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LAFD reduces Light Force staffing to put 11 additional ambulances on the road

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"After asking for money and not receiving it, I am moving forward.” Chief Cummings said. “What we need is additional ambulances."

On May 5, staffing at 22 LAFD Light Forces (tiller truck + pumper) will be reduced from a staff of six to a staff of five. Eleven EMT-level ambulances will be placed in service.

This represents a 1/3rd increase in staffed EMT ambulances (total 45) and should reduce the workload of the 89 paramedic ambulances and the need to send a fire company first responder to medical calls.

Ben Welsh, Robert J. Lopez and Kate Linthicum (2013 April 25) LAFD chief presses ahead with firefighter reassignment plan. Los Angeles Times

Ben Welsh (2013 April 16) Draft LAFD ambulance plan. Los Angeles Times

Ambulance Transport a long-standing LAFD issue

After a high profile crisis in public confidence in 1999, the department embarked on an ambitious expansion program that was funded by the city council.

By the end of the expansion, LAFD increased the transport fleet by 40%. A June 2005 snapshot showed:

  • 83 paramedic ambulances
  • 45 EMT ambulances
  • 6 part-time transport units
  • "Paramedic asset" in every fire station
  • EMS Supervisor (Captain II) in every battalion
  • Expanded staff of civilian ems educators 

The department added 210 paramedic positions.

Recession Erodes Resources

LAFD has been shrinking on-duty resources since 2008, reflecting the continuing impact on the city budget. We estimated that the department had 228 fewer firefighters on duty every day in July 2011 than they had in July 2005, with temporary closure of stations. At the start of the FY 2012 budget they closed 12 engine companies and 6 light forces, eliminated a division chief and 8 EMS Supervisors. A total of 357 positions were eliminated.

While the budget has shrunk since 2008, the number of requests for ambulances has increased.  On May 5, 2013, LAFD will have an ambulance fleet that is 6 paramedic ambulances larger than the 2005 fleet. There were 316,866 calls for EMS in calendar year 2011 – 298,205 in calendar year 2007

Mike "FossilMedic" Ward

Posted by on April 30, 2013 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, EMS Topics, Firefighting Operations, Funding & Staffing, News, Urban Commander • Tagged: , , , , , , ,

The 1913 Brennan Hotel fire – LAFD

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This is but one story of a Fire Department drenched in rich history, centered around bravery. May it remind us of the daily courageous acts of firefighters world wide and the countless stories gone untold.

LAFD spokesperson Erik Scott provides a press release:

Dear Friend of the LAFD,

     We would like to share a story with you that turns 100 years-old today. Not just any story. A story that is one of the most talked about fires in the history of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

A fire so vicious it injured 30 rugged firemen, burying five, and nearly cost the Chief of the Department his life.

A fire where chorus girls in makeup rewarded exhausted firemen with kisses as they exited the smoke-filled building.

A fire where likely more pictures were taken than any other fire in the horse drawn era (1877-1921).

A fire so fierce it inspired the instant making of a movie. A fire where the Los Angeles Mayor actually pulled hose-line, and thousands of spectators powerlessly watched wide eyed.

This is a story like no other, and just when everyone thought the flames were out…

Go HERE to read the rest of Scott's article.

Go HERE to see the LAFD Historical Archive photographs.

Mike "FossilMedic" Ward

Posted by on January 24, 2013 • Filed under: Fires, Major Incidents, Urban Commander • Tagged: , , , ,

Sunday Matinee

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"Your Fire Department (Part 2)" – 1949
Produced by Los Angeles Fire Department.

(Note:  This is Part 2 of 2.  If you missed Part 1 last week, we 
recommend that you  CLICK HERE and view it first.)

 

Next Week – Another Vintage Fire Film Adventure
Don't Miss It!!

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Posted by on October 7, 2012 • Filed under: Sunday Matinee • Tagged:

Sunday Matinee

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"Everybody wants to report a fire! …."

"Your Fire Department (Part 1)" – 1949
Produced by Los Angeles Fire Department.

(Be sure to check out the "triple-combination pumper" house fire evolution)

 

Next Week – Part 2
Don't Miss it!

