Tuesday, April 15, 2014  A man was arrested Monday after firing at firefighters responding to a nearby blaze, Kyle police said. Kyle firefighters responded to a shed fire at 390 Buggy Whip Drive in the Sunset Ridge Trailer Park about 1 a.m. After putting out the flames, the firefighters heard at least one gunshot and then a bullet impact a wall behind them.

Police officers arrived on scene and determined the shot had come from a home in the vicinity.

During their investigation, officers found Jason Montalvo, 18, asleep in his bed with a rifle by his side. After waking Montalvo, he became combative and refused commands to surrender his f... [ more ]

Tuesday, April 15, 2014  Two fire trucks collided Monday morning while responding to a fire on the West Side and two firefighters were taken to the hospital.The crash occurred in the 2200 block of S. Zarzamora near U.S. 90 at around 11:05 a.m. and the two firefighters were not seriously injured but were taken to the hospital for cautionary reasons, said SAFD Fire Chief Charles Hood.

“We are very, very happy there weren't more serious injuries,” Hood said.

Engine 33 was coming down an exit ramp when it collided with Ladder 8 while responding to a call for a structure fire and possible electrocution, he said.

All firefighters in the vehi... [ more ]

Tuesday, April 15, 2014  A Hempstead (Long Island, NY) Volunteer FD Rescue Squad Ambulance struck a low overpass today, injuring several members. The ambulance, returning from the hospital, struck the bridge-3 members were injured but all were NLT

Monday, April 14, 2014  A huge house fire in Susquehanna Township, Dauphin County on Sunday evening injured one firefighter. It broke out on the 3500 block of Elmerton Avenue just after 6 p.m.
The firefighter is being treated for minor burns.
The house is a total loss with about $100,000 in damage. According to the fire marshal, the house was being remodeled and no one was living inside, although the owner stopped by to check on the progress. When he opened the front door, flames shot out and burned him, but he refused treatment.
The fire had already ripped through the home when fire crews arrived and flames started again at the chimney.
“Progress Fire Company was the first on the scene. They had a well-involved structure to the point where the second floor had already collapsed into the first floor,” says George Drees, Susquehanna Township Fire Marshal.
There’s no word on the cause yet and the damage was too extensive for fire officials to narrow down an area of origin ... [ more ]

Monday, April 14, 2014  A barn caught fire on Oak Grove Road north of Barron Road in Howell Township after 4 p.m. today. Firefighters from the Howell Area Fire Department, Brighton Area Fire Department and Fowlerville Fire Department as well as Livingston County EMS personnel responded to the scene.

The road was blocked off while firefighters battled the blaze. Large amounts of black smoke and flames came from the roof of the building.

It is unknown if anyone was inside. Two firefighters were injured while fighting the fire, one transported by helicopter to the hospital.

Check Tuesday's Daily Press & Argus and livingstondaily.com for updates.

Monday, April 14, 2014  Attached you will find a power point presentation that was created to describe the Modular SCBA Maze that the Kearney Volunteer Fire Department constructed.


The maze is modular in design which means that the modules (obstacles) can be relocated in the maze to discourage fire fighters from attempting to memorize the maze lay out.  Many of the modules are also adjustable to accommodate fire fighters of various sizes and abilities.  The response our department has received on this maze is positive and everyone states they have never seen anything like this before.

The intent of the presentation is to enable other departments to utilize our design to improve their departments training.  The presentation shows them how to replicate the maze for their use.

Monday, April 14, 2014  Flags flew at half-staff at fire stations around the city Saturday as the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department mourned the loss of two firemen — one a newlywed, the other a father of triplets — who died within 24 hours of each other.

Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin J. Cochran said Saturday the department is reeling over the deaths of Jermaine Hall and Sgt. Frank Guinn, who passed away due to separate, off-duty accidents. Coincidentally, the two men described as “up-and-coming leaders of the department” worked on the same shift, though at separate stations, and their shifts were on duty when the news came of their accidents and subsequent deaths.more ]

Monday, April 14, 2014  The City of Lockport and its firefighters’ union, which have had a prickly relationship for months, now are at odds over who should be able to use garage door openers to let the trucks in and out.

The union has filed a grievance over the installation of garage door openers in all Fire Department vehicles, claiming that the rules surrounding the openers violate their contract.

The city went to court Friday to seek a ruling that the Lockport Professional Fire Fighters Association’s rejected grievance can’t be taken to state arbitration.

The court paperwork the city filed over the signature of Mayor Anne E. McCaffrey sought to paint as ridiculous the dispute over how and by whom the overhead doors to the firehouse are to be opened.

“It is utterly incomprehensible to the reasonable taxpayer and the city as to why Local 963 has chosen to waste valuable city resources and thousands of dollars in potential arbitration fees, r... [ more ]

Sunday, April 13, 2014  Vehicles from two area fire companies were destroyed in a large brush fire that was battled for nearly four hours Sunday on the city’s west side.

There were, however, no reported firefighter injuries.

