Thursday, May 9, 2013  One firefighter hurt his arm, and the other three suffered heat exhaustion according to crews on the scene. Officials said two firefighters were taken to a Spokane hospital.

The man who lives at the house said he safely escaped from the house with his bearded dragon.

Firefighters searched the home for the tenants. Crews initially thought a child might be inside the house. They said the child was found safely outside of the house.

Crews at the scene said the fire was so hot that it melted one firefighter’s coat.

Thursday, May 9, 2013  Firefighters had just returned to their station in East Oakland from a call Tuesday night when they heard dozens of gunshots. A lieutenant remarked to a cadet that when they hear gunfire like that, it usually means they'll be responding to an incident soon.

But seconds later, a bullet pierced a back window of Station 18 at 50th and Bancroft avenues, whizzed down the length of a hook-and-ladder truck - right where two firefighters had been standing - and exited through a front window before lodging in an apartment building across the street.

A firefighter ducked behind a front wheel of a fire engine. Two threw themselves under a desk in a nearby office, while a firefighter upstairs "could hear the bullet zinging, and that's when she ducked," said Battalion Chief Emon Usher.

No one... [ more ]

Thursday, May 9, 2013  The visitation and funeral for Assistant Chief Stanley Martin, who died in the line of duty on 5/7/2013, will be held at Eutaw Baptist Church located at 225 Main Street, Eutaw, Alabama. Visitation will be held Thursday evening from 6 PM until 8 PM. The funeral will be at 10 AM Friday morning, with a graveside service following at the Mesopotamia Cemetery. The family invites area firefighters to attend in uniform.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013  Ammonium nitrate stored at a fertilizer plant here was probably the trigger for a deadly and destructive explosion after fire broke out in the same building, authorities said Monday.

It was the first time investigators publicly narrowed the location of the April 17 fire and officially acknowledged the probable cause of the explosion. Experts who reviewed the explosion for The Dallas Morning News have said ammonium nitrate appeared to be the source of the blast.

“All indications are leading to that,” Rachel Moreno, a spokeswoman for the State Fire Marshal’s Office, told The News.

Fire officials are still trying to determine the cause and original location of the fire within the building, Moreno said.

Ammonium nitrate is used to make fertilizer and was stored in bins in a seed and fertilizer building at West Fertilizer Co., which for decades served farmers throughout Central Texas. 

�... [ more ]

Wednesday, May 8, 2013  The body of a Wayne Westland firefighter has been recovered from a blaze at a pair of businesses in a Westland strip mall today.Brian Woehlke, 29, was found today, said Deputy Fire Chief Rob Arbini. Woehlke had been a firefighter for 10 months, Arbini said.

Mayor William Wild said he received notification of Woehlke’s recovery at about 12:40 p.m. No additional information was released.

Firefighters responded to a blaze at the Electric Stick, a billiards hall, at about 9 a.m. They received a mayday call through the more ]

Wednesday, May 8, 2013  It is with deep regret that we advise you of the Line of Duty Death of Wildland Firefighter, Daniel Davidson. FF Davidson, age 26, was working on project work near Mayhill, NM, on Sunday afternoon with two other engine company crew members, when he collapsed. CPR was administered immediately, however when emergency personnel responded with the Life Flight helicopter, Davidson was pronounced deceased at the scene. The cause of FF Davidson’s death is under investigation.
Davidson, a U.S. Army veteran had served two tours in Afghanistan with the 10th Mountain Infantry Division. Following his tour in the Army, Davidson became a crew member of Engine 621 on the Sacramento Ranger District of the Lincoln National Forest.
Our sincere condolences to all affected. RIP. Additional information will be provided as it becomes available.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013  We regret to pass on to you that this morning, at 0236 hours Assistant Fire Chief Stanley Martin Jr. of the Springfield Volunteer Fire Department in Greene County, Alabama, (Tuscaloosa area) responded as an apparatus operator to the scene of a structure fire at 71 Peachtree Lane, Eutaw, AL.  Following fire suppression activities, Asst. Chief Martin began to complain of shortness of breath.  Fire Chief George Henderson called for an ambulance, but prior to its arrival, Asst. Chief Martin stopped breathing and resuscitation was initiated by on scene personnel.  He was transported to Greene County Hospital but medical efforts were unsuccessful. He was 71 years of age. Our sincere condolences to all affected. We'll update additional as it becomes available. RIP.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013  A firefighter dressed as a bear was run over by a fire engine during Torrington Carnival on Saturday night.

Justin Matthews, landlord at the Cavalier Inn in Well Street, was taking part in the town's annual carnival when the incident happened at around 7pm.

Mr Matthews, who is a retained firefighter, was walking in front of the fire engine when he got caught up in the wheel of the vehicle.

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The incident happened as the carnival was making its way around the roundabout next to Torrington Cottage Hospital at the top of Calf Street.

The procession was stopped while ambulance crews treated the firefighter at the scene.

