Near Miss: Firefighter Pulled from Porch Collapse
Lots of firefighters are killed in building collapse. I haven't heard of too many firefighters being pulled from a collapse and surviving, but this week's near miss report details this type of incident.
FF X (name deleted) was making attempts to force entry into the residence from the porch, when Lt. X (name deleted) noted the porch roof had shifted. Lt. X grabbed FF X and was trying to evacuate the porch when it collapsed, throwing Lt. X to the ground and pinning FF X beneath the debris. The driver/ operator witnessed the event and immediately called "mayday".
There are lots of additional details in the full report - just follow the link.
Coffee break questions:
Do your firefighters maintain situational awareness while focusing on their specific fireground tasks?
Do your attack teams wait for sufficient resources to arrive before initiating an interior attack?
Are all of your firefighters familiar with Mayday procedures?
Are the firefighters on your department physically fit so that they could undertake a rescue operation and complete it successfully?
Dog Starts Fire
Skylar, a dog in Naperville, IL, went after some leftover pizza and accidentally started a fire (from The Chicago Tribune).
On his way out the door, Haines did not notice the leftover pizza on the stove.But Skylar did.
Fire officials said that as the dog reached to get at the leftovers, a paw turned a burner knob to the "light" position.
The burner ignited cardboard, which set fire to a nearby cutting board. From there, the fire crept up the kitchen wall.
Oops. Luckily the fire was caught early and put out. Skylar was resuscitated with an oxygen mask designed for pets.
Tennessee Firefighters Deal with Storm
Thunderstorm safety procedures aren't just for wildland firefighting. Check this story from myEyewitnessNews.com about a fire in Bartlett, TN.
Two Bartlett businesses are destroyed by fire, and firefighters weren’t just fighting the flames. They were fighting Mother Nature too.
Flames shot into the air during a thunderstorm Tuesday night. The storm was so intense firefighters had to stop work twice and get to safety. Dixie Flooring is now just a pile of rubble.
...
“One of our firefighters was just stepping off the truck when it was hit by lightning,” said a firefighter.
Luckily the firefighter wasn’t hurt, but the jolt disabled the truck and left one ladder useless.
At times the weather was so bad, firefighters had to stop the hoses and wait around for things to clear out. Firefighters say when the tornado sirens went off they broke out the window of the “Love Worth Finding” ministries next door to the flooring business to take cover.
Rain, lightening, and tornado sirens all at a structure fire. That would keep the safety officer on his toes.
There is a news video report too - just follow the link.
Call for FEMA to be Replaced
The Senate will be coming out with some recommendations today regarding FEMA including this one (from FOXNews.com).
WASHINGTON — Hurricane Katrina's latest fatality should be FEMA, the nation's disaster response agency, a Senate inquiry concluded in calling for a government overhaul to avoid future failures like those the devastating storm exposed....
The recommendations conclude that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is crippled beyond repair by years of poor leadership and inadequate funding. They call for a new agency — the National Preparedness and Response Authority — to plan and carry out relief missions for domestic disasters.
...
But the proposal drew disdain from Homeland Security and its critics, both sides questioning the need for another bureaucratic shuffling that they said wouldn't accomplish much.
"It's time to stop playing around with the organizational charts and to start focusing on government, at all levels, that are preparing for this storm season," Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said.
I agree. On the surface, this sounds like a reshuffle that doesn't really fix much. I'll hold on to further comments until the recommendations and report are officially released.
Kids Wake Better to Mother's Voice
This could be a really big deal (from Firehouse.com).
Researchers at Columbus Children's Hospital decided to study whether smoke alarms using a mother's voice calling out her child's first name would be more effective in rousing the child and allowing him or her to escape from the room.
...
Ninety-six percent of the children awoke to the alarms that used their mothers' voices. Almost
40 percent of these children did not awaken to the tone alarm.
The fact that 83 percent were able to escape from the room in time when awakened by the parent alarm compared with only 38 percent with the tone is important, because most of the childhood deaths in home fires are attributed to smoke inhalation.
If smoke detector companies are smart, they will capitalize on this study. Smoke detectors that let a parent record a wake-up message and that will play that message instead of the regular warning tone should help reduce child fatalities.
Nude Dude Stuck in Chimney
Too funny (from FireFightingNews.com).
California - Santa Claus he was not. "The capper of this whole thing is that he didn't have a stitch of clothes on, not even a sock." That is what Hayward Lt. Gary Branson said of a man who became stuck in a chimney about 2:30 a.m. Saturday while trying to get into a house he was locked out of....
Though it was not easy getting him out, Branson said. They tried holding a rescuer upside down from the top of the chimney, but that did not work.
Finally, a firefighter went inside the house and lay on his back near the fireplace. He used the bottoms of his feet to push Urbano's feet up toward the top of the chimney, where firefighters were able to pull him out.
Hehehe - Read the whole thing.
Chain Saw Video
Rhett over at Roanoke Firefighters posted this video and it cracked me up!
Here is the link back to the Google video.
Dalmations
Do you want to know why dalmations have been associated with the fire service? Read this article posted over at Wayne's Firefighter blog. Here is a small excerpt:
Ever see a fire truck in a parade without a Dalmatian in the seat up front or in the lap of a smiling fireman riding in back? Ever visit a firehouse without having one of those black and white spotted dogs come wagging up to you?Why is that? Why do Dalmations and firehouses go together like smoke and fire? The answer is interesting, and one you'll likely recall every time you see the Dalmation/firehouse combo from now on.
