Two
Tennessee Firefighters were injured last night, with 1 being critical,
while operating at a house fire in East Nashville. The fire broke
out around 2035 Hours last night at a single-story house on Airpark Drive.
Everything seemed to be going routine-according to a Chief-and then one of the
crews realized that they had a FF missing. They found one Firefighter
on the ground, unconscious and he was rushed to Vanderbilt University Medical
Center in critical condition. A second firefighter was also taken to the
hospital with minor burns to his cheek and neck. MORE to follow later. Keep'm
in your prayers.
DOUBLE
FATAL RESPONDING FIRE APPARATUS CRASH WILL GO TO TRIAL BY JURY
THIS STORY IS FOR EVERY Fire/EMS officer and driver*. The
Ohio Supreme Court ruled yesterday that a trial court should reconsider
whether the city of Massillon was liable in the 2008 fire
apparatus crash that killed Ronald E. Anderson, 72, and his 4-year-old
stepgrandson, Javarre J. Tate.
On May 6, 2008, the MFD Firefighters were responding to a report of a vehicle
fire. The first apparatus responded and proceeded through
the intersection with no issue. The 2nd apparatus, E-211, also
traveling with its lights and sirens on, struck Anderson’s vehicle as he
passed through the intersection killing him and his grandson. Attorneys for
Cynthia Anderson, Ronald Anderson’s widow, have argued that
Firefighter Susan Toles (who was related to Anderson) was driving
the apparatus at excessive and unsafe speeds given the neighborhood and
type of emergency to which they were responding. Engine 211 was later found to
be operating at speeds between 49 mph and 52 mph at the point of impact.
The city has argued that the accident was unavoidable because Anderson
(who was hard of hearing) failed to yield to the oncoming fire truck at the
intersection, which has a four-way stop and a flashing red light-but had
stopped for the first apparatus, and then proceeded through the intersection,
being struck by the 2nd.
Common Pleas Judge Charles Brown initially ruled the city was immune from
liability because there was no evidence that Toles or her supervisor, Capt.
Rick Annen, acted with “a malicious purpose, in bad faith or in a wanton or
reckless manner.”
The case relates to two state statutes. One law affords political
subdivisions a defense from liability if a fire truck is responding to an
emergency, as long as the operation of the vehicle does not constitute willful
or wanton misconduct. The other statute provides immunity to public employees
as long as their actions are not considered wanton or reckless.
HOWEVER, the Fifth District reversed Brown’s decision, stating
that “reasonable minds” could find the firefighters’ actions reckless because
of the rate of speed at which the truck was traveling and the obstructions that
interfered with a clear view of the intersection. The state Supreme Court wrote
in its 18-page opinion that the standards of the terms willful, wanton and
reckless are “different and distinct degrees of care and are not
interchangeable” and remanded the case back to the trial court.
*Regardless of this outcome-there are 2 people dead with
families and Firefighters (their families too) lives turned upside down.
NO ONE wants to go thru this situation at any level. STOP at controlled
intersections. HERE IS VIDEO OF THE CRASH: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga_vHeGYQ34
If tonight is like most other nights over the past 50 years,
Bill Eisner will respond to at least one fire in Detroit, and he will take
pictures. He first will play cards or watch TV at a fire station, usually Squad
3, a century-old red brick building near the Packard Plant. When the alert
sounds, Eisner, 75, will jump on the rig and race to the scene with the
firefighters, and in the midst of the flashing lights, sirens, leaping flames,
black smoke and sparking wires, Eisner will calmly grab his Nikon D 200 and get
to work. This is what he has done since 1962 – document the world of the
Detroit Fire Department, the life inside the engine houses, the fires, the
firefighters’ weddings, academy graduations, promotions, funerals, memorial
services, field days and retirements....
So many NJ EMS agencies have lost equipment, vehicles and
buildings to Super Storm Sandy. As these agencies continue to
rebuild, they continue to need donations of equipment and
supplies. The NJ Department of Health, Office of Emergency Medical Services
has created a series of on-line questionnaires to connect those who can help
with those who need help. CAN YOU HELP? http://www.state.nj.us/health/ems
