Some Good Postings From Other Fire/EMS Websites We Recommend

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*  Dave at STATter911 carried the story – and video report – about the weird incident where a firefighter who ran a medical assist call entered the home and immediately recognized a lot of the items around the living room.  They had been burgled from his home a week earlier.  Read this "small world" report HERE.

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*  Bill Carey at the Backstep Firefighter does a serious critique on a search-and-rescue fail that occurred recently HERE.

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*  The Fire Critic, Rhett Fleitz is a bit puzzled by the activity in New York City to try and recruit people who don't even have the simple ability to fill out an employment application HERE.

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*  Michael Morse of Rescuing Providence thinks out loud about the impending bankruptcy of the city he works for HERE.

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*  Bill Gabbert at Wildfire Today informs us about a cockamamie scheme an "environmental scientist" has come up with to reduce wildland grass fires by importing elephants and rhinoceroces to live in the wood near you.  Seriously.  As Bill says:  What could possibly go wrong?  Read it HERE.

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Some Good Stories From Fire/EMS Websites We Don't Want You to Miss

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*  STATter911 has some good video along with a description provided by a firefighter of a gas station fire in Alberta Monday night.  The entire shopping district of the small community apparently is constructed of wood-frame, unsprinklered building.  Check it out HERE.

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*  Green Maltese has an article about a new Dept.of Energy program that is directed towards fire and EMS agencies educating us about hazards found in incident involving alternative-fuel vehicles.  The best part?  The DOE is issuing free phone apps for alternative-fuel hazard references.  CLICK HERE and get the address to download yours.

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*  The Fire Critic (Rhett Fleitz) and the Iron Fireman (Willie Wines) joined up with Zach Green, owner of MN8 products (the FoxFire glow-in-the-dark stuff) to visit FDNY Rescue 2 and present checks combining donations to their Mayday Fund.  Rhett has a good write-up along with a photo gallery documenting their visit HERE.  Please make sure you check this one out.

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*  Chicago Area Fire has coverage of a multi-alarm EMS call with several people transported.  As always, their story is accompanied with an extensive and excellent photo gallery HERE.

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*  Wildfire Today has a story about Ollas, the primitive precursor to the tanker shuttle HERE.

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*  Firefighter Spot has posted a batch of videos documenting fires in Brooklyn HERE.

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Some Postings From Other Websites That We Recommend

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EARLIER THIS MONTH STATter911 reported on an incident at a firehouse Christmas party where the fire chief and his deputy thought it was great fun tasering a teen junior member.  Now he has the follow-up HERE.  It's buh-bye chief and his stooge.

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Firetruck Blog has the story on a Pennsylvania aerial ladder that collapsed during a fire last weekend.  The truck was over 35 yrs. old.  CLICK HERE for the photo story.

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SConFire tells of the recent indictment of a former vol. firefighter on eight counts of arson.  Police say that they can link him to at least 20 arsons in a 5-year span.  Read the story HERE.

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Turnout Blog ponders the "Selective Justice" when it comes to arson as a terrorist tool HERE.

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Green Maltese has an excellent article showing how modern building construction has greatly altered modern fire development inside these buildings.  This is a "must read" HERE.

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Be sure to catch Fire Daily's report on a citizens' revolt against their own fire department in Kentucky HERE.

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Do you recall the sad story last Friday (HERE) about the Florida firefighter who fell 90 ft. from an aerial ladder during a training exercise?  Firefighter Nation has a touching follow-up about the firefighter's brother, who is also a FF in a nearby department, will be climbing the same ladder and pausing in his own brother's final footsteps to honor and remember him.  Read the STORY HERE.

