Firewhirl: Incidents Archives

Bridge Weight Limits Stop Fire Department

Firefighters in Nebraska encountered a bridge that was unsafe to cross with their apparatus enroute to a structure fire (from Firehouse.com).

The Bellevue Volunteer Fire Department was called to the fire around 9:15 a.m. But firefighters couldn't cross the wood plank bridge over a frosty stretch of Papillion Creek because of a weight restriction.

...

The department's firetrucks weigh 23 tons or more, he said. The bridge, near Fairview Road just east of the Kennedy Freeway, has a posted weight restriction of 1 ton.

Safety questions:
Does your department check bridge weight limits in your jurisdiction?
If your department was in the situation described in the article would your trucks have been driven across the bridge?

This wouldn't have been an easy decision, but I think the Bellevue VFD firefighters made the right call.

Pickup Fire Magnesium Explosion

Check out the cool video of a magnesium explosion at a pickup fire over at Roanoke Firefighters.

I think I'll try to show this video at our next fire meeting to encourage our firefighters to wear proper PPE at vehicle fires.

Questions for Firewhirl readers:
1) Is it standard procedure in your department to wear SCBA at vehicle fires?
2) Should it be standard procedure to wear SCBA at vehicle fires?

Just send your answers to me via email at joe@northernplainsfire.com.

Camp Victory Firefighters in Iraq

Here are some interesting pictures of firefighters based at Camp Victory in Iraq (from thetension.blogspot.com). They responded to a fire caused by a rocket attack.

Highway Scene Safety

Here is an interesting article about a deputy fire chief and a state trooper disagreeing about scene safety on a highway (from dailyrecord.com via FireFighterCloseCalls.com).

ROCKAWAY TWP. -- A deputy fire chief was arrested and held in handcuffs for two hours Sunday night following an argument with a New Jersey State Police trooper after the firefighter refused to move a fire truck that was blocking the right lane of Route 80.

Read the whole article. It isn't too long and has a lot of interesting details about what happened.

The most important point that I took from this incident is that a good relationship with law enforcement is critical to scene safety. Something that I'm going to look into in my jurisdiction is who has the authority to close traffic lanes at an MVC. A little preplanning could save a lot of heartache.

Market Fire in Guatemala Kills at Least 15

Tragic fire destroys market and lives in Guatemala City, Guatemala (from FOXNews.com).

GUATEMALA CITY — An enormous fire at Central America's largest open-air market Monday killed 15 people, including three minors, and sent up columns of smoke visible six miles away. Witnesses said the blaze was sparked by a lit cigarette.

The fire broke out in an area of illegal fireworks stands set up temporarily near a section of the permanent market where corn and beans are sold year-round, said fire department spokesman Ricardo Lemus, who confirmed the number of deaths.

Someone was extremely stupid - first to operate an illegal fireworks booth in a crowded market and second, for smoking cigarettes near their illegal fireworks booth. Sheesh!

On another note, there is an interesting picture of the Guatemalan firefighters at FOXNews. Just follow the link above.

Wildfire Updates

With wildfire season picking up the following sites are excellent resources for getting updated information:

NIFC National Fire News
This report gives an overall view of the fire situation nation-wide. It includes updates on all large wildland fires.

InciWeb
Updates on large wildland fires and the reports may include pictures, maps, and more in-depth information.

State of Emergency in Nevada

Nevada is burning up (from FOXNews.com).

RENO, Nev. — Gov. Kenny Guinn declared a state of emergency as state and federal crews put practically every available piece of equipment on the lines to combat dozens of lightning-sparked fires that have burned 125 square miles of Nevada.

More than 1,000 firefighters on Wednesday were battling dozens of fires, from a 57,000-acre blaze burning out of control largely in uninhabited rangeland in northeast Nevada to a complex of a dozen smaller fires around Reno and Carson City that forced evacuations at the town of Mound House along the historic Pony Express Trail.

The wildfire season has been picking up gradually since the big grass fires in Oklahoma and Texas were extinguished earlier this year. As far as I know, the Nevada fires are putting the first real strain on the firefighting system since then.

Big Bushfire in Namibia

A large bushfire in Namibia, Africa, has been burning for a week. The article details what kind of equipment they have for fighting this fire. It isn't much. Here is an excerpt (from allAfrica.com):

By yesterday morning, the fire had swept through 500,000 hectares of land, ruining large quantities of both harvested and unharvested crops while large tracts of prime grazing areas were simply reduced to ashes and thick clouds of smoke rose into the air.

500,000 hectares converts to 1,235,526 acres - big fire!

Those involved in the efforts to put out the fire have been unable to do so because they were only equipped with two tanks with capacities of 5 000-litres and 6,000-litres that can only be mounted on a trailer pulled by either a tractor or a truck, while villagers also tried in vain to use freshly-chopped tree branches.

Other fire-fighting equipment in the hands of forestry officials at Katima Mulilo, are four mobile water tanks that each can be filled with a maximum of 3,000 litres of the liquid.

He says the tractor is too slow and inadequate for such a challenging task, while the only truck, a 6x6 Mercedes Benz truck suitable for such emergencies was sent to Windhoek in 2002 for repairs but has yet to be fixed because of financial constraints.

This shows just how lucky we are. I can't imagine trying to extinguish a 1.2 million acre fire with a handful of broken down trucks and water tanks on trailers.

Here is some info on Namibia for those that are interested.

Smoke Turns Out to be Insect Swarm

This would be something to see (from The Hamilton Spectator via FireFightingNews.com):

Lovesick bugs looking for mates sent Hamilton firefighters scrambling to battle a reported high-rise apartment fire recently.

When two pumpers, ladder, rescue vehicle and a district chief rolled up in front of the building on Delawana Drive a week ago, they found the "smoke at the top floor" was a cloud of millions of insects swarming over one corner of the roof.

Fire safety officer John Verbeek says this could be a first for the fire department.

"I've never heard of a building fire call where it turned out to be a mass of insects."

Whoa - that is a lot of bugs. I hope they had their insect repellent handy.

Planes Used On Istanbul Airport Fire

Check out this photo of an air tanker dropping water on the big airport fire yesterday in Istanbul, Turkey.

Photo courtesy of the AP.

Here are some details from the Washington Post.

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- A quick-spreading fire burned down most of the cargo section of Istanbul's Ataturk International Airport on Wednesday, forcing 2,000 workers to flee the thick black smoke that closed one runway to traffic and disrupted flights.

...

Firefighting planes filled with water from the nearby Marmara Sea made more than 70 sorties to douse the flames, flying low and at an angle to avoid a nearby Turkish Airlines building. Dozens of fire trucks also responded, and the blaze was brought under control after more than four hours.

That is the first time I've heard of air tankers being used on a structure fire.

Forest Fire Damages Chichen Itza Building

We watch the Discovery Channel quite a bit, and I've seen a couple of programs about Chichen Itza. It seems that a fire has damaged some buildings there (from FireFightingNews.com).

Forest fire in Mexico has charred 5,800 hectares in the state of Yucatan on Mexico's Caribbean coast, damaging the ancient cities of Chichen Itza and Oxtankah, the country's National History and Anthropology Institute (INAH) said on Sunday. The INAH chief, Federica Sodi Miranda, said that the agency had already begun work to establish the fire's impact on the ancient buildings. She said that in Chichen Itza, which is 180 km west of tourist resort Cancun, fires had damaged a fourth century building which had not been completely excavated, where INAH anthropologists and archeologists had been working.

Fires also hit Oxtancah, the fourth century Mayan market city, around 9 km from Chichen Itza, damaging a building in the northern area.

For a little background info, here is a link to Chichen Itza at Wikipedia.

Rollover at Apartment Fire

Here is an interesting story about a rollover that occurred at an apartment fire (from My Dark Little Corner of Cyberspace).

The 2nd in engine got there and the 2 senior firemen and the captain went to the door to go in with the probie already on the nozzle who was waiting. As soon as they opened the door and made entry, the smoke conditions changed rapidly, from light grey to dark black. This indicates the fire is taking off and conditions are deterororating inside. About a minute later, one of the front windows was broken out (we later found out by accident) and things really went south. The fire got a huge gulp of fresh air, and rolled over.

Follow the link to read the whole thing.

Florida Fire Forces 1,000 to Evacuate

About 1,000 Florida residents have been evacuated from their homes due to a brush fire (from FOXNEWS.com).

MIAMI — Smoldering brush fires kept about 1,000 people from their homes early Monday, and the heavy smoke shut down parts of Interstate 95 between Daytona Beach and the Cape Canaveral area.

At least one home was destroyed and about 1,000 acres scorched by the fires that began Friday and flared up through the weekend, officials said.

I've never been involved with an evacuation of that size, but moving 1,000 people can't be easy.

Follow Up on Toronto Fire

Photo: John Hanley

Remember the fire pictures from the house fire in Toronto, Canada, where the firefighters were escaping from a second story window onto a dormer? This incident is going to be featured on the cover of Firehouse magazine. Here is an article from Firehouse.com with more details of the incident along with pictures and video.

Without warning, heavy fire conditions appeared on the first floor and the front hallway quickly became fully involved. Fire raced up the stairs and cut off the crew's only method of egress. They had very little time to escape the fast-moving flames, so they entered a front bedroom, broke out the window and began, one by one, to climb out onto a small snow- and ice-covered dormer roof.

After looking at all of the pictures this next statement really puts things into perspective:

The whole sequence of events occurred in less than two minutes.

Whoa - that is fast and the firefighters did a good job of getting out and avoiding serious injuries or fatalities.

I'm looking forward to seeing the article in the magazine.

The photographer, John Hanley, has a website of his fire photos called Toronto Fire Pics. Good pictures - check it out.

Pictures of Chinese Wildland Firefighters

Here is an article from CRIENGLISH.com about a forest fire in China that was extinguished recently. What caught my attention was the pictures of the firefighters.

Photo: Xinhua

Interesting camouflage pattern on their clothing. I wonder what the little boxes on their helmets are? The nozzle looks familiar too.

There are a couple of other pictures from the article - one of a couple of firefighters with what looks like a leaf blower, and another of two trucks.

LAFD Successfully Handles Hospital Fire

A fire in a hospital, nursing home, or elderly housing unit would be a real challenge. The Los Angeles Fire Department responded to a fire in a hospital yesterday and they did a great job (from LAFD News & Information).

Ascending to the fourth floor via the stairways, Firefighters encountered a considerable amount of heavy smoke banked down below waist in the hallway leading to the fire room.

Using handlines, Firefighters aggressively attacked the fire confining it to the one room and preventing fire spread to other portion of the floor. The fire was extinguished in approximately twenty minutes.