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Posted by on September 30, 2012 • Filed under: Sunday Matinee • Tagged:

Los Angeles Faces Reality – Will Start Hiring Firefighters

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350 Vacancies Need To Be Filled

THE LAST TIME LOS ANGELES, California, hired any new firefighters was in 2009, filling the spots from an eligibility list created from a 2008 entry exam.  For the past three years they have tried to "save money" by not filling the 350 vacancies that have grown as attrition and retirements have shrunk the uniformed force, and closing stations while expending millions of dollars in overtime to keep the trucks on the road.

KCBS explains:

City budget cuts led to a department-wide halt to hiring in 2009, but that will soon change now that the department downsized to just under 3,340 employees and has lost more than 100 additional workers every year due to attrition and retirements.

Pat McOsker, President of the United Firefighters of Los Angeles, said paying overtime to cover shortfalls is now more costly that hiring new firefighters.

"We went through a time when there was no need to hire because they downsized the fire department," McOsker said. "Now because of retirement and disability pensions, we’re getting to the tipping point again where they will start hiring again."

KNBC Ch. 4 provided this video report on the re-opening of the hiring list:

 

View more videos at: http://nbclosangeles.com.

Not surprisingly, the LAFD has received more than 17,000 requests for applications to fill the vacancies.  The plans are to begin running five schools of 70 recruits each beginning early next year with the first graduates hitting the streets in the Fall of 2013.

It needs to be noted that the budget providing for the additional hires has not yet been approved by the City Council.

The Los Angeles Daily News has more HERE.
City of Los Angeles Personnel Department – Firefighter Employment Information WEBPAGE HERE.

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Posted by on August 1, 2012 • Filed under: Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, labor, Videos • Tagged: ,

LAFD Response Times Dip After Station Shutdowns …. (No! Really?)

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Anybody Besides the Fire Chief and Mayor Surprised at This?

THE LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, CONTROLLER Wendy Greul released the report yesterday of an audit her department conducted into the Fire Department's response times.  Using a 2-year baseline from June 2007 to July 2009, the auditors found that after the fire station closings and rotating brownouts took place in July of last year, the response times for ambulance calls increased an average 12 seconds citywide and as much as 20 seconds in certain areas including the San Fernando Valley.  The Daily News reports:

The report found response times for emergency medical calls increased an average of 12 seconds to four minutes, 57 seconds. However, the response time to fires and non-medical emergencies dropped about 21 seconds — also to four minutes, 57 seconds.

Pat McOsker, president of the United Firefighters of Los Angeles City, said the audit confirms his warnings over the past several years.

"You cannot cut the department by the 15 percent it has been cut and not have an impact," McOsker said. "In emergencies, seconds count and we have a system that delays the response."

Not to be overlooked in the report is this observation by the Controller:

She also expressed concern about the quality of the department's response time data, noting that about one-third of the incidents reviewed were not coded properly and it was unclear whether they were emergency or non-emergency calls.

"It's unacceptable that the LAFD has not been able to accurately track its emergency response times," Greuel said, adding she hoped the audit would lay the groundwork for city officials to make improvements.

In her report Greuel also pointed out that 650,000 of the 1.9 million incident reports they reviewed were coded "unclearly" rendering their study unable to be compared with the NFPA response standards.

KNBC-TV Ch. 4 tells more in this video report:

 

View more videos at: http://nbclosangeles.com.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, left, and Fire Chief Brian Cummings
discuss response times and deployment at a March 13 news conference.
(Barbara Davidson, Los Angeles Times / March 13, 2012)

It has been pointed out that part of the problem is created at the dispatch center where calls are taking longer to be processed before the alarm is dispatched. Again from the Daily News:

(Local President) McOsker said part of the problem is dispatchers are required to go through a list of more than 20 questions before an emergency call is placed with paramedics. The protocol was developed to try to reduce the number of calls made for nonemergencies.

"There was a time that once they determined the nature of the emergency, they could send a unit out," McOsker said. "Now, they have to go through the entire list of questions before they send anyone to the call."

Using their own resources to analyze the raw data, the Los Angeles Times has concluded:

(Times staff writer Ben) Welsh crunched data from more than 1 million dispatches from the department's database and found that the Fire Department falls far short of the standard that rescue units be alerted within one minute on 90% of 911 calls. And average call-processing time has increased, most notably for medical calls, which account for the overwhelming majority of responses.

Five years ago firefighters were dispatched to medical calls within a minute 38% of time, the analysis found. By 2011, that number dropped to 15%.

The Times also found that in the more than 250,000 medical dispatches last year, the department took 75% longer, on average, than the national standard.

