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LODD’s

A BENSALEM, PENNSYLVANIA, PARAMEDIC WAS KILLED SUNDAY NIGHT after an interaction with a mental patient. Early reports said that he was stabbed, but later stories indicate that it might have been a different cause. The story is still very fluid, but JEMS Connect is staying with it and will be updating as more facts are reported. CLICK HERE to see JEMS posting which has several links and a video report is now in the following update. Updated, 11:20 am: It is now determined that the medic died from a head injury, but no weapon was involved. JEMS.com now has the updated report and additional video HERE.

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A 51-YR.-OLD VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER IN Borrodino, New York, died Saturday night while he was responding to a building collapse call in his 2nd-due territory. From the Signal99.com forum: The Borodino Rescue Pumper was enroute to Spafford for a call. While enroute, they had a 51 male onboard having difficulty breathing. They relayed this information to fire dispatch via cell phone because there isn’t a mobile radio installed in the rescue pumper.

They requested that a SAVES ambulance meet them at Spaffords fire station. A few minutes later, Spafford base advised fire dispatch to tell SAVES to make their best time and that it was now a full arrest. There was no fire radio in the new truck because the county is in the midst of implementing a new digital radio system .

The Syracuse Post-Standard has the STORY.
Borodino Fire Department WEBSITE.

Hat tip: Harry H.

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A HONG KONG FIREFIGHTER WAS KILLED AND THREE MORE were critically injured at a factory fire Monday morning. The blaze broke out in a fifth-floor knitting factory in the Lai Cheong Factory Building at about 8.20am. Firefighters had difficulty fighting the fire, hampered by heavy smoke and many objects blocking their operations. 47-yr.-old Senior Fireman Yeung Chun-kit died after he was taken to the hospital.

Posted by firegeezer on March 8, 2010 • Filed under: EMS Health & Safety, Firefighter Safety & Health, Line of Duty, ambulances • Tagged: Bensalem paramedic killed, Bensalem Pennsylvania, Borodino New York, Hong Kong firefighter, LODD

2nd FF Death From 2008 Fire in Germany

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IN LATE NOVEMBER 2008 A SILO FIRE in Worms, Germany, led to an explosion that trapped one of the volunteer FF’s in one of the grain silo’s and covered under several concreted slabs that had been blown loose from the blast. The firefighter was entombed for four days before a successful retrieval was made.

From the Firegeezer REPORT HERE:

He was entombed near the top of the malted grain storage silo over 100 ft. above the ground and trapped under 2 tons of concrete panels that had collapsed from the top when an explosion occurred during a fire operation.

Due to the instability of the damaged silo and the precariousness of the debris, retrieval of the as-yet-unidentified firefighter was delayed until a specialist team was able to cut a 6 ft. by 10 ft. hole through one of the concrete panels while they were suspended from a crane platform/basket.

After the panel was breached, a 5-man aerial rescue team from the Mannheim Fire Brigade was able to remove the firefighter and finally bring him down to the ground.

Today it was reported in Allegemeine Zeitung that the fireground operations manager Peter Jung, 42, has taken his own life in a suicide. Jung was one of four firefighters who were critically injured in the explosion and has since been confined to a wheelchair, a paraplegic. These two related LODD’s are the first times in the history of the Wormser Feuerwehr that they have had line-of-duty deaths.

With assistance from Christian Lewalter.

Posted by firegeezer on March 3, 2010 • Filed under: Fire-ology, Line of Duty • Tagged: line of duty death, silo fire, Wormser Feuerwehr

Two LODD Burials Today

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LANCASTER, OHIO, FIRE DEPARTMENT SUFFERED ITS first-ever LODD this past Saturday when Lieutenant Joseph Mack McCafferty, 59, collapsed at the fireground while commanding the operations at a house fire. Firefighter Close Calls report HERE.

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Lt. McCafferty was a 37-yr. member of the department. He was transported to the hospital, but he passed away later that day from a stroke.

His funeral services were held this morning at 10 am at the Faith Memorial Church in Lancaster.

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FUNERAL SERVICES WERE ALSO CONDUCTED THIS MORNING at 11 am (local time) in France for Sebastien Couturier, 33, who perished Monday at a fire in a food packing plant in La Rochelle. The Firegeezer report on that tragedy is HERE.