Good stuff!
Kevin Apuzzio Memorial Fund
Firefighter Apuzzio, a member of the East Franklin Volunteer Fire Department, was killed while on duty recently. His department is setting up a memorial fund to build a monument (thanks for 43 Firefighter for posting about this).
Smoke Detector Company Must Pay Damages
The makers of the First Alert smoke detectors, BRK Brands, Inc., have been ordered to pay big damages in a court case (from The Business Review).
The makers of the First Alert brand smoke detector must pay the survivors of a May 31, 2001 Rotterdam, N.Y., fire more than $7 million in damages, including $500,000 in punitive damages, a jury ruled Friday, April 21, in a case heard in the U.S. Court for the Northern District of New York.
...
The family had two of the companies smoke detectors installed in their home and both failed to alert, Hacker said. The detectors at issue were ionization type smoke detectors that sense high temperature, fast moving fires, as opposed to detectors employing photoelectric cells which are better at detecting smoldering fires, like the one which apparently killed William and Christine Hackert, Hacker said.
A photoelectric smoke detector would detect the smoke from a fire 15 minutes earlier than the ionization type, Hacker said.
During the trial the jury heard from witnesses who testified that the company was aware of the shortcomings of the ionization only detector but continued to market the product instead of selling only dual detectors. The dual detectors cost from $20 to $25 while the ionization only types sell for $10 to $15.
I'm not sure what to think about this ruling, but I am sure that there will be an appeal.
Crew Attends Ballgame
It looks like a Kansas City fire crew has caused a stir by attending a high school baseball game (from the Kansas City Star).
An on-duty Kansas City fire captain has been taking his pumper truck and crew into Lee’s Summit to watch his son’s high school baseball games.The Fire Department launched an investigation after The Kansas City Star raised questions, but officials declined to comment Monday on their findings or any actions taken.
Twice this month Star staffers saw Pumper 43, based out of Station 43 on Missouri 350, parked in the Lee’s Summit North High School parking lot during freshman team games. The school is more than 5 miles from the station’s Knobtown location and is about 2½ miles outside Kansas City’s city limits.
Since I don't have much knowledge of urban fire department procedures, is this a big issue?
It seems to me that the fire department should have some policies regarding how far the crew and engine should be allowed to travel from their station. If it were up to me, I would be inclined to nix this type of thing since it was so far from their station.
Chime in and let me know what you think.
Lack of Personal Escape Kits
Even though this is a very small sample, it shows that there is a lack of personal escape kits in use. A few years ago, I attended a firefighter survival class. The class showed numerous techniques for surviving problem situations in structure fires including the use of a personal escape kit. Since that class, I wanted my own (since our department can't afford to provide them). Eventually, I saved up enough pocket change to buy one.
OK, get ready for the shameless plug for my business...
You can check out personal escape kits at the Northern Plains Fire online store.
U.K. Firefighters Fight Moorland Fire
I'm always curious about how firefighters from other countries go about putting out fires. Here is an article from a website called This is Lancashire regarding a fire in the moors in the U.K.
FIREFIGHTERS spent six hours battling a moorland blaze as high winds blew flames towards a farm.
...
Geoff Harris, of Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, said: "Three crews were originally called to the scene, but immediately radioed for backup when they saw the size of the fire.
"It covered approximately one square mile of land.
...
They were forced to leave their engines nearby and walk to the scene of the fire, which was not accessible by road.
Crews used special spade-like instruments to beat the fire out. It destroyed 20 acres of grassland.
Keep in mind that newspapers don't usually get many details about the suppression efforts. However, check out the picture that was included with the article. I've been told that swatting just makes you tired and that it is better to drag fire swatters or spades slowly over the fire to smother it. Also, swatting can spread embers more easily.
Those are picky details. They put the fire out and the article doesn't mention that anyone got hurt, so everything turned out fine.
Needs Assessment of the U.S. Fire Service
The USFA and NFPA have released a report detailing their most recent survey results regarding what the fire service in U.S. needs most. Here are a few interesting points from the executive summary:
- Used vehicles accounted for an average of 42% of apparatus purchased by or donated to departments protecting communities with less than 2,500 population.
- There are just over a million active firefighters in the US, of which just over three- fourths are volunteer firefighters. Nearly half the volunteers serve in communities with less than 2,500 population.
- An estimated 233,000 firefighters, most of them volunteers serving in communities with less than 2,500 population, are involved in structural firefighting but lack formal training in those duties.
- An estimated 41% of fire department personnel involved in wildland firefighting lack formal training in those duties, with substantial needs in all sizes of communities.
- An estimated 792,000 firefighters serve in fire departments with no program to maintain basic firefighter fitness and health, most of them volunteers serving communities with less than 5,000 population.
- Just over 13,000 fire engines (pumpers) (16% of all engines) are 15 to 19 years old, another 17,000 (21%) are 20 to 29 years old, and just over 10,000 (13%) are at least 30 years old. Therefore, half of all engines are at least 15 years old.
- An estimated 57,000 firefighters lack personal protective clothing, most in departments protecting communities with less than 2,500 population. An estimated one-third of personal protective clothing is at least 10 years old.
- Only 11% of fire departments can handle a technical rescue with EMS at a structural collapse of a building with 50 occupants with local trained personnel.