Due to pre-existing medical condition of many patients in the Medical Center, most were immediately evacuated to a treatment area on the first floor by Firefighters for assessment and as a safety precaution. Others were sheltered in place until the incident was completely under control and then assessed.

No injuries and limited structural damages. Read the whole thing and follow the links to see video. The list of responding units is pretty impressive too.

Poor Decision Regarding Snake Removal

I'm not sure what to say about this incident (from ABC News).

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. May 3, 2006 (AP)— After being told by her apartment complex management that it was not their responsibility to remove a snake for her porch, a woman set the reptile on fire and caused $1,000 damage to vinyl siding.

This woman is lucky the apartment complex didn't burn down. What was she thinking?

Big Fire in Brooklyn

Firefighters in Brooklyn were busy yesterday with a very large structure fire (from WABC-TV).

More than 400 firefighters converged on yesterday's fiery scene at a former rope factory.

The 10 alarm fire eventually engulfed 15 buildings, making it the largest in New York City in a decade, excluding "9/11".

Photo courtesy of WABC-TV.

The story notes that the site covers 21 acres!

Lots of pictures - just follow the link.

New Highway Safety Campaign - Shoot the Deer

This over at 43 Firefighter made me chuckle:

Station 43 was dispatched to a reported car vs. pole on Bunny Lane near Effort Neola Road. Driver was not injured. Appears this accident was caused by either a 14 point buck, a moose or something in between which caused the car to leave the roadway. The driver received a ride from from the Pennsylvania State Police. The driver also requested that we shoot all deer that we see so this doesn't happen to anyone else.

Hehehe, after a couple of beers the "shoot the deer" idea would probably seem like a good one, but apparently in this case, the state police didn't think so.

View the pictures of the incident here.

Big First Day for Escondido Firefighter

This guy had a big first day as a firefighter (from the San Diego Union-Tribune via Firehouse.com).

ESCONDIDO – Not many people can say they've rescued someone from a burning building. Even fewer can say they did it on their first day on the job.

Yesterday morning, Dominick Polito, a firefighter/paramedic with the Escondido Fire Department, did just that.

He pulled to safety a baby and a woman from the second story of an apartment building on fire.

...

When firefighters arrived, they saw the woman leaning out a window, holding her baby out to get it away from the smoke. “It appeared she was getting ready to jump,” Rea said.

Firefighters extended a ladder to the upstairs apartment to help her out.

Polito climbed up the steps and rescued the two, first the baby, then the mother, Rea said. Firefighters extinguished the blaze in 20 minutes.

Kudos to Firefighter Polito!

Boys Arrested for Florida Fires

Florida firefighters were busy on Sunday fighting brush fires that destroyed a number of homes (from The Washington Post).

LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. -- Two boys were charged Sunday with setting weekend brush fires that have destroyed or damaged more than two dozen homes and burned more than 1,500 acres in southwest Florida, authorities said.

...

At least nine homes and four sheds were destroyed, and an unknown number of other homes suffered some type of damage, said Gerry LaCavera, wildfire mitigation specialist with the Florida Division of Forestry.

Another 30 vehicles, from all-terrain vehicles to cars and boats, also were lost.

The fires also destroyed two fire trucks, and killed several pets, Forrest said. "I'm aware we lost one goat and a couple dogs," he said.

Things didn't go well if two fire trucks were burned up. It would be interesting to hear what happened to cause the loss of the trucks. If I see something on it I'll post it.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

Firefighters Rescue Horse

Florida firefighters show how versatile the fire service is by rescuing a horse that was stuck in the mud (from nbc-2.com).

PALM BEACH COUNTY: It took nearly a dozen firefighters and heavy equipment to get a horse back on its feet. A 32 year old Palomino was pulled from the mud after a two hour rescue effort in western Lake Worth. The animal is doing fine after a long day and few tense hours.

Great article with a video news report.

Twelve Die in South African Fire

Twelve people died in a workshop that was illegally converted to living quarters in South Africa (from the Mail & Guardian Online).

A fire in the Johannesburg city centre killed 12 people and left 33 others injured in the early hours of Wednesday, Johannesburg emergency services said.

"The cause of death of all 12 appears to be traumatic asphyxia -- they suffocated because they couldn't get out," spokesperson Malcolm Midgley said.

...

Residents threw their belongings into a passage in the building in an attempt to save them, making it difficult for themselves and others to get out.

...

Midgley said the building had one emergency and one other exit. Both were blocked.

This from a follow-up article:

Emergency services spokesperson Malcolm Midgley said the fire appeared to have started from a two-plate stove being used as a heater.

This tragedy is yet another example of the problems that arise when people can't find affordable and safe housing. Are there buildings in your district that are overcrowded and unsafe? Are these buildings inspected on a regular basis?

Some People Should Not Play with Fire

This is nuts (from the 1st Responder Broadcast Network via 43 Firefighter).

Some people should not play with fire - hehehe. This made me laugh when I saw the pictures.

Trouble on the Second Story

43 Firefighter pointed out these pictures. They are from the the Toronto Fire Department, Canada, who responded to a house fire on February 26, 2006. They had big trouble on the second story. View all of the pictures from beginning to end.

Hopefully all of the firefighters were OK.

The great thing about having these photos available is that we can all learn something from one department's experience.

Rescue Truck Hit by Train

This would increase the pucker factor (from the Glenwood Springs Post Independent).

A Burning Mountains Fire Protection District rescue truck was struck by a freight train between Silt and New Castle Saturday. The truck, driven by fireman Austin Coryell, was on a training drive Saturday around noon, said Burning Mountains Chief Brit McLin.

The truck was in the middle of the track when the train bore down on it.

“He said he thought the signal might be broken and he did not see the train until its air horn went off,” McLin said.

Coryell then sped up and the train caught the truck in the rear bumper, spinning it off the track and sending it down an embankment where it was stopped by a telephone pole.

Luckily, nobody was hurt.

Photo courtesy of the Glenwood Springs Post Independent.

Cruise Ship Fire

A fire damaged a cruise ship yesterday (from the Washington Post).

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica -- A fire apparently started by a cigarette broke out aboard a giant cruise ship early Thursday as it sailed through the moonlit Caribbean, leaving one passenger dead, 11 people injured and at least 100 rooms scorched.

The Star Princess, carrying 2,690 passengers and 1,123 crew members, bore evidence of the nighttime drama as it pulled into Montego Bay's port. About 85 exterior cabins were blackened from the fire, a stark contrast to the otherwise gleaming white exterior of the ship. Metal was twisted, evidence of the heat of the blaze.

I did some checking on cruise ship firefighting. The International Council of Cruise Lines has a brochure on cruise ship safety (pdf). Here are some highlights regarding the average cruise ship:

• Five firefighting teams on board
• Over 170 trained personnel to support the fire fighting teams
• Approximately twenty crewmembers with advanced firefighting training (The average town’s fire department usually has an average of six firefighters per station.)
• Over 6 miles of firefighting hose
• Over 16 miles of sprinkler piping
• Over 5,000 sprinkler heads onboard in every cabin and room
• Over 500 fire extinguishers
• Over 4,000 smoke detectors
• Local sounding alarms in all cabins
• Over 400 fire stations or hydrants
• Sufficient lifeboats and life rafts for everyone onboard

None of the info that I found said whether there are full-time firefighters on these ships. I'm guessing that the firefighters have other duties on the cruise ship and that firefighting is just part of their job. Regardless, there are probably worse assignments than being a firefighter on a cruise ship.

Bull Roams Fire Station

We aren't talking B.S. here (yes, we all know there is plenty of B.S. in a fire station - hehehe), we are talking about a real bull (from click2houston.com).

HOUSTON -- Firefighters are used to receiving calls about rescuing animals from trees, but they could have never imagined having seen what walked through their doors Tuesday morning, KPRC Local 2 reported.

A longhorn bull that escaped from a stable located behind Fire Station No. 23, located on Lawndale Street and Broadway Street, walked into the station at about 2 a.m.

Firefighters said the bull walked in through the station's open garage doors and took a tour.

Check out the pictures too.

Fire at Fort Branch Fire Department

Unfortunately, another fire station has burned, this one in Fort Branch, Indiana (from wndu.com).

Fort Branch, IN - Some firefighters in southern Indiana are looking for a new home, after their department went up in flames. It happened early Tuesday morning in the town of Fort Branch.

Firefighters were away from the station, responding to a fire alarm, when the blaze erupted.

When they returned, the station was completely engulfed in flames and smoke was pouring from the building.

I'm sure the fire department will need some help getting back on their feet. If you hear how the department would like to receive help, let me know and I'll post it.

Firefighters Extricate Moose

Massachusetts firefighters responded to a car versus moose MVA and had to extricate the moose (from TheBostonChannel.com via Firehouse.com).

The driver of the car, Juleigh McDowell, hit the 500-pound moose that ended up sitting upright in the car's passenger seat.

...

Condon helped to extract the moose from the car once firefighters had cut the roof off. The moose was seriously injured in the crash and was put down.

Click the link and check out the video.

Candy Factory Burns

Firefighters in Lancaster, PA, responded to a candy factory on fire (from wgal.com via Firehouse.com).

Four workers were inside the Miesse Candies factory along the 700 block of Lafayette Street when fire ripped through it around 2 p.m. A resident who lived nearby helped all of the employees get out safely. No one was hurt.

Firefighters had their hands full as they said chocolate was literally running in the street.

So, here is my question - does chocolate constitute a hazardous material and does it need to be diked so that it doesn't enter the storm sewers? Hmmm.

Wildland Fire in the U.K.

I'm sure they have plenty of wildland fires in the U.K., but we don't often hear of them. Here is a story from FireFightingNews.com about a heath fire in Poole, Dorset.

Hundreds of firefighters battled against a ferocious blaze two miles wide last night. The fire tore through 240 acres of heath land as crews fought a race against time to douse the inferno.

Rescuers said strong winds fanned the late-night fire in Poole, Dorset. Fearing the flames would be blown towards homes, they evacuated hundreds of residents.

Local councillor Geoff Allen said: "We have no indications of how the blaze started. We haven't had much rain recently and it is quite dry. Three streets were evacuated and hundreds of residents were taken to council shelters as a precaution."

More than 150 fire fighters tackled the inferno with 25 engines from Dorset and Hampshire. A police helicopter was also at the scene.

If you have any info about wildland fires in the U.K., please drop me a note. I'd be interested in finding out more about what they have to deal with.

'Perfect Storm' for Wildfires

The Houston Chronicle has printed an interview with Mark Stanford, chief of fire operations for the Texas Forest Service. They discuss the large grass fires that hit Texas recently. This is my favorite bit:

Q: What produced Sunday's history-making wildfire? Why was it so bad?

