Friday, February 3, 2012  What seemed to be typical mop-up work after a fire changed in an instant for West Point Volunteer Fire Chief Gary Cheesman.

"The instant it happened, 'oh my goodness, I just lost an eye for a vacant house'," Cheesman said.

It's a chance maybe one in a million.

A fire with suspicious origins broke out January 23 on County Road East 1400 North in Fountain County near Attica. West Point firefighters fought from the outside because it was vacant.

Cheesman said the house had hundreds of rounds of ammunition inside. Firefighters had heard bullets explode as the fire ran its course, but thought none of the possible projectiles were traveling beyond the structure.

Cheesman said the flames had settled down and he had walked to the back of the house to discuss what firefighters should do next. Because he was running the pumper truck and was wearing a radio around his head, he wasn't wearing his helmet.

That's when ... [ more ]

Friday, February 3, 2012  Newlywed Hayley Bester has had to look at her wedding pictures with only one eye. Bester's right eye has been the victim of an attack by a water-borne parasite called Acanthamoeba Keratitis.

"On my honeymoon, we were having a great time and went swimming in the pools and used the hot tubs," recalled Bester. "I am a contact lens wearer, or I was. I had kept them in when I was in the tubs, hot tubs and the pool (aboard their cruise ship to Alaska last summer). Apparently, this water-borne parasite got underneath my contact lens and just started making itself at home."

Bester also said she allowed herself to fall asleep wearing the lenses, giving the parasite "an opportunity to proliferate and attack."

Bester began to notice severe pain in her right eye. "My husband (Roy) helped me day and night with eye drops. I had to do them evry hour and there are four to six drops every hour, so that leaves very little time to rest in between."

Her light sen... [ more ]

Friday, February 3, 2012  We regret to advise you that the the Chief of the Franklin Township VFD, located in Erie County, PA was killed last night along with the Ass't Chief being critically injured in a crash while returning to quarters. Fire Chief David Flint was killed in the Line of Duty in that head-on MVA. Their Assistant Chief, Sharon Petri, was with him and is currently in serious condition at a local hospital. More to follow. Our sincere condolences to all affected. RIP

Thursday, February 2, 2012  A Dolton teenager whose car collided Tuesday night with a Chicago Fire Department engine on the South Side has been charged with drunken driving, police said.

They said the crash occurred about 6:15 p.m. at Halsted Street and 128th Place, injuring nine people, including three children and four fire department personnel.

Three children and two adults were hospitalized Wednesday in critical condition, according to the fire department.

The driver of the car, Christopher Caston, 18, of the 15300 block of Cottage Grove Avenue, was also charged with failing to yield to an emergency vehicle, running a stop sign and no insurance, police said.

Thursday, February 2, 2012  A Prince George’s County Firefighter is hospitalized in "good" condition after sustaining an electrical shock inside his Fire/EMS Station. On Wednesday evening, February 1, the career firefighter was unplugging a shoreline from a fire engine at the Beltsville Fire/EMS Station 831 when the incident occurred.
A shoreline is a heavy-duty electrical cord that carries an electrical charge from a fixed outlet in the station to a piece of Fire/EMS equipment. The shoreline power charge, 120 volts, is used when a unit is turned off and a continuous electric charge is needed to maintain the heavy-duty battery system and for electrical components on-board the fire/EMS apparatuses that require a “trickle” charge while the unit is not operating.

The firefighter and other crew members were preparing to leave the station for training when he was in the process of disconnecting the shoreline from the fire engine. It appears the wires pulled away from the protective housing ... [ more ]

Thursday, February 2, 2012  Hey,
A Prince George’s County Firefighter is hospitalized in "good" condition after sustaining an electrical shock inside his Fire/EMS Station.  On Wednesday evening, February 1, the career firefighter was unplugging a shoreline from a fire engine at the Beltsville Fire/EMS Station 831 when the incident occurred.
A shoreline is a heavy-duty electrical cord that carries an electrical charge from a fixed outlet in the station to a piece of Fire/EMS equipment.  The shoreline power charge, 120 volts, is used when a unit is turned off and a continuous electric charge is needed to maintain the heavy-duty battery system and for electrical components on-board the fire/EMS apparatuses that require a “trickle” charge while the unit is not operating.
The firefighter and other crew members were preparing to leave the station for training when he was in the process of disconnecting the shoreline from the fire engine.  It appears the wires pulled away f... [ more ]

Wednesday, February 1, 2012  WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU SAW AN ENGINE OR TRUCK COMPANY AT A BANK ROBBERY!





Prior to firefighters arriving on scene of a fatal structure fire early Tuesday morning, patrol officers attempted to save the homeowner by entering the burning building, Deputy Police Chief Steve DuBois said Wednesday.

The five patrol officers who deserve credit for attempting to save the homeowner include officers Steve Blanding, Nick Small, Bill Dubois, Todd Goodwin and Duane Jacques.

DuBois said all five officers responded to 214 Union St. immediately upon hearing of the structure fire Tuesday morning.

Small was the first to enter the burning home, but was forced back due to the intense heat, he said.