- Only 13% of fire departments can handle a hazmat and EMS incident involving chemical/biological agents and 10 injuries with local trained personnel.
- Only 26% of fire departments can handle a wildland/urban interface fire affecting 500 acres with local trained personnel.
- Only 12% of fire departments can handle mitigation of a developing major flood with local trained personnel.
Many of the issues found should be addressed by the local and/or state governments. Local and state authorities know what types of incidents they are faced with. These agencies should make sure that the fire service in their jurisdictions can meet the challenge of those types of incidents.
The federal government should use this report to tailor the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program. Money from the program could be directed to those areas that need the most improvement.
Here is a link to the report (160 pages).
Here is a link to an article at Firehouse.com with more analysis.
MFD Attends Races
Friday, April 21, the Miller FD was requested to attend the races at the Miller Speedway. There was only one wreck and no fires.
We will be at these races on a weekly basis providing fire suppression services. I'm going to continue to post these "incidents" because I'm using my blog to track our incidents for the year.
Round 13 of FP&S Program
Click here to see if your department received an FP&S grant in round 13.
Once a Fire Horse, Always a Fire Horse
Here is a nice article about an old fire horse and a milk wagon (from LAFD Historical Archive via Firefighter).
One day, my father bought "Old Frank." He wasn't our first horse to pull the milk wagon, but he was the best. We purchased him shortly before World War I from the Hannibal Fire Department.Why we called him "Old Frank" I've never known, but it was likely because the horse-drawn fire-fighting rigs in those days required young horses with speed, strength, stamina and intelligence, and Frank had apparently gotten too old for that job.
He was 9 years old when we got him. He had a teammate, "Fox," who was purchased for the milk wagon operated by our friendly competitor, Bross and Bier Dairy. Both were Percherons, and both had been through the training school for "fire horses."
Be sure to read the whole article. Fire horses and milk wagons make for an interesting combination!
Aerials
Photo by Deputy Fire Coordinator David Denniston.
Fire Department: Cortland Fire Department
Location: Cortland, NY
Incident: Four alarm structure fire
Date: April 11, 2006
This shot is from FireFightingNews.com. There are additional photos of this incident here.
This building housed a lighted ball that was dropped at several New Years Celebrations.
FEMA Not a First Responder
FEMA Acting Director Paulison noted that FEMA is not a first responder (from FireChief.com).
Above all, however, Paulison emphasized that effective emergency management requires a team approach, and that FEMA is not a first responder. "The first response belongs in the hands of those closest to the incident, those state and local officials who are putting together the evacuation plans and shelter locations and educating their residents on when to evacuate, where to go and what to do," he said."We can all agree that disaster response starts at the local level. When the local government is overwhelmed, they ask the state for support, and when the state is overwhelmed, you request support from FEMA and the federal government," said Paulison. "Effective emergency management requires a team approach. This partnership needs to include all levels of government and all disciplines of emergency management and response."
Everyone in the U.S. needs to read this statement, especially the news media. FEMA really took a beating after Hurricane Katrina. Much of the criticism was deserved, but I also think people have inaccurate expectations of FEMA.
GPS to be Installed in FDNY Vehicles
All of the fire trucks and EMS vehicles in New York City will have GPS units installed in them (from Firehouse.com).
New York, N.Y.-- Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta today announced that all New York City ambulances and Fire Department apparatus including engines, ladder trucks, rescue companies and battalion vehicles will be equipped with the Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) system by the end of the summer.
AVL utilizes Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) technology to track the real-time movements of any equipped vehicle, helping dispatchers more accurately deploy emergency resources. AVL began in September 2005 as a pilot program with five engine companies on Staten Island and FDNY EMS units on Staten Island and in Southern Brooklyn. Under the system, EMS response times to the most serious medical emergencies (Segments 1-3) were reduced by 33 seconds.
This will be very useful in large, urban departments. The cost of the system will prohibit its use in smaller departments. In our fire department here, we don't need this type of system because our call volume isn't very high. We always know the location of our rigs.
Miller Speedway
It's racing season here in Miller!
Last Friday, 04/14/2006, at 1800 hours, the Miller FD reported to the Miller Speedway to provide fire protection for the car races. We sent a brush truck, an engine, and the rescue truck, along with 5 firefighters.
There weren't any major wrecks and only one car got hot. We didn't have to do a thing except watch the races.
The race track has worked out a pretty nice deal for the firefighters. All of the firefighters get in free and get free food at the concession stand. Each firefighter gets a pass for up to three family members to get in and watch the races for free too.
We were back at the fire hall by 2300 hours.
Near Miss: Helicopter Almost Hit by Car
The near miss for this week deals with a helicopter coming in for a landing on a highway:
The duty battalion chief whose response area we were actually in went back up the highway, approximately half a mile from the scene, to set up the landing zone. The MVA had completely blocked the highway. There were three different law enforcement agencies on scene helping handle the traffic. With the LZ established and apparently secure, the air medical helicopter was guided in. With the helicopter on final approach, a civilian vehicle darted into the LZ.
Read the whole report to get all of the details.
Here is part of the Lessons Learned that really made sense to me.
Never, ever assume that civilian drivers know what you are trying to accomplish. People are focused on trying to get to their destination by the route they originally intended. If they know a way around your roadblock, detour, or feel overly inconvenienced by having to wait as we deal with critical patients, EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED. This doesn't make them bad people. They just don't understand how their actions can compromise the safety of everyone operating at that scene.
