Wednesday, May 16, 2012   A 70-foot Sutphen Elevated Platform suddenly retracted approximately
5-10-feet while operating in a Platform Operations class on Tuesday.
Frayed steel cables were seen hanging from under the boom, and a pulley was thrown from its housing.

At the time of the incident, the aerial was operating at approximately
65-70-degrees and was extended about 60-feet above the ground. The 3
firefighters in the Platform were not injured and all were wearing helmets and were secured by ladder belts. A student on the ground was struck by flying debris, but was not injured. The 3 firefighters in the disabled Platform were removed by another Platform apparatus participating in the class.

The cause of the malfunction is being investigated.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012  This comes from Long Island. (Wantagh NY, where Chief Goldfeder gave a great lecture 2 years ago). We were operating at the scene of a 2-car MVA involving a SMART Car and a Ford E-series van on the parkway headed towards Jones Beach. We were all wearing our highway safety vests. All 3 lanes were closed appropriately by an engine, 2 police cars, a chief's vehicle, a tow truck, and 3 ambulances (one of which was in the opposite side of traffic with another police vehicle). Myself and 3 other members were spreading speedy-dry on the road to clean up a spill, while EMS tended to the 2 injured victims, both of whom needed to be boarded and collared. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a civilian SUV coming towards us. Said vehicle had driven around our roadblock, onto the right shoulder grass, cut back into the middle lane (just missing the state police car and the chief's car), and accelerated through our accident scene at close to 60mph, kicking up a cloud of dust from the speedy-dry, and NARROWLY missing myself and the other members. He didn't even slow down to look. The worst part was the vehicle had a flashing blue light on the dashboard and a maltese cross sticker on the back window, indicating that he was a firefighter. Everyone froze in place for about 15 seconds. After making sure nobody was hit, we completed our assignments and "everyone went home". The state trooper asked over his P.A. if it was one of our guys, to which my chief replied "hell no!". The police DID NOT pursue the vehicle, choosing instead to remain at our scene and complete the necessary paperwork. The engine chauffeur (who had the truck across all 3 lanes) didn't even see him until he was past the truck, which was too late to warn anyone. It was one of the scariest moments I've ever experienced in my 11 years as a volunteer firefighter. We found out later that there were no active calls in the departments that served the area that person was heading toward. So he or she apparently just used the blue light to get past the accident, putting his fellows brothers at risk. It is unknown if the police ever caught up to the vehicle, but my chief made notifications to the surrounding fire departments about this supposed member.
Just because the road looks closed and "safe", doesn't mean it is! If people want to get through, by God, they're going to find a way. EVEN IF IT'S A FIREFIGHTER. Always keep your head on a swivel, even into the oncoming lanes of traffic. If another car had lost control and struck the guardrail, it would've been VERY bad.

Thursday, April 26, 2012  I was a witness to the incident & first on scene following the incident. On April 14, 2012 we responded to a possible wildland fire in a rural part of our response area. The Chief arrived on scene first & found a small fast moving brush fire burning under the deck of a rental cabin (that would sleep 64 people, not a typo 64 people). Due to the terrain and direction the first arriving engine came from they had to back up the driveway to get to the cabin. The driveway was approximately 500' long and an elevation gain of about 75' which would estimate the grade of the driveway about 15%-20%. The next responding unit on the scene was a wildland truck from a neighboring mutual aid department. As they went up the driveway they lost a bucket of foam which was in the middle of the driveway. The 3rd truck on scene was our wildland truck (250 gallon water tank, 2 buckets of foam and various wildland hand tools on a ton truck chassis) with 2 personnel. When they saw the bucket of foam they stopped at the bottom of the driveway and the passenger walked up and got the bucket out of the road. As the driver started up the driveway he made it about halfway up and the motor lost power. The driver realized the truck was heading toward the right side of the driveway which dropped off to the road. The vehicle was traveling slow enough he was able to open the door and bail out of the truck. His passenger was still outside of the vehicle and was able to walk along side of the truck for a short distance. The driver was unsure what happened but he said he placed the truck in park but the transmission did not hold it on the slope and when he bailed out he said he thought he pulled the steering wheel to the left. This turned the truck toward the bank and the truck ran into the embankment and stopped. The passenger said the front of the truck raised up off of the ground when the truck struck the bank. He also stated he could see the front of the truck becoming "lighter" when it started backwards down the driveway. The truck rolled backwards down the driveway about 75' before hitting the embankment. If he did not turn the steering wheel there is no doubt the truck would have traveled farther down the road and rolled off the and landed on the road below potentially landing on the ambulance staged along the roadway. Everyone was ok, a bit shaken but everyone went home.
KNOW YOUR AREA AND APPARATUS CAPABILITIES!!!! The truck is a late 80's model 1 ton chassis. It was converted from a rescue truck w/250 gallon water tank, pump rescue body, extrication tools, and hose to a wildland truck with the same water capacity and compartment space for wildland hand tools. Was it right or wrong to have the vehicle converted into a wildland vehicle? It was capable to do what it was intended to be used for but did it need to go up the driveway? Did the driver get caught up in the moment and feel the pressure of command requesting the apparatus respond to the cabin? Especially since the full size engine w/1000 gallon of water was able to make it to the cabin so was the mindset created that the large engine could do it so could the wildland truck. Should the driver told command the driveway was too steep when 3 other vehicles made it to the top. I don't think we can stress enough that we ALL must be familiar with our apparatus capabilities and the areas we respond. Our county was hit heavily with the cabin rental construction several years ago, long before people got tired of seeing the mountains scarred for life by development. An area we have fallen short is becoming involved in pushing for building codes that address how we can get to a specific location. There are areas of our county that a bucket brigade might be the only thing you get to the scene. Agencies need to know what is in their response areas. What we should have done to prevent this near miss really took place 15-20 years ago. We actively pursue the next better mouse trap (turnout gear, foam, TIC, etc) but we have fallen short in becoming involved in community development. Do insurance companies know they are insuring a wood frame cabin that can sleep 64 people without water supply close by, a drive way on a 20% grade, and the fire department is not right across the street. There were several factors that could fall into play on this incident, human error can be at the top of the list. It ultimately came down to the drivers discretion to attempt to drive up the driveway. Of course what about SOG/SOP we do not have anything that states do not drive up XX% grade, but then how do you know what it is. As far as driver training, I feel we have a strong driver training program and push our drivers hard to make sure they make good decisions (stopping at intersections, driving with due regard to other drivers on the road. We don't just take new drivers on the main roads we take them in all areas of our response district when they get checked off to drive. As of now this truck is sidelined until further evaluation of the drive train and put through its paces before it is placed back on the road, if it is placed back on the road. We want to make sure it is ready to perform the job is was designed to do...safely. Stay Safe!!!