“The heat actually started to melt his pants so he had to come back out,” DuBois said.

Dubois also entered t... [ more ]

Wednesday, February 1, 2012   (In the past 72 hours, 2 Firefighters have taken their own lives-this is a very real issue in our business...much more to follow on this diversely difficult subject which has become much too common.) 
We regret to advise you that Fire Lt. Kevin W. West, 41, of St. Clairsville, Ohio, died Sunday, January 29, 2012, in his home.
Kevin was a Lieutenant Firefighter and Paramedic for Cumberland Trail Fire District in St. Clairsville, firefighter and paramedic for the Glen Dale Volunteer Fire Department, a flight medic for Stat MedEvac of Pittsburgh, a Methodist by faith and a member of the Cumberland Trail Career Firefighters Local Union #3667.
He was preceded in death by two nieces, Madison and Morgan Schnarr.
Surviving in addition to his parents of Glen Dale are his wife, Mary Reynolds West; three sons, Colton, Hayden and Jordon West at home; a... [ more ]

Wednesday, February 1, 2012  Two  firefighters were sent to the hospital Tuesday morning after battling a brushfire in West Kendall near 137th Avenue and 112th Street, according to the Miami-Dade Fire Department.They were sent to Baptist Hospital in West Kendall because of smoke inhalation, officials said.

A 911 call came in at 1:05 a.m. after the fire had sparked Monday afternoon. Officials don’t think the fire was started intentionally.

No homes were evacuated Tuesday morning but people are urged to stay indoors and keep their windows and doors shut.

“It is not under control, however we do have a perimeter set up,” said Erik Della Catena, a Miami-Dade fire spokesman. “There is no forward progress, but our main concern is that it does not affect any homes.”

The fire, in the 30-acre Boystown Pineland County Park and Camp Matecumbe, is near a Boy Scout camp , apartment complex, Our Lady of Lourdes Parish and School and Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport. ... [ more ]

Wednesday, February 1, 2012  How many times do we forget a key partner in our emergency response family the dispatcher? They are impacted on a regular basis. Don’t leave them out!
 
Dispatcher: ‘Then I went home. That's when I cried'
By Karen Voyles
Staff writer
Published: Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 6:32 p.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 6:32 p.m.
Amid the chaos and confusion of the Sunday morning crashes on Interstate 75 was the calm, reassuring voice of a teenager coming from the Combined Communications Center.
A recording of a 911 call, released by the Alachua County Sheriff's Office, demonstrates the composure that 19-year-old rookie call-taker Leslie Edvalson showed as the horrific incident unfolded.
Edvalson answered one of the first calls made to 911 about the crashes that began around 4 a.m. as the freeway was shrouded in smoke and fog. For nearly 13 mi... [ more ]

Tuesday, January 31, 2012   Authorities are trying to figure out why a car that was initially stopped near an intersecton started moving again and was struck by a fire engine hustling through an intersection to get to a fire alarm call this evening in the West Pullman neighborhood.

Five of six people in the car were seriously hurt, including three children, authorities said. 

Engine No. 62 was southbound on Halsted Street with its lights and sirens activated, on its way to a call of a fire alarm nearby, Fire Media Affairs Director Larry Langford said.
They saw a car stop as they approached 128th Place, Langford said.

“They assumed it was stopped for them,’’ Langford said. But for an unknown reason, the car started moving again and the engine could not stop in time – broadsiding the passenger’s side of the mid-size car, Langford said.

The car was left mangled and “caved in’’ on its passenger side from the wreck, which Chicago police News Affairs Off... [ more ]

Tuesday, January 31, 2012 

Tuesday, January 31, 2012   Jury selection begins today in U.S. District Court in the discrimination lawsuit filed by a former Erie firefighter who lost her job after setting a small fire in a bathtub amid a suicide attempt in 2006.

Jurors will be asked to decide whether the city was justified in terminating Mary Wolski in 2007, or whether it violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and let her go because of severe depression and not because of the fire, as Wolski claims.


Wolski -- the first female firefighter in the city's history when she was hired in 1997 -- wants the city to reinstate her and pay her lost wages.


She sued the city in October 2008.


The case stems from a small fire that broke out on Dec. 28, 2006, in the vacant home of Wolski's father in the 1800 block of East 35th Street.


Wolski, who had been battling severe depression in the wake of her mother's death in 2005, set fire to some clothes in a bathtub in the hope the r... [ more ]

Monday, January 30, 2012  L.A. County firefighters help each other cope with toughest part of the job
By Christina Villacorte, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/29/2012 09:46:26 PM PST
Updated: 01/30/2012 01:26:53 PM PST


 
Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Scott Ross, right, talks over issues with Firefighter Richard Conejo, left, who was recently affected by the death of a fellow firefighter. They meet under the auspices of the L.A. County Fire Department's Peer Support Program. (Brad Graverson/Staff Photographer)
var requestedWidth = 0; if(requestedWidth > 0){ document.getElementById('articleViewerGroup').style.width = requestedWidth + "px"; document.getElementById('articleViewerGr... [ more ]