Friday, May 18, 2012  A warehouse that lodged two businesses in Fishers sustained heavy damage after a fire broke out Thursday afternoon.

Firefighters responded to the 12900 block of Ford Drive at approximately 12:26 p.m. A spokesperson for the Fishers Fire Department said there was a large volume of fire when emergency crews arrived.

Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Advance Radiant Systems are located inside the warehouse. Firefighters said the fire started in the ARS part of the building.

Employees inside the warehouse attempted to fight the fire before calling 911. The building had no sprinkler or alarm systems.

First-arriving firefighters found heavy smoke coming from the building and fire in the warehouse. A second alarm was immediately ordered.

Early in the fire, a firefighting crew had an overhead door fall on them but they escaped unhurt. Two firefighters were treated for minor injuries later in the incident.

Friday, May 18, 2012  Thanks to our partners at www.FirefighterSpot.com for finding this close call for us:


Who knew a manhole could be so dangerous? In the shocking KCAL video above, an explosion from a manhole blows a Los Angeles fire caption and a fellow firefighter off their feet.

“I consider myself very, very lucky,” said Captain David Wolf. “The next thing I remember I was in the dirt, a kind of flower bed, across from the sidewalk."

The close call happened Sunday night when the firefighters responded to a smoking manhole in Yorba Linda. After an electrical equipment vault exploded, Wolf was reportedly thrown 10 feet in the air.

Wolf said he was looking down at a small fire in the vault and, "The next thing I know is that when my firemen was kind of dragging me. I found out later it was my firemen. I didn’... [ more ]

Friday, May 18, 2012  A total of four firefighters suffered from smoke inhalation and heat exhaustion Thursday fighting a house fire in Taylor.

Two of the firefighters were taken by ambulance to Magnolia Regional Medical Center for smoke inhalation and heat exhaustion. One was released but the second was to be moved to Arkansas Children’s Hospital for smoke inhalation – ACH hosts the state's only burn injury center.

Two other firefighting volunteers were taken to Springhill Medical Center for heat exhaustion.

Paul Bega owns the house at 210 Washington and was one of the volunteers treated in Springhill for heat exhaustion.

The Taylor, Bussey-Sharman and Walker’s Creek volunteer fire departments responded to the alarm just before 5 p.m. The blaze burst through the roof of the home.

STORY FROM: http://www.magnoliareporter.com/news_and_business/regional_news/article_53852c5a-a077-11e1-b30c-001a4bcf887a.html?mode=story

Thursday, May 17, 2012  A volunteer fire department in Yuma County has agreed to remove kegs of beer stocked in its firehouse following concerns raised by two community members who said alcohol in the firehouse was a potential liability problem; and that firefighters had shown up on calls visibly impaired, an assertion many firefighters dispute.

“We believe the mission was accomplished,” said Sue Jarrett, who, with her husband Dean, had vigorously lobbied for the Wauneta Volunteer Fire Department to remove two kegs of beer that were a fixture in the Wauneta fire hall.

The Jarretts argued that the firehouse beer tarnished the firefighters’ reputation and created a liability issue.

“It really is a no-brainer,” said Dean Jarrett, who was a volunteer firefighter for 28 years with the WVFD. “Why have that liability when something goes wrong? The biggest fear is that a member drinks too much beer and causes an accident.”

The kegs — one called a “keger... [ more ]

Thursday, May 17, 2012  Investigators Tuesday night were trying to determine the cause of blaze that gutted a Wendy's restaurant in Lancaster and left one firefighter with minor injuries.

About 40 firefighters battled the blaze near Avenue I and 10th Street West, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said.

Television news footage showed firefighters atop aerial ladders blasting streams of water onto the flames. The roof of the structure had collapsed.

It was unclear how the firefighter was injured. No other injuries were reported.


http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/05/no-cause-determined-in-lancaster-blaze-that-injures-firefighter.html

Thursday, May 17, 2012  City officials want state permission to sidestep a New York Fire Code requirement that they post placards warning firefighters and other first responders about unsafe conditions inside vacant properties.

Rochester is the first city in the state to request a variance — though few if any municipalities have complied. The city took action after the firefighters union filed a complaint. A hearing is set for Thursday in Amherst, Erie County.

Rochester currently has an estimated 2,400 to 2,500 vacant properties, both city and privately owned. A state code section added in 2010 mandates that 2-foot-square red and white placards be affixed to three sides of any vacant structure deemed unsafe based on structural or other concerns. The provision is unique, putting the onus on a municipality to take action rather than property owners.

Mayor Thomas Richards, in a letter to the state, likened the placards to “scarlet letters” that could invite squatters and... [ more ]

Thursday, May 17, 2012  Two Greenwich firefighters were injured late Wednesday afternoon while putting out a fire on Steep Hollow Lane.

