Friday, May 17, 2013  Two firefighters were injured battling a 4-alarm blaze in Passaic.

One firefighter sustained burns to his upper body and another suffered hand and leg injuries as the rooming house on Lafayette Avenue burned Thursday.

It took about 3 1/2 hours to bring the blaze under control. Live electrical wires hampered efforts.

Fire Chief Patrick Trentacost tells The Record 34 people were evacuated from the three-story building and from adjacent buildings.

Trentacost says the fire began on the first floor and appears to be electrical in origin.

http://www.nj.com/passaic-county/index.ssf/2013/05/2_firefighters_hurt_in_passaic_blaze.html

Friday, May 17, 2013  20 firefighters have walked off the job leaving their gear behind following Tuesday night's brawl inside McIntosh Town Hall.

An ongoing dispute between Mayor Wilbert Dixon and Fire Chief Robert Davidson quickly escalated during the town's monthly council meeting. A fight broke out between the two, sending Davidson to the hospital.

"He's doing okay, but he's not doing okay emotionally. He's very down this is part of his family, this is a part of his life," said his daughter, Samantha.

After serving 13 years as fire chief, Davidson was let go following the fight. The mayor signed a warrant for his arrest this morning Davidson turned himself in to authorities. He bonded out just after 1 p.m. Thursday. His family insists he's the victim, not the suspect.

"I mean 13 years as a chief, not as a member but a chief, that's just what I don't understand. How can you get rid of somebody with that much dedication and that much service," s... [ more ]

Thursday, May 16, 2013  An SUV driven by a volunteer firefighter flipped over while he was on his way to an emergency call around 9 a.m. Thursday, police said.

Edward J. Collar IV, 19, was driving south on Farmington Avenue near Diamond Avenue, with the blue lights on top of his car illuminated, when another car pulled out in front of him, police said.

But a witness to the accident said that Collar had to stop quickly because a school bus was turning left onto Diamond Avenue.

“He flipped over less than 25 yards in front of me,” the witness told The Mercury.

The damp roadway conditions made breaking difficult and the SUV rolled over onto its top.

Upper Pottsgrove Police said he was not ejected from the car and he was able to climb out.


Farmington Avenue was closed for 45 minutes while police investigated the cras... [ more ]

Thursday, May 16, 2013  A fire truck passing through the state on its way to Canada was destroyed by fire Tuesday afternoon on southeastern South Dakota, according to Highway Patrol.The truck was northbound on Interstate 29 near mile marker 66, about a mile north of the Worthing exit, when the driver smelled smoke and pulled over, Capt. Kevin Joffer said. The driver saw flames underneath, Joffer said.
 
The truck was coming from Florida to Canada, Joffer said.
 
The fire was called in at 3:05 p.m., and Worthing and Lennox fire departments responded. I-29 northbound was down a lane as crews extinguished the fire.

Thursday, May 16, 2013  Nearly three months after being severely burned in a fire that killed two in Lancaster city, firefighter Lt. Andre Kelley walked out of a rehab hospital Wednesday morning to a hero's welcome.

A procession of fire trucks carrying fellow firefighters from as far away as Blue Rock Fire Rescue in Manor Township led the triumphant procession from Lancaster Rehabilitation Hospital in East Hempfield Township, through blocked-off city streets and to Kelley's cozy row home, newly spruced up by his comrades.

City hall workers cheered wildly on the building's front steps and county sheriffs stood at attention and saluted in front of Lancaster County Courthouse on South Duke Street as the procession went by.

Exiting a 30-foot-long black stretch limousine, Kelley, his wife and two children spent ... [ more ]

Thursday, May 16, 2013  A final look at the firehouse where he served for 29 years was bittersweet Monday night for Randy West, chief of Cerro Gordo's volunteer Fire Protection District.

West was present, along with many supporters, at a special meeting of the district's trustees to formally turn over his keys, radio and other materials after being dismissed by the five-person board in a decision announced Thursday. About a dozen of the department's other volunteers joined him in handing in their own resignations as a protest.

"I was relieved because I did not fulfill the trustees' wishes of firing the deputy chief, who happens to be my son, Blake," said West after the meeting. "At the meeting Thursday, they told me they wanted me to remain on as fire chief but they wanted me to remove Blake from the roster due to complaints about too much training. He was under direct order from me to push hard for that training, which is required by the state. They gave me an ultimatum... [ more ]

Wednesday, May 15, 2013  A man on a bicycle was seriously injured when he was struck early Wednesday morning by a city fire truck, said Sgt. Leo T. Shirkey of the Ohio Highway Patrol.

The fire truck was not heading to an emergency.

It was heading to Station 4 at Cleveland Avenue and 25th Street NW, returning from a crash on Fulton Road and Interstate 77, Shirkey said.

The crash occurred at 2:56 a.m. at that intersection.

Canton fire truck No. 9 was heading east on Fulton and, with the light green, turned north onto 25th Street, Shirkey said.

A man riding a bike west on Fulton failed to stop for a red light and was struck by the truck, he said.