You can read the entire 46-page Controller's report (.pdf file) HERE.

On March 18 Firegeezer reported on the surprising announcement that LAFD had been using phony numbers to calculate their response times.  Read that posting HERE where we also addressed the vehicle maintenance problems that are affecting the response times as well.

It was also last March when McOsker opined:  "This department is being held together with bubble gum, baling wire and duct tape."

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Posted by on May 19, 2012 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, dispatch, Dispatch & Communications, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, Response times, Videos • Tagged: , , ,

Extra Alarms in L. A. Fashion District

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Fire Captain Injured

AN EARLY-MORNING FIRE DESTROYED four businesses in Los Angeles, California, Sunday.  The fire was reported around 2 am and when the first units arrived they found heavy smoke coming from a 50' x 100' building that was divided into four occupancies.  It is located in the area known for housing many clothing factories and wholesalers.

KABC-TV

The incident commander immediately called for additional companies bringing 120 firefighters to the scene.  After 45 minutes, the roof was becoming "spongey" and the evacuation was ordered and defensive operations began.

KCLA-TV

The fire was out after 1hr.-40 minutes.  Two of the units were heavily damaged while a firewall kept the loss at the other two units lower.

The LAFD News blog reports that a fire captain suffered a "significant avulsion" to his arm and has been hospitalized.

This video report from KCBS-TV has good fire footage:

 

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Posted by on April 22, 2012 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: ,

LAFD Woes Continue

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It's All Starting to Come Out Now

THE VIGOROUS CAMPAIGN FOR MAYOR of Los Angeles (California) is exposing more failures of the City Council and the Mayor.  Among the agencies which are coming up short is the Fire Department.  That fine agency has been undermined by the current mayor who has slashed the FD budget by 16% in recent years, instituted rotating station brown-outs, and eliminated units from one-fourth of the city's 106 fire stations.  All this time the mayor and Fire Chief Brian Cummings have been saying that the department is doing okay despite the large cuts.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, left, and Fire Chief Brian Cummings
discuss response times and deployment at a March 13 news conference.
(Barbara Davidson, Los Angeles Times / March 13, 2012)

But one of their "proofs" of success, the average response times were found to be based on jiggered numbers and are really noticably slower than they had admitted to.  (See the Firegeezer article from March 11, LAFD Admits Inflating Response Times Favorably HERE.)  As more people from the political opposition and reporters from the local press start looking behind the facade, even more deception is being exposed.  Yesterday (Saturday) a columnist for the Los Angeles Times unloaded on the mayor and fire chief for the deterioration of the FD since they have taken control.  Some quotes from Stephen Lopez's detailed commentary indicate that all might not be well in the city:

Nobody was lying, we're told. But the Fire Department has now switched to a more accurate formula for tracking response times.

How hard can this be?  Your house is on fire, you call the Fire Department, and they show up in either four minutes, five, six, 10, whatever. Does it have to be more complicated than that?

It was on the basis of the rosier information that the mayor and council agreed to big cuts. Now Fire Chief Brian Cummings admits the department should have made clear that it had switched to a different formula, and both he and Villaraigosa tell us both formulas were accurate.

Huh?

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They also said public safety hasn't been compromised by the mothballing of equipment as part of a plan to save $200 million over three years. How could it not be compromised?

* * *

"This department is being held together with bubble gum, baling wire and duct tape," says Pat McOsker, president of United Firefighters of Los Angeles City.

"Forty percent of the time we are not getting there in time to prevent brain death," said McOsker, referring to the length of time it generally takes for someone who's not breathing to suffer lasting injury.

* * *

Mid-City resident Mike Eveloff has been doing his own spade work, demanding Fire Department records and crunching numbers. When you remove equipment from service and shutter or partially shutter fire stations, you're playing a game of Russian roulette, said Eveloff.

"You see them on longer and longer runs because they don't have as many firefighters. As an example, my station, 92, they were sent 14 miles away to the eastern part of Hollywood with red lights and siren. It's happening all the time," said Eveloff.

"If you look into the eyes of these guys, they are beat to death."

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"When I first came on, retirement was a sad day for the retiree. Now it seems like the retiree can't leave soon enough."

Apparently the shell game has extended into the maintenance division.  A combination of harder usage on the trucks coupled with a 30% reduction in the number of mechanics has left the fleet shaky and unreliable as more reserve apparatus are being used while normal repairs are backlogged as much as a month.  Now the reserve fleet is failing from the excess work.