Assistant Fire Chief Robert Kick told the Post on Thursday that both firefighters had "minor injuries" and were treated and released from Stamford Hospital. He said he spoke to them on Thursday morning and that they are both "resting comfortably." One firefighter was injured at the scene while handling one of the fire hoses and the other was hurt when he "partially fell" through a floor while attempting to contain the blaze in the home.


http://www.greenwich-post.com/online/daily-featured/local-news/100382-two-firefighters-suffer-injuries-after-batting-cos-cob-blaze-.html#.T7U2cLirdls.email

Thursday, May 17, 2012  Hot shot federal firefighters called in to battle the toughest U.S. wildfires often avoid reporting symptoms of heatstroke because they fear damaging their professional reputations, said a report commissioned after an elite firefighter died in Texas last year.

The report, released on Wednesday as at least four blazes burned in Arizona early in this year's fire season, said the death of Caleb Hamm, 23, was of heatstroke, and recommended ways federal officials can better protect firefighters' lives.

Hamm, who was from Idaho, and was a member of the federal Bureau of Land Management's "Hot Shot" firefighting team, collapsed while working far away from colleagues to fight a brush fire that was threatening dozens of homes west of Fort Worth during the driest year on record in Texas.

On the day of his death, firefighters were working faster and with fewer breaks than normal, the report said.

"Some crewmembers believed that taking extra rest brea... [ more ]

Thursday, May 17, 2012  FDNY Lt. Joseph DiBernardo died 6 years after being injured on Black Sunday

Fire Commissioner Salvatore Cassano oughta fight as hard for Lt. Joseph DiBernardo as this genuine hero fought for the city. The family of FDNY Lt. Joseph DiBernardo Jr., who died Sept. 22 after enduring six agonizing years of injuries suffered in the infamous 2005 Black Sunday fire, isn't looking for one red cent of taxpayer money. "His mother and I seek no financial gain or benefits from the city our son died serving," says retired FDNY Assistant Deputy Chief Joseph DiBernardo Sr. "All we seek is justice for our hero son -- line-of-duty recognition -- so he can join all those other heroes on the Wall of Honor in FDNY headquarters."

How soon we forget.

On Jan 23, 2005, "a freight train of fire," as one firefighter called it, raced through an E. 178th St. tenement in Morris Heights, the Bronx, that had been illegally subdivided into a maze. Two of the city's ... [ more ]

Thursday, May 17, 2012  Dozens of firefighters carrying axes and chainsaws hiked single-file up miles of steep, rocky terrain into towering clouds of smoke Tuesday on the north side of Poudre Canyon.

They were joined by helicopters and small airplanes dropping water and fire retardant, all battling the Hewlett Fire, which has grown to 982 acres by this morning.

The efforts successfully kept the fire north of the 50 to 60 homes on pre-evacuation notice near the Poudre River. But the fire was only 5 percent contained.

The firefighting effort continues to ramp up as the wildfire enters its third day, bringing with it a chance for gusty winds and lightning. Some 180 firefighters are on order to join the roughly 150 at the scene from local agencies and across the state. Further resources, including a large airplane tanker, are expected.

“This is different from a lot of Fort Collins-area fires because of the limited access,” said Jackie Parks with the U.S. Forest S... [ more ]

Wednesday, May 16, 2012  Two firefighters were hurt while trying to put out a large fire that ripped through an apartment complex in Multnomah Village on Wednesday afternoon.

The two-alarm fire burned several units at a complex in the 7900 block of SW 40th Avenue. Six units were destroyed in the blaze, which firefighters said started somewhere in a third floor attic. The first call came in around 4:10 p.m.

"It's the biggest fire I've ever seen" said A-li Yun. "I couldn't believe it. You could feel the heat from here, and the flames were just red and huge and it engulfed the entire roof and I watched it cave in."

"Oh my God - to see that roof burst into flames. And it was big," said Debbie James.

Portland Fire and Rescue spokesman Paul Corah said one of the firefighters who was hurt suffered burns on his knees and wrists. He was taken to a burn center at a nearby hospital but is expected to be OK.

Corah showed a pair of pants the firefighter was wearing ... [ more ]

Wednesday, May 16, 2012  Two firefighters were apparently injured in a blaze at an historic Northern Kentucky grocery store on Tuesday night.

A Kentucky State Police dispatcher said five fire departments responded to Allen's Country Store in Corinth around 8:30 p.m.  The store is located on Dixie Highway.

There are reports that one firefighter was treated for a back injury at a local hospital and released. Another was taken to a hospital in nearby Scott County to be treated for smoke inhalation.

Firefighters say the store owner went back to turn on the security system when they noticed the fire. Several apartment buildings sit above the store. One was occupied and a woman and another person staying there were able to escape the fire.

Firefighters say the building is more than 100 years old. The store is a total loss. Fire marshal will be at the scene Wednesday afternoon to try and determine a cause.

Corinth, Crittenden, Jonesville, Dry Ridge an... [ more ]