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News and related Updates
(Also check the most current issue of THE SECRET LIST for related News and Updates-Click Here)
Friday, May 9, 2008 - Improper Set-up of Aerial Ladders with a Locking Waterway May Put Fire Fighters at Risk. Yesterday, NIOSH released another excellent SAFETY BULLETIN related to potential waterway failures. This report was prompted by the horrific LODD of Lawrence Park (PA) Asst Chief Mike Crotty-who recently gave his life when a waterway literally flew off the end of an aerial ladder that was flowing at a working fire. Here is that NIOSH WARNING: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire/SafetyAdvisory05052008.html
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Friday, May 9, 2008 - (Courtesy Post & Courier) Firefighters who battled the Sofa Super Store blaze lacked enough water and proper equipment to effectively do their jobs, and were undermined by a series of tactical errors that allowed the fire to spiral into an inferno that killed nine men, according to a draft federal report the city released Thursday.
Charleston firefighters battling the Sofa Super Store blaze used a variety of hoses. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health said in its draf... Full Story |
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Thursday, May 8, 2008 - In a surprising (whadya expect?!) move this evening, the Mayor of Charleston decided to release the DRAFT version of the NIOSH report on the Super Store Fire where those 9 CFD Firefighters gave their lives. As we said, it’s kinda hard to keep score as far as what will happen next from Charleston City Hall ...and the past week has more than proven that.
In almost every case, the NIOSH DRAFT report of any LODD is sent to the agency having jurisdiction and in many cases, the Union local... Full Story |
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Thursday, May 8, 2008 - One street, one hour, two incidents. Buffalo (NY) Firefighters put out a fire, but before they could return to their station, they almost had a more serious problem. Those firefighters were called to a house fire at 63 Howlett Street around 2:40 a.m. Thursday. A vacant house caught fire, and the crews put it out without much trouble. The fire also caused about $5,000 damage to a house at 65 Howlett.
Within an hour, firefighters prepared to leave the scene of the fire but they didn’... Full Story |
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Thursday, May 8, 2008 - Onondaga County (N.Y.) is claiming negligence by two volunteer fire departments and their chiefs led to the deaths of two firefighters in a Pompey house fire six years ago. (Scroll down for the specific charges)
The county leveled the accusations against the Pompey Hill and Manlius fire departments in papers filed recently in its defense against a $10 million lawsuit filed by one of the victims’ widows against the county and former county Fire Coordinator Mike Waters.
The county h... Full Story  | | R.I.P. |
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Wednesday, May 7, 2008 - Albert Headrick will have his hands full as he settles into his new job as chief of the Yellowknife fire department. Headrick comes from Swift Current, Sask., population 16,000, located on the Trans-Canada Highway between Moose Jaw and Medicine Hat. (SEE ORIGINAL LODD STORY BELOW)
While Swift Current is close to the same size as Yellowknife (population approximately 19,000), it is a very different place when it comes to its fire department. Swift Current department firefighters number 18, ... Full Story  | | KEVIN OLSON R.I.P. |
|  | | CYRIL FYFE R.I.P. |
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Wednesday, May 7, 2008 - In the April print edition of MRT, contributing writer Lynnette Luna reported on some of the problems fire departments across the country are having with digital radios. A common complaint concerned the inability of the digital vocoder to distinguish between a voice transmission and background noise typically found on the fireground, such as sprayed water, chain saws and personal alarms.
Apparently, this article caused quite a stir, primarily due to comments attributed to ICOM America Vic... Full Story |
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Tuesday, May 6, 2008 - One Firefighter remains in the hospital in good condition this morning after an Orfordville tanker truck rolled Monday about 5 miles west of Beloit on the way to a fire. The passenger in the apparatus, FF Chad Cleasby, 31, Orfordville, was in good condition at Rockford Memorial Hospital. The driver, FF Michael Ponkauskas, 54, Orfordville, was treated and released today at Beloit Memorial Hospital.
According to the Rock County Sheriff’s Department:
The firefighters were dispatched at 1:3... Full Story |
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 | | WHO IS RESPONSIBLE? |
Tuesday, May 6, 2008 - Onondaga County, N.Y. is claiming negligence by two volunteer fire departments and their chiefs led to the deaths of two firefighters in a Pompey house fire six years ago. The county leveled the accusations against the Pompey Hill and Manlius fire departments in papers filed recently in its defense against a $10 million lawsuit filed by one of the victims’ widows against the county and former County Fire Coordinator Mike Waters.
The county has long maintained it and Waters were not ... Full Story |
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Tuesday, May 6, 2008 - MASSILLON: The coincidences are many and tragic. A hard-working custodian driving his grandson to school in his van collided with a Massillon firetruck driven by a distant cousin that was responding to car fire. Ronald Anderson, 72, died at the scene Tuesday morning along with Javarre Tate, 4. They were just a block from the child’s school and the home of relatives. nderson’s distant cousin, Susan Toles, was driving the ladder truck that struck Anderson’s van and was one of ... Full Story |
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Tuesday, May 6, 2008 - A Lexington Fire Officers actions during a blaze last year in the city’s Hays Boulevard area caused the injuries that left him hospitalized for weeks, according to a report released Friday on an internal investigation of the fire.
