YESTERDAY WE REPORTED HERE ON THE car fire in upstate New York that killed two infant girls that were riding in the back seat.  While driving along the highway, the rear passenger area  burst into flames and when the mother pulled over she was unable to get her two daughters out of the car and they perished in the fire.

Today the Associated Press is reporting:

Police believe holes in the top of a muffler could be responsible for a car fire that killed two small children.

State Police Investigator Chris Wilkinson said investigators think the fire started when welded spots on the top of the muffler eroded, causing hot exhaust gases to burn through the floorboard and ignite the interior of Melissa Johns’ vehicle Tuesday.

The 25-year-old Savona resident pulled over on the shoulder of Interstate 86, but the car became engulfed in flames before she could save her daughters; 18-month-old Izzybella Beam and 4-week-old Sinaya Beam.

The incident took place near Erwin, N.Y., 77 miles southeast of Rochester.

IN STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YORK (Upstate) 25-year-old Melissa Johns of Savona was driving west on Route I-86 around 5:20 p.m. yesterday when her 1999 Kia caught fire.  She pulled over and desperately tried to get her daughters, 18-months-old and  four-weeks-old, out of the backseat, but flames consumed the car.

Rochester Ch. 13 photo

The State Police are still investigating it and have no explanation yet about why the car suddenly burst into flames.

The Corning Leader has the early STORY.

KNOX COUNTY, TENNESSEE HAS A CONTRACT with Rural/Metro to provide emergency ambulance service.  Part of the agreement is to arrive on scene within 10 minutes on 90% of the calls.

During the month of June they only achieved that goal 88.9% of the time during the first half of the month and 87% the second half, invoking a $81,500 penalty.  Response in May was also below agreement, drawing a $97,500 penalty.

Knoxville channel 6 has the STORY.

SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTES FIREFIGHTER BOB DOHERTY has become the town’s unofficial historian.  It all started back in 1979 when two ladies from the local historical society came by the firehouse and asked if anybody would be willing to give a talk about Somerville’s early fire history.

Bob told the ladies that he would be willing to give it a try if they would show him how to gather the history.  From that first talk, it took off from there.  Doherty’s avocation since then has been to delve into the city’s  past and pass the stories along in talks to civic groups.  And it just keeps growing.  “For every story I had about Somerville history, people in the audience had two more. It really sparked something, they wouldn’t let me go. It made people reflect on their own lives in the city,” he says.

The Somerville News has the interesting story about this FF’s contribution to the “big little city” that’s older than Boston HERE.
(Summerville News photo)

IN BASTROP, LOUISIANA FRIDAY AFTERNOON  A shootout at a hotel on the main square of this small northeastern Louisiana city left two police officers and one suspect dead Friday, and authorities were searching for another suspect, officials said.Two paramedics were also hit by gunfire when they arrived at the scene, said Trooper Mark Dennis, a spokesman for the Louisiana State Police. One was in stable condition and the other was not seriously hurt, Dennis said.

EMS1.com has the AP story HERE.

Shreveport Times photo

ONCE AGAIN, THERE WAS A NEWS STORY this past Tuesday from Kingston, Ontario (HERE) about a firefighter dying in a vehicle crash while responding on a call.  Here’s the key paragraph:

William Salmond, 65, was driving a fire department tanker truck, heading eastbound on Flinton Road to respond to a motor vehicle collision on Highway 7 in Kaladar.  As the truck approached the intersection with Highway 41, Salmond was unable to stop the vehicle and it went through the intersection, struck a parked, unoccupied vehicle and rolled into the east ditch. Salmond was ejected from the vehicle.
(emphasis mine - ed.)

No doubt you’re thinking the same thing that I was when I first read it.  Why wasn’t he wearing his seat belt?  Hardly a fortnight goes by that we don’t read about a similar event.

Back in late May, two fire apparatus in Waterbury, an engine and a truck, collided while both were responding to the same call.  The Capt. on one piece was killed and the driver of the other was seriously injured.  Both were ejected from the impact for lack of seat belts.

click thumbnails for full pic

What a sad way to cut a good life short, and so unnecessary.  It’s a simple thing to do and yet so many fail to practice it.  Most FD’s have a regulation somewhere that requires seat belt usage at all times, but it is seldom enforced.  Why not?  Just, why not?  Buckle up, dammit !!

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Last month FossilMedic posted a heads-up on a new Fire and Rescue-related social networking website called Firefighter Nation.  I took a peek at it yesterday and it seems to be going, and growing, just fine.  It’s well designed and has a lot of good features.  There are several forums for members’ interactions as well as videos, photos and news items.  I’m going to continue reading it, maybe even sign up with a secret code name.

Anyway, check out Firefighter Nation HERE.

But first, let’s get that equipment checked.  I’ll see you at the coffee table.