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Some Outstanding Postings This Week That We Recommend

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*  STATter911 has a couple of jaw-droppers this week.  One has to do with some goofy fire chief at a department Christmas party who borrowed a police officer's taser and zapped a junior firefighter at least nine times.  There are some career changes ahead for more than a couple of people and you can read about it HERE.  Also, Dave Statter has an amazing story about a Pennsylvania firefighter who has been exposed as an imposter claiming to be a former FDNY firefighter who was trapped in the WTC rubble for 32 hours.  What's amazing is that the Steelton, Pa., fire chief doesn't have a problem with one of his FF's being a committed liar and a fraud.  It's all ok with him as reported HERE.

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*  Eric Lamar at The Turnout Blog mulls over what he describes as "Search Culture" and wants to know what your department's search culture is HERE.

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*  The Backstep Firefighter takes a look back to 1999 and reviews a fire where moderate smoke conditions and little heat killed three firefighters in Iowa HERE.

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*  Earlier this month on Firegeezer, Engineer Sam told us HERE about some recalls of apparatus equipped with the Meritor Wabco electronic stability control system (ESC).  Fire Chief Magazine has come up with an expanded list of apparatus builders that are now having to do the same, recall trucks equipped with ESC.  CLICK HERE to see if your firetruck might be one of them.

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*  WestCoast911 has an interesting story on a fire in Berkeley Thursday that started in the vegetation on a steep hillside and spread to two houses, burning them down and threatening 15 others.  As if that wasn't enough, a live wire dropped across the pumper working on the hydrant and it had to be abandoned.  Read about the complicated fire call HERE.

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Some Good Fire and EMS Postings on the Web That We Recommend

*  STATter911 has several good videos and photos from last night's downtown fire in Vincennes, Indiana.  Several buildings were involved, so CLICK HERE  to take a look.

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*  The Backstep Firefighter reviews an LODD from 12 years ago along with the NIOSH report, bringing out the lessons that should have been learned by everybody HERE.

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*  We keep reminding you that Boron Extrication should be in your Favorites list and required reading regularly.  Just look at the three most recent postings and see what I mean:

• The Holden Commodore body structure. The B-pillar (yellow) is Ultra High Strength Steel for cab protection in side impacts.

• Multi-door Pickup Truck Side Removal.

• The 2012 Mercedes-Benz M-Class is a rigid uni-body structure that encircles the passenger cabin in a highly protective network of ultra-high and high-strength steel, magnesium reinforcements and triple-layer construction of all eight roof pillars.

Extrication is almost a full-time job, so CLICK HERE to keep your skills up.

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*  The Rambling Chief has some pointed thoughts about the U. S. Forest Service's new interagency standards for fire operations that instruct the forestry firefighters:  Firefighters will not take direct suppression action on structure, vehicle, dumpster, trash, or landfill fires. Structure, vehicle, and landfill fire suppression is not a functional responsibility of wildland fire resources. These fires have the potential to emit high levels of toxic gases.  Yeah, you gotta watch out for those gases.  CLICK HERE to get the story.

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*  The Turnout delineates the collection of inexcusable events that led to the LODD of a police officer HERE.

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*  The Iron Fireman talks about his shift's Christmas party and sends along a special Santa's Helper for you HERE.

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One of the newest members of the FireEMSBlogs family is the specialty blog Green Maltese.  This very interesting website is published by Lt. John Shafer, Training Officer for the Greencastle, Indiana, Fire Department.  John is also the Indiana Homeland Security District 7 Fire Training Coordinator, and in this capacity coordinates and facilitates firefighter training courses for firefighters through much of the State.  Laurence interviewed Lt. Shafer and he tells us a little about his unique and interesting blog.

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Fireball Laurence Delorme: Why the name Green Maltese for your website?

 John Shafer:  I had started a Facebook page called Green Building Construction for the Fire Service, which is still up, by the way (please "LIKE" it, LOL). I was at FDIC 2011 and was given a wonderful opportunity by Christopher Hebert of Go>Forward Media to start a blog about Green Building Construction, but needed to come up with a name. So I thought it over for a day or two and came up with Green Maltese, since I was going to be covering Green Buildings for Fire Service and every firefighter wears a Maltese Cross on their uniforms. I had a Maltese Cross that was green with the recycle symbol made as the image for the site.