A: I would describe it as a perfect storm for extreme fire. The weather conditions and the condition of the vegetation came together in a nexus that created a force of nature much like a hurricane or tornado. These are natural disasters that are truly beyond our capability to do anything about them. The fuels, the grasses, were critically dry, and you had a combination of single-digit humidity and winds gusting to 60 mph. Our models that morning predicted flames spreading at 6 mph with 50-foot flame lengths, which is the same as a four-story building. By 1 o'clock in the afternoon, that is what we had.

Emphasis is mine.

Fifty foot flame length off of grass is some really serious fire behavior. No wonder they weren't able to stop the fires.

Department Seeks Charges Against Firefighters

Remember the incident a few weeks ago in Maryland where a fracas broke out a house fire? It looks like the firefighters involved are going to have to face the consequences for their actions (from Firehouse.com).

Prince George's County's Fire Chief and Public Safety Director promised in recent weeks, if the evidence warranted criminal charges, they'd move to get them. A month later, the decision has been made: the Fire Department is seeking criminal charges against three volunteer firefighters for a brawl that broke out on the scene of a working house fire last month.

As we've been reporting all along, the fight out on the street, in which one volunteer firefighter is seen shoving another volunteer against his truck, was not the most serious part of the allegations. What was more serious? The investigation has now determined what took place inside the burning house on Standish Drive.

Allegations that volunteers from Kentland pushed and shoved career firefighters inside the burning house, pulled off their protective gear and turned off their air tanks.

Next step is to see whether the State's Attorney will bring criminal charges. Stay tuned.

Weekend House Fires Kill 15

Two separate house fires in Tennessee and Indiana result in multiple fatalities (from Firehouse.com).

Rural house fires in Tennessee and Indiana killed 15 members of two families, and most of the victims were children, officials said.

In Evensville, six children and three adults from an extended family died on the second floor of a two-story house where they were sleeping early Saturday, officials said. The only survivor, 19-year-old Joseph Alexander, had been on the first floor when he awoke in the smoke and escaped through a window.

...

In southwestern Indiana, the charred bodies of a couple and their four children were found early Saturday in the smoldering remains of their home.

The article doesn't say if there were smoke detectors in either of the houses.

Baby Delivered and Left at Fire Station

I've read several articles where a mother has left her baby at a fire station under Safe Haven laws. This story has a new twist on this issue (from the Greeley Tribune).

FORT COLLINS -- Baby John Doe, born at a Fort Collins fire station Friday morning, remains in good condition at Poudre Valley Hospital.

A woman walked into a Fort Collins fire station about 8 a.m. Friday saying she wanted to surrender her baby. Firefighters and paramedics had no idea they would have to help deliver the baby first. Within an hour, the mother had given birth and left, refusing other treatment.

I think the Safe Haven laws are a good thing because it allows a baby to be dropped off at a fire station, police station, or hospital without repercussions. This should reduce the number of babies abandoned in unsafe conditions.

However, I don't think fire stations are the proper place for mothers to deliver their babies. The fire station is certainly better than a hotel room or some other place that doesn't have emergency medical equipment, but it isn't nearly as good as the hospital. If this gets to be a regular practice, fire departments will have to put policies in place about transporting women in labor to the hospital.

Huge Texas Wildfires

Huge grass fires raced across Texas this morning (from FOXNews.com).

GROOM, Texas — Massive wildfires raced across the dry southern plains early Monday, burning more than half a million acres in Texas, leaving at least seven people dead and injuring at least seven more.

Four people died in a chain-reaction crash on Interstate 40 east of Groom as smoke obscured the road. Three others died in fires near Borger, northeast of Amarillo.

...

The fires scorched more than 663,000 acres — more than 1,000 square miles or about two-thirds the size of Rhode Island — far eclipsing the deadly wildfires that prompted Gov. Rick Perry to declare a statewide drought disaster in January. The earlier blaze charred more than 455,000 acres, destroyed more than 340 homes and killed three people.

...

Officials weren't certain what sparked the wildfires, but wind gusting up to 55 mph and low humidity made conditions ideal for the fires to quickly spread. The parched region around Amarillo has had just three-tenths of an inch of rain since February, nearly an inch below normal, and no rain is expected for at least another week.

Over 600,000 acres in one day! That is a big fire.

I took a look at the Incident Management Situation Report from NIFC. The nationwide five year average by this time of year is 7,525 fires burning 157,635 acres. So far this year, there have been 12,949 fires burning 906,416 acres. If things don't change, this will be a busy year for firefighters.

Australian Rescuers Exposed to Asbestos

Two hundred fifty rescuers in Australia received some terrible news recently (from EMSResponder.com).

At least 250 of the state's elite emergency workers have been told they could die from exposure to lethal levels of asbestos during anti-terrorist training drills.

The personnel at risk include members of the Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) unit, who were told last week that they may have contracted life-threatening illnesses after training on a demolition site at Holsworthy Army Barracks.

The site was set up to simulate rescues in the event of a terrorist attack or natural disaster and has been regularly used by fire brigade, ambulance, police and army personnel since 2004.

It is really unfortunate because the emergency responders were just trying to prepare themselves to help others. I'm sure there will be an investigation into how this happened. I can't imagine someone setting this up on purpose, but there certainly could be some negligence involved.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the folks involved in this.

Here is a question for you: Are your training facilities safe?

Alabama Church Arsonist Suspects Arrested

Three men were arrested and charged with the church arsons in Alabama (from the Washington Post).

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- For weeks, church congregants in rural Alabama were on high alert, eager to find out who was burning down their churches. The answer, authorities now say, was three college students who took a prank too far.

Agents capped a month of tedious police work Wednesday when they arrested the three friends in connection with nine church arsons that had spread fear through rural Alabama.

According to court filings, the first arsons started as "a joke" that got out of hand. The other fires were apparently an attempt to throw off the massive arson investigation.

...

Two of the suspects were identified as Benjamin Nathan Moseley and Russell Lee DeBusk Jr., both 19-year-old students at Birmingham-Southern College. Matthew Lee Cloyd, a 20-year-old junior at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, also was arrested.

Give me a break. One church arson, let alone nine, doesn't start as a joke. I guess the "joke" is on them. If they are convicted, they will all do some serious time in prison.

Mississippi Hit with 100 Wildland Fires

Wildland fire season has really picked up, especially in the southern states. Mississippi firefighters were busy yesterday (from ClarionLedger.com).

Firefighters battled some 100 wildfires in Mississippi on Wednesday.

The fires were the result of dry and windy conditions that have persisted since Feb. 25, the last day no fires were reported.

The fires stretched as far north as the Tennessee line and south to the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

...

Between March 1 and 7, there have been 676 wildfires that burned 23,039 acres statewide, Grizzard said.

By comparison the state averages 564 wildfires in March that burn 10,000 acres, he said.

Firefighter Survives SUV Landing on Him

This is a one-in-a-million survival story from the New York Daily News (via Roanoke Firefighers).

A manhole explosion sent an SUV flying onto a Bronx firefighter - but he was miraculously saved by his helmet when he crashed clean through a side window.

Firefighter Marc Kroenung, a 33-year-old married father of two, was helping extinguish a manhole fire Saturday when an underground explosion sent the Cadillac Escalade hurtling upward.

The giant SUV came down sideways, with the driver's side window shattering against Kroenung's helmet as the auto crashed to the pavement. He was left standing inside the overturned SUV.

This almost seems like something you would see in a cartoon. A couple of inches in any direction and Firefighter Kroenung could have been seriously injured or killed.

Real Stinker of a Fire

From the Wichita Eagle (via FireFightingNews.com):

Wichita firefighters spent much of Wednesday dousing hot spots in what's left of 250 portable toilets that were set on fire early that morning.

Part of a fence protecting the toilets was removed because of construction near AAA Port-O-Jon at 4475 E. 31st St. South, Wichita Fire Capt. Brad Crisp said, and someone set the toilets on fire. The blaze caused an estimated $300,000 in damage.

This is one type of incident I hope I never have to deal with!

Oklahoma Wildland Fire Destroys Homes

Oklahoma got smacked again (from the Washington Post).

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Authorities took one man into custody on suspicion of arson and were searching for another after a wildfire in southwestern Oklahoma destroyed at least 30 homes and forced the evacuation of two schools, a nursing home and area businesses.

The fire was one of several fueled by gusty winds and high temperatures, and firefighters remained at the scene for a second day Thursday. Seven firefighters have been injured while fighting the blazes.

I feel for the homeowners' losses. If the person that was arrested is convicted, they should throw the book at him.

Maryland Volunteer Fired

Looks like things are starting move forward on the Maryland misconduct incident (from nbc4.com).

LARGO, Md. -- A suspended volunteer firefighter has been terminated from the Prince George's County Fire and EMS Department because of an altercation at a fire in Landover Hills on Feb. 13.

...

Part of the confrontation was captured by a neighbor's camcorder. As flames shot from the home, Moses Nicholls said he grabbed his camera, but he captured more than flames. Nicholls recorded an angry Kentland volunteer firefighter screaming profanities at a volunteer from Bladensburg, after the Bladensburg firefighter accidentally drove his ladder truck over a water hose, cutting off the supply.

Then the Kentland volunteer got more aggressive, and the tape shows he eventually shoved the other firefighter.

I can understand the firefighter being upset when the water supply to the house was cut off, but he should have handled it in a professional manner.

I wonder what would have happened if the neighbor had not caught his actions on video.

Maryland Incident Misconduct

Firehouse.com has a bunch of info on the Maryland incident that involved firefighter misconduct and possible criminal conduct (here is the original Firewhirl post).

An incident at a house fire in Maryland February 13 has led to a firefighter's suspension and an investigation that could lead to criminal charges according to Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department spokesman Mark Brady.

The investigation involves sorting out reports of firefighters actions inside a dwelling with fire showing with accusations that air supplies were vandalized by other firefighters, and physical confrontations outside the dwelling between firefighters. It involves several volunteer fire companies and career firefighters stationed at those responding companies.

Read the whole thing and watch the video.

It sounds like next week the investigation may be finished. Then we should hear the whole story. Stay tuned.

Valentine's Liaison Leads to Fire

This cracked me up (from the BBC via FireFightingNews.com).

Firefighters have issued a warning about using candles after a man's underpants caught fire while a young couple "celebrated" Valentine's Day. Crews were called to the house in Henstead Road, Southampton, shortly before midnight on Tuesday after the blaze started in the bedroom.

The discarded pants had caught fire on a nearby candle while the couple were enjoying a Valentine's Day liaison.

Ha! This gives a new meaning for the phrase "hot pants".

Alleged Fight Between Firefighters at Fire

I thought this was a thing of the past (from wusatv9.com via Firehouse.com).