Does your department work with helicopters?
Are your members familiar with landing zone procedures?
Is adequate traffic control maintained at your incidents?
Reversed Feeder
Reversed feeder!
One Of A Firefighters Worst Nightmares!
Courtesy of Scottie's Cartoon Gallery.
Charges Dropped in Firefighter Brawl
This from Firehouse.com:
Authorities have decided not to prosecute three local volunteer firemen, despite a brawl that broke out among firefighters two months ago as a house was burning in Prince George's County.The fire department filed criminal charges against all three. Now those charges will be dropped.
There is lots of info in the article.
Hopefully, the fire departments will take the appropriate disciplinary action against the firefighters. Fighting on the fire ground is unacceptable.
Fire near Moscow Kills 11
Eleven construction workers were killed in a fire near Moscow, Russia (from the BBC).
The blaze broke out early in the morning at a cabin where workers were sleeping at a construction site in the town of Pavshinskaya Poima.Firefighters found the bodies when they put out the fire. The victims died from smoke inhalation, officials quoted by Russian media said.
It is difficult to get any details on these international incidents. I searched through several news stories, but none of them had any information about how the fire started or why the workers were unable to escape. Firefighters from every country could benefit from this information. It would allow us to improve the fire services we offer in our own countries.
Emergency Vehicle Safety Program
The IAFF in conjunction with the USFA has come out with a new training program emphasizing emergency vehicle safety.
There is a ton of info at the website, including the PowerPoint presentations, instructor and participant guides, case studies, and other resources.
Check it out.
Photo courtesy of the IAFF.
Third Season for Rescue Me
The third season of the TV series Rescue Me is scheduled to start on May 30th (from Becoming a Firefighter).
Here is a link to the official website.
Good show!
Alabama Station Blaze
I'm a little slow on this story, but the fire station for a small, volunteer department in Alabama burned down (from Firehouse.com).
We not only lost our fire station, we also lost our one and only fire engine," Hay Valley's Fire Chief Jeff Carr said Saturday after the blaze been extinguished. "We also lost all the equipment that we had on the engine at the time of the fire."...
"We're a small department. We operate on a budget of about $6,000 a year," Carr said. "And that's if we have a good year. All of our money comes from donations. Even the engine we lost was donated. Saragossa's Volunteer Fire Department had donated it to us because we were having problems with the one we had and we didn't have the funds to buy a another one. And I don't know what we're going to do now."
If you can, lend a hand.
Excerpt from Task Force 8
Over at Rescue Us!, Lou has posted an excerpt from his novel, Task Force 8.
Firing up the EKG strip, Devoe quickly interprets the gradient squiggles and informs the team leader, "He's in VT Chauncey, Ventricular Tachycardia." The old man's engine is running, but the timing is off and he needs a quick tune-up. "He's probably having an MI right now!", Williams replies.
Read the whole excerpt.
Alcohol at the Fire Hall?
Here are the results of our weekly poll regarding alcohol at the firehall:
Car Fire
On 04/13/2006, at 1245 hours, the Miller Fire Department was dispatched to a car on fire in the armory parking lot. A couple of firefighters and I just happened to be at the fire hall when the page went out. That doesn't happen very often!
We got our gear on and were just pulling out of the fire hall when the Miller Police Department let us know that they had the fire under control. We let them know that we would go ahead and drive up to the armory just in case. We responded with one engine and one suburban with three firefighters.
Upon arrival, we found a car with some burned carpeting, but the fire was out. The driver of the car had dumped their ashtray into the little garbage can in the car. Then they left the car and went into the armory. A few minutes later, another person noticed smoke coming from the open window of the car and called 911. Lucky.
We were back at the fire hall and ready for the next call by 1300 hours.
20,000 Visitors
We have officially had 20,000 visitors to Firewhirl and Northern Plains Fire - Woo Hoo!
Thanks to everyone who has stopped. We're looking forward to the next 20,000.
Waiting
Photo by Maria Valcarcel.
Title: Waiting
Fire Department: Citizens Truck Company #4
Location: Frederick, Frederick County, MD
Truck Designation: Truck 42
Date: March 31, 2006
This Picture of the Week is our first photo that is not an action shot. Maria snapped this photo while she was just "playing around" with her camera. I wonder what types of photos she could get if she got serious about it! Take a minute and visit Maria's blog, Knit and Play With Fire.
Mutual Aid to a Grass Fire
On 04/10/2006, at 1720 hours, the Miller FD was paged to give mutual aid on a large grass fire.
The grass has just started to green up here, but last year's dead grass is dry and there was some wind on that day. If it had been a little warmer and earlier in the day, this fire could have been really big.
The fire was located 33 miles from Miller, near the town of Polo. That is a long haul when you are looking at a big smoke column from a fast moving grass fire.
We responded with three brush trucks and two engines with a total of 10 firefighters. The Polo Fire Department had all of their apparatus there. I think they had two engines and one brush truck. Some civilians responded with two ATVs outfitted with weed spraying equipment that they used to spray water. A 6,000 gallon water truck owned by a nearby farmer also was there to refill fire trucks. The Hand County Deputy Sheriff was there as well.
The fire was started by a rubbish pile that had been burned two weeks before the outbreak of the grass fire. The wind apparently blew embers from the remains of the rubbish pile into the dry grass. The fire was approximately 1.75 miles long and averaged somewhere around 400 yards wide. Total area is approximately 255 acres.
