STATter911 HAS A MOST UNUSUAL STORY POSTED.  It seems that in Colorado Springs, Colorado, there is a piece of land that is so hot, literally, on the surface that it burned holes through a boy’s shoes and left him with 2nd-degree burns on the bottoms of his feet.

Read his posting on this strange tale HERE.

GARY, INDIANA, FIRE DEPARTMENT BATTALION CHIEF Fred Gilmore was diagnosed eight months ago as being in need of a kidney transplant.  Without hesitation or being asked, several members of the department stepped forward and volunteered to be tested for compatibility.

The best match was that of Captain Kent Whitt who has known Gilmore well for the 17 years he has been on the department.  For the past five years they have been bowling teammates also.

Last week the transplant operation was successfully completed and the entire department is smiling today.

Read the full story in the Chicago Post-Tribune HERE.

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN ITS 70-YEAR HISTORY, the acclaimed Oklahoma State University Fire Service Training Center suffered a firefighter death.

28-yr.-old Russell “Rusty” Topping was one of a group of 25 Dewey FD members undergoing live fire training on Saturday.  45 minutes after that last exercise, Topping was found on the floor and unresponsive by other firefighters.

FirefighterCloseCalls is following the story HERE.

A NEW CONTROVERSY IS BEING GINNED UP ABOUT the possibility of long-term toxins being a part of the mandatory fire retardents found in clothing and bedding.

Last week CBS News ran a special report on the issue and brought up the fact that some states have outlawed the use of one of them known as DECA.

You can view the CBS News 3:54 min. report here:

Bill Delaney of the Montgomery County, Maryland, Fire and Rescue Department is the editor of Washington Metro Area Fire & Injury Prevention WEBSITE.  He has just pointed out to us that an area-wide mailing promoting the positive side of DECA is being received by his county’s citizens.

This oppositional information is being distributed by and organization that calls itself Citizens for Fire Safety (CFFS) and they have a nice website HERE that furthers their position with examples and testimonials.  They also have a lot of information about flame retardant materials.

The website’s About Us page tells us that they are “a coalition of fire professionals, educators, burn centers, doctors, fire departments and industry leaders, united to ensure that our country is protected by the highest standards of fire safety.”  None of these fire departments and industry leaders are listed by name.

Bill informs us that CFFS is a lobbying group for the chemical industry that was organized to fight the passage of these proposed state legislations.

As far as I have observed (which isn’t very far) the fire and rescue service itself hasn’t come out one way or the other on this fresh issue.  Take a look at the two extreme viewpoints, the CBS report and the CFFS website and then decide where in the middle is there anything to be found?

Thanks to Bill Delaney for pointing this out to us.

THE COLD-STORAGE WAREHOUSE FIRE IN NEW ZEALAND on April 5 (Firegeezer REPORT) has been found to have twice as much propane on site as the law permits.

During early firefighting operations a sudden explosion killed one firefighter and sent the rest of his company to the hospital.  The enlarged fire then destroyed to of Waikato’s fire engines.

New Zealand Herald photo

Investigation has found that not only was the firm in gross non-compliance, but inspection and permit procedures are in a shambles with little or no enforcement.  The Fire Service yesterday admitted it still does not know what cold storage plants throughout the country are using flammable gases such as propane as a refrigerant.

The Fire Service is also supposed to maintain “risk assessment” plans for hazardous occupancies, but it appears that they did not have one for the Icepak plant where the fatal fire took place.

Phil Tayor of the New Zealand Herald has a good, in-depth story today about the confusing regulations and the questionable enforcement policies that are currently in place.  You can read it HERE.

THE VIA RAIL TRAIN THAT WAS STOPPED AND QUARANTINED in northern Ontario yesterday (Firegeezer story HERE) was cleared to resume its trip Friday night and arrived in Toronto around 8 am Saturday morning.

The unfortunate coincidence of a seemingly-healthy woman dying unexpectedly coupled with several passengers falling ill, caused a health emergency that saw the train held in Foleyet, Ontario, for over ten hours while it was inspected for an outbreak of disease.