Read Steve Lopez's entire commentary HERE.

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The LA Times has followed up with a separate article about the falling-apart of the emergency dispatch center.  They tell about a day recently where a woman had her hand mangled in a piece of machinery and had to wait 45 minutes before any help arrived because the dispatch system had just failed:

The dismemberment occurred March 7, when a brief equipment failure left dispatchers unable to alert fire stations. At a firehouse in Harbor Gateway near Torrance, just a mile from the bleeding woman, the alarms never rang, according to firefighters.

"I was in horrible, horrible pain," said Wafer, 36, who was later told by a doctor that too much time had elapsed to reattach her finger.

Firegeezer comments:  I find it amazing that nobody in that huge dispatch center had the presence of mind to call the nearest station by land line and get a unit started right away.  Don't you have to take a test or something in order to work there?

Read the detailed article on problems at the 9-1-1 center HERE.

Firegeezer adds further:  Having observed the LA Times' past behavior which includes dubious reporting by partial disclosure of facts and events, I recommend that we pause and give the FD time to get back to work on Monday and see if they address these charges.

Hat tip to:  Mike T.

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Posted by on March 18, 2012 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, apparatus, commentary, dispatch, Dispatch & Communications, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing • Tagged: , , ,

LAFD Admits Inflating Response Time Results Favorably

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Hadn't Switched to New Criteria Standards

THE LOS ANGELES (CITY) FIRE DEPARTMENT ISSUED a mea culpa Friday afternoon admitting that for several years they had been claiming better-than-actual response times for their fire and ambulance emergencies.  The disclosure was made after the Los Angeles Times questioned the results being claimed and looked into the stats more closely.

photo by ELKI

The Times reports:

Federal guidelines call for (firefighters) to arrive on scene in under five minutes 90% of the time. But a former department statistician counted all responses within six minutes, officials explained, which improved the record. Retired Capt. Billy Wells, who crunched the data with a hand calculator, said he followed the department's long tradition of using a six-minute response standard.

Wells' successor, Capt. Mark Woolf, said he reluctantly continued using the flawed formula for a time because he didn't want to be blamed for a sudden drop in department performance. "I didn't want to touch that [extra] minute because I knew the data would take a dump," he said.

Corrected data generated by a new computer system shows that in 2008, the department actually hit the five-minute goal only 64% of the time, officials said. By last year, that number had fallen to about 60%.

Fire Chief Brian Cummings said his department's performance is pretty good, given the 16% reduction to its budget in recent years, which has led to the elimination of firetrucks or ambulances at about one-fourth of the city's 106 fire stations.

The problem first came to light when a candidate for the upcoming mayoral election, Austin Beutner criticized the city controller for failing to scrutinize the effects of recent budget cuts that had shown a precipitous drop in response times after 2008.

Read the complete Los Angeles Times story HERE.

Posted by on March 11, 2012 • Filed under: Fire Rescue Topics, Response times • Tagged: ,

Shooting Incident During Fire Rescue in Los Angeles

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Firefighters Endangered While Rescuing Three

Sky News

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, FIREFIGHTERS found themselves in a potentially-deadly situation Thursday when they arrived at a house fire in east Hollywood.  The dispatch at 12:41 pm Pacific was for a reported shooting, so the PD and a LAFD fire and medic response were sent.  LAFD's News Blog continues:

Upon arrival, they were greeted by three adults: one 34 year-old male and two 38 year-old females, all suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. A domestic dispute in the nearly 100 year-old single family dwelling, may have precipitated the gunfire. Acting without hesitation, the Officers and Firefighters rapidly extracted all three individuals from the residence, before discovering a quickly developing fire at the rear of the structure.

Adding to the chaos, were reports that the shooter was still in the residence and may have been holding one additional victim. The potential of this incident brought a swift and heavy response, with 150 Firefighters pouring into the Hollywood neighborhood.

Los Angeles Times

With the mortal hazard facing them, the firefighters had to withdraw to protected areas while the police set up a ring of riflemen to protect the area.  It was decided to protect the exposures and let the fire burn in the house using hose streams from safe zones including the roof of a neighboring apartment building. 

