Thursday, May 23, 2013  A few firefighters were caught off guard late Tuesday night.

At around 10 p.m., they were leaving a medical call at an apartment near Kirkwood Community College. Suddenly, they heard something hit the windshield of the fire truck.

Authorities said someone shot a pellet gun at the truck and the pellet smashed into the windshield. Cedar Rapids Fire Department's Greg Buelow said it left a two-inch hole that will cost about $600 to repair.

“It was totally irresponsible and criminal to be firing towards an emergency apparatus,” Buelow said.

The pellet smashed into the windshield right in front of where the captain was sitting in the passenger side of the engine. It hit hard enough to send shards of glass at him.

"It's kind of disheartening to know someone has such low regard for a group of firefighters that were out there to respond to a medical emergency to assist somebody and on the way out this act is something you fire at a fire eng... [ more ]

Thursday, May 23, 2013  The cause of a Tuesday night fire in Bellevue remains under investigation this morning after flames forced the evacuation of an apartment building and several firefighters were injured.

The blaze at 51 Lincoln Ave. appears to have started on the third floor in the back of the building, Bellevue fire marshal Jeff Wissner said.

The fire was reported shortly after 7 p.m.

Mr. Wissner said firefighters??? injuries included smoke inhalation and exhaustion. He was unsure how many were taken to the hospital but believed all had been released.

The fire displaced residents in all nine units, Mr. Wissner said. The third floor suffered extensive fire damage, and the second and first floors and the basement also saw heavy smoke and water damage.

"The biggest problem we had was the fire had a heck of a head start on us," Mr. Wissner said, noting flames spread quickly and moved into empty spaces in the roof and walls.
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Wednesday, May 22, 2013  Viewing for Dallas (Texas) Fire Rescue Firefighter Stanley Wilson will be Friday from 6-8 p.m. at Restland Funeral Home at 13005 Greenville Ave.  The funeral service is scheduled to be at Park Cities Baptist Church at 3933 Northwest Highway the following day at 10 a.m. Burial will follow at the Restland Cemetary Garden of Honor.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013  In both good and not so good ways, some of the best learning that can be done is from those who have experienced and survived the worst. Specifically, to truly understand what the Charleston (S.C.) Firefighters went through on, after and since June 18, 2007 when they lost 9 Firefighters in the Line of Duty....one would have to be a CFD Firefighter.


There is a new video that is essential for every one of us to watch. New firefighters, old firefighters, fire officers, fire chiefs-everyone. The CFD members have horrifically "been there and done that" ...from the fire, to the lessons learned ...to the total transformation of the CFD in honor of those 9 Firefighters....this video outlines where they have been, what happened, and what they have done about it. You will hear first hand from those who were there-as well as from those that have arrived since that fire-all to honor the Charleston 9.


RELATED:
NIOSH R... [ more ]

Wednesday, May 22, 2013  -

A fire at a south San Antonio home sent two firefighters to the hospital and killed a small family dog.

The fire broke out just before 4 a.m. Wednesday in the 200 block of Felps Boulevard.

Neighbors reported hearing an explosion before the carport and part of the home went up in flames.

A man who lived in the house made it out first through the front door. Two San Antonio police officers attempted to go inside and find man's girlfriend, but said there was hardly any visibility due to heavy smoke.

Officials said the woman managed to crawl through a window to safety and suffered minor cuts.

An electricity service line reportedly broke and began to arch in the back of the home. Two firefighters were shocked while battling the fire, and taken to the hospital for treatment.

"They bumped up to the refrigerator and got a little shock. One of them had a pretty good shock to his right arm, an... [ more ]

Wednesday, May 22, 2013  A homeowner on Staten Island is ticked off about the number of accidents at his corner.

He demanded the city put up a stop sign.

He even put up a protest sign in his front yard to make the point.

And then, there was another big accident with a fire truck in his yard that took out his big sign.

"In the last six months, three accidents, all of which have landed on my lawn," said Ken Bach, a homeowner.

Ken Bach owns the home and the headache that comes with living at an intersection that seems to be a magnet for accidents.

He says there have been a total of five in the two and a half years he's lived there.

"Watched the whole thing happen," Bach said.

Tuesday afternoon a fire truck slammed into a car with a man and his daughter inside and both vehicles ended up, you guessed it, on Bach's lawn.

