Thursday, March 5, 2015  I've been really, really lucky in my career to get to know and work with some really cool FIRE CHAPLAINS. My favorite ones-actually, my favorite religious leaders-are the ones whose daily actions define their stated beliefs...it's a good way to be...for a Chaplain, or any of us. Actions not words. Good stuff.

If you have had a chance to read PASS IT ON, you read some great words from Chicago FD Chaplain Father Tom. He represents the good in fire chaplains. There for everyone.


Last week we lost a wonderful Fire Chaplain, Rev Richard (Dick) Kirby.


I first met Rev Kirby in the early 80's when he volunteered to help out as our Chaplain. Easily identified as that "little Irishman" who would always wear something such as a cloverleaf to proudly represent his heritage, and would greet people with: "Top o' the morning to you." ...to which I would always respond back to him "climb back into that #%$^! box of Lucky Charms cereal you came out of... [ more ]

Wednesday, March 4, 2015   Michael McCauley had only been a firefighter for a few months when he saved a life — and he didn’t even have to run into a burning building to do it.
The 26-year-old Staten Island resident was told in 2013 that he was a match for a leukemia patient in desperate need of a bone-marrow transplant.
On Wednesday, he will finally meet the mystery recipient — Aaron Faulkner, a 33-year-old Iraq War veteran and father of two from Pittsburgh, at a special reception at FDNY headquarters in Brooklyn.
Faulkner went to college after serving in Iraq, and was studying to become a pastor when he started feeling tired, and thought he had mononucleosis when he got the diagnosis of leukemia.
“I went a long time without hearing anything,” said McCauley, who works out of Engine 242 in Bay Ridge. “I wasn’t sure whether or not it helped.”
Faulkner, a former Marine now studying to be a pastor, was a student at Geneva College in Pennsylvania when he started to... [ more ]

Wednesday, March 4, 2015  We’re learning more about the firefighter who is in the hospital after being injured while fighting a fire in Clearfield County. Firefighter Jeff Buck, 18, is in UPMC Altoona where he remains in critical condition after the porch roof collapsed while he was fighting the fire. Mayday in a distress call sent shockwaves through the entire first responder community after three firefighters from the Lawrence Township Fire Department were trapped under a collapsed porch during a three-alarm fire Tuesday in Clearfield. “The family is with the firefighter, along with a contingent from Station 5, Lawrence Township, where the firefighter was from,” Clearfield County director of Emergency Services Joe Bigar said. Two of the firefighters were treated and released, but Buck was rushed to UPMC Altoona. His injuries were so serious that officials called for a helicopter, but due to weather conditions they could not fly the man out. “He was stabilized and transported by ground,” said Biga... [ more ]

Tuesday, March 3, 2015  We have news of a house fire in Raleigh County.According to Raleigh County Dispatch the call in of a house fire at 7:07 a.m. Monday morning at 144 Deweese Court Pemberton, West Virginia.

As of 9 o'clock Monday morning the fire was still active. Coal City Fire Department, Sophia Area and Sophia City Fire Department and Best Ambulance Service all responded.

A firefighter suffered smoke inhalation and was taken to the hospital for treatment.  

Monday, March 2, 2015  Highway 61, near Highway P, in St. Charles County has reopened after a crash victim committed suicide.According to the Wentzville Police Department, a man's vehicle ran off the road into a tree line after being involved in an accident. An off duty firefighter ran to the man's vehicle to help, but the man told the firefighter to leave.

As the firefighter was walking away, he heard a gunshot come from the vehicle and called police.

This story is developing and will be updated when more information is available.

Sunday, March 1, 2015  A home caught fire on Saturday night at the 9700 block of Carr Circle in Westminster.While inside, the roof of the house collapsed and Westminster firefighters were vacated from the building, Diana Wilson told FOX31 Denver.

After nearly an hour of getting the fire under control, the fire was finally put out as of 9:30 p.m. Saturday.

The residents were not inside at the time of the fire. No firefighters or residents were harmed in this fire.

There is no confirmed cause of the fire, at this point.

Sunday, March 1, 2015  Firefighters rescued a man who had passed out in the midst of a raging fire on Dickerman Street late Saturday night.The rescued man, as well as a firefighter, ended up in the Connecticut Burn Center with serious injuries.

The fire call came in at 11:56 p.m. Saturday. It was the city’s fire of the day. (An earlier fire displaced 65 tenants of a group home on Howard Avenue; another minor fire occurred on Sheffield Avenue.)

Firefighters arrived at 64 Dickerman to find the two-story house in flames.

Three people lived in the 95-year-old house: A man occupied one floor, his ex-wife and child another.

The woman and child had made it out of the house. The man was still inside.

Battling flames and smoke, three firefighters from Engine 4 headed up the back staircase to look for him. One of the trio, Patrick Grant, worked the house to clear a path. The other two, Lt. Rob Celentano and Leon Brown, found the trapped man lying by a window ... [ more ]

Saturday, February 28, 2015   Two people were taken to hospitals Wednesday when a passenger car and fire truck collided at an intersection in south Snohomish County.A Mountlake Terrace woman, 91, was transported to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle where she was listed in serious condition in the intensive care unit on Thursday. She was driving a 1990 Volvo.The firefighter driving the Snohomish County Fire District 1 Spartan pumper truck was transported to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett. He is 54 and from Brier. He was treated and released. His three firefighter passengers were not injured but were given precautionary medical examinations.The fire truck was headed west on 228th Street SW in Mountlake Terrace with its emergency lights and sirens activated, according to a Washington State Patrol memo.The Volvo was southbound on 44th Avenue W when it entered the intersection against a red light and was struck by the fire truck, the State Patrol reported.Fire District 1 battalion chief Jerry She... [ more ]

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 ]