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Morning Lineup – December 13

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Thursday Morning – Progress Being Made

Regular readers may recall a story that we covered 19 months ago on May 5, 2011, when the firehouse in the small town of Manilla (with 2 L's), Iowa, burned down in a spreading downtown fire.  You can review the STORY HERE.  The memory-jogger of the story is a follow-up we did on May 17 after Fire Chief Bob Macumber sent us the report on how the fire spread into to the fire station and burned it down.  (That story is HERE.)  He inluded a photograph of the burning station taken by a citizen that showed a purported image of Oasam bin Laden in the flames over the building of origin.

Do you remember that one now?  I thought you might.  Anyway,  Chief Macumber sent us another follow-up yesterday with a photo of their new fire station which has been built and ready to go into operation.  He says it has been a tough year-and-a-half for them, and I can believe that.

Congratulations to all the gang at the Manilla FD for overcoming their major loss and completing their new fire station.

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I'll take time to pass along a brief note on the NHL's one-step-forward-one-step-back labor negotiations that continued yesterday.  As we were told earlier, the two sides met at a remote location along with the federal mediators.  The National Hockey League released the following statement last evening:

The session, held at the office of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (in Iselin, New Jersey), was overseen by mediator Scot Beckenbaugh. It is the second time the sides have used federal mediation in the past two weeks.

"We met for about six-and-a-half hours today with the assistance of federal mediator Scot Beckenbaugh," NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said. "The parties were never actually in the same room together. We did several different caucus meeting rooms. There is nothing new to report.

"We don't have a conclusion to the process. The players are doing something [Wednesday] night and they are going to get back to mediator Beckenbaugh [Wednesday] night and he will get back to us [Wednesday] night."

The sides never met face-to-face during the mediation session Wednesday. Beckenbaugh met with each side several times to discuss the issues the sides must bridge to reach a new deal.

"As I think you may know, there were a number of meetings each side had with the mediator [Wednesday] and, as well, we had caucuses on our own and I assume the League personnel did also,” NHLPA Executive Director Donald Fehr said. “They were discussions of the various issues involved and how far we are apart and where we go from here. I can’t tell you that any progress was made. Obviously, we are going to continue to stay in contact with the mediator [Wednesday] night and try to figure out what the next appropriate step is."

We haven't been told yet what progress, if any, came from the meetings last night.  Meanwhile, the NHL tv network continues to show re-runs of old games long past.

It's time for us to meet in our own caucus room now and get this equipment checked out.  The coffee concession is open though, so I'll get a fresh pot ready.  See you back in the day room.

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Posted by on December 13, 2012 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged: , ,

Was This Bin Laden’s Final Attack?

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Terrorist to the end, or just a trick of the eye?

NEARLY TWO WEEKS AGO ON MAY 5 Firegeezer reported HERE on the downtown fire in Manilla, Iowa, that claimed three buildings including the town's fire station.  You may recall that a couple of firefighters first spotted the fire in the building next door to the firehouse and, after reporting the fire, they were able to drive all the trucks out of the station to safety, but the FD lost all their running gear, hose, and other equipment.

KETV image

Our report contained a video and photographs that were taken after the fire was out, showing the rubble remaining at the fire scene.  Later, a citizen who had taken a photograph (from what appears to be a cellphone camera) of the fire while it was in full force but before the building collapsed sent the pic to the FD.  The building in the center is the one that completely burned down and spread to the two buildings on each side including the firehouse which is just to the right.

Manilla Fire Chief Bob Macumber sent us the photo with the information that the radiant heat from the fire is what penetrated the firehouse and ignited the beadboard insulation on the inside, which led to the loss of the station.  He also points out that a lot of people think they see the image of Osama bin Laden in the dancing flames over the fire building.  The fire occurred just three days after his death, but we know that the force of evil can be strong.

What do you think?  Was this the monster's last act, or is it just a trick of the eye?  We will never really know for sure, will we?

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Posted by on May 17, 2011 • Filed under: Fire Rescue Topics, Fire-ology • Tagged:

Downtown Fire Claims Firehouse

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Just Completed a Renovation

Update:  Video added.  Scroll down.

A FIRE ON MAIN STREET IN MANILLA, IOWA, Wednesday night burned down two buildings and damaged the town's firehouse beyond repair.

The Firehouse Sits Next to the Two Destroyed Buildings (KETV)

The fire started in a vacant building and was first noticed at 10:30 pm.  It advanced to a storage unit and both structures were destroyed.  The Manilla Fire Station was next door and was so extensively damaged that the insurance representative is writing it off.  The FD had just completed a $50,000 renovation to the facility, but they were fortunate in that they were able to get their new fire engine out in time to save it.  However, most of their running gear, turnouts, hoses and equipment were lost.

KETV

Radio Iowa reports:

A couple of firefighters happened by around 10:30 P.M. and saw the flames coming from the building next door. They went into the fire station right away and pulled out the fire trucks and ambulances while the dispatchers started calling fire stations in other towns in the vicinity for help. At least seven other towns sent crews.

Gaskell says the fire had too much of a head start to save much. An old blacksmith shop that housed a variety of antiques was gutted, as was the vacant building, which had been a residence. Both are “totally gone,” according to Gaskell, and he says the fire station will likely need to be replaced, too.

KCRG-TV

Nine fire departments responded to the fire from neighboring communities.

Update:  KETV Ch. 7 Omaha filed this video report Thursday night:

 

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Posted by on May 5, 2011 • Filed under: fire, Fire Rescue Topics, fire stations, Fires, Videos • Tagged: ,