9 News has learned an investigation is underway into why Prince George's County Firefighters were fighting more than fires early Monday morning.

Departmental reports obtained by 9 News include claims by two career firefighters that someone deliberately shut off their air tanks and ripped off some of their protective gear while they fought the house fire on Standish Drive in Landover Hills.

The two firefighters, assigned to the Landover Hills station, received first and second degree burns. The reports claim that firefighters from the all-volunteer Kentland Station got into a battle over who was going to put out the fire.

There is a video report that really has a lot of good information and puts things into perspective.

If the allegations are true, heads should roll.

We'll keep our eye on this and post when we hear more details.

UPDATE: Rhett has some thoughts over at Roanoke Firefighters.

San Diego Engines Catch Fire

The San Diego Fire Department has had not just one, but two engines start on fire in the last few days (from nbcsandiego.com).

Firefighters were in the right place at the right time on Monday morning when a fire truck catches on fire in San Diego.

...

Fire Truck 39 from Tierrasanta was sent out to the call, which was also responded to by the California Highway Patrol. While firefighters were tending to the injured driver, they noticed that their fire engine itself was on fire.

A mechanical fire apparently had started in the engine. At least one fire hose and some other equipment was destroyed. It is not yet known if the truck can be salvaged.

...

Fire Truck 39 was the second fire engine to catch on fire in three days. The other fire, which took place on state Route 163, was also apparently due to mechanical issues.

The story has some pretty good pictures of a fire-damaged pump panel and burned up gear.

Firefighters Shoot Chickens

When I first read this, I thought it was a joke. Then I thought it was something from a long time ago; perhaps the 1800s. But it's from February 1, 2006, in High Springs, Florida (from The High Springs Herald via Roanoke Firefighters).

HIGH SPRINGS — After seeing High Springs firefighters toting rifles through a neighborhood and shooting at chickens last week, residents said they are infuriated.

The southwest sector of town between Southwest Fourth Avenue and Poe Springs Road has had a chicken problem for years.

Many residents said they were upset not that the chickens were killed but the manner in which the situation was handled last Wednesday, Feb. 1.

Residents said they were not notified that the shooting would happen, that they worried about the safety of their children and pets, and that firefighters ran through private property without permission.

Read the whole article. It sounds like the city tried a number of ways to remove the wild chickens before they decided to shoot them. The firefighters were supervised by law enforcement officers along with other safety precautions.

I have to admit that the mental picture of this operation made me laugh!

Fire Station Burns Down

Here is another incident involving a fire station near Boulder, CO (from longmontfyi.com).

BOULDER — Steve Lavington didn’t expect to have as wild a Friday night as the one he experienced this weekend.

The longtime Sunshine Canyon resident watched as the fire station that sat just 200 feet from his home on Boulder County Road 83 burned nearly to the ground.

“I saw flames ... and immediately called 911,” Steve Lavington told the Daily Times-Call on Saturday.

The cause of the fire, which destroyed the Sunshine Fire Protection District station, was still under investigation Saturday.

...

Because firefighters quickly responded to the scene, they were able to rescue two trucks parked in the station’s garage, he said.

I'm sure the Sunshine Fire Protection District would appreciate any assistance you can give them.

If I find out any more details, I'll post them.

UPDATE: Here is an article from cbs4denver.com (with video) via FireFightingNews.com.

Investigators Find Handprint

CNN has an update on the investigation of the church fires in Alabama:

ALICEVILLE, Alabama (CNN) -- Investigators looking into the fires at nine Baptist churches in Alabama over the past week are hoping a handprint left on one church's front door may help catch a perpetrator.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives would not indicate whether its agents were able to lift a readable fingerprint from the inside part of the front door at Dancy First Baptist Church, south of Aliceville in Pickens County.

It looks like the ATF is getting serious about this investigation:

More than 100 ATF personnel, including special agents and forensic experts, are investigating the fires. A criminal and geographical profiler also has been called in.

Hopefully, they catch the arsonist soon.

Alabama Churches Set Ablaze

A rash of church fires broke out in Alabama (from FOXNews.com).

CENTREVILLE, Ala. — The search for a possible arsonist was underway Friday after six churches in rural Alabama were found burning.

FOX affiliate WBRC in Birmingham, Ala., confirmed that the churches in Bibb County burned Friday morning. As of 7 a.m. EST., those churches were Rehobeth Baptist Church in Randolph, Ashby Baptist Church in Briarfield, Old Union Baptist Church in Briarfield, Pleasant Sabine Antioch southeast of Centerville and Antioch Church in Antioch. Older Church in Chilton County also burned. Ashby Baptist and Rehobeth Baptist both burned to the ground.

All churches are within a 15- to 20-mile radius of each other, according to WBRC, and all were close to highways.

Hopefully, nobody was injured in these fires.

What really ticks me off about arson is that it exposes firefighters to a dangerous situation. It doesn't matter if the fire was accidental or arson, firefighters could get hurt or killed. Grr.

Russian Office Building Fire Video

Here is a video of an office building fire (9 stories), from Firehouse.com via Roanoke Firefighters.

WARNING: The video contains graphic scenes.

This video has good footage of an aerial ladder being put to use, master streams, EMS crews, and other apparatus.

Here is an excerpt from the Firehouse.com article:

Prosecutors have charged two more people in connection with an office-building blaze last week that killed nine people in the Russian Pacific port of Vladivostok.

Metal gates blocking stairwells in the nine-story building trapped workers on the upper floors during last Monday's blaze. Several of the victims jumped or fell to their deaths trying to escape the smoke and flames.

Prosecutor Alexander Anikin said in comments broadcast on NTV that an employee of the state-owned Sberbank had been charged with failing to oversee fire safety at the part of the building that the bank occupied.

SUV Versus House

Check out the pictures of an SUV that took on a house over at 43 Firefighter. My favorite is the third picture from the top.

Another Mine Fire

The rash of mine fires continued this weekend with a mine fire in Canada (from the Washington Post).

ESTERHAZY, Saskatchewan -- Rescuers retrieved 67 western Canadian potash miners who had been trapped underground by a fire, but several more miners were still in subterranean emergency chambers Monday waiting for help.

Seventy-two miners were trapped early Sunday when a fire started in polyethylene piping more than a half-mile underground.

When toxic smoke began to fill the tunnels, the miners retreated to so-called refuge stations _ spacious chambers that can be sealed off and are equipped with supplies of oxygen, food and water.

At least this one has a happy ending. The remaining miners will be brought to the surface later today.

Fighting a fire underground would be tricky to say the least. I don't know a thing about it but I'm guessing that there is all kinds of specialized equipment that is necessary. Air supply must be a huge factor.

Here is the NIOSH page on mine fires for a little background reading.

Australian Bushfires Force Evacuations

Australian bushfires are heating up (from Radio New Zealand):

Four major bushfires in the Australian state of Victoria have forced the evacuation of hundreds of residents.

Eleven communities which are directly in the path of a massive bushfire in the west of the state have now been placed on high alert.

The blaze in the Grampians National Park has burnt through 120,000 hectares of bush and farmland, and destroyed 24 homes.

It is expected to intensify as soaring temperatures combine with high winds. Many residents have already evacuated and those remaining have been warned to maintain a constant vigil.

I don't have time to do the exact conversion on the acreage, but it is somewhere over 250,000 acres!

Fire Pictures During Snowfall

Tim at 43 Firefighter has some pictures of an incident - a fire at a Burger King during a pretty heavy snowfall. Check 'em out.

UPDATE: Tim's pictures are also featured at FireFightingNews.com as a photostory!

Amazing Numbers on Australian Fire

Here are some amazing numbers from a wildland fire in Australia (from theage.com.au).

DSE spokeswoman Rachaele May said an estimated 50,000 sheep died, 30,000 bales of hay and 300km of fencing were destroyed in the Grampians blaze in which almost 100,000 hectares had been razed.

300 km = 186 miles.
100,000 hectares = 247,105 acres.

Here is another number that surprised me:

Firefighters plan to backburn 8000 hectares in the Halls Gap area before Thursday.

That is almost 20,000 acres or about 31 square miles - just for burning out! I guess when the Aussies burn out they get serious about it.

Firefighter Caught in Flames on Ladder

You'll definitely want to check out this video and slide show from cbs2chicago.com (via Firehouse.com). It shows a Chicago firefighter descending a ladder when the flames engulf the ladder. From the report on the video, the firefighter received minor burns and was not transported to the hospital.

Real Life Dudley Do-Right

An off-duty firefighter and other witnesses rescued a woman from an approaching train (from NBC4.TV via FireFightingNews.com).

LOS ANGELES -- A young woman whose car ended up on railroad tracks after a collision with another car was rescued by an off-duty firefighter and other witnesses moments before a freight train slammed into the sedan, police said.

Amanda Pratt, 20, of Whittier, was westbound on Kimberly Avenue at about 8:30 a.m. when her 1999 Ford Escort collided with a 1991 Toyota Corolla northbound on Acacia Avenue, said Fullerton police Sgt. Linda King.

The preliminary investigation indicated that Pratt might have failed to stop at a stop sign, King said.

The woman's Escort was struck on the driver door side and careened onto the tracks as a 70-car BNSF train traveling from Los Angeles to Barstow approached, King said.

The train was about 1,000 feet away as the scenario unfolded, she said. The conductor was able to slow the train but could not stop before it hit the Escort on the right fender, King said.

Off-duty Fullerton firefighter Pete Gray said the train was bearing down on the car when the woman was rescued. Pratt's door was jammed from the car crash, the firefighter said.

Good job, Firefighter Gray!

Fire at the Pentagon

There was a kitchen fire at the Pentagon this morning (from FOXNews.com).

WASHINGTON — A fire broke out in a third-floor kitchen stove at the Pentagon Thursday morning and spread to ductwork that passed through the fourth and fifth floors to the roof, authorities said.

The blaze was quelled, said Arlington County Fire Department spokesman Tom Polera, but the process of cleaning up and checking the damaged area for hot spots was continuing, complicated by asbestos surrounding the ductwork.

This is such a big building, I'm sure that are lots of incidents that we never hear about. This one must have been a big enough deal to make the news.

It would be interesting to be on the fire department that covers high profile buildings like the Pentagon, the Capitol building, or the White House.

Fire Station Destroyed in Fire

It really sucks when you read these stories (from WBOC.com via FireFightingNews.com).

BLOXOM , Va.- It was a sick twist of fate for Bloxom volunteer firefighters. While they were out battling one fire, another fire destroyed their empty firehouse. It happened shortly after midnight.

Firefighters with the Bloxom Volunteer Fire Company left their Station 6 headquarters just a little after midnight on Wednesday to respond to a call 10 minutes down the road. But an hour later they had to rush back to extinguish a roaring blaze that destroyed the building and everything inside.