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TV network France3 has a video report from the funeral HERE.

Posted by firegeezer on January 22, 2010 • Filed under: Fire-ology, Line of Duty, News • Tagged: funeral, Joseph Mack McCafferty, LODD, Sebastien Couturier

LODD in France

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Update: Fallen firefighter identified. Scroll down.

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SDIS 17 / Guillaume Largeau / Sylvain Roussillon

A 33-YR.-OLD FIREFIGHTER WAS KILLED EARLY THIS MORNING (Monday) in the French seacoast city of La Rochelle. The fire was in a seafood processing plant, Dem Atlantic, that cooks and packages frozen shrimp. A hose crew was working inside the plant when what the fire department is reporting as a flashover ignited inside the large processing room that was filled with wood and styrene packing supplies. The fireball downed the unidentified firefighter and ignited the entire interior with the other FF on the hose line barely escaping. Immediately after, a wall fell on the unfortunate man, trapping him further.

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SDIS 17 / Guillaume Largeau / Sylvain Roussllon

It took the other firefighters about 45 minutes to knock the fire down enough to get in to retrieve the victim. Using a thermal-imaging camera, they located him underneath a large section of sheet metal wall that had collapsed on him.

Update, Tuesday morning:
The fallen firefighter has been identified as Sebastien Couturier, age 33 and father of two children ages 6 and 8. His demise occurred on his birthday. His rank was caporal chef (senior corporal) and he was assigned to the CSP Mireuil station in La Rochelle.

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Sebastien Couturier (Sud Ouest photo)

His partner is hospitalized in serious condition with burns to his face.

The fire which began around 3 am (local time) was attacked by 60 firefighters and was largely extinguished by 7 am.

France3 TV has a video report from the fireground HERE.

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Sud Ouest / Cottin & Chauveau

Additonal sources:
SDIS 17 WEBSITE (the responding fire department).
Sud Ouest STORY. (includes a good photo gallery)

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Sud Ouest / Cottin & Chauveau

Hat tip: Laurence D. – the Fireball for assistance.

Posted by firegeezer on January 18, 2010 • Filed under: Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Line of Duty, fire • Tagged: CSP Mireuil, Dem Atlantic, firefighter death, La Rochelle France, LODD, packing plant fire, Sebastien Couturier

Short Lays

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IT ALL STARTED IN A MICROWAVE OVEN when a Des Moines, Iowa, resident wanted to warm a washcloth. A few minutes later she smelled smoke and found the towel smoldering inside the microwave. Forgetting about the nearbysink, she tossed the cloth out the window where it landed next to some boxes. The cloth flared up, caught the boxes on fire and the flames climbed the outside wall up to the attic. By the time the FD put it out, there was $25,000 damage done.

Source: Des Moines Register.

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A MALFUNCTIONING KITCHEN APPLIANCE is listed as the probable cause for a fire Wednesday night that destroyed a 2-story apartment hotel in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

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Sun News / Slate photo

View the extensive photo gallery in the Myrtle Beach Sun News HERE and you will appreciate the terrific job done by the FD in containing the fire with a lot of close, combustible exposures.

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THE CAUSE OF THE FIRE that led to the death of the firefighter in Hintersee, Germany, on Tuesday (Firegeezer report HERE) has been attributed to a short circuit in the plug of a space heater. The fallen firefighter’s name has not been released. In Germany that information can only be released by the family if and when they choose to do it.

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A WINNIPEG, MANITOBA, AMBULANCE WAS STOLEN from in front of a residence while the crew was inside tending to a patient. The Winnipeg Free Press reports:

A thief made off with a Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service ambulance early Thursday morning before leaving it abandoned nearby.A WFPS official confirmed the ambulance was left running outside a home on the 200 block of McGregor Street early Tuesday morning at about 4 a.m. while paramedics answered a call. Paramedics left keys in the ambulance’s ignition, but had an anti-theft security system on.

All ambulances have factory-installed anti-theft devices that are activated when ambulances are left running.

The ambulance was recovered abandoned a short time later. The only thing taken was a pair of leather gloves. None of the drugs or equipment were stolen. The WFPS in investigating to find out why the anti-theft system failed to operate properly.