WITH WILDFIRES RUNNING OUT OF CONTROL throughout the western half of the state, Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer just vetoed a bill that would have given $100 in tax credits to volunteer firefighters.

Gov. Schweitzer

The opposition party is making noise about it and gleefully pointing out that the Gov. went ahead and signed a bill giving tax breaks to Hollywood movie studios that film in the state.  The tone-deaf governor did this immediately after visiting Hollywood and taking contributions at a fund-raiser.

The Billings Gazette tells the STORY.

FORMER FT. COLLINS, COLORADO FIRE CHIEF Ed Yonker has been busy for two decades restoring some of the city’s early fire apparatus.  Recently he finished the fourth one and it is being kept with the others in a former trolley barn.  Ed hopes to have the trolly shed turned into a transportation museum.  Chief Yonker retired in 1976, but he continues to be active with his department.

The North Forty News has a very interesting story  about his preservation efforts HERE.
Ft. Collins Museum and the Diamond-T ladder truck STORY.

*  FIREFIGHTER HOURLY has posted part 4 of his proposals for the Charleston FD.  In addition, he is starting an email list.  Free subscription for breaking items that will not be covered on the blog.  Read about it HERE.

*  VIRGINIA FIRE NEWS has a page with what looks like a listing of every fire and rescue department in the State with links to the ones that have websites HERE.  A lot of work went into that one.

*  FIRERESCUE1 brought back a timely article about how to plan for and run a Mass Casualty Incident HERE.

*  WorldFireDepartments.com tries to maintain links to every fire department in the world.  An impossible task, but you can help by checking to see if your dept. is on there and if the link is good HERE.

*  STATter911 talks about a firefighter who won $1 million for inventing a Christmas tree sprinkler head designed as a tree-top angel HERE.

THREE BODIES HAVE BEEN FOUND at the scene of an auto fire in Utah.  The Salt Lake Tribune reported just a few minutes ago:

Three bodies have been found by emergency crews responding to a vehicle fire at a Tooele County gas station early this morning.  The fire was called in about 1:30 a.m. at a Pony Express station, near mile marker 11 on State Road 196, on the Goshute Indian Reservation in Skull Valley, according to the sheriff’s office.

The vehicle was parked at a gas pump. Deputies are investigating and expected to release more information as it becoms available.  The Tribune has a reporter and photographer en route to the scene, which about 90 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.

Firegeezer will watch for the updates later.

Update, 5 pm EDT:  The bodies are a man and two children.  Their car was deliberately set on fire with gasoline and the sheriff is still investigating.  The Deseret News has the latest STORY.

Deseret News photo

THE PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA FIREFIGHTERS are angered and disgusted with the city officials’ refusal to allow them to take a fire truck to participate in the funeral for the Contra Costa County firefighters.  The council gave some phony-baloney about “liability and safety concerns.”  And yet, somehow 150 other fire apparatus were able to overcome those safety concerns and attended the procession.

Last night two dozen FF’s attended the City Council meeting to protest the decisions and ask for a change in city policy.
The Contra Costa Times has the story HERE.

Firegeezer thinks that the Palo Alto city officials are a bunch of useless weenies.  You may contact them here:  city.council@cityofpaloalto.org

Palo Alto City Hall

Cal Ripken, Shortstop

Yesterday Cal Ripken, Jr. was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.  And it is not an exaggeration to say that there are few who are more deserving of the honor.  His dedication to the game both on the field and off is literally unmatched.  After every game he selflessly would stand by the dugout and sign autographs until every request was filled….always.  And when his playing career was over, he continued to advance the sport by building a new stadium in his home town of Havre de Grace, Maryland and then stock it with a youth league designed to develop players of the future.  His philanthopy was spread out to dozens of other towns where he has put seed money into new youth leagues.

Ripken started with the Baltimore Orioles in 1981, splitting his time between shortstop and 3rd base for the first two seasons.  In 1983 he remained at shortstop and that was the year the team won the World Series.  He is probably best known for his amazing streak of consecutive games played, 2,632, shattering the old record of 2,130 held by Lou Gehrig.  “The Streak” began on May 30, 1982 and continued until Sept. 20, 1998 when he removed himself from the lineup to voluntarily end it.

But it was more than “The Streak” that made him a shoo-in at the Hall of Fame.  Here are a few of his achievements on the field of play:

• Rookie of the Year - 1982
• 2 times AL Most Valuable Player
• 8 Silver Slugger Awards (top offensive shortstop)
• 2 Golden Glove Awards
• 19 Appearances in the All-Star Game
• 8th all-time MLB in games played - 3,001
• 3,184 hits
• 4th all-time MLB in at bats - 11,551
• 8th all-time in fielding percentage - .979
• In 1990 he had an astounding fielding pct. of .996

• 3rd all-time in double plays - 1,565

And the list goes on.  A great player.  A gentleman.  A representative of the game the likes of which you may never see again.  Congratulations to Cal Ripken, Jr.