They lost everything except what they had at the first incident. This includes two ambulances; one of them purchased just a couple of weeks before the fire.

We wish the Bloxom Volunteer Fire Company a speedy recovery as their replace their equipment and rebuilt a station.

Train Collision in Alabama

FOXNews.com reports that there was a train collision in Alabama:

LINCOLN, Ala. — About 500 residents evacuated their homes after a train carrying sodium cyanide rear-ended a second train and caught fire, authorities said. No injuries were reported.

The collision Wednesday evening in north Alabama sent flames and a plume of black smoke into the air that could be seen 40 miles away in Birmingham, officials said. The blaze continued late into the night.

Luckily, no injuries or deaths have been reported.

Here is the sodium cyanide page in the Emergency Response Guide.

Oklahoma Homes Lost to More Grassfires

New grassfires in Oklahoma have destroyed at least 20 homes according to FOXNews.com.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Wind-driven grass fires that destroyed at least two dozen homes and forced hundreds of evacuations continued to burn Friday in southern Oklahoma, which remained extremely dry despite snowfall earlier in the week.

The worst fires raged in Carter County near Ratliff City, after burning through at least 20 homes overnight, and west of Marlow in Stephens County, said Michelle Finch, fire information officer for the Oklahoma Forestry Department.

Even with lots of resources, including heavy air tankers, these fires are very difficult to stop.

Mouse House Fire Just a Rumor

Well, it looks like a story that circulated around the internet, including here at Firewhirl, was just a rumor (from TheNewMexicoChannel.com).

FORT SUMNER, N.M. -- A small -town rumor that sparked world -wide interest about a mouse burning down a house has been found to be untrue.

After 81-year-old Chano Mares's house burned down Saturday in Fort Sumner, news services picked up the quirky story.

...

The mouse story, however, has been doused by Mares.

"It's really humorous more than anything that a mouse burned down the house," he told KOAT-TV in Albuquerque. The mouse was dead when it hit the burning leaves.

Mares said he trapped and killed the critter and tossed it on the fire.

The flames, he said, probably reached his house because they were driven by high winds.

...

Mares lost everything -- and has no insurance -- but the mouse story still makes him smile.

"I started laughing, and I'll be laughing from now on," he said. "It's silly."

In the past, I've been hard on media outlets that pass on rumors. Well, now I have to eat a little crow, because I'm guilty of that very thing.

Please accept my apology for passing on incorrect information. However, like Mr. Mares, the rumor makes me laugh when I think about it.

Firefighters Remove Dead Fish?

When I first read this (from ABC News Online), I thought that the firefighters on this crew were nuts.

Firefighters have removed a tonne-and-a-half of rotting fish from a stranded fishing trawler at Lakes Entrance overnight.

The fish have been stuck in the hull of the trawler Tarpeena since Thursday night, when the ship ran aground in a build-up of sand on the Lakes Entrance bar.

Why would firefighters be involved with getting rid of dead fish? Then I read the next sentence and it started to make some sense.

The fish had produced the chemical H2S, which is toxic to humans and gives off a rotten egg-like smell.

Fifteen firefighters took nearly 12 hours to remove the fish, using big fans to ventilate the confined space.

Hydrogen Sulfide. Nasty stuff. The firefighters were called in to deal with a hazardous materials incident caused by the rotting fish. Check the online Emergency Response Guide for details on H20 (pdf).

Video of New Zealand Firefighters

Check out this news video regarding a wildland fire in New Zealand (from tvnz). Not much different than how we do things here in the U.S. I did notice a few things though: helicopters used "monsoon" buckets, the helicopters few into the night hours, and I didn't see fire shelters on the two firefighters mopping up.

It's interesting to see how firefighting agencies in other parts of the world fight fires.

Mouse Fire Starts House Fire

UPDATE: This story has turned out to be a rumor. See this post for details.

A mouse fire started a house fire (I feel like Dr. Seuss). This from the Clovis News Journal via FireFightingNews.com.

Homeowner Luciano Mares said he caught a mouse inside his residence and discarded the creature in a pile of garden refuse he was burning on his property near the home.

“I had some leaves burning outside, so I threw it in the fire, and the mouse was on fire and ran back at the house,” he said.

All contents of the wooden home were destroyed, according to village Fire Chief Juan Chavez. Aside from the mouse, no injuries were reported.

Oops!

Tajikistan Orphanage Fire Kills at Least 13

Posting on incidents where there are fatalities can get to be a grim activity, so I try to limit these types of posts of "out of the ordinary" types of things.

There was an orphanage fire in Tajikistan on January 8th (from ScienceDaily.com).

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- A fire swept through a one-story wooden orphanage in the capital of Tajikistan early Sunday and killed 13 disabled children.

Russia's Interfax news agency reported 79 children between the ages of six and 16 were evacuated, 60 of them "with burns and carbon monoxide poisoning."

...

While a criminal investigation was immediately declared, various local media said it was quite apparent that an electrical overload caused by space heaters was the cause of the fire.

While many of the children were evacuated, it is tragic that so many lost their lives. Here is another article (from People's Daily Online) that has some pictures of the building.

So where is Tajikistan? It is a country in central Asia bordering China, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan. Here is a map.

I don't know much about this country, but I wonder if they have laws regarding fire safety?

UPDATE: Here are more details from the BBC.

Wildland Fires Hit Colorado, Arkansas

The spate of winter wildland fires has spread to Colorado and Arkansas (from the Washington Post).

AGUILAR, Colo., Jan. 8 -- The wildfire danger that has been menacing the parched southern plains spread to Arkansas and Colorado on Sunday, where wind-whipped blazes destroyed at least nine houses and forced hundreds of people to evacuate, authorities said.

Fires in southern Colorado destroyed five houses, burned at least 6,000 acres and forced several residents to evacuate in Huerfano and Las Animas counties, not far from the New Mexico line.

In Arkansas, a 3,000-acre wildfire destroyed four houses east of Hamburg and chased away nearby residents. The cause of the fire is under investigation. At least 43 were reported in the state Sunday.

I guess one good thing about living in a place where it snows quite a bit is that the fire danger goes way down. If it weren't for the snow, we would probably be in the same boat as the southern plains states regarding grass fires.

I hope those folks get some moisture soon.

Details on Grain Bin Rescue

Here are lots of details regarding the grain bin rescue I posted about yesterday (from the Wisconsin State Journal).

Bunch said he went into the bin to unclog an auger feed that got jammed while he and two co-workers were loading a train with soybeans. Unfortunately, a gravity feed had been left open, which caused the soybeans to drain out from under him until he sank.

"When the beans went up to my knees I kind of laughed about it at first," Bunch said. But as he continued to sink, the situation soon became much scarier. By the time the soybeans were up to his chest, Bunch said, grain location manager Ben Fenwick, who was also in the bin, had already radioed down to another co- worker, Jody Schmidt, to call 911.

New Galilee FD Loses Fire Hall in Blaze

I hate to see this, but it has happened again (from Centredaily.com).

NEW GALILEE -- Ten fire companies were battling a blaze that destroyed a Beaver County fire hall and all the fire and ambulance equipment in it.

The fire was reported about 4:30 a.m. Thursday at the New Galilee Fire Department, about 35 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.

The building also houses Northwest EMS, an ambulance service. Firefighters at the scene said at least two fire vehicles and two ambulances in the building are lost.

I'm sure the New Galilee FD would appreciate any donations you could send their way.

UPDATE: More info over at Firehouse.com.

UPDATE 2: Even more info at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

When Mitchell arrived at 4:25 a.m., flames were pouring out of the garage doors.

"It got real hairy in a hurry," he said.

Oxygen tanks on the ambulances exploded, spraying metal shards across the street, assistant fire Chief Dan Jonas said. "It looked like heat lightning in the sky," Jonas said.

Grain Bin Rescue in Wisconsin

When someone gets trapped in a grain bin, most of the time, they don't get out alive. Considering that, here is good news from Wisconsin (from Wisconsin Ag Connection via FireFightingNews.com).

A Madison man spent nearly five hours up to his neck in soybeans Wednesday after a workplace accident left him trapped in a grain bin. According to authorities, the accident happened at a grain terminal in McFarland owned by Landmark Services Cooperative.

...

Firefighters couldn't just pull him out of the bin, because they had to shore up the beans around him to prevent a soybean avalanche. Firefighters had to cut three holes in the back of the grain bin to let out some of the soybeans and relieve some of the pressure.

It's nice to hear of a successful grain bin rescue.

Media Coverage of Grass Fire Outbreak

Christine Hurt has some great questions regarding the media coverage of the grass fires in Texas (from Conglomerate via Instapundit).

I find it interesting that the media seems so uninterested in the cause of the fires. The media focuses on the high winds, low humidity, drought conditions, and high temperatures, but these are factors that lead to the rapid spread of the fire and the difficulty of containing the fire, not the factors that caused these fires. During Hurricane Katrina, questions were swirling in the media -- Why didn't people evacuate? Why weren't they forced to evacuate? Who decided to have inferior levees? Who could have prevented this? Why isn't anyone asking these questions about the Texas fires?

Hmmm, anybody have an answer? I don't, but I wish I had thought of the question.

From what I have gleaned off of the internet, I believe most of these fires were human caused - fireworks, burning refuse, discarding cigarettes. The next question for me is how can we better educate the public on the fire danger related to activities? Would stiffer penalties for starting these fires serve as a deterrent?

Brush Fire Near Mt. Everest

One summer I had the priviledge of fighting fires in Colorado at some pretty high altitudes. Nothing compared to this though (from ScienceDaily.com).

LHASA, China, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- Emergency workers in Tibet were struggling to contain a brushfire near the foot of Mount Everest.

Xinhua, China's official government news agency, said that the blaze broke out on Sunday. By Monday, it had consumed 100 hectares (almost 250 acres).

This gives new meaning to high altitude firefighting.

Grass Fire Update

Here is an article that gives up-to-date info on the grass fires in the southern plains (from the New York Times).

DALLAS, Jan. 2 - Grass fires continued to vex drought-stricken Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico on Monday, with Oklahoma City particularly hard hit.

Oklahoma City firefighters fought 35 grass fires within the city limits - one narrowly missing two shopping centers - from early Sunday to early Monday, said a Fire Department spokesman, Maj. Brian Stanaland.

Read the whole article to specifics on acres burned, number of homes destroyed, etc.

Fire Reveals Pot Farm

This made me chuckle (from KTVU.com via FireFightingNews.com).

SAN LORENZO -- Alameda County firefighters responding to a one-alarm fire at a San Lorenzo home discovered several rooms full of marijuana plants, according to fire Battalion Chief Dan O'Hara.

