Released Wednesday Morning

THE NATIONAL FALLEN FIREFIGHTERS FOUNDATION released their anticipated video to the public this morning.  It was produced in cooperation with the Chicago Fire Department and was embargoed for two weeks until all the personnel at the Chicago Fire Department and the families of their fallen members had the opportunity to view it first.  After watching it you will understand why.

It is being released with the hope that many of you will encourage your local politicians and civic leaders to also take the 38 minutes needed to view it.  It carries a lot of impact and is a remarkable report.

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Anger Management Training at Least

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, VIRGINIA, POLICE disclosed Wednesday that a Federal law enforcement agent was arrested early Monday morning and charged with assaulting a paramedic and a police officer.

Julie Laabs

The Prince William Fire Department ambulance had been called to a private home in Bristow to tend to someone who had reportedly been injured from a fall.  As the medics began evaluating the patient, another person in the house Julie Laabs, 41, suddenly began choking one of the medics.  They next called the PD for assistance and the responding officer tried to subdue Laabs and was kicked in the chin.  She was soon restrained and taken to jail.

Laabs has been charged with assault and battery on a law enforcement officer, assault and battery on a firefighter, and resisting arrest.  The police have not disclosed what agency Laabs works for.

WRC-TV has the STORY.

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Why Air Bags Are Beneficial – #41

THE OKLAHOMA COUNTY, OKLA., SHERIFF'S OFFICE has released this dash-cam video taken from a deputy's cruiser. 

It shows a head-on collision between a deputy's cruiser and an SUV traveling the wrong way in south Oklahoma City. The deputy suffered minor injuries. His K-9 deputy "Boze" was not seriously injured.(CBS News).

via Washington Post.

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Preplanning Venture Upgrades to Rolling Haz-Mat Incident

WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, ENGINE 2 HAD just cleared a medical assist when they decided to check out an abandoned house for some preplanning.

Do NOT go back inside this house.  (WHDH-TV image)

After they had finished looking through the structure, the crew of four got back in the engine and started returning to their station when suddenly everybody began itching like crazy.  A quick self-inspection revealed that all of them were literally covered with fleas…."thousands of them," as one of them described it.  With the number of bites-per-person already mounting in the hundreds, they navigated directly to the nearest hospital for treatment.

Not wanting to take their new friends into the hospital with them, and thus cause a real problem, they went through a de-con in the parking lot, disrobing and putting all their clothes in the quarantine bags before going inside the emergency room where they were examined and treated.  They are also being checked for any diseases that are commonly carried by fleas such as bubonic plague.  Their clothes and running gear are getting the de-con wash jobs and the engine was towed to an exterminator's shop to be fumigated throughout.

NBC News has the story and a good video report HERE.
Hat tip:  Mark D.

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Road Rage Leads to Losing Focus on Duties

AN ORANGE COUNTY, FLORIDA, FIRE LIEUTENANT was demoted to Firefighter this past Friday and the driver of his fire engine who had 22 years on the job was fired.  The incident that triggered the personnel actions took place on May 1 when the engine was responding to an auto fire with people reported trapped in the vehicle.  While en route, they came up behind a car in the left lane that refused to pull over, so the engine driver, David Jordan passed on the right and then swung back into the left lane in an obvious maneuver to run the car off the road.  His move ran the engine up over the curb and then back down into the roadway, narrowly avoiding an accident or possible rollover.

All the while Lt. Thomas Veal was making repeated obscene gestures to the car's driver and failing to tell the driver to lay off the reckless driving.  The two men forgot that they were on camera while they were being recorded by a videocam that is aimed both ahead of the engine's path and into the crew cab.

This video report from WOFL-TV Ch. 35 includes the video evidence and an explanation of what transpired:

The dash cameras were installed in all Orange County firetrucks a few years ago to help the department avoid frivolous lawsuits.  When their contractor in California was reviewing the recent tapes, this incident was noticed and the fire department was notified.

The video also shows ex-Lt. Veal not wearing his seat belt.  This was the second time that he has been caught with that infraction.

Orange County Fire Chief Carl Plaugher released this information yesterday (Wednesday) and the two firefighters have until Monday to appeal the decision if they choose.

WFTV Ch. 9 has MORE.

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A Different "Fire SUV" video

From our friends at Jalopnik,

Watch a lunatic chase cops around an airport in a stolen fire truck

Matt Hardigree:

These police officers at the Cork Airport in Ireland have it all wrong.

First they let 37-year-old Edmond Stapleton steal their SUV at knife-point, and then they let him chase them around the airport.

Go HERE for rest of Matt's story.

Barry Roche in May 25, 2011 Irish Times Man remanded in custody on charge relating to hijacking of SUV at airport

Mike "FossilMedic" Ward

DOESN'T ANYBODY LISTEN ???

From the St. John (Kansas) News:

Stafford County firefighters had to battle fire and ice Friday morning at a tank battery fire north of St. John as a storm front moved through producing high winds, sleet, rain and snow.

A tank battery fire destroyed four tanks, leveling two and damaging two others, approximately ¾ mile north of NW 120th Street and 1 mile west of U.S. Hwy 281. Workers at the scene said they heard a loud bang and then saw fire shooting from the top of the tank.

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Training Exercise Leads to Fatality

ON MONDAY EVENING, A TRAINING evolution for the local volunteer fire brigade in Ronsberg, Germany, ended tragically when one of the members, a 34-yr.-old man fell off the roof of a building and died on the scene of the accident.

The fire department was holding an outside drill alongside a warehouse fire brigade and were simulating a fire inside the large warehouse.  The victim and another firefighter were on the 50-ft. high roof perfoming a function when the victim fell backwards over a parapet wall and tumbled off the building.  Rescusitation attempts were immediately initiated, but were unsuccessful.

The victim was an experienced and well-respected firefighter.

Allgauer Zeitung has the STORY.
Feuerwehr Magazin has MORE.

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Well, At Least He Has His Hood On

Lets see, fire hose..check….water….check….airtank….check…man sure seems like I forgot something….

Maybe its all that working out I been doing…getting stronger, this gear doesn't
feel as heavy as it used to.  (photos via St. John News)

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Why We Block the Lanes (continued)

A PATCH OF GLARE ICE IN SASKATCHEWAN on Highway 1 near Belle Plaine Friday morning was bringing back memories of an 80′s tv show.  Despited the intolerable road conditions, many drivers didn’t have the brains to slow down and took turns destroying their cars.  CJME radio tells what happened:

A van lost control and hit the ditch near around 10 a.m. When RCMP arrived, a tow truck was already working on pulling out a van that hit the ditch in that area the night before.  Despite signage and traffic cones, things took a turn for the seventies about 30 minutes later.

“A 2006 Nissan Sentra did a Dukes of Hazzard,” said RCMP Sgt. Rob Cozine. “While the ramp of the tow truck was down, the Nissan drove up the ramp and landed on its roof in the middle of the highway.”  Moments later, yet another car hit the ditch.

Cozine says in many cases, people were driving too fast for road conditions — the glare ice a result of blowing snow, warmer temperatures and some wind.  “There were emergency vehicles out, there were cones, there were signs, and yet people were still speeding through the scene,” Cozine said.

Two people from the “flying car” along with four others from the previous wrecks were transported to a hospital in Regina, but none suffered any serious injuries.

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