After a magnificent response of the health and emergency agencies, it was determined eventually that the incidents were not related and there was no infectious disease involved.

Dr. David Williams, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, expressed satisfaction with the way the situation was handled. 

“I’m satisfied the appropriate steps were taken,” he said. “People did it in a calm, collected way and went about their duties and responsibilities accordingly.”

The train is expected to continue its journey on to its destination in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The Toronto Star has a good review of the procedures that were taken and the outcome of the story HERE.

“The whole place is being overrun with ambulances and police cars, and we’ve got helicopters,”

Updated, scroll down.  

THE LITTLE TOWN OF FOLEYET, ONTARIO, is the scene of a chaotic health emergency this morning.  A tourist excursion train on the VIA Railway was brought to a halt and then quarantined when a woman was found dead and nearly a dozen other passengers sick with a mysterious flu-like illness.

The train left Vancouver three days ago and was headed for Toronto when the outbreak was discovered.  The town has a population of 400 and is an hour’s drive from the nearest hospital.  As swarms of ambulances arrived, along with health officials, the only people allowed to board the train were required to wear full protective gear.

Carol Woodhouse / Toronto Star photo

The train is carrying 260 passengers and 30 crew members on 30 railcars.  But the outbreak is believed to be confined to two of the cars.

Update, 4:30 pm:
Canadian Press is now reporting that Ontario’s top medical official says the 60-year-old woman who died on the Via Rail train did not have an infectious disease.

Nor did the person who was airlifted from the scene to hospital with flu-like symptoms. Ontario’s chief medical officer of health Dr. David Williams says it’s anticipated that the train will continue on to Toronto later today.

A police spokesman said the woman became ill on the train and subsequently died from an unknown illness. A second passenger who has been airlifted to Timmins and District Hospital, where she was diagnosed with a respiratory illness and listed in stable condition.

A doctor who was traveling on the train tried to treat the dying woman after she became ill, but when she later died he turned his attention to the other passengers who had become ill.  He later said that he saw no immediate connection between the two incidents.

All the communities where the train had made stops are being scrutinized according to a national Health Dept. spokesman.  Officials were still trying to determine what caused the illnesses on the train and how they are linked to the fatality.  It is not yet known if the illnesses are viral, bacterial or a case of food poisoning.

Update #2, Saturday 9:30 am:
The train was cleared to resume its journey Friday night at 7 pm and arrived in Toronto 8 am Saturday morning.  See Firegeezer updated story HERE.

 The Toronto Globe and Mail has an early REPORT.
An updated report is HERE.

A MASSILLON, OHIO, LADDER TRUCK COLLIDED WITH A mini-van Tuesday morning while responding on a fire call.

WEWS

The Ohio State Highway Patrol said Ronald E. Anderson, 72, of Massillon, and his grandson, Javarre Tate, 4, were killed in the crash. Anderson died at the scene. Tate was thrown from the van. He was taken to Affinity Medical Center Doctor’s Campus, where he was pronounced dead.

Four firefighters were taken to area hospitals with minor injuries, including the driver, Susan Toles, 47, of Canton.  It turns out that Toles is a distant cousin of the van’s driver, Anderson.

WEWS

Witnesses indicated to reporters that the van pulled in front of the truck.

Cleveland Channel 5 has a video REPORT.

TULSA, OKLAHOMA, ENGINE 4 ROLLED Tuesday just before noon while responding to a call.  Three firefighters on board were injured, one seriously, and transported to the hospital. 

Tulsa World photo

The Tulsa World reports:

The fire truck was traveling south on Gilcrease Museum Road while on a call to a vehicle crash when it went out of control, hit a guard rail, struck a power pole and then hit a pickup parked in front of a nearby house.

The firefighters crawled out of the windows of the fire truck, said fire Capt. Larry Bowles. Two of them were taken in serious condition to St. John Medical Center, EMSA spokesman Chris Stevens said. The third firefighter was taken non-emergency to Hillcrest Medical Center.

Police are investigating the accident, which was the first rollover involving a Tulsa fire truck in about three years.

Power lines were down in the area because of the accident. Police had several blocks surrounding the wreck blocked to traffic. 