Los Angeles Times

KABC-TV posted this video taken early in the operation from their helicopter:

 

In 2-½ hours the fire burned itself out and a LAFD cadaver dog was led into the charred structure where he located two victims.  One of them is presumed to be the shooter and the other was not immediately able to be identified.

The Los Angeles Times has the STORY.
Read the report from the LAFD News & Information Blog HERE.
KABC-TV has more information and several video reports HERE.
KABC-TV has a 30-image photo gallery HERE.

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Posted by on February 17, 2012 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: ,

Update – Building Fire at California Refinery

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Oil Facilities Not Threatened

Update:  Fire mostly out – video added.  Scroll down.

A BUILDING FIRE THAT IS CLASSED AS A "MAJOR EMERGENCY" is burning at a ConocoPhillips oil refinery in Wilmington, California.

KTLA-TV

The fire was reported at 4:20 am Pacific when a passer-by spotted an orange glow in a 2nd-story window of the refinery's administration building.  The first units found fire showing on the top floor of the 2-story building that had already extended into the attic.

The building is about 300 ft. long and 75 ft. wide, but is located far enough from the refinery operations that they are not endangered by the blaze.

Shortly after beginning fire operations, a portion of the roof collapsed and all interior operations were stopped.  Aerial streams are now in service with about 150 FF's on the scene.

The fire is still burning at the time of this posting, so no solid information has been released yet.  Firegeezer will update this report when more comes available.

KTLA-TV has the early REPORT.

Google Street View of the fire building (above).  It is the building at
the center top of the satellite view (below)

Update, 2 pm Pacific:
The fire was knocked down about four hours after initial attack, however units are still on the scene working the hot spots and pockets.

The tile-roofed building is believed to be at least 100 years old and video shows extensive damage to a large portion of it.

KTLA-TV added:

The blaze was confined to the free-standing office building, and did not affect any other parts of the facility. Fire officials stressed that it was an ordinary structure fire, and did not involve any hazardous materials.

The LAFD worked in a unified command with ConocoPhillips to shut down utilities and monitor some computer equipment in the basement of the affected building.

ConocoPhillips spokesperson Betsy Brien said the fire would not impact shipments or the refinery process. "We do have contingency plans in place so we will be able to operate," Brien said.

The plant refines crude oil to gasoline, which is then delivered across California, Nevada and Arizona. Brien said the burned building is used for administrative functions, such as billing. 

KCBS-TV posted fire footage in this video report:

 

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Posted by on January 16, 2012 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: , ,

Ambulance Crash Leaves Four Injured in Los Angeles

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At An Intersection…..Again

FOUR PEOPLE INCLUDING TWO FIREFIGHTERS were injured Monday morning when a Los Angeles, California, Fire Department ambulance collided with an automobile at an intersection in North Hollywood.

KCBS-TV

The ambulance was responding to a call for an ambulance from a fire unit at a medical scene when the accident occurred around 9:20 am.  News reports say that the LAFD spokesman reported that all four people were transported with minor and/or non-critical injuries.  The two civilians that were injured were in the car that was struck.  The ambulance was "non-drivable" and had to be towed away from the site.

LAPD Sgt. Mitzi Fierro said that the woman driving the car will be cited for failure to yield to an emergency vehicle.  "They were driving down the street, got into the intersection, the lights and sirens were on, they started making their turn, and hit the lady," Fierro said.  "It was a really clear intersection, and she had an ample view of the approaching ambulance.  She just didn't yield."

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Posted by on December 26, 2011 • Filed under: ambulances, Vehicle Operations & Apparatus • Tagged: , ,

Arson Strikes California Strip Mall

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FD Makes Quick Containment

AN EARLY-MORNING FIRE IN A LOS ANGELES, California, strip mall gutted an auto parts store in Reseda Friday.

KTLA-TV

The first-arriving units found heavy smoke and fire coming from the store and immediately began forcing entry into the adjoining occupancies to attempt to contain the fire.  The shopping center has a common attic which is typical of that type of construction, and the fire had already gotten into the roof space.

LAFD / Flickr photo

The 130+ firefighters dispatched to the incident were able to contain the fire to the store of origin and the attic space, confining the neighboring shops to water and smoke damage only.  The fire was knocked down in hour and twenty-four minutes. 

Los Angeles Times

The LAFD arson investigators quickly determined that the fire was an arson and their investigation is continuing.

The Los Angeles Times has the STORY.
LAFD News blog has the DETAILS.
LAFD Flickr page photo gallery HERE.