Read the full story in the Free Press HERE.

Posted by firegeezer on January 8, 2010 • Filed under: EMS Topics, Fires, Line of Duty, ambulances

LODD in Germany

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A 50-YR.-OLD FIREFIGHTER FROM HINTERSEE, GERMANY, died on the fireground Tuesday evening when he suddenly dropped. His colleagues were there with him along with a medical unit, but they were unable to revive him.

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Nordkurier / Bunning photo

The Hintersee Fire Brigade, along with 4 other departments, was working a fire in a duplex house that was reported at 10 pm and kept the firefighters busy through most of the night. The firefighters had saved one person from the burning building earlier where the eventual damages exceeded 100-thousand Euros.

The unidentified firefighter who perished had been a member of the 15-member department for 25 years and his sudden loss has stricken the brigade members particularly hard.

The Nordkurier has the STORY.
If any further information is released, we will update this posting.

Hat tip: Christian L.

Posted by firegeezer on January 7, 2010 • Filed under: Line of Duty, fire • Tagged: firefighter dies, Hintersee Germany, LODD

LODD In Germany – Ambulance

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WHAT MAY BE THE NEW YEAR’S FIRST LODD occurred early this morning in the Kitzingen region of Germany. A 1st-responder emergency ambulance/rapid response car was responding on a call at 2:30 am local time when it collided with an automobile at an intersection.

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The RR car can be seen on the left in the field in this photo by Berthold Diem

The 28-yr.-old driver of the “smart car” rapid response vehicle was killed immediately and his 20-yr-old partner was critically injured. Police say that the RR car had its emergency lights on, however the car that it struck was in the roadway that normally has the right-of-way at the intersection. The driver of the second car was uninjured and his wife suffered only a minor injury to her left leg. They are both age 34.

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photo by Berthold Diem

There is no report yet on any charges from the police.

Radio Gong 106.9 has the story, more photos and a video report HERE.

Hat tip: Christian L.

Posted by firegeezer on January 1, 2010 • Filed under: Line of Duty, Vehicle Operation & Ambulances, ambulances • Tagged: ambulance, Bayern Germany, crash, LODD, Rapid response car

Firefighter’s Badge Goes On To Museum

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IT WAS ONE YEAR AGO THAT THE costly “Sayre Fire” in Los Angeles County swept through Oakridge, an established mobile home village where nearly 500 homes were completely destroyed.

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Now on the anniversary of the tragic event, there are some commemorations of the brave battle of the residents to rebuild their homesteads and recover from their losses. One of the poignant stories is told in yesterday’s Los Angeles Times that tells:

For years, the Dibble sisters kept their grandfather’s badge safely tucked away in a jewelry box. A Los Angeles firefighter, he was killed in the line of duty in 1935. His silver badge, a photo and stories passed down by relatives were the only mementos left of him.

A year ago when the devastating Sayre fire ripped through the Oakridge Mobile Home Park, Cher and Pamela Dibble lost their home and their cherished keepsakes.

“We were left to dig through nothing but ashes with our two hands,” said Cher Dibble. But as they sifted through the remains of their home, the badge was the only item they recognized. It was melted and burnt, but “you could see where it said Los Angeles fireman,” she said.

In a solemn ceremony this past Saturday, Los Angeles Fire Chief Millage Peaks accepted their grandfather, George Damron’s disfigured badge which will be placed on display in the department’s museum, and in turn presented the sisters with a new tribute badge.

“We honor our badge because we know how hard we work to get it and how hard we work to keep it,” said Capt. Steve Ruda. “And the fact that these were the grandchildren of a firefighter meant they are part of our family. We have an obligation to take care of them.”

Damron was a generous man who went by the name “Tex” and was 43 when he was killed fighting a chemical blaze in a commercial building in Boyle Heights in 1935. His badge was passed along through the generations, and though the Dibble sisters had never met their grandfather, they kept his badge as a memory of his sacrifice, they said.

Read the entire article from the Los Angeles Times HERE.

KTTV Ch. 5 has this nice summary of the restoration of the Oakridge community one year later:

You can review the Sayre fire’s destruction of Oakridge on Firegeezer video reports HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.