We were back in service in Miller by 2130 hours.
If I can get some pictures from some of the responding units, I'll post them.
Near Miss: Nozzle Malfunction
This week's near miss report deals with a nozzle malfunction during a fire:
An Engine Company was dispatched to an apartment fire. Upon arrival, fire was showing and a bundle was deployed. The attack team charged the line and flowed water. When the nozzleman adjusted the fog pattern, the entire front end of the nozzle fell off.
Read the rest of the report to see what happened.
Does your department regularly inspect all of the nozzles?
Do your firefighters know what to look for when inspecting a nozzle.
If a nozzle malfunctioned like this at one of your fires, how would your firefighters respond?
Department Struggles to Retain Firefighters
A department in Maryland is making some interesting choices (from The Capital via Firehouse.com).
The county Fire Department is losing firefighters almost as fast as it can hire them, leading officials to lower standards for new recruits.
The county Personnel Office has started giving passing grades to new hires who correctly answer 60 percent of questions on a written test - the equivalent of a low D in a county grade school. The previous standard was 70 percent.
Over objections from the union that represents the county's firefighters, the department also has cut an intensive physical conditioning course from 12 weeks to a couple of hours.
While I'm not sure of the wisdom of these choices, it seems that the real problem for this department is firefighter retention. They need to address the reasons why they are losing so many firefighters so that they don't have to bring on so many new recruits.
Read the whole thing to get all of the details.
Prescribed Fire Burns Down Cabins
Prescribed fire is a great tool in reducing fuels and improving forest habitat. However, something went wrong with this incident in Wyoming (from the Billings Gazette).
LANDER -- While angry homeowners accused the U.S. Forest Service of incompetence, firefighters worked Tuesday to contain a prescribed burn that escaped containment lines and destroyed four cabins in a rugged, scenic area of central Wyoming.The Forest Service started the prescribed burn Saturday outside a cabin subdivision near Sinks Canyon State Park and completed it on Sunday, Shoshone National Forest Fire Information Officer Ben Cramer said.
Cramer said strong winds stoked the fire on Monday and blew it into the subdivision that borders the forest and contains 30 to 35 mostly seasonal vacation homes and cabins.
Two issues stand out on this incident.
First, when a prescribed fire is near structures, extra measures must be taken to make sure the fire doesn't damage the buildings. This means that additional units should be held in reserve strictly for structure protection. Engines should be on scene at all times until the prescribed fire is extinguished.
Second, the prescribed fire was started on Saturday. The fire escaped control lines and burned the cabins on Monday. In a two day period, the fire suppression forces should have mopped up the fire to a point that it would not escape.
We will have to wait for the investigation to publish their report to get the details, but I'm guessing that the U.S. Forest Service did not adequately address the two issues I point out above.
If the U.S. Forest Service wants to continue to use prescribed fire as a tool, they have to quit burning down people's houses.
Effects of Flu Pandemic on Fire Service
The IAFF has an article that lists recommendations for responding to a flu pandemic (via Firefighter Blog).
“With the threat of a human-to-human outbreak of the avian flu escalating, our challenge as all-hazard emergency responders is to prepare now, before the flu reaches pandemic proportions,” says IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger.
Here is an excellent checklist that you can use.
Here is an overview of a flu pandemic from the IAFF.
A pandemic can really have an impact on a fire department. Firefighters could be down with the flu just like members of the public. Will there be enough firefighters to respond effectively? Firefighters may be asked to assist with vaccination programs. Fire halls could be used for vaccination centers. With large portions of a population sick with the flu, infrastructure will suffer. Will there be enough dispatchers at the dispatch centers? Firefighters may also be asked to assist the EMTs to transport people to the hospital.
Has your department prepared for this type of event?
How Toxic was Ground Zero for Rescuers?
It is no surprise that the 9/11 site in New York City was dangerous to the health of the rescuers working there. This article from Fire Engineering highlights what was found on a shirt that was worn at the site for 48 hours immediately after the attack.
The volunteer kept his contaminated shirt packed in a sealed plastic bag until last week, when The Post sent the garment to RJ Lee Group laboratories for testing.Analyzed portions of his shirt collar reveal a chilling concentration of chrysotile asbestos - 93,000 times higher than the average typically found in the environment in U.S. cities.
...
Testing also revealed the shirt was contaminated with zinc, mercury, antimony, barium, chromium, cobalt, copper, lead and molybdenum. Tons of the heavy metals were pulverized and burned in the debris in fires that raged for four months.
This shows that the rescuers who worked at the site were exposed to some really nasty stuff. The people who were caught in the initial dust cloud when the buildings collapsed were also exposed to these toxic substances.
These exposures will have some long term effects that people are just starting to understand.
This quote really got my attention:
"It is an urgent situation. If the government does not act . . . in terms of setting up [widespread] medical testing . . . more people over the next few years will die of toxic diseases than died on 9/11."
Not good.
Rescue Poll Results
Here are the results from the rescue poll last week:
Just over half of the respondents have been involved in some sort of rescue. An interesting result from the poll is that more firefighters have been involved in animal rescues than rescuing people.
Feel free to share your rescue stories in the comments section.
Four Part Series on Glenn County, CA
The Chico Enterprise-Record is publishing a four part series about the firefighters in Glenn County, CA. Here are links to the first three installments. The fourth will be published tomorrow.
