Drivers Left With Sauer Taste

A SAUERKRAUT TRANSPORT TRUCK was involved in a messy accident Tuesday morning in the German state of Hesse shortly before 5 am.  The driver of the kraut-carrier misjudged the speed of a car directly ahead and drove into the rear of the car.  A second truck failed to react in time and crashed into the rear of the kraut transporter.

All photos via FNP

The secondary crash cause several hundred bags of sauerkraut to be flung out onto the highway where they splatted open in the sub-freezing weather.  The chopped kraut and the juices all froze almost immediately onto the pavement making an unnavigable slippery mess.

Shovels or brooms were no use on the stubborn chopped vegetable and the highway department had to send a salt truck out to cover and thaw the frozen mess.  The autobahn had to be completely shut down causing a 10-kilometer backup while the vegetables and vehicles were all removed from the crash scene.

The lanes were finally reopened at 9 am.  The woman driving the car was slightly injured and the two truck drivers were not injured at all.  The damage estimate was 157,000 Euros.

Franfurter Neue Presse has the STORY.

Hat tip:  Christian Lewalter.

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They're All Gone Now

THE LAST KNOWN SURVIVING UNIFORMED VETERAN OF WORLD WAR I has passed away in England.  It was announced today (Tuesday) that Florence Green of King's Lynn died in her sleep in a nursing home on Saturday, just two weeks shy of her 111th birthday.

According to published news releases,  Green joined the fledgling Royal Air Force in September 1918 at age 17 and served as a mess steward at two air bases in Norfolk.  Two months later the Armistice was signed ending the war, but she continued in the RAF until the following July.

The dear lady never mentioned her service in later years until a researcher at the UK military archives discovered her records.  On her 109th birthday the RAF honored her with a visit from a wing commander and a representative mess steward of today who brought a cake.

Mess Steward Hannah Shaw visited Florence in 2010
to help celebrate her 109th birthday.  (Ministry of Defence photo)

Her mind was alert and nimble right to the end.  On her 110th birthday someone asked her what it was like to be that old, and she replied, "It's not much different than being 109, I guess."  Her husband Walter died in 1970 and since then she lived with her oldest daughter, now 90, until the end of this past November when she entered the nursing home.

BBC News has the STORY.
The Associated Press has more details HERE.

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Snowmaggeden in Europe

Two years ago we were in the middle of Snowmagedden. A Delayed Meet

2010 picture from dcfd.com

Europe has been smacked hard by snow. According to Associated Press's Frances D'Emilio, Italy is issuing government snow shovels to handle the up to 8" snowfall, the worst they have experienced in 26 years.

Snow on the racetrack

Scuderia Ferrari tweeted this picture of their racetrack:

That has not slowed down preparation for the next Formula 1 season. Here is a sneak preview of their latest vehicle:

Better ground clearance than their non-snow version, that appears to use as snow shovel as a aerodynamic aid:

Mike "FossilMedic" Ward

No Chance to React

THE FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, PENNSYLVANIA (near Erie) FIRE CHIEF and Assistant Fire Chief were traveling to a training session at 7 pm Thursday evening when a car coming the opposite direction crossed the center of the roadway and struck them head-on.

David Flint  (WICU-TV)

The crash killed Chief David Flint and seriously injured Asst. Chief Sharon Petri.  The driver of the other car, Joshua Nickerson, 29, was treated for minor injuries and released.

The Erie Times-News adds:

Flint was taken to UPMC Hamot, where he was pronounced dead at 8:14 p.m. An autopsy conducted Friday determined that Flint died of blunt-force trauma to the trunk, Erie County Coroner Lyell Cook said.

WFXP-TV

Flint was not wearing a seat belt, state police said. A passenger in Flint's car, 40-year-old Sharon C. Petri, of Edinboro, also was unbelted, police said. Petri was taken from the accident scene to UPMC Hamot. She was listed in fair condition on Friday, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Nickerson was taken to Hamot for treatment of moderate injuries. He was later released from the hospital. Nickerson was wearing a seat belt, police said.

