Saturday, February 28, 2015  A Leon County grand jury criticized the Consolidated Dispatch Agency in its performance in three high profile shootings.Grand jurors reviewed several calls from the Dan Markel murder case, the FSU Strozier Library shooting and the Caracus Court shoot-out.
The harshest criticism was aimed at dispatchers for the incident at Caracus Court, in which Sheriff Deputy Chris Smith was killed by gun-man Curtis Wade Holley.
"Had this information been relayed (critical officer safety information) , the first responders would have addressed the call very differently and the life of Deputy Smith likely would have been spared."
The grand jury blasted the CDA's handling of a Strozier Library victim's call. The wounded caller was placed on hold so that that person could be transferred to FSU dispatch.
"In reference to the Strozier Library incident, we find that the procedure allowed a victim who had been shot to be placed on hold while the call-taker tried to transfer the call, i... [ more ]

Saturday, February 28, 2015  Four firefighters have been taken to hospital as a precaution after a shipping container containing insect repellent caught fire in west Auckland this afternoon.Northern Fire Communications shift manager Jaron Phillips said the insect repellent contained the chemical dimethyl phthalate, but it is not known whether the firefighters were affected by it or were suffering from heat exhaustion when they were taken by ambulance to North Shore Hospital.

Exposure to dimethyl phthalate can irritate the eyes, nose and throat, according to the United States' Environmental Protection Agency.

The shipping container caught fire after a controlled rubbish fire on Deacon Rd, in the suburb of Riverhead, went wrong about 3pm. No properties were at risk and more than two dozen firefighters had the fire under control by 6.30pm. 

Friday, February 27, 2015  An Estero Fire Rescue truck on the way to a call collided with a car Friday morning.Firefighters say Ladder 41 had its lights & siren on when it was hit by a gold Lexus at the intersection of Three Oaks and Estero parkways just after 10 a.m.

No one was injured.

Firefighters gave the driver, who was cited by deputies for failure to yield to an emergency vehicle, a ride home after their car was towed.

The engine was driven back to the station and will later be towed to a shop for repairs if needed.

Friday, February 27, 2015  Firefighters are there when we need them most. These brave men and women run into harm's way as we run from it.They accept that danger is a part of their job. But it's another killer that is taking down these everyday heroes: cancer.


Think about it. When a firefighter dies in the line of duty we pause to pay our respects. But hundreds of firefighters are dying each year from cancer.

"I tell people I didn't see my life flash behind me or before me. But I did see everything I wanted to do that I hadn't done yet," explains Steve Westcott, who fulfilled a lifelong dream when he became a firefighter in Perkins Township back in 2001.

Training prepared Steve for what could go wrong while responding to a fire or accident. Nothing could prepare him for the news he got after about seven years on the job.

westcott wedding
Steve and Aryn Westcott on their wedding day. Just six days earlier, Steve learned his cancer had returned. The couple canc... [ more ]

Friday, February 27, 2015  A fire in an electrical room led to reports of an explosion at the Palermo Village Retirement Residence Thursday evening.Oakville firefighters arrived to find smoke in the electrical room and preparation was underway for an evacuation of residents for their safety, according to a tweet from Halton police.

Two firefighters received minor injuries and residents are reported safe.

The Oakville Fire Department responded to the Palermo Village Retirement home around 7:30 p.m., after receiving reports of smoke in the building's electrical room.

Halton police, as well as Halton EMS, converged on the scene.

Two firefighters received minor injuries. All residents in the home were said to be safe.

Power was out in the Bronte Road and Dundas Street area. 

Friday, February 27, 2015   Six firefighters were injured Sunday night while battling a 2-alarm house fire in the first block of Highland Hills Road.



Three of the injured firefighters were transported by ambulance to nearby hospitals, according to Kimberton Fire Company Deputy Chief Chuck Fields. One of the firefighters remained in the hospital Monday while awaiting surgery to repair multiple fractures in his lower leg and ankle, Fields said. The two other firefighters, one who reported chest pains and another who suffered burns on his upper back and neck, were released and were receiving treatment from their family physicians.