Monday, April 23, 2012  On 4-19-12 at 23:58 hrs, the South River Volunteer Fire Department and Fairfield Rescue Squad were dispatched to a single vehicle crash on Interstate 81 at the 200 mile marker. Engine 74 responded with 4 personnel and arrived at the 201 south bound with a vehicle into the guard-rail. Engine 74 took the left lane. (we were on a down grade aprox 300 yards from the top of a hill, traffic was traveling up-hill, topping over before seeing the scene. As the crew was exiting the engine a tractor trailer in the left lane could not get over due to right lane traffic and was forced to stop. He got stopped only 4 feet from the fire engine. Then he was rear-ended by another tractor trailer. There was no injuries and no damage done to the fire engine. Like I said, we were exiting the engine. I had (the officer) had made it to the front fender on the engine when I looked back and saw what was happening. I could not run across the interstate due to traffic in the right lane and I was not going to get in front the engine. There was no where to go.
Always maintain a good buffer space on the scene. Never turn your back to traffic. Better education to new members about roadway safety.

Sunday, April 15, 2012  A Huntersville NC Firefighter was struck by a vehicle at the scene of a structure fire last night. The firefighter was struck at 35mph and thrown 30ft. The firefighter was transported to a trauma facility with head and side injuries. Reports are the firefighter is doing well.
There is no safe place on the scene of a call and always assume traffic can not see you and will not stop.

Thursday, April 12, 2012  A Sumter Co. FL engine company was parked in a CVS parking lot after purchasing some personal items and were about to leave the lot when a pick up truck was backing out of another parking space at a high rate of speed. The pick up backed app 40 ft heading right for the parked engine. The injured FF was removing the wheel chocks and heard and saw the pick up coming. He pushed another FF out of the way, but the FF was hit & run over by the pick up. He was flown out but is suffering from non-life threatening injuries.

Sunday, March 18, 2012  Driver was operating an airport fire dept. emergency semi tractor trailer super tanker that carries 6,000 gallons of water and approx. 500 gallons of AFFF foam, to a report of a UPS aircraft on fire at UPS world hub. Apparatus rolled onto right side during response while making a left turn onto an adjacent taxi way, the tank wall was breached and all 6,500 gallons of agent spilled across the taxiway and grass areas of immediate area. Responders from the same organization were behind apparatus when it flipped and witnessed the accident and deployed a mayday call on the radio. Responders reported problems with immediately accessing the cab of semi due to engine running and drive shaft still spinning and on opposite side of cab large amounts of foam and water were making it difficult to reach cab. Within moments of reaching cab responders witnessed driver climb out of cab and down to the ground. KY ANG ARFF units automatically respond with civilian station and diverted to this emergency. They used bolt cutters to cut battery cable to disconnect all power to apparatus. Due to apparatus operating on taxiways and less that 1/2 mile travel distances seatbelts are not commonly used on airfield responses. Driver suffered bruising, abrasions and injury to his pride. Airport mergered to a public safety combined police/fire department within last 5 years. ARFF training quality has diminished significantly including driver/operator recurrent training
- seatbelts must be used even on airfield responses. - increase driver/operator training & requalification - Air traffic control personnel need training in recognizing need to get fire department priority airfield clearance on emergency responses.