Flint had been the fire chief for six years.

WJET-TV has more plus a good video report HERE.

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Outside Bidders Excluded

A MISSOURI AMBULANCE DISTRICT OFFICIAL has been arrested and charged with misdemeanor insider information for a land-flip that he profited from in March 2011.  The president of Northland Regional Ambulance District in Platte County, Kevin Rawlings, 40, is accused of buying land and reselling it to his own ambulance authority knowing that they were planning on building a new station in the area.

Kevin Rawlings

The Kansas City Star reports:

According to court records, Rawlings purchased 34 acres in April 2010 for $130,000. He resold 1.5 acres to the ambulance district in March 2011 for $175,000.  Prosecutor Eric Zahnd said Thursday that Rawlings allegedly made $144,000 from the transaction.

Land that sold for $58,000 per acre  (NBC News)

There was no record that the agency had the land appraised at that time, court records stated. However, an appraisal in November 2011 put its worth at $30,600.

Rawlings was elected board president in 2006. He knew as early as 2008 that the district wanted to build a new station near Route U at the Camden Point exit.

According to the ambulance board minutes, Rawlings instructed the District's executive director to look for sites in the area where he had purchased the property.  When the Board "called" for bids, Rawlings was the only bidder.

The dubious activity first came to the taxpayers' attention back in March 2011 when NBC News filed this video report that detailed the entire transaction:

The Kansas City Star has more details HERE.
The St. Joseph News-Press has MORE.
Northland Regional Ambulance District WEBSITE.

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This Time Was a Record-Setter

A FORMER SOMERSET COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, VFD president was sentenced Tuesday after admitting that he had stolen $820,000 from his fire company.  Henry Swincinski, 61, was president of the Windber Volunteer Fire Company from 2002 through 2010 when he pilfered the funds using his authority to access the bank account.  He had been a member of the VFC for 35 years.

The Somerset Daily American reports:

Swincinski was sentenced to 11 1/2 to 23 months in Somerset County Jail followed by seven years of supervised probation for 56 counts of theft by deception, all third-degree felonies. He must perform 200 hours of community service when he is released. (He was also ordered to repay the FD $810,000 restitution…..ed.)

In February 2010 Paint Township police charged Swincinski with 974 counts in two cases that involved taking funds meant for the fire company and Northern EMS and putting them in his own pocket. The multiple charges were for the offenses of theft by deception, receiving stolen property and theft by failure to make required disposition of funds received from 2002 through 2010.

When the department was suddenly not paying its bills, Swincinski blamed it on the "hard times" and told the members that they would have to hold more fundraisers and make more money.

The Windber Fire Company was organized in 1899.

Read the detailed report in the Daily American HERE.
Windber Fire Company WEBSITE.

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Untold Hundreds Injured

AT LEAST 74 PEOPLE WERE KILLED and hundreds more injured when a riot broke out at a soccer game in Port Said, Egypt, Wednesday night  The home team, el Masry from Port Said had just won its match against el Ahley, a superior and favored team from Cairo, 3-1, when hundreds of "fans" poured out of the stands onto the soccer pitch and began brawling.

Xinhua

The players from the two teams ran to the safety of the locker rooms with the assistance of stadium security people, but two players were still injured before they could get off the field.

el-Ahly players run for their lives to the locker rooms  (Xinhua)

This video posted by Youm7 News opens with the el Ahley players being chased off the field:

Xinhua News reports:

Due to insufficient security, most of the fans entered the stadium with sticks in their hands and supporters of the two rival teams started fighting each other.

The riot was caused by some insulting posters carried by the Ahly fans, Nile TV reported. One of the posters read "Port Said is like rubbish and it has no men."

Chief of Egypt's ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, Hussein Tantawi, ordered two military helicopters to transfer the players, fans and the injured to the capital Cairo.

Egyptian Prosecutor General Abdel Maguid Mahmoud ordered an investigation into the riot. The parliament will hold an emergency session Thursday over the incident.