“All three firefighters were seated and had their seat belts on,” Fire Capt. Larry Bowles said. “This could have turned out much worse had that not been the case.”  From the looks of the photo and the video below, it appears that the engine did a full rollover and was demolished.

KTUL-TV photo

Witnesses told a Ch. 2 reporter that a car pulled out of a side street and the engine driver swerved to avoid the car and lost control.  The crashing truck took out a power pole leaving the area without electricity.

KOKI Ch. 25 has the following video report:

AFTER PROMISING THE CITIZENS OF CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA, that the investigative report (the “Routley Report”) on the Sofa Super Store catastrophe would be made public by May 15, Mayor Joseph Riley did an about-face and postponed the release indefinitely.

Using the low political tactic of dropping unfavorable press releases late on a Friday evening, the mayor said that he would instead hold the report until a similar study by NIOSH was released.  There is no time deadline for that study.

Dave Statter at STATter911 checked and discovered that the mayor was taking advice from a lawyer hired by the city to handle their interests in the case.  You can read his coverage of the disclosure HERE.

Today (Sunday) the president of the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) Harold Schaitberger issued a blistering  press release announcing the initiation of a political, legal and public pressure campaign protesting the delay.

The statement reads:

“If Mayor Joe Riley is serious about keeping the fire fighters he is responsible for safe on the job, he needs to release the investigative report by the panel of experts immediately. The report is finished and all stakeholders - Charleston fire fighters, families of the fallen Nine, citizens - want it out now.“The expert panel that produced the report said they discussed and used information from federal investigations, so that fake excuse used by Mayor Riley to attempt to indefinitely delay and bury it has been exposed as a fraudulent tactic.“The reality is the report is said to detail flaws in the practices of the Department’s command. Any delay in releasing the report is another day the Mayor is irresponsibly risking the lives of the men and women who serve the city under the most dangerous of circumstances.

A VALLEJO, CALIFORNIA, FIRE CAPTAIN NARROWLY ESCAPED DEATH MONDAY AFTERNOON when the driver of a car that was involved in an accident tried to run her down while he attempted to leave.

It began around 4:12 pm Pacific time when a Vallejo FD company was dispatched to an auto accident.  After the engine and medic unit arrived on the scene, the driver of one of the cars said that he had had a seizure.  But he didn’t exhibit any of the symptoms of just having had one, so the paramedics attempted to evaluate him.  Suddenly, he decided to leave before the police got there and attempted to drive away.

While maneuvering his car back and forth, the opened passenger door knocked down Capt. Ann Cavanaugh.  While she was laying semi-conscious on the pavement, he reversed direction and would have run her over, probably fatally, if one of the FF’s hadn’t alertly dragged her out of the way.

“His focus was on getting away,” she said. “He rammed several other cars, including the ambulance, in his attempts to flee.” 

The 31-year-old man who hit Cavanaugh with his Ford Bronco was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a fire department employee and assault with a deadly weapon. He remained in custody Tuesday afternoon and is scheduled for arraignment Wednesday.

The Vallejo Times-Herald has the complete STORY.

Firegeezer writes:  One of our readers, Bill J., has just left an informative comment on our recent posting about the “Cancer cluster” fire station in Atherton, Australia (HERE).  I believe the the information and the link he provides is important enough to warrant its own posting, so here it is:

Recently in the news were some preliminary research findings that linked brain cancer with air pollution, and specifically “diesel soot”. Of course firefighters get their share of polluted air, including diesel exhaust.

An April 16 article from the Scripps-Howard News Service (HERE) reports:

“Dr. Julia Ljubimova found something disturbing when she probed the brains of rats exposed to air pollution: The dirty air appeared to trigger changes indicating the earliest stage of brain tumors.

Ljubimova, an oncologist and researcher at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, stressed that she is not ready to say air pollution is a cause of brain cancer.

“I don’t want to scare anyone, because this is preliminary data,” she said. “But we found something very important.”

Her work suggests that fine particles like those found in diesel soot can switch on the tumor genes that many people inherit, jump-starting the disease process that results in brain tumors.

Click the link above the read the full article.