Lt. Richard Carlin suffered thermal burns to his arms, legs, hands and abdomen during the fire Oct. 8 at 4529 Parsons Lane.
The report evaluates a number of mistakes made by Carlin and others who responded to the blaze, and it offers several training reco... Full Story |
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Tuesday, May 6, 2008 - A fire apparatus responding to a car accident on today ran off the road, slammed into a guardrail and flipped, injuring three firefighters, a fire official said. As the fire truck ran off the road northwest of downtown Tulsa, it severed a power pole and crashed into a parked pickup truck before coming to rest on its side, fire Capt. Larry Bowles said.
The three firefighters, one of whom was knocked unconscious, were transported to a Tulsa hospital. "None of the injuries appear right now to... Full Story |
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Monday, May 5, 2008 - Two Firefighters were injured after a fire tanker overturned on its way to a fire in the Town of Newark on Monday afternoon and they became pinned inside. The vehicle hit a tree near the intersection of County Highway H and Mill Pond Road, west of Beloit. Rock County authorities said that the driver of the truck apparently took a curve too fast. One of the victims was taken by MedFlight to a hospital while the other was rushed to a local hospital. Both victims suffered non-life-threatening in... Full Story |
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Monday, May 5, 2008 - A Marion firefighter suffered a severe injury to his foot during a First Friday showcase of the city’s police and fire departments on the courthouse square Friday evening. Marion Fire Chief Steve Gorrell said firefighter Brandon Eckstein’s foot was crushed after it got caught in a fire truck’s ladder as it was being extended during a demonstration. Eckstein’s foot was saved after he was flown to Parkview Hospital, Fort Wayne, where he underwent surgery Friday night to sew tendons back togethe... Full Story |
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Monday, May 5, 2008 - Captain R. Dwayne Dutrow has been taken out of ICU, but remains in the Burn Unit. Captain Dutrow is the most seriously injured of the 3 FF’s, while fighting the apartment fire. The 38-year-old Dutrow is a 17-year veteran of MCFRS. He is burned on his arms, legs, face and hands, as well as possible internal and orthopedic injuries. Captain Dutrow, along with FF’s James Heikka and Mark Mechlin, fell from the top floor to the middle floor after a catastrophic floor collapse. Both Cap... Full Story  | | MCDFRS/Stater911 |
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 | | W.W.B.D? (What Would Ben Do?) |
Sunday, May 4, 2008 - Here is a short commentary related to HEAVY 1st ALARM ASSIGNMENTS followed by updates and links re: yesterdays close call in Montgomery County, Maryland.
=====Good "HEAVY" 1st alarm assignments (and rapid transmission of the 2nd alarm) once again proves their value. We recently were told of one FD considering "reducing" 1st alarm assignments to reported structure fires to save fuel and related costs. TO SAVE FUEL?! WTF?!!!
There is NO MORE IMPORTANT of the most BASIC CORE SERVICES of an... Full Story |
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Saturday, May 3, 2008 - UPDATE: Duane Dutrow (23B) is in serious condition with burns to arms, legs, face and hands, lacerated liver and fractures to 2 or 3 vertebrae. He is in 4H8. Duane is in pain, but resting comfortably. The liver is expected to heal on its own, but he will remain in ICU until they are sure there is no additional damage. There is no neuro deficit from the spinal injury. His burns are clearly the most significant of the three personnel. He will likely remain in the hospital for 7 days or lo... Full Story |
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Friday, May 2, 2008 - Another Firefighter has been injured at a working car fire from "projectiles". While not a new problem, one other fairly recent event was when a FF in Windsor Locks, CT was seriously injured when a hood strut "took off" and shot into his leg, thru his bunker gear, seriously injuring him as well. THAT CAR FIRE WAS ON Sunday November 21, 2004. Upon arrival the fire was confined to the engine compartment. During companies gaining access to the engine compartment, a Firefighters had just released... Full Story  | | Thanks to KTVU |
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Friday, May 2, 2008 - YAKIMA — Federal firefighters are still wondering whether they could be the next to face felony charges after a U.S. Forest Service crew boss avoided trial by making a lesser plea. But a Yakima attorney involved in civil suits related to the Thirtymile Fire suggested Wednesday that Ellreese Daniels’ admission that he was guilty of lying to investigators sets a tougher standard for future prosecution of any firefighters deemed responsible for deaths on the fire line.
The latest develo... Full Story |
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Friday, May 2, 2008 - A veteran member of the Vischer Ferry Volunteer Fire Department has been upgraded to stable condition after suffering a heart attack at the scene of a house fire earlier this week.
FF/Fire-Police Officer David Beatty, who is in his 60s and has been a volunteer for more than 20 years, was rushed to Ellis Hospital in Schenectady after collapsing at the scene of the house fire at 9 Princess Pine Drive, just off Crescent Road.
Beatty was listed in stable condition and had been critical Monday... Full Story |
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