The fire was reported shortly after 3 p.m. at a residence on Via Pasatiempo.

O'Hara said the fire appears to have been caused by faulty electrical wiring. Apparently, he said, the residents "had done some upgrades to the main electrical panel."

"Somebody had converted the house into a pot-growing farm," O'Hara said.

Boy, its tough when you can't call an electrician to do the wiring correctly because it's for your marijuana farm. Sheesh!

Grass Fires Plague OK, TX, NM

Large grass fires are still burning Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico (from FOXNews.com).

CARBON, Texas — Weary firefighters worked through the night attempting to contain three major fires, including one 25-mile-long blaze that charred farm fields, barns and some homes in Eastland County.

...

Crews flying over other sections of northern and western Texas to assess the damage Sunday reported the tiny communities of Ringgold and Kokomo, together home to about 125 people, had essentially been wiped out by flames, Weaver said.

...

Dozens of fires blackened the Oklahoma landscape as wind gusted to 50 mph, forcing the evacuations of two neighborhoods in northeastern Oklahoma City. Several homes caught fire.

...

Just across the Texas state line in New Mexico, two dozen elderly residents were moved out of a nursing home in Hobbs on Sunday, and a casino and community college in the town of 29,000 were evacuated as firefighters battled grass fires that only began settling down as night fell and the winds eased.

I can't remember grass fires in the U.S. being this intense and wide-spread for so many days in a row.

When I moved from the Black Hills to the prairie in eastern SD, I gained a new appreciation for the difficulties in fighting grass fires. When the wind drives these fires, they can move extremely fast and burn very hot. Hopefully, the fire crews can get a handle on these fires soon.

Grass Fires Burn Homes

Big grass fires in Oklahoma and Texas have burned a number of homes and other structures (from FOXNews.com).

CROSS PLAINS, Texas — Fire crews in Texas were monitoring areas hit by grass fires for hot spots Wednesday as a new line of fires was reported in Oklahoma.

More than 60 structures were destroyed in the two states Tuesday by fast-moving grass fires that left at least one person dead and injured several others.

These fires were apparently wind driven, which can really make them difficult to extinguish. Why were there so many fires?

Authorities believe they were mainly set by people ignoring fire bans and burning trash, shooting fireworks or tossing cigarettes on the crunchy, brown grass.

Emphasis mine. Hopefully the law enforcement folks can find who started the fires and prosecute them successfully.

The news report has some pictures too.

UPDATE: Here is a local news report from KOCO in Oklahoma City. They have a video too. The video shows how the fire service can use the media to help in evacuations.

UPDATE 2: Here is a link to the story on Firehouse.com (they have pictures too).

UPDATE 3: The fires have consumed over 100 structures and killed four people. Here are articles from Firehouse.com and CNN. The CNN link has some interesting pictures and video.

Bar Fire in China Kills 26

Yesterday, a fire in a bar in China killed at leats 26 people (from Forbes.com).

A fire at an unlicensed bar killed at least 26 people and injured 11 in a Chinese city near Hong Kong, news reports and a local official said Monday.

The fire broke out late Sunday in the bar in Zhongshan, a mainland city that abuts the former Portuguese colony of Macau west of Hong Kong, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

No details were given about how the fire started or why the patrons could not escape. If I see further details, I'll post them.

Dynamite Cache Burned Up

Here is something you don't run into everyday. The LAFD was involved in a controlled burn to eliminate a cache of unstable dynamite (from LAFD News & Info).

The Los Angeles Police Department had discovered approximately fifty pounds of dynamite stored inside of a refrigerator, located inside a commercial storage building.

Upon examination of the dynamite, it was determined to have become so degraded and unstable as to be extremely hazardous to attempt to remove the explosives from the building. A decision was made to conduct a controlled burn of the structure in an effort to incinerate the dynamite and render it harmless.

Read the whole article. It describes in some detail how they went about this controlled burn.

Firefighters Accused of Causing Explosion

Some NY firefighters are in hot water over an explosion that was caused by dumping gas down the sink (from Firehouse.com).

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y -- Two firefighters poured gasoline down a firehouse drain, leading to an explosion a few blocks away that badly burned two people, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

Both firefighters were indicted on charges of assault, official misconduct, environmental crimes and other offenses, District Attorney Jeanine Pirro said.

Paul Cappello, 37, and Miguel Valle, 44, pleaded not guilty at their arraignments and were released on $5,000 bail.

The men poured gasoline from a fireboat down a slop sink at the Sleepy Hollow fire headquarters in 2004, Pirro said. They were allegedly getting rid of the gas because it had been contaminated with water.

The gasoline flowed through the sewer system to a public housing complex. Vapors were ignited later the same day by two maintenance workers using an electric pump. The explosion left both workers badly burned.

Flammable liquids must be disposed of properly, not dumped down the sink. I'll keep an eye on this one and post updates when they are available.

Gas Explosion Injures Seven Minnesota Firefighters

Seven firefighters from Minneapolis were injured in an explosion (from Firehouse.com).

An explosion rocked a building whose occupants had complained Monday of an odor of natural gas. One firefighter was blown off a ladder and two others were briefly buried in rubble.

Seven firefighters were hurt in all, but none of the injuries were believed to be life-threatening, officials said.

The blast happened at a former gas station in north Minneapolis that was being used to disassemble computers for scrap metal. The occupants arrived early in the afternoon, smelled natural gas and called 911.

This incident could have resulted in a lot worse than some injuries. Here is wishing the injured firefighters a quick recovery.

Investigating the Buncefield Oil Depot Fire

Here is a pretty good article about the Buncefield Oil Depot fire. It provides lots of details that I hadn't read before and digs into what happened, why, and will it happen again (from theherald.co.uk).

It was the largest explosion in peacetime Europe. And according to industry experts it could happen again.

The blast, at the Buncefield oil depot, near Hemel Hempstead, at 6am on Sunday December 6, registered 2.4 on the Richter scale.

The fire immediately engulfed oil tanks which contained an average of nearly 700,000 gallons each, enough fuel to take a bus the distance to the Moon and back more than 12 times.

Read the whole thing.

Shots Fired at Motel Blaze

Someone fired off some gunshots at firefighters while they battled a blaze at a motel in Eden, NC (from News-Record.com).

EDEN -- Someone shot at firefighters putting out a blaze at the Mar Gre Motel last week, and authorities said the fire that destroyed a portion of the motel still is being treated as arson.

Eden Fire Chief Doug Cline said in a news release that multiple gunshots were found in the windshields of two pieces of equipment used to put out the fire Wednesday.

The blaze started after firefighters had gone through a training exercise there earlier in the day.

More details in the rest of the article.

Hopefully they catch the person that is responsible. Some jail time would definitely be appropriate.

Hospital Fire in China Kills at Least 39

A big hospital fire in China turned tragic with at least 39 people losing their lives (from ABC News).

BEIJING Dec 16, 2005 — Patients leapt from the windows of a burning four-story hospital to escape a blaze that killed at least 39 people in China's northeast, the government said Friday.

Thousands of local residents watched helplessly as patients jumped from windows on the third and fourth floors in subfreezing weather after rescuers failed to reach them, the official Xinhua News Agency said. A hospital official said that a father caught his 15-day-old child after a nurse threw the baby from a window.

Witnesses said firefighters struggled for five hours to put out the blaze that broke out Thursday at the City Central Hospital, the largest hospital in Liaoyuan, 600 kilometers (400 miles) northeast of Beijing in Jilin province.

The article also states that 183 patients were successfully transferred to other hospitals. While the deaths are tragic, the staff and fire department did a good job of evacuating so many patients. While we don't have a large hospital, I wonder if we would do as well if we had a fire there.

Baby Thrown From Burning Apartment

This is pretty amazing. A man caught a baby that was thrown from a burning apartment (from FoxNews.com).

NEW YORK — A mother trapped in a burning third-floor apartment prayed and then dropped her 1-month-old son out a window to the crowd below. The infant was caught safely by a man who plays catcher for his employer's baseball team.

The rescuer gave the baby mouth-to-mouth resuscitation — a skill he picked up two decades ago as a teenage lifeguard — and the mother was rescued by firefighters. Both were treated at a hospital and released.

There are pictures and a video on the FoxNews website. Thank goodness the mother and baby were both OK.

Firefighter Resuscitates Dog

Occasionally I'll read of something like this, but I've never posted on it (from the Boston Globe).

SALEM, Mass. --A firefighter stretched the bounds of duty by administering mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to save a dog caught in a fire.

Pixie, a 12-pound terrier crossbreed, was not breathing Tuesday when firefighters pulled her from a Salem home filled with smoke and flames.

Pixie was "seizing," with her back arched and mouth wide open. Firefighter Richard LeBlanc put his mouth on the dog's mouth in attempt to breath for the dog and revive it. After another firefighter gave Pixie oxygen, the dog was taken to a local veterinary clinic for emergency treatment.

The dog, owned by Phil and Kathy Kindler, survived.

"She looks good, and she's breathing comfortably," veterinarian Dr. Elizabeth Bradt told The Salem News.

I like reading stories that have a happy ending. Keep up the good work Salem FD - way to go!

10 Firefighters Sent to Hospital

Ten Chicago firefighters ended up in the hospital after breathing fumes from a fire (via the Chicago Tribune).

"It's a basement fire, and there's very little ventilation," said Michael Callahan, a Chicago Fire Department spokesman. "Some of the firemen were overcome by ammonia as they were exiting the building … (and) were transported to various hospitals."

A total of 10 firefighters were taken to local hospitals. Six had been treated and released by this morning. As for the other four, "Everybody's in good condition right now," said Larry Langford, another fire department spokesman.

It's frustrating to read articles from newspapers about fires because they don't usually have enough detail to really explain how something happened.

It sounds like something really went wrong to have so many firefighters affected. What caused the problem? Did the plume of toxic fumes shift into a group of firefighters that did not have SCBA? Did the firefighters doff their SCBA too early? I guess we will have to wait for further reports to find out.

Hopefully, all of the firefighters will make a full recovery.

Fire Crews Battle Fire at Oil Deport

There have been a ton of articles regarding the Buncefield oil deport fire in Hertfordshire, UK. Most of the articles have few details about the firefighting efforts. Here is an article from the Daily Mail that has some details.

Firefighters have so far used 15million litres (3.3million gallons) of water and 250,000 litres (55,000 gallons) of foam concentrate, and had laid 30km (18 miles) of hose to provide water.

Some 180 firefighters have been battling to douse the blaze, using 26 fire engines and 20 other support vehicles.

Help had come from 16 other fire services around the country and there had been no "significant" injuries to firefighters.