Part 1: Overview
Part 2: Fire districts and how fires are fought
Part 3: Dwindling numbers of volunteers
Part 4: Finding a solution
Here is some additional information on Glenn County's fire departments.
Enjoy!
50 Killed in Trade Fair Blaze
At least 50 people were killed in a fire at a trade fair in India (from The Hindu).
Meerut: At least 50 persons, mostly women and children, died and more than 100 were injured in a fire, which tore through a consumer goods fair at the Victoria Park here on Monday evening.
The fire, suspected to have been caused by short-circuiting, broke out in one of the stalls around 5.30 p.m. when there were an estimated 2,000 visitors at the `Brand India' fair, where multinationals displayed electronic goods and kitchen appliances.
The article didn't have many details, but I'll update this post if I find out anything else about the incident. There was one photo that accompanied the article.
This makes me think about what would happen in the U.S. if a fire started at one of the multitude of trade shows that take place every year.
UPDATE: Here is a story from the Washington Post with a few more details.
Witnesses described a horrific scene, with screaming injured people, three enormous tents destroyed, and rescuers pulling out corpse after corpse. Authorities said most of the corpses were found near the exits."Apparently some people were knocked down and crushed in the stampede as they rushed to get out of the inferno," said Rajiv Sabharwal, senior police superintendent for the town.
Tents and fire don't mix. I seem to remember reading about a tent fire in the U.S. that killed a number of people. If I remember right, that incident resulted in some new laws forcing tent makers to use fire resistent materials.
Were the tents in the Meerut incident manufactured with fire resistant materials?
Video of Fire Truck/Car Fender Bender
Here is some video of a fire truck and a car in a fender bender while the truck is responding to an incident (from turnto10.com).
PROVIDENCE -- A Providence fire truck and a car were involved in a fender-bender Monday morning as the emergency vehicle was responding to a call.An NBC 10 photographer caught the accident on videotape. The videotape shows a pickup truck and then a car turning in front of the fire truck, which had its siren on.
The pickup truck completed the turn, but the fire truck struck the car. The driver did not appear to be hurt. The rear fender of the car was damaged.
What would you have done in this situation if you were the driver of the apparatus?
Fire Service and Codes Worldwide
Read these two paragraphs from the Pakistan Daily Times:
Lahore’s first multi-storeyed building and a major landmark next to the Punjab Assembly caught fire on Sunday, affecting three floors. People trapped inside escaped using ropes via the rooftop because there are no proper fire-exits in the building. A canteen on the third floor was using a leaking gas cylinder, which no one checked. When people tried to leave down the stairs they found that “encroachments” were blocking the way. As usual the fire brigade arrived late (30 minutes) and took five hours to douse the fire. The firemen didn’t use the ladders fixed to their trucks, which caused the delay. The whole episode was pathetic.
Apart from the fact that our fire brigades are completely clueless, the new buildings in Lahore continue to be built without reference to the building code introduced after the horrible destruction by fire of the Al Fatah shopping centre last year. In such an environment high-rise buildings will simply be mousetraps. Yet, a 40-storey building is coming up in violation of the city’s building laws. The Lahore Development Authority (LDA) says it has directed the architects to take care of the problem. The architects say that the investors, who spent billions of rupees on construction, cared little about the building codes. There will no doubt be more fires. And entering multi-storeyed buildings will continue to be hazardous.
We are fortunate to live in a country that has an excellent fire service and established fire codes with enforcement mechanisms.
If the above paragraph is an indication of how multi-story buildings are being constructed around the world in developing countries, in the future there will be many incidents with large numbers of casualties.
Links
Here are a couple of new links:
Becoming a Firefighter - Justin's personal log as he strives to become a firefighter in Santa Rosa, CA.
NOTE: There is another blog called Becoming a Firefigher, but the author is located in Virginia. On the sidebar, I'll label them with the appropriate state abbreviation (CA or VA).
Scottie's Cartoon Gallery - Scottie has tons of fire service cartoons that he has drawn. Good stuff!
911 Call Considered Prank; Woman Dies
This is heart wrenching (from ClickOnDetroit.com via EMSResponder.com):
DETROIT -- A 6-year-old boy's 911 call for help was thought to be a prank, but the call was real and the boy's mother died, Local 4 reported....
Kimberly Harris, the union president of AFSCME Local 1023, said more than a quarter of phone calls received by 911 operators are prank calls.
There is lots more info at ClickOnDetroit.com.
The area that I live in has few 911 calls just because of a small population base. Every 911 call is investigated by our local police department, even if the call seems to be a prank or a hang-up.
However, if an area that gets thousands of 911 calls per day, prank calls are a serious issue. Police cannot be sent to "prank" calls or hang-ups because of the sheer volume of calls.
So what is the answer? Serious consequences for prank calls should be enforced. Big fines and community service for first time offenders and jail time for repeat offenders.
Bomb Squad Finds Sweet Treat
This made me snicker (from KDKA.com via FireFightingNews.com).
(CBS) PALM DESERT, Calif. An angry woman who dropped off a suspicious package at a Palm Desert fire station Sunday, motivating firefighters to call the bomb squad to investigate, was apparently trying to do a good deed.
The suspicious package turned out to be a bag of doughnuts.
Hehehe, I bet they wish they could find this type of bomb more often.
We Need to Rewrite "The Code"
Read this article called The Code (from SCONFIRE.com via 43 Firefighter).
