A CLUSTER OF ARSONS IN ALTENKUNSTADT, BAVARIA, GERMANY Wednesday morning kept more than 200 volunteer firefighters busy in the heart of town.  Shortly after midnight a call came in for an auto fire that was quickly knocked down by a policeman before the VFD got on the scene.

While they were investigating the auto, about 10 minutes later a large trash container on a neighboring street was set alight.  The feuerwehrmans (firefighters) redeployed quickly and put it out in short order.  But only 2 minutes after that came a call for a barn fire just 600 feet away.

When they arrived there were two barns fully involved and a house close by was threatened.  Extra alarms were called to contain the fire, save the house and evacuate nearby residents.  The FF’s also managed to save some horses from one of the barns.

A local brewery, the Leikeim Brewery, is also next door to the barns and there was a fear that it would be lost, too.  They did manage to save the brewhouse, but the fire destroyed the building housing their electric generator and all the coolers in the lagering house shut down.  This resulted in the spoiling of more than a thousand gallons of unfinished beer which had to be dumped.  Leikeim had enough finished stock on hand, however, to maintain deliveries until they get the coolers running again.

Leikeim Brewery power house

Fire officials are crediting the lack of any wind during the night helping them contain the fire to the point of origin and not spreading through the town.  Property damages are estimated to exceed $1.25 million.  Police are actively seeking the arsonist.

The point of origin in the barn at lower left.  The house
was remarkably saved just as the fire was beginning
to spread into it.  The brewery power house is
just out of sight at lower right.

 
The Altenkunstadt Feuerwehr made a terrific stop.

The Coburg Neue Presse has the story and more photos HERE.
Leikeim Brewery WEBSITE.

Hat tip to Christian L.

THEN YOU ORDER ONE.  BUT WHAT IF YOU NEED 300 AMBULANCES?  If you’re the head of the Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia, then you just go ahead and order 300 of them.

The Kingdom’s current ambulance fleet needs replacing, so they have ordered 300 GMC Savannah’s which will be converted into an ambulance configuration.  The Arab News reports:

“These state-of-the-art ambulances will be fully equipped to meet emergencies,” Health Minister Dr. Hamad Al-Manie said, adding that the new fleet will be deployed in the Kingdom’s 20 health regions.

Abdullah Al-Subaie, chairman of the Transport Division at the Ministry of Health, said this was the single largest spending by the ministry on ambulances. “An agreement has already been signed and the vehicles will be supplied over a period of nine months,” he said.

Al-Subaie said the supplier would be responsible for servicing and maintaining the vehicles for 10 years.

“They will be equipped with all necessary apparatus for medics and paramedics for treating patients,” he said, adding that the ambulances would carry the Ministry of Health’s name and the name of the region where they will serve.

THUS SAID CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR ARNOLD SCHWARZENNEGER as he addressed the press on Wednesday.  With more than 1,400 wildfires burning in California alone, thousands of firefighters have been working non-stop for 3 weeks and more.

Monterey Herald photo of Basin Complex fire
in the Big Sur State Park

Yesterday the entire Big Sur State Park area was issued a mandatory evacuation order after the Basin Complex fire jumped a containment line and began moving toward the tourist settlement.  The fire is threatening nearly 1,800 homes and 20 commercial buildings.

The incident commander for the Basin fire said that the No. 1 priority in the battle Wednesday was to protect Big Sur and keep the fire from crossing more lines, especially those in the Dolan Ridge area.  “If the fire gets established there, it’s another 20 miles south to the next containment line,” he said.

Announcing that the state is recognizing that what used to be a forest “fire season” that ran from late summer through the fall, the governor is setting a new policy that recognizes the extension of the fire season to most of the year.  He is proposing a tax of $6 to $10 on fire insurance policies to provide $100 million annually which would allow the state to employ wildland firefighters on a year-round basis and buy hundreds more fire engines.

The Associated Press covered his press conference and the latest on the Basin Complex (Big Sur) fire in this video report:

IN A CONTINUING EFFORT TO SEE THAT THERE WILL ALWAYS be a need for a fire department, some Kaysville, Utah, teens set their house on fire Tuesday night.

Taking a lesson from the big-city Yuppies who throw their fireplace ashes into their plastic trash cans during the winter,  this pair started off the Independence Day celebrations early by discarding their spent fireworks in the family trash can.

KTVX

Fortunately the trash can was just outside the garage instead of inside when it ignited, sending flames up the exterior of the house and lighting up Dad’s pickup truck and the family’s camper.  The sound of one of the tires blowing woke up the family just before the upstairs eaves took off.

The FD handled it easily, extinguishing the fire before it spread too far through the house.  Even though a corner of the house was burned off, the truck destroyed and their camping trailer heavily damaged, the homeowner called it “a learning experience.”

KTVX Salt Lake Ch. 4 has a video report:

This is the Get-Ready-For-The-Long-Weekend day here in the U. S.  The 4th of July, Independence Day, is one of the major holidays with lots of community parades, picnics and large fireworks shows.

Hundreds of fire departments will dusting off their antique pumpers and other parade pieces to lead their group of marchers through the town and wave at the folks.  I wonder if that place in Long Island ever got their Silly String problem (HERE) worked out?  If any of you get some pictures of your fire or ambulance units in tomorrow’s parade, send them along to us and we’ll post them next week.  Make sure you’re waving at the camera, now.

Here at Firegeezer, we’re going to do our part to help make your Independence Day cookout a success.  Actually, it will make every cookout or picnic that you have this summer a big success.  So get ready to write this down.