The vehicles burned were brush trucks from the Pennsville and Elsinboro fire companies.

Firefighters were inside the fire area when the wind suddenly shifted.

“The men were able to get out but the vehicles weren’t,” said Salem City Councilman Charles Hassler who was on the scene. 


The remains of the two brush trucks lost by area fire companies are seen in the area along Grieves Parkway in Salem City which burned Sunday afternoon.Staff Photo by Bill Gallo Jr. 


The blaze began around 1 p.m. on the south side of  the intersection of Grieves Parkway and Tilbury Road. ... [ more ]

Sunday, April 13, 2014  Seven firefighters suffered minor injuries battling a three-alarm blaze on Pitney Avenue in Charleston on Friday morning.

One civilian refused medical attention at the scene, according to an FDNY spokeswoman.

Four of seven attached homes were damaged, the spokeswoman said. She said the fire began at 106 Pitney Avenue, a three-story, non-fireproof building.

The fire was called in at 7:40 a.m. and went to three alarms at 7:55 a.m., the spokeswoman said. It was brought under control at 8:48 a.m.



Division 8 Deputy Chief Dave Smith said 138 firefighters comprising 33 units responded to the scene. He said the fire was advanced when firefighters arrived and it took numerous lines to contain it.

Lauren Schuhmann fled from her home at 108 Pitney Ave. with her two children, 8-month-old, Joseph, and 3-year-old... [ more ]

Sunday, April 13, 2014  Burning buildings might not be the only risks that firefighters face. They also appear to be more likely than their peers in other professions to have prematurely narrowed arteries, increasing their risk for strokes and heart attacks, according to a new study.

In fact, 22 percent of a group of 77 firefighters studied by researchers at the University of Kansas averaged 39 years old but had the blood vessels of 52-year-olds because of significant plaque buildup in their carotid arteries.

"These men, as young as they are, for some reason have a high rate of early development of vascular disease, asymptomatic as it is," said Dr. Patrick Moriarty, director of the Atherosclerosis and LDL Apheresis Center at the University of Kansas Medical Center and the study's lead researcher. "What it means is that we have to find a way to make their job have less risk potential in terms of less cardiovascular risk."

The findings were presented March ... [ more ]

Saturday, April 12, 2014  A Hanover firefighter is in the hospital after he was injured battling a house fire Friday afternoon.

Officials told CBS 6 that crews were dispatched to the 9300 block of Studley Plantation Drive around 1:40 p.m.

When crews arrived on the scene, they found heavy fire coming from the brick home. While firefighters were battling the blaze, hundreds of rounds of ammunition inside the home detonated.

One firefighter suffered burns to his back and was transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

The house was a total loss. No one inside the home was injured.

Saturday, April 12, 2014  A City of Atlanta firefighter was killed Friday morning while training for a triathlon in New Orleans.

Sgt. Frank Guinn was riding his bicycle with two others, including his brother-in-law, when he was struck by a car, Janet Ward, spokeswoman for the Atlanta fire department, said Friday night. Guinn, 36, died at the scene of the wreck, which critically injured his brother-in-law, Ward said. The third cyclist was not injured.

The three bicyclists were training for the Ironman competition being held in New Orleans on Sunday at the time of the wreck. The wreck happened around 10:15 a.m., Central time, on the eastbound side of U.S. 90, New Orleans police said.

The driver of a white Chevrolet Cruze was travelling eastbound in the right lane when for reasons unknown, he rear-ended the cyclists who were also traveling eastbound, according to Officer Frank B. Robertson. The driver of the Chevrolet stopped at the scene of the wreck, which remaine... [ more ]

Friday, April 11, 2014  The NYPD has overhauled its "fire response" protocol - and is working on plans to provide basic fire training to officers in the wake of adeadly arson fire that killed a seven-year NYPD veteran and critically injured another officer. Hmmmm.




The Police Chief ordered new rules that went into effect immediately, including maintaining communication with fire dispatchers, taking the stairs whenever possible and being mindful of exits when responding to an emergency situation.


The NYPD confirmed the changes, originally reported by media but prior to the directive, there was no protocol for officers responding to a fire. One suggestion was that they await the FDNY, control the scene area, traffic and not operate in fire conditions. 


Additional training from the FDNY is also being "considered" — a "Fire 101" course that offers ins... [ more ]

Friday, April 11, 2014  UL FSRI is proud to announce the release of “Scientific Research for the Development of More Effective Tactics” – an online course that serves as a culmination of the full-scale field experiments performed on Governors Island by the Fire Department of New York, NIST and UL.  The interactive training takes learners through a research timeline of the previous fire dynamics research conducted by NIST and UL, all of the details that went into the tests, test results, and tactical considerations derived from the test results. This course brings science to the streets by examining two main groups of tactical considerations. The first group looks at the impact of controlling ventilation and flow paths. The second explores the use of exterior fire attack as a means to rapidly reduce the fire hazard inside the structure in order to facilitate interior fire operations.   Fires were conducted within numerous 3 story residential row houses with ignition oc... [ more ]