Friday, January 27, 2012  The Virginia State Police and state fire marshal are investigating a fire that damaged the building and two emergency vehicles at Brosville Community Volunteer Fire Department on Thursday evening. Pittsylvania County Emergency Services Coordinator Jim Davis said an outside agency will examine the case to ensure an independent investigation. The department's building is county insured, he said.

The blaze, reported at about 7:40 p.m., occurred in one of the bays on the east side of the structure and caused damage to a 2008 International crash truck and a 2005 ambulance, said Fire Chief Chris Key.

No one was injured.

Carole Brown, a driver for the department who lives close to the building located at 11912 Martinsville Highway, said she saw the fire. more ]

Friday, January 27, 2012  Are you thinking Collapse as this video starts?

Friday, January 27, 2012  The metallurgy analysis points to casting flaws in Snap-tite’s manufacturing process as the cause of the failure.

On 7-27-09 the Hampton Twp Fire Dept in Sussex County, NJ, was conducting a training exercise. The drill involved 3 tankers and 2 pumpers. It was to be a water shuttle exercise. Eng 48-62 was set up as the hole pumper at the draft site to fill the water tankers. There was 100′ of 5″ LDH from 48-62 tothe portable hydrant, (The hydrant was a Snap Tite water Thief/Manifold,with 5″ LDH intake and 4 2-1/2″ discharges).

We were using two (2) of the 4 discharges with 100′ of 2 1/2″ hose from each discharge. The flow rate was 125psi. The order was given for the hydr... [ more ]

Friday, January 27, 2012  A fire truck was unable to pump water on flames in the roof of a Farmington auto repair shop last week. Crews quickly switched to back-up equipment, but the business owner says the problems have him concerned.

Ed Fischer owns Starr Automotive in Farmington. He says employees spotted the fire early.

"They smelled smoke in here, and then they saw the flames coming out of the ceiling," he said.

Someone in the shop called 9-1-1, and when crews arrived, the first truck couldn't pump water, according to Fischer.

"They went up with the truck to put it out, the first engine didn't work, and they had to get a back-up engine ready," he said.

David McKnight is City Administrator in Farmington. He says crews are trained to deal with mechanical issues.

"Our second engine was already on scene. They took a minute to transfer the hoses from the first engine to the second."

McKnight says city officials will meet in two weeks to discuss the depa... [ more ]

Friday, January 27, 2012  Four firefighters and four residents were injured in a fire at a two-story Rochester (NY) house.
At least three residents were forced to jump from the house's upper story to escape the flames, according to an Associated Press report on the Wall Street Journal Web site (http://on.wsj.com/wbLSGG).

Three of the firefighters were injured while operating inside the house and were treated at the scene. A fourth firefighter was taken to a local hospital with minor burns. The roof reportedly later collapsed. It was no clear whether anyone was trapped in the house.

Read more about the incident from the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle at http://on.rocne.ws/AnAQem.

Thursday, January 26, 2012  An Orlando (FL) TV station found out exclusively that an Orange County fire chief has crashed his department vehicle six times in the last six years.

Orange County Assistant Chief Joe Sylvestri earned that he will be suspended for just 12 hours after he crashed his county-issued Crown Victoria into a 79-year-old man's car at the intersection of Kirkman and the 408. Sylvestri was on his way to a brush fire with his lights and sirens on when he made a left turn on a red light. The other driver had a green light.

The 79-year-old did not want to do an interview, but told WFTV on the phone that his car was totaled. He claimed that Sylvestri was speeding and came out of nowhere.  Sylvestri works out of Station 30, and his own crew responded to the accident and took him to the hospital.

WFTV checked Sylverstri's record, and he has been in six different accidents involving his county vehicle. In one case, he backed up into some equipmen... [ more ]

Thursday, January 26, 2012  A woman is without a home after a fire at her home in Kenova, and a firefighter is lucky to be alive.

It happened on Chestnut Street in Kenova, when a fire began in the attic of the home.

A woman was taken to the hospital because of smoke inhalation. A firefighter is recovering after falling through the roof.

"He was on the roof attempting to ventilate for us an opening, a little hole to try to make it cooler for those inside. A small spot in the roof about the size of him. He fell through and was able to get himself out. He has a small burn on his lip. That's the only injury he sustained so he's pretty lucky," said Lt. Joe Rimer with the Kenova Fire Department.

Firefighters said it was hard to get around inside the house due to the large amount of clutter.

Several of the pets were rescued.

The house was so badly damaged that fire officials said they won't be able to investigate further.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012  Boone County Ambulance Authority unexpectedly lost one of its paramedics Wednesday, January 25th.

26-year-old Sarah Nodurft passed away while she was at work. She and her partner were returning from a routine interfacilty transfer when she suddenly and unexpectedly died. The cause of her death has not yet been determined.

She was particularly proud of achieving her paramedic certification in August of 2011.

Nodurft was also member of the Spruce River Fire Department.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012  Three volunteer firefighters had minor injuries after fighting a fire that destroyed an Islip Terrace home early Wednesday, fire officials said.