Crews are using water mixed with foam, trying to cover the blaze in a massive "blanket" to deny it oxygen and cool the oil.

How would you like to help roll up 18 miles of hose!

Spencer, WI Fire Station Burns

The Spencer Fire Department in Spencer, WI had to respond to a fire at their own fire station (from WAOW.com).

THE SPENCER FIRE DEPARTMENT AND EMS SERVICES ARE STILL IN SHOCK TODAY AFTER RESPONDING TO A FIRE AT THEIR OWN FIRE STATION LAST NIGHT. AROUND 30 SPENCER VOLUNTEER FIREMEN RESPONDED TO THE CALL ON THEIR PAGERS AROUND 9:30 LAST NIGHT. THEY MANAGED TO EXTINGUISH THE FIRE WITHIN MINUTES AND KEPT THE DAMAGE MINIMAL TO THE STATION. BUT THEY DID LOSE ONE UNIT, THEIR AMBULANCE. EMS DIRECTOR JASON FOTH SAYS THAT IS WHERE THE FIRE STARTED.. AND WAS CONTAINED. "ONCE PEOPLE STARTED ARRIVING ON SCENE. WE WERE ABLE TO GET THE DOORS TO THE STATION OPEN. PULL THE TRUCKS OUTSIDE. THEN FIGHT IT JUST LIKE ANY OTHER FIRE."

I hate to see this happen to any fire department, but at least they were able to save most of their apparatus and the building didn't sustain much damage.

Police Car Burns After Parking on Leaves

Tim over at 43 Firefighter has some interesting pictures of a police car that started on fire after parking on some leaves. First time I've ever heard of something like that.

Here in farm country, the tall grass will sometimes start on fire due to the hot exhaust and catalytic converters on the underside of vehicles.

I was a passenger in our brush truck at a wheat field fire a few years back. The driver parked in uncut wheat next to the tender to refill with water. When he opened his door, flames shot up between the vehicle and the door! Luckily, the tender had plenty of water and they were quick to use it.

Big Fires in Oklahoma

There were some big fires recently in Oklahoma that have taken a toll on people, firefighters, and brush rigs in that area (via KOTV.com).

This week's wildfires have burned more than 50,000 acres since Sunday, destroying some 50 homes and countless structures.

A McIntosh County man is in the hospital with severe burns and several firefighters suffered minor injuries. Of the sixteen counties where wildfires once blazed, firefighters continue to battle four fires in three Oklahoma counties.

Meantime, other small rural fire departments are surveying the damage and preparing for the rest of the fire season. Flat Rock's Volunteer Fire Department have three rigs going in for repairs after losing the brakes on one, a radio on another and a water pump on their newest vehicle.

I've been a little busy shoveling snow, but I haven't heard a thing about these fires until today. You would think that 50,000 acres might warrant some big-time media coverage.

Fire Started by Flaming Bird

I've heard of squirrels starting fires this way, but not birds (from the Hollister Free Lance via FireFightingNews.com).

Saturday’s fire started after a bird flew into power lines, burst into flames, plummeted to the earth and ignited the dry grass, according to Kinoshita. It was contained within a half-hour and fully extinguished within three hours, he said.

“It was a bird-into-a-power-line type of deal,” Kinoshita said, adding that fires caused by flaming birds are “not too common.”

"Not too common" is a slight understatement - hehehe.

Injured Hiker Crawls to Escape Fire

A hiker with a broken leg had to crawl to get out of the way of a wildland fire (from azcentral.com).

CHRISTOPHER CREEK- A 77-year-old man first broke his leg while hiking and then had to crawl miles to escape a wildfire near Christopher Creek.

Wayne Tipsword, the man's son, told KNXV TV that his father, after fracturing his leg over the weekend, started a small campfire to keep warm.

But Tipsword said sometime during the night, his dad got up and his right leg went out and he fell into the fire. Tipsword said that scattered the embers, which ignited the wildfire.

Tipsword said his father then had to crawl several miles to escape the fire. Luckily, fire crews found him and he was airlifted to a hospital.

The fire, meanwhile, continues to burn. At last report it had charred about 160 acres.

This guy didn't have much luck - first a broken leg, and then starting a fair sized fire.

I'm a little skeptical about how far he had to crawl. If the fire was only 160 acres when he was rescued, he probably didn't have to crawl "miles". However, having to crawl anywhere with a broken leg and a fire chasing you is pretty gutsy.

Body Found Three Weeks After Fire

I read about this yesterday, but the article had very few details so I didn't post about it. The police found the body of a woman three weeks after a fire in her condo was extinguished (from ContraCostaTimes.com).

The discovery of a woman's body three weeks after a fire filled her Concord condominium with smoke has prompted an internal investigation at the county's fire district, a fire official said Tuesday.

Firefighters pried open Carla Garrett's balcony door to vent smoke from her Ellis Street condo during an Aug. 19 fire, but they may not have searched inside, said Rich Grace, Contra Costa Fire District assistant fire chief.

We'll have to wait for the investigation to release their findings, but if the firefighters didn't search her condo thoroughly, they could be in some hot water.

Flying Fireman from Pennsylvania

This is an amazing story from The Sentinal in Carlisle, PA (via FireFightingNews.com).

To those who know him, Eric Knoss has to be one of the luckiest firefighters around.

A huge explosion at a vacant furniture factory in Aspers early Friday sent Knoss flying 30 feet through the air and into a clump of trees.

As chunks of cider block rained down, Aspers Fire Co. Assistant Chief Lewis Alexander was sure Knoss had been killed or seriously injured.

“I sent two of my firefighters, who are EMTs, to check on him,” Alexander said in a phone interview Friday night.

“They found him down there laughing ... perfectly fine,” Alexander said. “He was one very lucky man. He just said, ‘Wow, that was fun.’”

As it says later in the article, I hope his luck continues.

IAFF Hurricane Katrina Video

Check this out (from the IAFF via FireFightingNews.com).

November 8, 2005 – The IAFF is distributing a video to federal officials and key lawmakers on Capitol Hill that documents the first-hand experiences and problems with government assistance in responding to the disasters faced by IAFF members along the Gulf Coast following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Here is the link to the video. You'll want to watch it (10 minutes).

This really highlights some of the serious problems that the local/state/federal emergency systems faced during and after the hurricane.

The part that got my attention was what would happen if all communication in our county went down. No radio, no phones, no cell phones. How would we continue to function? Do we have a plan in our county if that happens? Hmmm, good question.

Security Gates Block Firefighters

Some New Zealand firefighters were blocked from a fire by security gates to a ritzy neighborhood (from stuff.co.nz via FireFightingNews.com).

Firefighters trying to get to a ferocious bush fire threatening multi million-dollar homes at Closeburn Station were blocked by the exclusive subdivision's gates, Closeburn resident Blair McKenzie said yesterday.

The fire truck and crew were waiting outside the gate helpless because they didn't know the code to activate and open the gates and no one was there to meet them, he said.

Oops. Do you have security gates in your jurisdictions? If so, can you open them (without forcible entry tools - hehehe)?

Rioters Shoot at Firefighters and Police

The riots in France have taken a turn for the worse. The rioters are now shooting at the emergency responders including firefighters and police officers (from Reuters).

BOBIGNY, France (Reuters) - Rioters shot at police and fire crews in the worst night in a week of violence in poor Paris suburbs, as France's conservative government struggled to respond to the unrest.

...

"Four live bullets were fired. Two shots were fired at La Courneuve against police. One shot was fired at Noisy-le-Sec against fire crews, and one shot was fired against fire crew in Saint-Denis," he told a news conference.

Cordet did not say what sort of weapon had been fired but media said local police recovered shotgun cartridges from the scene at La Courneuve.

No one was reported as hurt in the shootings, which marked an escalation in the level of violence that left 177 charred vehicles and damaged a primary school and shopping center.

OK, when people start shooting at me for trying to put out a fire, that's when I go back to the fire hall. Sheesh!

Car in Pool

This sounds like something you would see in a movie: A car plows through a fence and ends up in a backyard swimming pool (from News10.net via FireFightingNews.com).

A car careened through a fence and into a swimming pool in the backyard of a home on Center Parkway in south Sacramento Tuesday evening.

Residents where shocked when the car plunged into the pool. "We just heard two bangs, both the fences went, and we came outside to see the lady sinking," said Anthony Evans.

Evans and a neighbor helped the female driver from the vehicle, which was slowly filling with water. She was shaken but unhurt.

Check out the picture on the News10.net link.

Slow Evacuation on Airplane Fire

Check this out (from CTV.ca).

Some Alaska Airlines passengers are furious they weren't evacuated sooner after fireballs erupted under the starboard wing before takeoff from Calgary.

Passengers told CTV Calgary on Sunday that it took several minutes for an emergency evacuation, even though the aircraft's cabin was filling with smoke.

Here is how long it took to begin the evacuation:

An Alaska Airlines spokesperson said the crew followed procedure.

"The elapsed time that they estimated for that to occur was about two minutes," said Caroline Boren.

"And at that time, because of the smoke in the cabin, they determined that as a precaution, they should go ahead and deploy the emergency evacuation slides."

I realize that the crew needed to size-up the situation before deciding to evacuate the plane, but it shouldn't take two minutes, especially with smoke filling the cabin. Thank goodness nobody was injured or killed.

Detention Center Fire Kills 10

It wasn't long ago that I posted about a fire in a prison in Argentina. Well, this time prisoners perished in a detention center fire in the Netherlands (from Reuters).

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A fire broke out at a detention centre at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport overnight, killing 10 people and injuring 15, Dutch police said on Thursday.

The story didn't have many details so I'm not going to assume anything. However, the questions I asked in my previous post about the Argentina prison fire still apply.

Rioters Attack Paramedics

I've read a bunch of articles about this type of thing happening in Great Britain. I get angry just reading about it. Now it has happened in the U.S. (article from Firehouse.com).

TOLEDO -- It's one of the most haunting images of Saturday's riots in North Toledo. Paramedic Aaron Frisch and his partner, Kathy Zeller, were attacked by a mob.

They were on their way to help at the scene when the crowd started running toward them. "They were still quite a distance away when the rocks and bricks started hitting. I was in a momentary state of shock until the rocks continued to hit and continued to hit and continued to break the windshield and break my rig," says Frisch.

If you follow the link to the reporting TV station, there is some video to watch too.

Forest Fire Destroys 1,300 Year Old Temple

Interesting story about a wildland fire in South Korea (from the Seoul Times).

A raging forest fire fanned by dry and strong winds destroyed a thousand-year-old Buddhist temple in Yangyang, Gangwon Province, on Tuesday afternoon, after forcing thousands of residents to evacuate overnight, Yonhap News said.