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 LD:  Why did you create such website? Would you say that there are more and more green building constructions in the USA?

JS:  As I mentioned earlier, I had a Facebook page that I started to share information on as I did my research. What started my whole interest and research in Green Buildings was when I came across an article about Structural Insulated Panels (SIP) and I had never even heard of or seen one before. And I was the one teaching most all the building construction in my state’s homeland security district and considered myself fresh on the topic of building construction. So that was close to 7 or 8 years ago and that's what sparked me to began my research. I was quickly overwhelmed with a whole new world of buildings and green concepts that I had no clue of! I then became very studious of green buildings through internet searches. While doing many internet searches I realized at that time there was no place for firefighters to go to for the latest information on modern green buildings. I also realized that there wasn’t anyone in the mainstream fire media or conferences that were talking about it. So I set out to hopefully fill the void, although it took me several years to get to where I am now. And now there are several people and places that help firefighters become better informed on this subject.

Henrico County "Green" Station 7
DCH Architects design

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LD: What are the advantages of such a website for your readers?

JS: Well I hope the advantage will be that firefighters and instructors can have a place to go to for the latest information on green buildings and green concepts from a firefighter point of view. Another part of the website that I added that wasn’t part of the original plan was the Submit a Green Firehouse page. In my research I soon realized that many cities were building new green fire stations and I wanted a place where fire service leaders could come to and see what really worked in other cities that had built green stations. However this area hasn’t seen the submission i was hoping for. So if you know anyone that has a green station, please have them submit it so that others can learn from your projects instead of from slick salespeople.

Lt. John Shafer

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LD: According to you, in the green building constructions, which components/parts are the most dangerous for firefighters? Solar panels…..

JS: Most dangerous? Well I will not say there is one hazard more dangerous than another simply because there are many potential hazards and each one is a serious issue. Now as far as solar panels that is probably one area in the green movement that has the most written about it but there are many dangers and that is what I try and point out. There are also many newer construction types that we really don’t have much data on as far as fires in them. But I feel construction in SIP and Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF) also have potential hazards as they make the building much more airtight.

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LD: Could you give some tips to firefighters who have to fight fires inside a green building construction?

JS: Most firefighters will probably not be aware that they are fighting a fire in a green building or newer building with green concepts unless they have preplanned the building ahead of time. So my word of advice would be to make sure you do a walkthrough of all the new buildings being constructed in your response area as they are being built. Otherwise you will not notice new green methods or materials being used. Once the building is finished and occupied it will look the same as any other building, although it will not likely behave the same way once on fire. Since the biggest push in green construction is energy efficiency. Firefighters need to keep in mind that if a building was built to be extremely airtight to keep heat and air in to save on energy bills, guess what? It is also going to keep all the heat and smoke inside while on fire. Making for extreme fire behavior conditions for us firefighters.

LD:  Thank you, John.

Visit the Green Maltese website HERE.
John Shafer's trend-setting Facebook page is HERE.

Cincinnati "Green" Fire Station 51
(College Hill eNewsletter)

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Some Good Stories From Other Fire/EMS Websites Over the Weekend

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*  Dave Statter has a good action video from one of our favorite fire departments, the North Star VFD.  Click HERE to view it on STATter911, and yes they have a lot of snow on the ground up there.

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*  Jason Hoevelmann at Firefighters Own Worst Enemy recently got inside a house built in the classic balloon construction where all the interior walls had been stripped away.  He has a fantastic video that easily shows all the hazards and features of this old-style method.  Make sure you CLICK HERE and take a look.  He has put it on YouTube so that you can save it for future training programs.