Here is my favorite part:
Breaking “The Code” goes against our very core as firefighters. We did not come into this profession to self promote or boast, we came into this profession to do a job, and it is against that very fiber to “brag and boast” about what it is we do. But brag and boast we must, because if we do not tell the story, no one else will. We must do it not for ourselves, but for each other and for the financial future of our profession and the safety of our communities.
Firefighter Byrne has written an excellent article that we should all read.
Historic Firefighting Display in Peoria
A new historic firefighting display is open to the public (from HOINews.com).
The days of horse drawn fire carts and some of the largest fire-fights in Peoria's history are being re-lived this week.A group of Bradley University students organized an exhibit called the "Great Halls of Fire" to showcase the history of the Peoria Fire Department.
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The exhibit is free and open to the public, but organizers do ask for a $5 donation. It will go to the Peoria Historical Societ. The Great Halls of Fire will be open Monday through Friday this week from noon until 7 p.m. It's at the Pettengill-Morron House on Moss Ave. in Peoria.
If you are in that area it would be a good way to spend an afternoon.
Extinguishing a Pickup
Photo by Amanda Nemec.
Fire Department: Rural/Metro Fire Department
Location: Queen Creek, AZ
Incident: Vehicle fire
Date: April 1, 2006
This is a great shot of a firefighter surrounded by smoke from a pickup fire. Check out more photos of this incident here.
Vehicle Extrication In Iraq
This is a great article about some Air Force firefighters in Iraq and a training evolution they recently went through (from Stars and Stripes).
ALI BASE, Iraq — The blood and broken bones may have been fake, but the metal was bona fide real, Soviet steel.During a training mission at the Ali Base “bone yard,” a team of Air Force firefighters and an Army air ambulance crew practiced the sweaty art of vehicle extraction on a junked Russian truck before airlifting a simulated victim to safety Monday.
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The airmen went to work hacking the door off the truck and then, along with an Army medic, examined Vansteel and prepared him for the helicopter trip to the aid station. As Vansteel screamed over the roar of the helicopter engine, the team loaded him into the helicopter.
You don't want to miss this article. Read the whole thing.
Oops! Frying Fish Cause Fire Station Blaze
Geez...somebody is going to get their rear kicked for this (from katv.com).
Pine Bluff (AP) - Firefighters at a Pine Bluff station left fish frying on a stove when they rushed out to answer a call. The result is that the kitchen at Fire Station Number Seven was gutted by the fire that resulted Wednesday evening.
At least the whole place didn't burn down.
Paulison Nominated to Head FEMA
David Paulison has been nominated to head up FEMA (from the Washington Post).
President Bush yesterday nominated the acting director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to be its permanent chief, ending a seven-month search that had become an embarrassing reminder of the government's flawed response to Hurricane Katrina and doubts about proposed administration reforms.R. David Paulison, 59, formerly U.S. fire administrator and head of FEMA's division of preparedness, succeeded former director Michael D. Brown, who resigned Sept. 12, two weeks after the storm struck.
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Paulison's selection drew polite praise yesterday but did not quell critics who have called, among other things, for FEMA to be restored to independent, Cabinet-level status and its director to report directly to the president, as was the case before the Homeland Security Department was created in 2002.
We'll have to see what kind of impact Paulison will have on FEMA and whether that will bode well for the fire service. I'm hoping his appointment will help counteract the slow erosion of the AFG program.
Texas Wildfires Torch Nine Homes
Texas had to deal with more wildland fires which ended up burning nine homes (from FOXNews.com).
AMARILLO, Texas — The parched Texas Panhandle apparently survived another wildfire scare, but forecasters predicted dangerous conditions in other parts of the state Friday.
Wildfires fueled by steady 40 mph winds scorched 27,000 acres Thursday and destroyed at least nine homes while forcing the evacuation of two small towns about 65 miles east of Amarillo.
The roughly 600 residents of Lefors and Bowers City were allowed to return home in the evening and lighter winds helped firefighters contain most of the more than two dozen blazes, officials said.
No injuries were reported.
This winter has been very difficult for the folks down in Oklahoma and Texas regarding wildland fires. At some point, the homeowners are going to need to take steps to protect their homes from these grass fires.
Firewise is a great website that has tons of info specifically for this purpose. From the website:
This web site contains educational information for people who live or vacation in fire-prone areas of the United States. It was designed to acquaint YOU with the challenges of living with wildland fire.
Check it out.
Wisconsin Town Fine with Beer in Fire Hall
A town in Wisconsin has voted to allow the firefighters to continue their practice of having beer at the fire hall (from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal via Firehouse.com).
Apr. 6--Palmyra -- With only a two-vote difference, voters in this small community let the firefighters have their beer.But newly re-elected Village Trustee Al Tietz said Wednesday that firefighters shouldn't order a round at the fire station just yet.
Read the whole thing. I've posted on this issue before but involving a different fire department. See the post here.
I like to tip back a beer as much as the next guy, but it just doesn't make sense to me to have alcohol at a fire hall. The possible legal and liability issues far outweigh the social benefits.
6,000 Chinese Firefighters Fight Blaze
China has 6,000 firefighters on a fire in the Yunnan Province (from CRIEnglish.com).