Investigators said he not have identification on him but they were later able to locate and notify members of his family.

The bicyclist was later identified as Shawn Dockery, 51, of the 6200 block of Groton Street NW in Jackson Township.

He underwent surgery an... [ more ]

Wednesday, May 15, 2013 

How to cope with firefighter non-LODDs



Just because the firefighters did not die in the line of duty does not mean their fellow firefighters can cope with the loss without help

By Ronald J. Siarnicki



Recently my community of Kent Island, Md. suffered a tragic loss of four young men. These close friends, ages 18 and 19, went for a ride mid-day and were involved in a fatal motor vehicle accident.

There are no real answers as to how or why this occurred, but now my community is faced with addressing the aftermath.

In addition, the impact of this tragedy has affected my local fire service as one of these young men was a ... [ more ]

Wednesday, May 15, 2013  For firefighters, facing deadly situations is part of the job, but a study getting a fresh look in New Hampshire indicates that a major threat to firefighters' well-being is a higher risk of cancer.


After 18 years as a Salem firefighter, Capt. Steve McKenna is now facing another challenge. Doctors discovered Stage 3 cancer in his digestive tract in 2009.

"They took out part of my duodenum, part of my pancreas, part of my stomach," he said.

The cancer has since spread to his lungs and his liver, and McKenna said he's not sure how long his body can hold out.

"I don't know how you say it. It's just inevitable," McKenna said. "The outcome's not going to be any different months down the road here. Maybe a year, at best."

McKenna's illness is not unique among firefighters. A 2006 study garnering increased attention in New Hampshire shows firefighters are at increased risk for multiple cancers.

They'... [ more ]

Wednesday, May 15, 2013  Clarkston Fire Chief Steve Cooper said Monday a residential fire that caused multiple injuries over the weekend was not an incident that should’ve required mutual aid, but he is not opposed to getting agreements with neighboring agencies back on the table.

“By the time four of our firefighters were injured, we were a bit thin and could’ve used another half dozen of our volunteers,” Cooper said.


Fire crews from adjacent agencies, such as Asotin County Fire District No. 1 and the city of Lewiston, weren’t called for backup because it wasn’t a life-threatening incident, Cooper said. No mutual aid agreements with those agencies are in place.

Asotin County Fire Chief Noel Hardin said Monday his crews would have responded if the commanding officer called for backup.

“If they put out a call for help, we would have been there,” Hardin said.

Although no lives were threatened and the fire at 1040 McCarrol... [ more ]

Wednesday, May 15, 2013  We regret to advise you that a 59-year-old Tacoma Firefighter has died after suffering an apparent heart attack while working at an EMS scene.

Tacoma Firefighter Albert Nejmeh died in the Line of Duty last night at St. Joseph Medical Center.

The 12-year Fire Department veteran was given immediate basic and advanced life support by fellow firefighters after he collapsed Tuesday morning. They then took him to the hospital where he was pronounced. Our condolences to all affected.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013  A former Bainbridge resident identified as having allegedly stolen and then crashed a fire truck Friday has died.

Monday morning, the Ross County Sheriff’s Office identified Brentley S. Montgomery, 19, as the suspect in the incident involving the Harrison Township fire truck. By Monday evening, the Ohio Highway Patrol confirmed that Montgomery had died.

Montgomery had been at the Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State University, where hospital officials had said he was in surgery Monday morning.

Patty Dennewitz, of Bainbridge, said she has known Montgomery since he was in third grade at Paint Valley. She was at Wexner during the weekend with her husband praying for Montgomery and had been told he was brain dead by Sunday evening and that there were plans to donate his organs. That organ donation plan could help explain the discrepancy between the fact that his obituary indicates he died at the hospital Saturday and that he was involved i... [ more ]

Sunday, May 12, 2013  It is with deep regrets to inform you that this afternoon, we lost a “Man for the Ages” with the passing of Jim “Lord Jim” Ellson, Sr. He lost his battle to cancer.  He gave more to his family, his fellow firefighters and to the many friends he made along the way than to his own personal self. Chief Jack Murphy provides us with just a brief histroy of Jim:
 
Jim’s stellar fire service career began in 1960, where as a Probie he responded to his first of many numerous major incidents, when two planes collided over the city (12/16/60) with one plane crashing in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn and the other coming down in Staten Island. Within 3 days after this mid-air collision, he was battling the famous major fire on the USS Constellation aircraft carrier that killed 50 workers.  The ship was under construction in the Brooklyn Naval Yard.  
 
Some Fire & OEM Career Highlights... [ more ]

Sunday, May 12, 2013  A Houston firefighter is in the hospital after the fire truck he was in was hit by a suspected drunk driver last night in northwest Houston.


Police say the fire truck had its emergency lights on while responding to a call on the Northwest Freeway at 34th around 10:30pm.

That's when a truck slammed into the fire truck, injuring one of the firefighters. He was taken to the hospital but is expected to be OK.

The driver of the truck was taken into custody.