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Posted by on November 12, 2011 • Filed under: fire, Fires • Tagged: , , ,

Los Angeles Fire is 125 years old

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The Los Angeles Fire Department Celebrates 125 Years of Service

A post yesterday from our friend and tireless LAFD spokesman Brian Humphrey:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Today, the men and women of your Los Angeles Fire Department proudly celebrate the 125th Anniversary of our agency.

Regarding the year of our founding, former LAFD Chief Engineer William L. Miller once noted…

“The year 1886 – was a period of great advancement for the City of Los Angeles. Los Angeles had been an incorporated city under laws of the State of California for 36 years. It had a population of some 35,000, with three good hotels, 27 churches, an adequate number of saloons and 350 telephone subscribers…

…the City Fathers determined that it was high time to have an organized and paid Fire Department to replace, in part, the volunteer fire companies that had served on an intermittent basis since 1869, with apparatus provided principally by public subscriptions …”

 (from 1961 Diamond Jubilee address)

Though much has changed in Los Angeles since, the devotion and commitment of your Los Angeles Firefighters remains inspired by those who have proudly protected our City for the past 125 years.

We encourage you to join LAFD members past and present throughout the coming year, as we celebrate the quasquicentennial of our agency.

For more information – including some facts that may surprise you, we encourage you to visit:   http://lafdmuseum.org

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Congrats to LAFD!

Mike “FossilMedic” Ward

Posted by on February 2, 2011 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Fire Blogs, News, Urban Commander, Videos • Tagged: , , , ,

Furniture Factory Blaze in L. A.

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THE LOS ANGELES FIRE DEPARTMENT WAS FACED WITH a large commercial building fire Wednesday evening when they found a furniture factory well ablaze on arrival.  The alarm was sent at 5:41 pm and when the first-in units arrived the 200-ft. by 300-ft. building was already a write-off.  Extra alarms were called to contain the fire and the 150 firefighters on the scene successfully kept it from spreading to adjoining businesses.  The roof fell in very early in the fire.

KTLA-TV

KABC-TV describes the incident:

It took 150 firefighters an hour and 20 minutes to knock it down and it was no easy task dealing with the intensity of the flames.”They gained access, they were battling the blaze for at least five minutes, close to 10 and then they had to back out because of the intense heat,” said Los Angeles Fire Department’s Ronnie Villanueva.

Firefighters, who quickly took a defensive position, also had to watch out for exploding transformers and red hot power lines. The building housed a furniture manufacturing company called Cubic Design, which contained flammable materials such as woods, chemicals and sawdust.

Roger Huh owns the company. He entered the burned building with arson investigators in search of anything he could salvage. All he came away with was a charred computer and a bag of smoldering papers. Huh was devastated by the loss and fears he will have to lay off his six employees.  Huh leased the building from Eve Reynolds, whose grandfather built the structure in 1954.

KTLA-TV Ch. 5 filed this video report from the scene:

  

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Google Street View of the fire building.

Posted by on November 25, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: ,

Explosion Rocks Los Angeles Firefighters

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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, FIREFIGHTERS WERE ON THE SCENE of a major industrial fire early Wednesday morning when a violent explosion occurred  in a titanium storage facility.  The fire swept through six buildings triggering more explosions as the molten exotic metals reacted with the water.  The firm manufactures titanium golf clubs, according to the LAFD spokesman.

KTLA-TV

At one point, around 1 am, a huge blast showered firefighters and engines with burning titanium, Battalion Chief Mario Rueda told the press.  “As a result of these explosions, titanium chips dispersed over the neighborhood,” Rueda said. “Large chunks of concrete impacted some of our apparatus and the concussive effect knocked out some of our (vehicle) windows.”

KABC-TV’s cameras caught the first explosion as seen in this video report:

At the peak of the fire there were 220 firefighters on the scene.  After the first explosion the fire attack was concentrated on preventing extension while the metals fires burned themselves out.  A second explosion as large as the first was triggered two hours later.

A firefighter and a captain were treated for hand burns and ringing in their ears from explosions, but were not seriously injured.  A third FF was taken to the hospital for burns on the back of his neck.

The FD officials are saying that probably the entire complex will be a total loss.

Los Angeles Times

The Associated Press has the latest report HERE.

