major chains, too.  Best Buy, Walmart, Staples and others that sell Kindle products in their stores are likewise upset with the strategy and are looking for their own solutions to remain competitive.  It is not only the publishers that are having to readjust due to the incursion of the e-readers. 

We need to readjust our equipment check routines, too.  But until we have scanners and apps to record our morning check list, we have to be content with the 19th-century clipboard and get started with this morning's inspection.  So while you get started on that, I'll head for the Bunn-O-Matic and get another pot going.  See you back in the day room in a little while.

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Posted by on May 11, 2012 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged: ,

Looking Back

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Fire Engineering – October 1959

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Posted by on May 10, 2012 • Filed under: Looking Back • Tagged: ,

5-Alarms in Santa Clara

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Homes Under Construction

SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, FIREFIGHTERS are finishing up from a 5-alarm fire at a home construction site this morning.

Mercury News

The fire was discovered shortly after 10 pm Pacific Wednesday night at a townhouse construction site near the center of town.  The arriving companies found a large fire growing in a row of 3-story homes that were still in the framing-in stage of construction.

The San Jose Mercury News reports:

The first units on scene instantly realized the fire was significant and called in scores of resources from the San Jose and Santa Clara County fire departments, Kelly said. Their main concern was that the fire would spread to the nearby townhomes that are already built and occupied.

"It was very intense," Kelly said. "It was spreading from one unfinished house to the next. We were very fortunate that there was no wind (Wednesday night). Often times you have the wind and the ambers [sic] will catch other homes on fire."

The FD was able to confine the fire to three units and prevented it from spreading.

Mercury News

It is still early and no determination has been made on the cause.

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Posted by on May 10, 2012 • Filed under: fire, Fires • Tagged: , , ,

Morning Lineup – May 10

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Thursday Morning – Save That

Have you noticed that we aren't seeing much in the way of sale advertisements for blank CD's anymore?  The electronics retailers and office supply stores still have them on the shelf, but no promotional offerings and loss-leaders designed to get you into their store to do your shopping.  And prices are about as low as you could expect, averaging about 20¢ per disc (or is it "disk"? ).  Take away the costs of shipping them from Asia somewhere, packaging them in protective containers, etc., and the actual price of the individual disc is somewhere around 6 or 8 cents (my estimate).

But now I am wondering if maybe their time has passed and the handy media storage item that made the 3" floppy extinct overnight are about to go down the same path?  Each disc holds 700 MB which is enough for most uses and serves as a good backup storage device.  But the space that they occupy on your shelf or in a disc storage box is measurable.  Not so much that it's anything you would think about, but certainly a lot more than a flash drive.  Not only is the flash drive itself smaller, but it holds a lot more data in it compared to a single CD.

I read recently that there is a natural migration from discs to flash drives as the manufacturers are able to get more data onto a device and the prices continue to drop.  This week I saw an ad placed by Office Depot offering 8GB flash drives for $10.  If I am figuring correctly (please tell me if I'm not), then that works out about 87¢ for the same amount of storage space as a CD that sells for 20¢.  Not really competitive in that category….yet.  But they are a lot easier to carry around.

The term "drive" to identify the gadget is a bit misleading because there is no "drive" in the device.  It is a microprocessor that has no moving parts, but functions through computer commands as if it was a hard drive.

All that aside, there are pluses and minuses for both storage types, disc and flash.  My concern is the permanence of data on the flash drive.  While it's good to store files temporarily, I wonder if it is acceptable for long-term permanent storage of your most valuable data?  Is it reliable enough to be your only storage for your irreplacable family photos, for example?  I have a lot of questions like that, but I'm afraid that the change-over will take place anyway.  I would prefer to keep both methods in use.  I will probably get in the habit of carrying a flash drive with me for convenience, but for most files I think I will keep using my CD's for most of them…. the ones that are less than 700 MB, that is.  Yeah, a combination of the two, I think.  We'll see. We have no control over it anyway.

We do have control over our apparatus, though.  So let's get going with the daily check while I get more analog coffee started.  See you in the day room.

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One hockey playoff game plaed last night.  The Washington Capitals topped the New York Rangers 2-1.  That sets them up for a decisive Game 7 in New York on Saturday night.  The winner of that game moves up to play New Jersey for the Eastern Conference championship.

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Posted by on May 10, 2012 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged: ,

Four Burned by Flash Fire in Wyoming Refinery

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3 in Critical Condition

FOUR PEOPLE WERE INJURED, THREE SERIOUSLY, from a flash fire at a Sinclair oil refinery near Rawlins, Wyoming, Tuesday.

Sinclair Rawlins refinery  (Daily Times file photo)

The accident occurred around 10:20 am Mountain inside a gas recovery unit.  All four victims were transported to the Carbon County Memorial Hospital and then three of them were flown to a burn center at Greeley, Colorado.  They are listed in critical condition.

The fire was quickly isolated and then extinguished.  An investigation is underway to find out why it happened.

The Rawlins Times has the STORY.
The Casper Star-Tribune has MORE.

The refinery was founded in 1923 and processes about 80,000 barrels of crude daily into gasoline and diesel fuel.

Thanks to Mark D.

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Posted by on May 9, 2012 • Filed under: fire, Fires • Tagged: ,

Another Bent Treasurer Goes Down

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Easy Money Leads to Easy Arrest

THE FORMER CHIEF AND TREASURER OF A NEW JERSEY volunteer ambulance squad was arrested Monday and charged with hindering apprehension, third- and fourth-degree theft, witness tampering, obstruction and unsworn falsification. The case will be presented to a Burlington County grand jury for indictment.

James Daly, 42, was the Chief of the Beverly-Edgewater Park Emergency Medical Squad when, in May 2011, the treasurer became gravely ill and Daly took over the duties of the treasurer.  The Beverly-Edgewater Park Squad is a volunteer organization that has paid administrative officers and 15 part-time employees.  Within a few weeks of taking over the books, Daly phoned the accounting firm that handles their payroll and told them that he had just been given a $15,000 yr. raise above his current salary of $53,560 to $68,500.  Next he began using the Squad's credit account to purchase gasoline for his personal cars.

When the county prosecutor's office began investigating Daly, he produced a letter purportedly written by another member stating that Daly had been given the go-ahead to use the county gas by the ill, and since deceased former treasurer.  That letter was soon determined to be a forgery.

Following his arrest, Daly was released on $25,000 bond.  He was dismissed from the squad's rolls in November 2011.

The Burlington County Times has  more details HERE.

Hat tip:  Ron Y.

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Posted by on May 9, 2012 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, crime, current events, EMS Topics, Law & Justice