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*  Willie Wines, the Iron Fireman has a great list of his recommended Top-Ten Stocking Stuffers for this year.  And as you would expect, he starts the posting off with some nicely-stuffed stockings.  But keep scrolling down and consider his gift suggestions.  A lot of good ones to be FOUND HERE.

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*  John Mitchell at Fire Daily has a must-read story with some very valuable links that everybody should follow.  His topic is firefighter safety inspired by the recent passing of FDNY Lt. Joey DiBernardo, a survivor of the Black Sunday fire who lived a life of pain from his injuries.  Make sure you CLICK HERE and check it out.

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*  Eric Lamar has penned an update for Turnout on the tug of war over who gets to control the empty treasury at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's state capital.  Everybody desperately wants to formally make them bankrupt, but that's just the beginning HERE.

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 *  Wildfire Today has a video report on an Australian wildfire that started out as a prescribed burn that didn't include the 30+ houses that are gone so far.  Check it out HERE.

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*  And in case you stayed off the computer completely over the weekend, we want to direct you to a Firegeezer report about a routine ambulance call for a "sick person" that immediately escalated into a mass casualty incident.  A good job done by the affected fire department and some training tips to be gleaned from the story HERE.

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CyberMonday Deal!

Kodak PlayFull Waterproof Video Camera Bundle

On sale today for just $79.  Includes floating wrist strap and 4 GB memory card.
Waterproof up to 10 feet, drop-proof up to 5 feet.

CLICK HERE to learn more and to order one today!

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Some Interesting Postings From Other Fire and EMS Websites

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Dave Statter has posted quite a story on how some Buffalo, New York, firefighters have been creating, then selling overtime slots.  Not the best way to garner the taxpayers' support during tough times.  Read and watch the video report  in STATter911 HERE.

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Bill Carey, the Backstep Firefighter picks up and goes deeper on the discussion about "preventing first responder" HERE.  It's well worth your time to read it.

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A recent Fire Law article begins with the tease, Fire department email accounts pose a number of hidden traps for firefighters.  Curt Varone comments on how you can go afoul of election laws this way.  Read it HERE.

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Life Under the Lights mulls over the consequences of adding more and more "fees" for performing fire and rescue services for the taxpayers and their guests HERE.

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Wildfire Today has comprehensive reports on the recent wildfire near Reno, Nevada, that consumed about 30 homes HERE, HERE, and HERE.

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Some Good Articles From Our Favorite  Fire/Rescue Sites

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*  STATter911 has a story about a western Maryland fire department standing on principle and refusing to help build a Habitat for Humanity house because the people in charge won't allow sprinklers to be included.  See the story HERE.

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*  Brotherhood Instructors has a good video review on the importance of coordinated ventilation HERE.  Be sure you scroll past the videos to read the accompanying article.

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*  If you haven't been reading Boron Extrication regularly, you are missing a vital part of your vehicle extrication knowledge and safety.  Smitty is a top-grade automotive engineer as well as an active volunteer firefighter.  He knows what he is talking about and this month he is talking about the side-curtain airbag gas cannisters that are stored in roof rails.  (Did you know they were there?)  Go to the WEBSITE HERE and read the article, then scroll down a little farther and check out the news of the upcoming front-seat center airbags coming soon.  They are designed to protect the far-side passenger from side collisions.  Then bookmark the site.

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*  Report on Conditions tells us the story of the quick-thinking toilet that put the fire out just as the engine crew was stretching the line HERE.

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A Good Addition to the FireEMS Blogs Family

ERSTWHILE GEEZERGUY ERIC LAMAR has got the bug and gone off on his own, starting up a new blog and wisely joining the FireEMS Blogs family.  His new publication is called Turnout (http://turnoutblog.com/), an easy name to remember.

We have no doubt that his usual high standards that cause you to think twice about his topic will carry on with this endeavor.  Take a look at his fresh start and bookmark the address.  You will benefit and enjoy his postings, I'm sure.  Welcome and good luck, Eric!

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