Sunday, February 19, 2012  While on the scene of a 1 car auto accident, my captain instructed me and my engineer to do traffic control. My engineer and I had our reflective vest on and the cones were set out in the proper placement. While I had cars stopped, there was another car that bypassed the stopped traffic and was headed right for me. The car was going about 3-5 mph. I had yelled for him to stop numerous times. He was about to hit me until I moved into a ditch to avoid it. The driver had opened the door and a smell of alcohol appeared upon his person. I asked him to put his car in park and he said that his brakes were going out. He had not put his car in park until my engineer came running up and helped him do it. My engineer yelled for the cop that was already on scene and the cop came running up to help. The driver was arrested for OMVI. The weather was overcast and rain.

My lesson that I learned was to get out of the way sooner.

Sunday, February 5, 2012  While operating at a MVA on Interstate 64, during mop up, a semi-tractor trailer driver was not paying attention and rear ended our Initial Attack pumper. One firefighter at the driver side of the apparatus stated that the sidewall of the trailer brushed the side of his boots. All members were wearing their high visibility vest and proper PPE. The apparatus appears to be a loss but all members returned home safely.
That even wearing all the proper PPE, our situational awareness must never cease. That the public still fails to heed to warning lights on apparatus. Fortunately, everyone went home.

Monday, January 23, 2012  During the morning hours of January 21, the Reedsville Fire Company, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania was dispatched to assist with a chimney fire in Union Twp, Mifflin County, PA. Shortly after response of the engine, the company was dispatched for a motor vehicle accident in Brown Twp, Mifflin County. It was reported to be on Tea Creek Rd. The Rescue and Lt arrived to find a member of the company who was responding to the station for the earlier dispatched chimney fire had lost control of the vehicle on the snow covered roadway and was pulled off the roadway and struck a stone bank. Luckily, the firefighter was not injured, she did however total her vehicle. The firefighter was wearing her seat belt.
Be mindful of road conditions at all times. Always take the time to buckle your set belt.

Sunday, December 4, 2011  Our department was dispatched to a 1 car rollover with injuries on State Route 17 in the Westbound lane of travel (This is a 4 lane divided state highway). This accident was caused by an ice patch in the left passing lane. EMS units proceeded to the westbound side and conducted patient assessment. FD units arrived and remained on the eastbound side of the highway and worked over the guard rail. EMS personal requested several time to have the westbound passing lane closed due to the icing condiuton; this task was never accomplished. After operating for approx 10 to 15 minutes on scene; another vehicle hit the same patch of ice causing the 2nd vehicle to slide in to the initial vehicle. This cause personnel to dive out of the way; one FD member was struck in the arm and sustained minor injuries to her forearm. She was transported BLS the hospital. After the 2nd accident a safety zone was finally setup to protect personnel. While this zone was being established a New State Police Officer was almost struck for a second time.
Personnel safety must come first and foremost!!! Safe work zone must be established as soon as possible especially during hazardous road conditions. All agencies musts learn to work in unison to quickly protect personnel on roadways.

Thursday, November 10, 2011  A fire was reported in a diesel locomotive as it was passing through town. The train was stopped outside of town where easy access could be made. The cargo manifest was checked, the locomotive's emergency stop activated, and the main knife blade power breaker was shut off. The engineer confirmed all power was turned off and brakes were set. Two dry chem extinguishers were used but failed to extinguish the fire. Access was made via a top hatch and a hose line used to fully extinguish and cool the generator compartment. Afterwards, a railroad locomotive repairman arrived and asked if hte capacitors had been drained. No one on the train crew or the fire department knew about the capacitors

LESSONS LEARNED:
The capacitors carry enough voltage and amperage to kill any firefighter on a hose line. Ensure that if you have a railroad in your jurisdiction, officers have training on all the safety aspects of dealing with a locomotive fire.
 

Friday, November 4, 2011  Our engine crew was dispatched to a vehicle fire with flames showing from the engine compartment. It was confirmed that no one was inside the vehicle. Upon arrival we found a car that was fully involved. We pulled a line to about 50 feet from the car and not quite 45 degrees off of the front. As soon as we got the line flaked and called for water we heard two loud bangs. One was a tire blowing and one we later found was one of the hood struts. Shortly after we heard another loud bang and had a piece of the other hood strut shoot out and skip within 10 feet of us on the road. We then backed up and started our attack at more of an angle. In a short amount of time we had the fire under control.

LESSONS LEARNED:
-Keep your distance from car fires initially until you get it cooled down. -Approach the car at an angle so you arent in the path of any struts that might blow. -Dont get complacent with car fires, bad stuff can happen.
 

Sunday, October 30, 2011  The engine from Kittrell Fire Department was on its way to a PR event when the engine dropped off the road causing the driver to lose control. The engine then crossed the road going into another ditch where it rolled over on the drivers side. All occupants of the engine were wearing there seatbelts and there were no injuries.
Lessons :Always properly wear your seatbelt. Use caution on small rural roads that are not designed to carry the weight of fire appararatus. Travel at slower speeds on narrow roads.