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Another Stolen Ambulance

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Thief Caught During 5-Hour Joyride

A 19-YR.-OLD VAGRANT STOLE an ambulance in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Tuesday night and putted around the Pittsburgh-area county for several hours until a police officer spotted him standing next to the unit at a convenience store, taking a break.  It is believed, but not yet proven, that Jonathon David Miracle was also involved in two collisions during his spree.

EAPS Website photo

The Eastern Area PreHospital Services EMS unit was parked at the ambulance station in Swissvale when it was discovered to be missing at 9 pm.  A call went out immediately to the local police departments and then it was found around 2 am.  KDKA-TV reports:

Around 2 a.m. Wednesday, Rostraver Police spotted the ambulance along State Route 51 and saw 19-year-old Jonathan Miracle, who is homeless, standing next to the vehicle.  Police say they spotted Miracle next to the vehicle’s open door and was not wearing typical Emergency Medical Services clothing.

Miracle was charged with a felony count of receiving stolen property.

He will be charged separately in Swissvale for stealing the ambulance.  The Pittlsburgh Tribune-Review adds:

After being arrested, Miracle admitted to taking the ambulance, said Rostraver Police Chief Greg Reseter. Miracle told investigators he was trying to get back to the Chicago area, where he has family.

The ambulance was fully stocked with medications and supplies, including narcotics, but none of it appeared to have been disturbed, Reseter said.

State police also were investigating an accident that may have involved Miracle and the ambulance elsewhere in Westmoreland County. Rostraver police charged Miracle with receiving stolen property, and Swissvale police will charge him with stealing the ambulance. State police may file additional charges related to the accident, Reseter said.

Eastern Area PreHospital Services WEBSITE.

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Posted by on January 9, 2013 • Filed under: ambulances, crime, EMS Topics • Tagged: , ,

Arson Destroys Adult Bookstore – Adult Quickly Arrested

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Tips Lead Police to Arsonist

AN ADULT BOOKSTORE IN WESTMORELAND COUNTY, Pennsylvania, was completely burned out early Thursday morning.  Almost immediately, the State Police investigator received  a tip that led him to the home of one of the shop's employees.  Joseph Pahel, 44 of Latrobe who was the close-up man last night, was arrested later this morning and charged with several counts of theft, arson, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment.

None of the live girls were in the bookstore
at the time of the fire.  (Post-Gazette photo)

WTAE-TV Ch. 4 Pittsburgh has the morning video report from the scene:

 

Police say that Pahel had taken $300 from the cash register just after closing, and set the fire to cover up his crime.  While they have declined to say exactly how they learned of Pahel's involvement so quickly, when they interviewed him at his home he admitted that he had taken the money and started the fire.  The business sells sex-related videos, publications and devices and employs several women who appear nude in viewing booths.

The Lloydsville VFD was the first-due company and when they arrived on the scene the fire was already through the roof.

The Pittsburg Tribune-Review has the story HERE.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has MORE.
Lloydsville VFD WEBSITE.

Posted by on June 9, 2011 • Filed under: arson, Fires, Videos • Tagged: , ,

Township to Pay For Volunteers’ Physicals

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HEMPFIELD TOWNSHIP IN WESTMORELAND COUNTY, Pennsylvania, has decided to have all volunteer firefighters get medical physicals at the township’s expense.  Beginning next year the firefighters will be given a physical every five years with 40 receiving them each year.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review adds:

(Township) Manager Kurt Ferguson said the decision to allot more than $19,000 for the physicals in the 2011 budget was reinforced by the recent death of North Irwin volunteer, James Gumbert, who died of a heart attack Nov. 10 in the fire station as he was preparing to answer a fire call.  Ferguson said he has been discussing the issue with supervisors since last summer.

“(Gumbert’s) death reinforced the need for such an initiative. We made this an initiative back in June that this was something we needed to focus on,” Ferguson said. “Our goal is … every five years they’ll have a physical. I think our firemen deserve to have that.”

Dan Stevens, a spokesman for Westmoreland County Emergency Management, said Hempfield’s “doing the right thing. They need to be applauded for that.”

He said firefighters who serve with the county’s hazardous materials response team get extensive physicals every two years because of the number of firefighters in the state who die from heart-related illnesses.

Read the entire article in the Tribune -Review HERE.

Grapeville VFD Engine 21

Hempfield Township is obviously a well-run municipality.  They not only have a budget surplus this year, but they have not raised any taxes in 21 years.  The township has 12 all-volunteer fire departments.  You can view their WEBPAGE HERE.

Firegeezer says:  Hempfield Township is to be commended for this action.  Not explained in the article is whether the responder-members will be required to pass the physical in order to perform emergency activities.

Presented by Gnome Handler

Posted by on November 22, 2010 • Filed under: Fire-ology, Firefighter Safety & Health, health & safety • Tagged: , ,

Plane Crashes Into House in Pennsylvania

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Updated:  2 bodies recovered.  Scroll down. 

A TWIN-ENGINE AIRCRAFT CRASHED INTO a home in western Pennsylvania at 9:20 am Saturday morning.  The plane burst into flames immediately and has burned down the house.  Reportedly all the occupants of the home were able to escape with their lives.

KDKA-TV image

The crash occurred in a rural area of Westmoreland County near Pittsburgh.  KDKA-TV is reporting:

One man was home at the time of the crash. He was in the basement and was able to make it out safely.  (his) wife and step-daughter were not home at the time of the crash.

The man said that the plane crashed into the room where his wife normally paints.

FAA officials say that they don’t yet know where the plane took off from or where it was going.  They haven’t yet located the flight plan, but the type of plane that crashed is capable of traveling 300 miles on a load of fuel.  So far, there has been no determination of how many people were onboard the aircraft.  Most of the identifying number on the plane has been destroyed in the fire.

Update, 4:30 pm:
The Associated Press is reporting that two bodies have been recovered from the crash site, but efforts to search wreckage is continuing.

Westmoreland County spokesman Dan Stevens said the plane went through the house and landed in the garage, passing just to the right of the man when it came down in a rural area about 90 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the BE58 Beech Baron took off from Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe, Pa., at 9:08 a.m. Saturday and crashed 11 minutes later.

Stevens said the bodies were recovered from the wreckage shortly after 3 p.m. after rescuers unearthed the plane from the collapsed garage. He said officials believed only two people were aboard but were continuing the search and had not yet unearthed the tail section and confirmed the identification number.  The bricks and concrete blocks making up the garage walls and roof had buried the plane, and rescuers were removing it brick by brick, he said.

Stevens said local officials believed they knew who the plane belonged to but would release no information until they could confirm the tail number.

WPXI-TV has filed this video taken shortly after the crash via CNN:

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Posted by on August 7, 2010 • Filed under: aircraft, fire, Fires • Tagged: ,