It buried the signs that are now part of a neighbor... [ more ]

Tuesday, May 21, 2013  Funeral Ceremony on Friday, May 24th at 2:30 p.m. at: Christ's Church of the Valley (CCV), 7007 W. Happy Valley Road, Peoria, AZ 85383
Procession and Internment to follow at: Greenwood Memorial Cemetery, 719 N. 27th Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85009.
FF Harper died in the Line of Duty Sunday of injuries he suffered while working with crews at a mulch fire in south Phoenix when he was crushed between two emergency vehicles while repositioning equipment.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013  Iranian Firefighter Omid Abbasi was part of a team of firefighters that responded to a residential building fire in Tehran (Iran) last Tuesday. A young woman with her two children were trapped inside an apartment. The woman managed to escape along with her son, but her 9-year-old daughter was hanging from a window and was on the brink of a free fall when she was saved by the firefighters. When FF Abbasi learned there was a young girl trapped in the building, he rushed in to save her. He gave her his SCBA mask, but by the time he had gotten her to safety, Abbasi went down and they were unable to revive him. After his death, Abbasi's family donated his organs to three patients in need of transplants. According to Jalal Maleki, the spokesman of Iran’s Firefighters Organization, body parts of firefighter Omid Abbasi were offered to patients in need of transplants.
High ranking Iranian officials, including Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Tehran’s Mayor, attended Omid Abb... [ more ]

Monday, May 20, 2013  Dallas Fire Rescue has released the name of the Firefighter killed this morning. Dallas Fire-Rescue Firefighter Stanley Wilson-with 28 years on the job, disappeared after radioing that he was trapped during that six-alarm fire at a northeast Dallas condominium building. Wilson was found dead inside the rubble of the fire hours after a radio message was heard from the firefighter saying, "I'm trapped." Wilson is survived by his wife, two sons and his mother.
DFR also revealed a boy was found trapped in the rubble as they searched for FF Wilson, and that child was heard crying. Firefighters were able to pull him from the debris and he was transported to an area hospital in unknown condition
We will post additional updates as they become available. Our condolences to all affected, especially the DFR and the family of FF Wilson.
UPDATED VIDEO: http://www.... [ more ]

Monday, May 20, 2013  A father and son are among three people facing drug charges after an explosion and fire at a home in Carbon County. Firefighters first responded to an explosion at a home on East Patterson Street in Lansford around 10 p.m. Sunday. Police said the explosion was caused by a methamphetamine drug operation inside the home.
Police have released the names of the three people taken in to custody.
They are Scott Frantz from Scranton, and Kyle Frantz and Jackie Slaven, both residents of the home in Lansford where the alleged meth lab was found.
Police add Scott is Kyle’s father. All three face drug charges, and all three are in the Carbon County jail.
Emergency management officials feared the firefighters were exposed to toxic chemicals when a suspected drug lab on East Paterson Street exploded.
“That’s crazy. I never would have thought it could happen so close to home, but it can happen anywhere.”
Neighbor Matthew Kusko felt something was wrong because ... [ more ]

Monday, May 20, 2013  A coronial inquest into the crash that caused the deaths of three well-known architects has heard firefighters were not trained in managing the blind spots of the fire truck involved in the collision.

Husband and wife Troppo architects Lena Yali and Greg McNamara, and their colleague Kevin Taylor, died after the car they were in collided with an airport fire truck on a Darwin road in August 2011.

The fire truck was on its way to a fire and went through a red light at an intersection.

The inquest has heard the company responsible for the truck, Airservices Australia, has compiled reports that have been critical of the training regime for officers at the time of the accident.

Two firefighters who were in the truck when the crash happened told the inquest they knew the truck had blind spots, but hadn't been given training about them.

A senior officer for Airservices Australia, Craig Cousins, agreed the truck's blind spots played a ... [ more ]

Monday, May 20, 2013  A pickup driver was seriously injured Sunday morning when his truck slammed into a fire truck on the scene of a vehicle fire just off Interstate 30 near Beach Street, a fire official said.

No firefighters were injured in the wreck that occurred just after 5 a.m. in the westbound lanes of the interstate east of downtown Fort Worth.

One fire truck was on the scene extinguishing a fire on a vehicle attached to a tow truck, said Battalion Chief Richard Harrison.

“A second engine was on the scene in the right lane, blocking traffic for the first engine,” Harrison said. “That’s the procedure we... [ more ]

Monday, May 20, 2013  Bad news this morning from Texas as Dallas Fire-Rescue says a Firefighter is trapped inside a burning condominium complex. The fire-which is now at 5+ alarms-is at the Hearthwood Condominium complex at 12363 Abrams Road. Reports now are that the missing Firefighter used his radio to say he was trapped inside and did not know where he was. At this point the crews have not been able to reach the Firefighter by radio since that last message. Plano FD USAR has been requested to assist in the search.
The fire has taken over 2 dozen units so far. We will post updates as additional information becomes available.
LIVE VIDEO STREAMING FROM THE SCENE: http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Fire-Torches-Dallas-Condos-208104041.html
HERE is the live fire radio audio feed from AlertPage: more ]