The rioting spilled out of the stadium into the surround streets forcing shops to close and bar their doors.

In Cairo, another match was being held between Zamalik and Ismaily.  During their half-time break, news of the riot in Port Said was delivered to the stadium officials and it was decided to cancel the second half of the match in case the rioters were planning on spreading the protest to the other stadium.  When it was announced to the fans in attendance that the rest of the match was cancelled, they began to riot, setting fires throughout the stadium.

The chief of the military police vowed to track down those responsible and arrest them.

The Sydney Morning Herald has an extended report HERE.

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GPS smartphone app + ambucycles = immediate response

Among the high-minded discusion and topless protest at the World Economic Forum in Davos was a presentation by Eli Beer, Chief Coordinator of United Hatzalah (Rescue).

Creating a Network of Heros describes the process of empowering 1,700 volunteers in Israel to immediately respond to a life-threatening medical emergency.

United Hatzalah's ambucycles are a solution when ambulances that needs to arrive quickly to save lives are unable to travel through congested traffic.

The volunteers have an ambucycle with AED and first aid kit. They have a GPS application in their smart phone that displays the location of the emergency

From their website:

United Hatzalah of Israel is an independent non-profit fully volunteer Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Organization that assists in responding to medical emergencies throughout Israel.

The primary role of United Hatzalah volunteers – trained and certified as EMTs, Paramedics and MD’s – is to provide an immediate response within 2-4 minutes from the onset of an incident: establishing a life-saving bridge of medical care; transmitting vital information to control centers and once the local ambulance service arrives, working alongside its crew to enable a swift transfer to hospital. United Hatzalah's education department is an innovative leader in the fields of public health, safety and accident prevention training.

Mike "FossilMedic" Ward

Godspeed to the members of the Pontiac, Michigan, Fire Department

April 23, 1883 – January 31, 2012

After nearly 180 years, "Pontiac Fire Department" will no longer be the name on the side to the engines or on the front of the Stations, but it will be the name that every pontiac fire fighter past and present will never forget because it is in our heart and soul.

Once a pontiac fire fighter always a pontiac fire fighter.

http://youtu.be/CL8MHzpSTPE

Pontiac Fire Department's Last Day

PONTIAC (WXYZ) – A lot of history hangs in the halls of Pontiac’s main fire station. Pictures showcase the brave men who risk their lives daily for their community.

Tuesday, a photographer documented the last day the building will be running as part of the Pontiac Fire Department.

Wednesday morning, the Waterford Fire Department will take over and respond to calls in the city of Pontiac. A decision made by an Emergency Manager to cut costs.

Read more of Tara Edwards article HERE

History of the Pontiac Fire Department

http://youtu.be/noBc9aC-G-w

According to the agreement, the top 13 Pontiac firefighters will be granted the opportunity to take early retirement rather than working until their 25th year. The 44 remaining firefighters are eligible for employment with Waterford Township. The city of Pontiac will grant them one-time bonuses of up to $15,000.

Leslie Shepard (2012 January 4) Pontiac firefighters accept Waterford service pact. SpinalColumn

There were 57 Pontiac firefighters. Tara Edward's article today stated that 42 firefighters got jobs at Waterford.

In the FY 2009 – 2010 budget there were 103 approved positions, shrinking to 80 positions in the FY 2010 – 2011 budget. 22 of the 23 positions eliminated were firefighters.

In 2010 the city police department was disbanded, replaced with Oakland County sheriffs.

Mike "FossilMedic" Ward

Volume 2, Issue 1, hits the intertubes

Dear Blue Card Subscribers:

Check out B Shifter’s latest installment at http://bshifter.com/SelectMagazines.aspx.

Our latest installment features Joe Starnes discussing flashover causes and prevention. Some firefighting friends from Oz talk about the Australian fire service—complete with a lessons-learned tale of communications gone wrong. Bruno introduces two new reader-response columns, and Vincent Dunn discusses fire-supression techniques in single-family residences. Lots of free downloads! Take a look!

Mike "FossilMedic" Ward