Ellen Vernon, who lives in Torrington, said there was "horror" among the crowd as everyone realised what had happene... [ more ]

Monday, May 6, 2013  A Chicago-area firefighter loses his job after heart problems cause him to collapse during a racquetball game. Brian Stokes travels the Return to Work Lab at Baylor Hamilton Heart and Vascular Hospital in Dallas in hopes of completing the six-week program and resuming his job as a firefighter.

Monday, May 6, 2013  New York's 911 emergency call center suffering major shortage of operators. Mandatory overtime has been imposed to make up for the shortfall. After calls ring six times, they are bounced to NYPD operators untrained in giving lifesaving advice.  Between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. on April 22, The NY Daily News traced four
high-priority calls that went unanswered by EMS. On average, EMS 911 gets about
180 calls an hour, and roughly one-third end up in relay, records show.

The city's 911 emergency call center needs an infusion of operators — stat!
Staffing is critically low among dispatchers handling emergency medical calls — forcing the FDNY to impose mandatory overtime and pull operators from one shift to cover others.

Refusing the mandatory overtime comes with a stiff penalty — loss of one to four days’ pay — which is legal because EMS workers are considered emergency personnel.
The code red doesn’t bode well for the summer, when... [ more ]

Sunday, May 5, 2013  Lawrence fire officials said response times are being impacted as a result of budget cuts.

Authorities said staffing concerns have forced them to pull equipment out of rotation.

Station 36 serves both Indianapolis and Lawrence. On Saturday evening a fire engine and ambulance were not being used to respond to emergencies.

“Today is one of those unfortunate days. Because of staffing, we couldn’t have an ambulance or an engine there,” said Battalion Chief Dino Batalis.

Batalis said normally 26 firefighters make up a full shift to protect more than 40,000 people in Lawrence.

There were only 12 firefighters plus another 6 taking EMS runs on ambulances Saturday.

“There is going to be some delay. It’s not like if you don’t have a piece of apparatus that is coming out of the station. The most logical thing is it’s going to be a delay in response time. There’s no other way around it. There’s no... [ more ]

Sunday, May 5, 2013  About 7 p.m. Saturday evening, firefighters were called to a home at Rhode Island and Lawn Avenues in Bond Hill for a report of a fire.

When crews arrived, several floors of the home were on fire. The Cincinnati Fire Department says that there was very heavy damage to the home but it's still not clear if it was destroyed. It was reportedly gutted by fire inside.

The Fire Department also says there is an occupant of the home, but that person had not been reached by late Saturday night. Neighbors told Local 12 News they thought the home was vacant.

One Cincinnati Fire Department firefighter did suffer a back injury fighting the fire. The firefighter was admitted to the hospital Saturday night.

A damage estimate was not immediately available. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

http://www.local12.com/news/local/story/Firefighter-Hurt-During-Fire-in-Bond-Hill/GxH-XJ7c3kmpLFfXKWzhAg.cspx?rss=30

Sunday, May 5, 2013  New research by a Blue Hill scientist shows that during a fire, firefighters are exposed to dangerous levels of toxic, cancer-causing chemicals created when commercial flame retardants burn.

That firefighters develop cancer at an alarming rate is not news to industry professionals or scientists. But Dr. Susan Shaw, founder and director of the Marine Environmental Research Institute, said there’s still a lot to learn. Shaw and a team of other scientists recently published the results of a study on firefighters in San Francisco.

“We know that firefighters have a high rate of cancer, we know that outcome,” Shaw said in an interview Friday. “So we’re looking for how to connect the dots. What are the chemicals that might be causing these cancers? Do the firefighters have more in their blood immediately after fighting a fire?”

The study tested the blood of 12 firefighters immediately after they responded to an alarm. The results w... [ more ]

Sunday, May 5, 2013  A fire in Rogersville has damaged a new fire department and municipal building that was built to replace the old one gutted by fire last year.

Firefighters were called to the building around 11:13 a.m. Saturday with reports that smoke was seen at the top of the building.

Fire Chief Marc Pitre said crews quickly extinguished the fire that was smoldering in the building’s attic in the community hall portion of the building.

“When we got here [the fire] was smoldering and burning inside the attic, and we vented and put it out and just cordoned off everything, we don’t know how it started,” said Pitre.

“We just want to make sure that all our bases are covered, make sure we do it by the book because, really, this new building shouldn’t have caught fire. So we don't know exactly what’s ... [ more ]

Saturday, May 4, 2013  2 L.A City Firefighters were burned while operating at a 3 story dwelling fire in Sherman Oaks (California) early this morning. The fire was reported at 0002 hours today on Sumac Drive, a winding hilly road. The house, which was unoccupied, has two stories below ground level and all 3 floors quickly became unstable. While operating, 3 Firefighters, including a Captain, were trapped in the structure an the Captain was reportedly unconscious when rescued. Reports are that 2 of the Firefighters suffered burns and were transported to local hospitals and the Fire Captain is in serious but stable condition, and 1 of the Firefighters is in fair but stable condition -- all due to burns. We'll post updates as applicable.