Some 6,000 fire fighters are battling a forest fire that is just 20 kilometers from the capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, Kunming. Spokesman for the State Forestry Administration (SFA), Cao Qingyao, said the fire, which has been burning for seven days, has scorched nearly 666.67 hectares of forest in a suburb of the city of Anning. No casualties have been reported. The official said that while the western front of the fire has been brought under control, it has spread with amazing speed to the eastern part of the forest, which is only 20 kilometers from Kunming. The fire fighters are cutting a 53-km-long, 50-meter-wide fire break to prevent the fire from spreading to the capital.
A quick conversion on 666 hectares is about 1,600 acres. While not a small fire, it doesn't seem big enough to warrant 6,000 firefighters. I guess it all depends on the fuels they are working in, but the article doesn't say specifically what the fuels are.
Dynamite Disposal
A farmer south of Miller found some old dynamite on his farm. The dynamite was old and sweating nitroglycerin. The sherriff's office arranged for the disposal of the dynamite. They asked for the fire department to be present at the scene in case things went wrong.
The disposal took place on April 4, 2006, at 1200 hours. The ATF, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, Hand County Sheriff, Hand County Emergency Management, Hand County Ambulance, and Miller Fire Department were all present. We responded with an engine, a brush truck, and a suburban with a total of seven firefighters.
The DCI guys moved the 25 pounds of old dynamite to the corner of a field, wired up two pounds of their own explosives, and detonated it. Big bang! I felt the shock wave on my chest from about 200 yards away. I wasn't able to get a picture of the detonation, but here are some pictures from the scene.
The dynamite was found in an old, collapsed shed. The red arrow shows where the dynamite was located.
Here is the DCI Bomb Squad truck.
Here is the bomb robot in the back of the truck.
The DCI and ATF agents prepping the dynamite for detonation.
Brush truck F8.
Here is the aftermath of the explosion. They managed to get the hole filled back in before I could get a picture. The hole was about 2.5 feet in diameter and about 14 inches deep. The explosion threw dirt clods about 30 yards in every direction.
We Need More Disentanglement Training
Last week's poll results show that we need to do a little more disentanglement training.
Check out this post and the associated links for a drill on disentanglement.
Nudist Burned While Trying to Kill Spiders
This is funny because of the situation, but I hope the guy heals up OK (from stuff.co.nz via FireFightingNews.com).
SYDNEY: A red-faced Australian nudist who tried to set fire to what he thought was a deadly funnel web spider's nest ended up with badly burnt buttocks.The 56-year-old man was at a nudist colony near Bowral, about 100km southwest of Sydney, on Sunday when he spotted what he believed to be a funnel web spider hole.
Ambulance workers, including a helicopter crew, were called to the scene after the man poured petrol down the hole and then lit a match in an attempt to kill the offending arachnid.
"The exploding petrol fumes left the man with burns to 18 per cent of his body, on the upper leg and buttocks," the NRMA Careflight helicopter rescue service said in a statement.
I bet this is the last time he will light gasoline while naked!
Water On!
I found a website that features fire service cartoons - Scottie's Cartoon Gallery. Scottie is a firefighter and cartoonist in New Zealand. He has given me permission to show some of his cartoons here on Firewhirl. Thanks, Scottie! Here is the first installment:
Water On!
The Valve For The Monitor
Was Left Open,
And This Resulted!
Courtesy of Scottie's Cartoon Gallery.
NIFC Wildland Fire Update
Check out this page from the National Interagency Fire Center. Here is the data that caught my eye:
2006 (1/1/06 - 3/31/06) Fires: 20,942 Acres: 1,849,336 2005 (1/1/05 - 3/31/05) Fires: 9,631 Acres: 143,898 2004 (1/1/04 - 3/31/04) Fires: 15,577 Acres: 171,677 2003 (1/1/03 - 3/31/03) Fires: 7,395 Acres: 93,980 2002 (1/1/02 - 3/31/02) Fires: 14,718 Acres: 200,752 2001 (1/1/01 - 3/31/01) Fires: 14,412 Acres: 266,547 2000 (1/1/00 - 3/31/00) Fires: 20,346 Acres: 569,567 2001 - 2006 Fires: 13,838 Acres: 236,232
If this keeps up, we will have a huge year for wildland fires!
Round 10 of the FP&S Program
Round 10 of the FP&S Program was announced. Don't forget to check the list to see if you received a grant.
Hydrogen Cyanide is Nasty Stuff
Are there firefighters on your department that don't wear SCBAs when they should? Have them read this article (from The Providence Journal).
PROVIDENCE -- "Firemen need to understand that you can never, ever, ever breathe smoke. Smoke today is not your daddy's smoke. It's more toxic. It will kill you."Bob Halton, editor-in-chief, Fire Engineering Magazine.
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Baker had worked at two house fires that night, going inside at one house and then manning the pump at the second fire. He collapsed beside a fire engine and was rushed to the hospital by other firefighters who fought to restart his heart.
Mrs. Baker watched as the emergency room staff worked on her husband. His skin was ashen and he lay motionless, with tubes and IV lines snaking into his body.
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But the danger that had sent her 50-year-old husband into cardiac arrest on March 24 was caused by something she'd never considered. Baker and several other Providence firefighters had high levels of deadly cyanide in their bloodstream.
Hydrogen cyanide is released in smoke when plastics and polymers burn. These fumes can remain on scene for quite awhile.
There are some antidotes available, but the nervous system can sustain long-term damage.
There is a bunch more info in this article and it's a good read.