The fire broke out around 7:15 p.m. in the large two-story single-family home. Officials said the blaze started in the home’s lower level near a fireplace. First arriving units observed smoke showing from the home’s roof, but the flames quickly spread to consume the majority of the residence’s second floor and roof.more ]

Friday, February 27, 2015  Several firefighters were injured battling a blaze that decimated a multifamily house in Mount Vernon on Thursday night.Fourteen people were displaced as the fire ravaged the home at 226 West Second Street, where firefighters from Mount Vernon, Eastchester and Pelham responded around 6 p.m. Firefighters worked for more than two hours to contain the flames, which destroyed the roof and second floor of the 2 1/2 story house.

Six firefighters were taken to Montefiore Mount Vernon Hospital with minor injuries, Mount Vernon Fire Chief Al Everett said. He said none of the home’s occupants were injured.

Red Cross volunteers were on scene helping 11 adults and three children who were displaced, spokeswoman Carolyn Sherwin said.

“We’re meeting all of their emergency needs,” Sherwin said. “We have our health services volunteers providing support.”

Everett said the fire started in the rear of the house and that the cause is under investig... [ more ]

Friday, February 27, 2015  Officials have released the cause of a Hartford firefighter's death last fall.Firefighter Kevin Bell died of asphyxia from lack of breathing gas, according to the medical examiner.The manner was deemed an accident, as his tank ran out of air.

Police said the new information ends their investigation into Bell's death. It also confirmed what several within the fire department had been saying for months.

When the incident happened, those at the department called attention to problems within the firehouse, especially pointing to air tanks not being refilled after firefighters came back from a call.

In internal emails many have been asking if this could have been prevented all along.

Just days before the deadly fire, Lt. John Nolan wrote to the Hartford fire chief detailing problems in the fire house, that included the apparatus check, and house work, not being completed. He also said a fire truck was low on fuel, a generator was empty and... [ more ]

Thursday, February 26, 2015  A group of retired and active firefighters have sued the maker and distributor of their city-issued helmets, saying design flaws have led to injury.The five firefighters say the helmets they were given a few years ago, the 1044 Cairns model manufactured by Pennsylvania-based Mine Safety Appliance Co. and distributed by Bradenton-based Ten-8 Fire Equipment Inc., were designed poorly and caused neck and head injuries.

"The problem with the design is that they're heavier than the other helmets, and they're not as balanced," said New Port Richey attorney Jim Magazine, who likened the situation to top-heavy bobblehead toys. "This helmet's a recipe for disaster."

The firefighters filed their product liability claim in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court. Their employer, the city of St. Petersburg, is not a party to the suit. Magazine said that's because the city would have had to have knowledge that the helmets were defective.

Yet this week, fire Chief Jim Large ... [ more ]

Thursday, February 26, 2015   A Suffolk County police investigation of a two-vehicle accident that seriously injured at least one person in Hauppauge closed portions of Routes 111 and 347 early Thursday.The accident at 12:36 a.m. closed both roadways at the intersection, a police spokeswoman said.

Westbound Route 347 and Route 111 south of the intersection were reopened around 5:30 a.m., the spokeswoman said.

Thursday, February 26, 2015    All,

This was a police roadway LODD that every FIREFIGHTER and EMT should watch the dash cam video at the end of this story to understand how one can be at a highway job doing things right one second (perhaps minus a vest) and dead the next.  Neither retro reflective vests nor move over laws nor anything else except possibly for a combination of constantly watching one's back and a huge piece of adequately placed blocking apparatus can do anything to save a person from a driver like this (like too many) who apparently saw the lights but was too busy updating a social media account.

WATCH THIS:
http://kfor.com/2015/02/25/dash-cam-video-shows-moments-before-ohp-trooper-was-killed-by... [ more ]