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 ]

Wednesday, February 25, 2015  Several fire departments were called to a single-story house fire in the 8000 block of Tempo Place in Pomfret in the early morning Sunday, leaving seven people displaced and three firefighters injured.At approximately 2:31 a.m. Feb. 22, 45 firefighters from the Bryans Road, La Plata, Marbury, Potomac Heights, Waldorf, Indian Head and Accokeek volunteer fire departments went to the wood-framed home, the Maryland State Fire Marshal’s Office reported, after someone in the home reported the blaze. Upon arriving, firefighters found the fire began in the attic. They controlled the blaze in about 40 minutes.

According to the fire marshal’s report, the blaze destroyed the home, causing $100,000 in damage to the structure and $50,000 to its contents.

“The cause of the fire is still under investigation,” Deputy Chief Fire Marshal Duane Svites said. “At this point, there’s nothing suspicious about it. It was definitely a cold night.”

Svites also s... [ more ]

Wednesday, February 25, 2015  Three Buffalo firefighters were injured after responding to a fire at the East Clinton Branch Library, 1929 Clinton St.Two firefighters suffered knee injuries and another suffered an electrical shock, according to a fire dispatcher. One of those with a knee injury and the firefighter who was shocked were taken to hospitals for treatment and would not return to duty, the dispatcher said.

Though the cause of the fire remains under investigation, an electrical problem had been reported, the dispatcher said.

The branch wasn’t open when the fire occurred, the spokeswoman said. Damage was estimated at $10,000 to the structure, owned by the City of Buffalo, and $30,000 to the contents, according to fire dispatch. The Dudley branch, located at 2020 South Park Ave., will temporarily have extended hours each day until further notice to assist patrons of the East Clinton branch.

In another fire in the city shortly before 9:30 a.m., Buffalo firefighters rescue... [ more ]

Wednesday, February 25, 2015   Another reminder of why GAS LEAKS MUST always be taken seriously. This is today's incident in NJ.

WATCH THIS:

http://youtu.be/9LuGUBPl5z8





HISTORY-GAS LEAKS/SMELL OF GAS:

TRAINING & HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE:
Gas leaks resulting in explosions and injured "arriving/operating" Firefighters have a SIGNIFICANT HISTORY in fire operations. 

HERE are several examples YOU can use to share with YOUR FF's:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtOOIJCzMSo  (Prince Georges County, MD Video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUcSKtBvLt8 (Haverstraw, NY)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE... [ more ]

Tuesday, February 24, 2015  Three firefighters trapped in a burning house were running out of oxygen and time Thursday night while they fought a blaze on Pratt Lake Road in Gladwin. On Monday, one of the firefighters trapped spoke exclusively to TV5's Andrew Keller."I don't remember asking God to save me because I didn't think he was going to. I just figured it was in the cards, this was what God has for me," Travis Povey said.

Povey , a Gladwin Rural Urban Fire Department firefighter, thought he had answered his final alarm when he responded to the burning home in Gladwin. "I didn't want anything to come down, and everything, that I could see, looked solid," Povey said.

Crews were able to get the fire under control so Povey, a 13-year veteran of the department, took two newer firefighters inside to show them how fire works. Shortly after they entered, things went terribly wrong.

"We heard, sounded like a shotgun went off, just a big crack, and the three of us all went down tog... [ more ]

Tuesday, February 24, 2015   Three volunteer firefighters from Jalan Kundor here were injured when their fire engine was involved in an accident in Jalan Kuala Kedah while rushing to a fire scene which destroyed a furniture and shoes factories in Mergong at noon today.It is learnt that the fire engine’s driver lost control of the vehicle while making a sharp turn, causing the fire engine to crash in the 12.30pm incident.

The injured volunteer firemen, who suffered minor injuries were rushed to Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital.

Tuesday, February 24, 2015  Multiple motor vehicle wrecks near the Highway 691 overpass of U.S. Highway 75 Sunday night culminated with a rear-end collision that left a Denison Fire Department engine enfeebled and out of service.

The trouble started around 6 p.m., when authorities responded to a four-vehicle wreck at that location, closing the highway completely before reopening one lane to northbound traffic about an hour later. A DFD engine from Station 2 was attempting to enter the flow of vehicles around 7:30 p.m. when it was struck by oncoming traffic, said Assistant Fire Chief Bill Ray.

“There were a bunch of wrecks last night out in that area and (the engine) was out blocking traffic,” said Ray. “The driver of the fire engine, they were going to move a crew on the other side of the bridge, and as he pulled onto the roadway, a car struck him from behind.”

The bridge was shut-down again just before 8 p.m. in order to allow time for the Texas Department of Transport... [ more ]