Whenever you are cooking up some hot dogs on the grill, one of the secrets to making a good dog become a terrific dog is how you dress it up in the bun.  And there’s no better way to serve up a hot dog than with a good river of Firegeezer Mustard alongside it.  We’re going to give you the recipe right here.  You won’t find this anyplace else because it is an original blend that was created and refined in the Firegeezer test kitchens.  It was especially created for hot dogs, so make sure you have it ready for yours.  This recipe is based on an 8 ounce jar, so naturally if you are using a 16-oz. jar, you would double the ingredients.  OK, you lucky people, here it is:

FIREGEEZER MUSTARD

8 ounces of French’s yellow mustard.  Empty the jar into a mixing bowl  and add:

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
½ teaspoon onion powder

Blend it all thoroughly with a whisk and then spoon it into your squeeze bottle dispenser.

Note:  Avoid the temptation to “add a little extra” of any ingredients.  That will not improve it at all.  This time-tested blend is perfect just like it is.

No doubt all of your friends will be bugging you for this recipe, so feel free to pass it along.  Just make sure that they call it by its true name, the Firegeezer Mustard.

Now before we start getting the old pumper ready for the parade tomorrow, let’s get this equipment checked out.  I’m going to start the coffee pot.

FIRE IN A CRAWFORDSVILLE, INDIANA, PET STORE early Wednesday morning killed hundreds of animals and spread to two other businesses in the small strip shopping center.

WRTV / Bushong photo

The FD was alerted to the call shortly after 3:30 am and found a working fire in the pet shop.  For about 30 minutes they were able to work the fire inside.  When the building became untenable they pulled out and with the assistance of four other fire departments they covered the fire from the outside.

The fire had spread into the next unit which was a fireworks retail shop and also a tax preparer office in the next space to it.  When the fireworks store became fully involved there was a show for sure and the FD evacuated some nearby homes as a precaution.  Fire officials believe that the fire started in the pet store which was populated with cats, fish, birds, snakes and other typical small pets.

WRTV has a video report:

Firegeezer wonders about this center occupancy selling fireworks.  In most states fireworks vendors must operate in free-standing structures.

ON SATURDAY FIREGEEZER REPORTED HERE on the firehouse in Dana, Henderson County, North Carolina, that was severely damaged when a cabinet door on one of the trucks opened and caught a pillar between the bays.

FireNews.net is now reporting that the county building inspectors have determined that the damage is so great that the building will have to be demolished.

Read the full story and what the FD is going to do about it in FireNews.net HERE.
Click on the Firegeezer link HERE to view the video of the damage.

For the Paramedics:

There is a new medical dressing coming on to the market that offers great advances in healing therapy and prevents the intrusion of microbes into the wound.

Starting off with the technical jargon:  The CMB Antimicrobial Wound Dressing with Prosit is a single-layer dressing consisting of a polyester fabric layer containing biocompatible, proprietary formulas which are held in position on the polyester with a biocompatible binder.

In other words, it is a wound dressing that is permeated with some secret stuff that is inert when it is dry.  But when it is moistened, the “secret stuff” is activated and creates a miniature electrical current that sets up a barrier and prevents microbial penetration.  It kills bacteria, viruses, fungus, mold and yeast.

Using this dressing on wounds hastens healing and drastically lowers the pain as well.  It can be left on for 3 days before needing to be changed.

Firegeezer expects that this will soon be downsized into ambulance-ready dressings for street use within 3-4 years.

The Silverleaf Medical Products website has an information page HERE.
You can read the product report in .pdf format HERE.

CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER ORDERED  the mobilization of 200 National Guard troops on Tuesday to provide relief and assistance to forestry firefighters in the state.

CalFire announced that they are currently working nearly 1,500 wildfires with 18,500 firefighters, 1,400 fire engines, 335 bulldozers, 410 water tenders and 100 helicopters.

The Guard units will undergo 5 days of training first and then be deployed for mop-up operations and will also be providing dozens of transport vehicles and bulldozers.

KPIX-TV has the full STORY.

KCRA-TV has this video report:

*  FireNews.net is carrying a late-breaking story of a pedestrian being struck shortly after midnight this morning by a vol. firefighter who was responding to his station to get a fire engine.  You can read it HERE.

*  Dave Statter has been working the police beat these past few days covering the twisting story of a police officer killed in the line of duty.  The officer was also an active volunteer firefighter in Maryland.  The suspected killer was being held in jail when he mysteriously died by strangulation less than 24 hrs. after being incarcerated.  If you haven’t been following it, click over to STATter911 HERE and get caught up (keep scrolling down to get the earlier postings).  The story is still unfolding and he’s updating constantly.

*  With the onslaught of wildfires, it is overwhelming to try and keep up with them all.  There are 1,500 ongoing fires in California alone.  The best way to get the inside stories of what all is going on is to keep checking regularly with WildfireToday HERE and FirefighterBlog HERE.  And while we’re on the subject, WildfireToday has a neat map showing the smoke-cover across North America from the wildfires.  Check it out HERE.  You’ll be surprised.

*  FireRescue1 has freshened up their appearance on the front page.  After you check it out HERE, click on over to THIS STORY about Firefighter Superman who single-handedly lifted an SUV up 12 inches to free an occupant’s trapped arm.

*  I have to admit, I don’t know what a “push card” is.  But if you do and you want some that cover the new reflective vest requirements, VAFireNews tells you how to get them for free HERE.