firefighter was arrested yesterday afternoon for shooting a gun
in the firehouse. Apparently last week that FF brought
semi-automatic handgun to the station on his day off and was waiving the
weapon around pointing it at the other Firefighters. Word is he
pulled the trigger several times, but only one bullet fired. The other
Firefighters took cover and no one was hurt. The cops had been looking for
the FF deadly conduct charges. He was arrested just before 1700
outside his home in Irving. He was still wearing a Dallas Fire Rescue t-shirt.
He’s has been placed on paid administrative leave. A DFR internal affairs
investigation will be conducted alongside the criminal investigation. DFR hopes
to find out what happened to the 8-year veteran.
“If there’s something going on in his personal life, we want to use our
resources that we have available to us as the city of Dallas and fire
department to help make the situation better,” said Lt. Joel Lavender, a DFR
spokesman…an outstanding response by DFR.
AND there was another shooting at Dallas Fire Station 1 on
Tuesday. That was a drive-by shooting and two bullets pierced the garage doors.
No one was hurt. Police are not saying if they believe the two cases are
related. DFR said it’s unlikely, but it is waiting for ballistics test results.
took last summer was not state-certified, leaving some without EMS
certification. “We’re working with the state to resolve the issue,”
said Michael Guillot, director of EMS for East Jefferson General Hospital.
“Kenner firefighters are well-prepared. They’re certainly well-trained.”
Guillot admitted to the council that he “dropped the ball” on the
first-responder refresher course given to all Firefighters last May and
June. One problem with the course, he said, is that he didn’t get a course
number from the state for the class. Therefore, he couldn’t get the
state-issued first-responder cards for each firefighter “because the class
never did exist in the eyes of the state.”
Also, the instructor of the course was not credentialed with the state as a
first responder instructor. He said the woman, a critical care nurse and former
paramedic is a “well-credentialed instructor, certainly qualified”
but that she wasn’t listed with the state Bureau of EMS as an instructor.
again brings up the issue of KNOWING who is training-and who is responsible to
INSURE your firefighters are well trained-and if they are being taught what the
department, and the Chief want them to be trained in.
a tanker truck while rounding a curve when on the way to a fire. The crash
resulted in Fire Chief Frank Rizzio being given a written warning by a state
trooper. Chief Rizzio was driving the county-owned, 4,000-gallon tanker on
U.S. 62 and rolled it onto its right side when turning. Chief Rizzio was
treated and released at a hospital.
The warning was for failure to maintain control.
the safety practices and principles of fire tanker vehicles for fire
departments. Safe Operation of Fire Tankers provides information related to
human performance (driver training, operations, etc), technology (vehicle
design), to enhance the safety of fire tanker operations. The manual also
examines past incidents of crashes involving fire tankers that have killed
Firefighters with a focus on how these fatalities could have been
prevented. Fire departments will find Safe Operation of Fire Tankers a valuable
resource providing information related to the current and applicable federal
standards and regulations as well as national-level consensus standards and
guidelines.
PODCAST WELL WORTH CHECKING OUT:
Firefighter survival, the IAFC’s Safety, Health & Survival Section (SHS),
the National Fire Fighter Near-Miss Reporting System and the International
Society of Fire Service Instructors (ISFSI) have come together to launch a
monthly podcast.
The After Action podcast series leverages data, discussions and expertise to
identify topics that are timely and relevant to the fire service. Driven by a
needs assessment of Firefighter survival issues, the podcast topics
address issues directly affecting all of us.
===MAYDAY COMMAND: The first podcast, on the topic of Mayday Command,
is now available for download HERE:
discusses the command component of the IAFF’s Fire Ground Survival
program. THIS OUTSTANDING COURSE can be taken by any Firefighter,
career, volunteer-whatever-at no cost due to the efforts of the IAFF &
USFA.
board member and Broward County, Fla., Assistant Chief Todd LeDuc. They will
typically be 30-minute dialogues with preselected fire service industry experts
and Firefighter survival advocates.
(the link is on the left side, under the section logo).
National Fire Fighter Near-Miss Reporting System (www.firefighternearmiss.com ) and
ISFSI (www.ISFSI.org) websites. Links to the
podcast will also be available through a number of other national media outlets
and organizations, including www.FireFighterCloseCalls.com,
FIRE CHIEF magazine (www.firechief.com ,
www.FirefighterNation.com, and www.EveryoneGoesHome.com .