A fire on Norwood Street was reported just before 3 a.m. Five fire departments -- Islip Terrace, Islip, East Islip, Central Islip and Great River -- responded.

Two firefighters had minor burns and another had smoke inhalation, said Frank Cuoco, a first assistant chief with the Islip Terrace department.

All three were treated and released from Southside Hospital in Bay Shore, he said.

Residents were out of the home safely before firefighters arrived at the scene, according to a news release from the department.

Police said arson squad detectives were investigating the cause of the fire.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012   
How many of us firefighters have children who are battling with the issue of bullying in their young lives? We were not exposed to the impact of social media as it applies to bullying as our kids are. We all had those times people with small brains tried to intimidate us but it usually was one on one. Our kids are not so lucky and sometimes that pain leads to suicidal thoughts. Please see below if it can help.
 
 
Register for the SPRC Research to Practice Webinar on Bullying and Suicide Prevention
"Bullying and Suicide Prevention"
Thursday, February 2, 2012
3:00 – 4:30 PM EST
Many schools and communities are struggling to find effective ways to prevent both bullying and suicidal behavior among youth. This webinar will provide the latest research and science on the relationship between bullying and suicide and will outline some of the shared risk and protective factors. The webinar will also discuss th... [ more ]

Wednesday, January 25, 2012  Several comments from numerous DCFD Firefighters yesterday is that Chief of DCFEMS has done more to UNITE their members than ever before-but that's not necessarily a good thing-at least not for that chief.
 
Several hundred D.C. Firefighters literally turned their backs on the Chief of DCFEMS Ellerbe yesterday in an effort to send a very clear message. The Chief of DCFEMS had just finished his "State of the Department" speech when the Firefighters stood up and walked out the door. Word is the time of the meeting had been quickly changed in an earlier attempt to avoid the Firefighters arriving at the correct time, but the change got out and plenty showed up on time. The Chief of DCFEMS is attempting to create a new schedule that has understandably infuriated the members, in addition to a regularly changing FD uniform policy-that does not include issued uniform jackets for Firefighters...and do not allow them to wear ones they have personally bought-because the... [ more ]

Tuesday, January 24, 2012  Three firefighters were hurt Tuesday morning as a roof collapsed while they battled a garage fire at an Indio home, a division chief said.

Five people were also displaced by the 7:18 a.m. fire, which damaged about half of the home in the 81-700 block of Paseo Real and sent smoke throughout the other half, Division Chief Mike Marlow said.


One firefighter was hospitalized with moderate injuries; the other two were taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.


One of the injured firefighters had a broken leg and one had an injured shoulder, Marlow said.


The 40 firefighters were sent to the home found the garage engulfed in fire, particularly around a water heater, he said.


Because of the injuries, fire investigators will be at the home most of Tuesday, Marlow said.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012  A motorcyclist has died after colliding with a rescue truck that was responding to a call.

The incident occurred at about 6 a.m. near 46th Street and Northwest 12th Avenue. According to police, the rescue truck was transporting a patient to a local hospital, when the motorcyclist ran a red light and crashed into the side of the truck.

One driver witnessed the accident. "When the motorcycle hit the the fire truck, it caught on fire and exploded, and the body flew over the car," he said.

Miami Fire Rescue crews called another rescue crew truck to transport the original patient to the hospital, while responders treated the motorcyclist. "The rescue immediately made a U-turn around, got out of the truck, and went to assess this motorcyclist, who was definitely unresponsive, not breathing, no pulse," said Miami Fire Rescue Lieutenant Ignatius Carroll.

The man who witnessed the accident said all he could do was watch helplessly. "I couldn't do nothing. ... [ more ]

Tuesday, January 24, 2012  Portland police say a 50-year-old woman involved in a single-car crash in Northwest Portland late Saturday punched a firefighter and a police officer as they attempted to remove her from the car and take her into custody, according to Portland police.

The woman later admitted to police that she had crashed after consuming wine and pain medications, police said.

Central Precinct and traffic division officers responded to the crash at 10:44 p.m.

Firefighters and police found Lisa Erb, of Northwest Portland, seated behind the steering wheel of her crashed Jaguar at Southwest Skyline Boulevard and Fairview Boulevard.

Police said Erb had a strong odor of alcohol on her breath and was slurring her words.

Erb is accused of punching a firefighter who was trying to evaluate her injuries. She subsequently punched a police officer and tried to assault two other officers attempting to take her into custody for driving under the influen... [ more ]

Monday, January 23, 2012  Two firefighters and a resident were injured Monday afternoon in a Northeast Philadelphia house fire, the fire commissioner said.

The blaze was reported at 1:35 p.m. in the 3600 block of Genesee Drive in the city's Parkwood section, said Commissioner Lloyd Ayers. The fire was placed under control 53 minutes later.

The firefighters and resident, a woman, were taken to area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, Ayers said. The fire marshal was called to the scene because fireworks may have been stored in the house.