Posted by on July 14, 2010 • Filed under: explosion, fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: , ,

Morning Lineup – May 28

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There’s an old expression that goes something like, “You get the kind of government that you vote for.”  And we have seen what kind of government the people in the city of Los Angeles have chosen to live with.  Basically, they are being led by a band of deceitful ignoramuses who choose to govern by deception instead of accepting responsibility and following good business practices.

On Wednesday we posted a brief notice (HERE) about the city council’s approval of a 37% increase in their already-astronomical fees for emergency ambulance service.  Beginning July 1 they will likely be charging their citizens and guests nearly $1,000 for a BLS call and close to $1,400 for an ALS response.  Plus….. $15.75 per mile if they transport the poor guy who just dropped with a sudden heart attack.  This action by the city council is unconscionable for at least two reasons.

First of all, the emergency ambulance service is a function of the fire department and is funded by taxpayers through the FD’s annual budget.  That’s something most people understand…..the ambulance is like the fire engine.  Everyone chips in via their taxes to have fire and EMS units available with trained crews to handle emergencies no matter who the victims are.  It’s a community function.  But the key point here is the funding from tax collections.  They do not expect, nor should they, to pay outrageously high prices for government services that are already funded.  If the fire department’s budget was not fully funded, then everybody needs to share the shortfall by either paying still-higher taxes or by reducing the size of the FD and suffer the consequences of diminished service.

But the city council believes that they can make themselves look good and clever by shifting the additional cost onto the victims, those people whose lives have just been tragically impacted by an unexpected event and are helpless against this type of monetary attack on their pocketbooks.  But for the 98% or so of the citizens who don’t need anything from the FD this year, they don’t see any immediate change in their own tax burden.  Presto!  Happy voters!

Just as dishonest is the real reason they are foisting these astronimical fees onto the helpless victims.  This is a gimmick to “balance” the budget by projecting income that hasn’t yet materialized.  They will say that the ambulances will generate X millions of dollars, knowing full well that only a fraction of that amount will ever be collected.   So why do they do it?  Simple.  It allows them to shift actual funds collected from the fire department into other pet agencies and projects that they use as favorite, visible programs that please the voters and help lead to re-election.  All this time that people are thinking their tax money is going to public safety, they are really funding unecessary and extraneous programs that are not required for the city to function properly.

Los Angeles City Council, looking the other way…

So what happens next if they can’t collect these draconian charges from the poor sap who didn’t really choose to have a medical emergency inside the city limits?  Well, the same thing that happened this year when every city agency came up short.  Last year’s phantom budget came up lacking this month and the incompetent (and marginally dishonest) city council will go through the same dance set.  It always begins with ordering the agency head to “slash spending.”  You know the rest of the routine by now.  It is no surprise that the City of Los Angeles is financially bankrupt.  Playing this shell game with non-existant monies will only expand and prolong their problem.  But that’s what the citizens voted for.

We’d better get this equipment checked out now, that’s not up for a vote.  I’ll get some more coffee started and see you back in the day room.

May 25, 2010
L. A. city councilman laments the fact that other politicians are spending their own money
on election campaigns instead of giving it to him to spend on the city’s problems.

Posted by on May 28, 2010 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged: , , , ,

13 Injured in Los Angeles Apartment Fire

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A FIRE IN A 3-STORY APARTMENT BUILDING in downtown Los Angeles, California, left 13 people injured including a 2-yr.-old child with 3rd-degree burns.  Another victim was a woman who suffered a broken leg when she leaped from an upper-story window fleeing the flames.

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LAFD photo by Harry Garvin

The heavy initial response by the FD brought 150 firefighters to the scene, the first units arriving in 3 minutes where they found fire showing from a 2nd-floor unit.  They immediately laddered the entire building and effected rescue activities while extinguishing the flames.  The fire was put out in less than 30 minutes.  The two injured victims remain in critical condition, but both are expected to survive.

The fire began Saturday morning around 8:45  in one of the building’s 42 living units and quickly filled the area with smoke causing a mild panic.  Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Steve Ruda told the Los Angeles Times that the blaze broke out on the second floor and residents used some creative efforts to escape. One person tied together a karate belt, a blanket and a power cord and tied the assemblage to a room fixture, Ruda said. He didn’t know whether anyone used the makeshift rope.

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LAFD photo by Harry Garvin

The LAFD News website has the best article on the fire HERE.

CBS News has assembled these raw video clips:

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Posted by on May 9, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: ,