Naksan Temple, one of the most renowned temples in South Korea with 1,300 years of history, was widely damaged, they said. Out of its 20 ritual halls, eighteen were completely destroyed, including the Hall of the Great Veneration where the image of Buddha is enshrined.

There are some really good pictures too. Check it out.

Prison Fire Results in Multiple Deaths

We don't even have a jail here in Miller, so I haven't spent much time thinking about a fire in a prison, but this was a disaster (from Fox News):

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — A fire set by feuding inmates raged through a cellblock at a prison southeast of Buenos Aires early Sunday, killing 32 inmates and leaving two jailers injured, authorities said.

All the deaths appeared to have been caused by asphyxiation after inmates were overcome by smoke, said Justice Minister Eduardo Di Rocco of Buenos Aires province, where the prison is located.

Do you have a facility in your jurisdiction that houses inmates? Do you have plans in place on how to effectively fight the fire? Have you met with the law enforcement personnel at the facility to discuss the evacuation of the prisoners?

Fires Near Moscow

Here is a story about some forest and peat bog fires near Moscow, Russia (from the Moscow Times via FireFightingNews.com).

A total of 165 fires are raging over 4,300 hectares in Russian forests and peat bogs, 18 of them in the Moscow region, the Emergencies Situations Ministry said Monday, evoking memories of the fires in 2002 that engulfed areas of Moscow in clouds of acrid smoke.

It's interesting to note the tone of the article. The writer seems more concerned with the air quality levels in Moscow than the damage the fire could be doing to the forest, peat bogs, and homes.

Youths Attack Firefighters

I've read about people attacking firefighters in Great Britain but I've never posted on it. After reading this article I had to say something.

This from the Liverpool Daily Post via FireFightingNews.com:

FIREFIGHTERS were pelted with missiles as a 40-strong gang of hooded yobs attacked while they attended a 999 call.

The mob pelted nine firefighters and two of their £125,000 engines with stones, bottles and bricks while shouting abuse and taunting them.

Specialist firefighting equipment was stolen from the back of one engine.

The youths, aged 13 to 17, kicked the engines and lobbed missiles, leaving the vehicles covered in dents and puncture holes in an unrelenting 20-minute attack.

Reading about this stuff just ticks me off. In the previous articles I've read, the police are trying to put a stop to this but so far it isn't working. It looks like the police may have to be dispatched to all fires just to control these hoodlums.

Fire at Montreal Fire Station

Check out this story from CTV.ca.

When the Montreal fire department received a call about a blazing fire, firefighters didn't have to go very far to get it under control.

In fact, they were returning to their own fire hall, where an unattended pot of oil had caught fire atop the stove in the kitchen.

Oops!

In defense of the firefighters, they did try to turn the stove off, but there was a faulty switch and it did not turn off. I'm guessing that next time instead of just turning off the burner, they will take the food off of the stove too.

Topanga Fire Grows to 16,200 Acres

The big news today is the Topanga Fire near Los Angeles. It isn't the biggest fire, the fastest growing fire, or the most damaging fire. However, it is near a huge city with tons of media coverage, so...it is big news.

From Fox News:

"Today is a very critical day for us," he said on NBC's "Today" show Friday. A new system was forecast in the coming days that could again whip up the flames, he added.

Some 3,000 firefighters aided by four airplanes releasing retardant and 11 helicopters dropping water attacked flames and protected ridgetop homes amid the brushy landscape west of the San Fernando Valley (search). By early Friday, the blaze was just 5 percent contained.

There are lots of good pictures with the Fox News article.

Also, check out the pictures and article from Firehouse.com.

Here is the National Interagency Coordination Center's Situation Report for September 30.

UPDATE: Here is the location of the LAFD News and Information blog. Good stuff on the Topanga fire.

Wildfires Hit Near Los Angeles

It looks like the late summer/early fall wildland fires have hit southern California. Here is a report from Fox News on a fire near Los Angeles.

LOS ANGELES — A wind-whipped brush fire quickly tripled in size early Thursday to more than 9,300 acres, destroying at least one home and prompting evacuations as a ridge of flames was visible for miles.

There is a pretty cool picture on the Fox News website of this fire. Check it out.

Fire at South African Fire Station

Occasionally, you will see an article about a fire at a fire station here in the U.S. Well, it happens all over the world. Here is an example from South Africa (from the Independent Online via FirefightingNews.com).

What do you do when you see a building on fire? You call the fire department, of course.

However, it gets a bit more complicated when it's the fire department that's on fire.

This is exactly what happened when the Fish Hoek Fire Brigade was contacted by a neighbourhood resident who bluntly told them their station was on fire.

Had it not been for the vigilant resident the whole fire station could have gone up, causing untold embarrassment to the fire brigade.

The fire was contained to an apartment upstairs and the firefighters in the article seem to have a pretty good sense of humor. Read the whole thing.

PS. What is with all of the fire stories from South Africa all of a sudden?

More Details on South African Fires

Here are some more details on the wildfires in South Africa (from News24.com). There have been human and animal deaths as a result of these fires. The article has lots of details.

Johannesburg - Wildfires began claiming lives - both human and animal - on Monday as they ran unabated across the hot, dry countryside, fanned by high winds.

A six-year-old girl, Bonakele Ngema, burnt to death in a house where she was trapped in Mntanenkosi reserve, KwaZulu-Natal.

...

Three elephants - aged two, seven and 15 - had to be destroyed, because they had been so badly burnt in a fire at Pilanesberg National Park, in North West.

The website I saw this on has several other articles about the fires too.

Wildfires in South Africa

SABC News has an article about wildfires that are burning up South Africa.

The estimated cost of the wildfires over the weekend in four provinces is mounting. More than 20 000 hectares of grassland in the Potchefstroom area of the North West alone was destroyed. At R5 000 per hectare, this amounts to over R100 million.

Fifteen houses belonging to farm workers were destroyed and at least 23 herds of cattle had to be put down. In the province's Pilanesberg National Park, a major tourist attraction, about 20 elephants were burned and one had to be put down. In the eastern Free State, Malcolm Procter, a control forester with the water affairs and forestry department, says damage to grazing land has been extensive.

These must be fast moving fires to burn cattle and elephants. For reference, a hectare is 2.47 acres and R100 million is about US$ 15.7 million.

I think it is interesting to read about fires in other countries. It would be cool to be able to travel to these countries to see how they fight fires.

Bus Fire on Dallas Highway

Apparently there was a bus fire on a Dallas highway that has killed a bunch of people (from Fox News).

DALLAS — A bus filled with Hurricane Rita evacuees caught fire early Friday on gridlocked Interstate 45, killing possibly up to 20 people.

KFAA-TV reported that 20 people had been killed and 12 injured, but that could not be confirmed.

Since this has been reported so quickly, I would caution against taking the numbers as fact.

Static Electricity From Clothes Starts Fire

This is weird! From a story in The Australian, a man started a fire from static electricity that built up in his clothes.

A man in rural Victoria built up a 40,000-volt charge of static electricity in his clothes as he walked, leaving a trail of scorched carpet and molten plastic and forcing a fire brigade to evacuate a building.

Frank Clewer, who was wearing a woollen shirt and a synthetic nylon jacket, was oblivious to the growing electrical charge that was building up as his clothes rubbed together.

When he walked into a building in Warrnambool, the electrical charge ignited the carpet.

I'll have to check the little tags on my clothes to make sure they won't cause this type of problem - heh.

Texas Prepares for Hurricane

From the Fort Worth Star Telegram (via Fire Engineering), Texas has begun to make preparations for Hurricane Rita.

With evacuees from Hurricane Katrina still living in shelters across the state, Texas is bracing for the possibility that a hurricane could hit near Galveston by the end of the week.

Gov. Rick Perry recalled Texas emergency personnel and equipment from Louisiana on Monday, and Galveston officials called for a voluntary evacuation of their island city as Tropical Storm Rita battered south Florida and headed for the Gulf Coast.

Hopefully, Rita doesn't do as much damage as Katrina.

NVFC Administers Relief Funds

The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) is administering two relief funds in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The first fund, called the Emergency Relief Fund, is to provide relief to fire departments in the affected areas. The second fund, called the Volunteer Firefighter Support Fund, is to provide funds to individual firefighters in the Gulf Coast region.

New Orleans Chief Speaks

You need to read this article from Firehouse.com. Chief Charles Parent tells it like it is:

In describing those weeks, Chief Parent said, “You can’t ask me about days. We now have no concept of time. Everything happened so rapidly we don’t exactly know when it happened.”

...

“That’s pretty much what happened. Our firefighters, often on their own, continued to do their duty.

...

“I am happy with the plan because all of the firefighters survived. If we tried to evacuate the city we knew we couldn’t do that and still be victims so we knew we had to keep our firefighters in place.

The rest of the article has tons of details about how the fire department has fared through the disaster as well as the actions they took. Good reading.

Fireworks Factory Blaze Kills At Least 32

From the Mercury News (via FirefightingNews.com), a fireworks factory fire broke out in India yesterday. Apparently, some of the dead were children.

AT least 32 people including children were killed overnight when a blaze at an eastern Indian fireworks factory set off explosions so powerful that the building collapsed, an official said.

Thirty-two bodies were pulled from the wreckage of the factory in Khusropur village, 35 km east of the Bihar state capital Patna, district magistrate B. Rajendra said.

"We expect to recover more bodies when we clear the debris," Mr Rajendra said.

...

Fires are common at firecracker factories in India due to lax safety standards. Children are often employed as cheap labour even though Indian law forbids it.

Groups fighting child labour say India's firecracker industry employs at least 50,000 children.

I don't have a clue how to fix something like this, but it is a shame that kids are allowed to work in dangerous conditions like these factories.

New Orleans Fire Response

Check out this article on a small fire in New Orleans from the Tuscaloosa News:

A small fire Thursday night at a downtown building got a big response from firefighters, with about 40 engines showing up for flames from a basement transformer that were extinguished in minutes.

Wow! It would be something to see 40 engines respond to a fire. The response included firefighters New York, Chicago, and other cities that have traveled to New Orleans to help out.

Last week, firefighters battled blazes around the city when the water pressure was too low to fight fires, requiring water to be trucked in. On Thursday, firefighters were able to use water from hydrants.

That reminds me of how many fires are fought here in Hand County. If the fire is out of town, the water has to be shuttled in with lots of trucks.

FDNY Releases Reports on Fatality Fires

An article from the New York Times gives some details from the reports released by the FDNY on two fatality fires that occurred on January 23, 2005.

As flames enveloped the Bronx apartment, whipping around the room where Lt. Curtis Meyran stood with his men on a cold, windy Sunday morning in January, the lieutenant seemed not to realize the level of danger. A voice on his radio asked if the flames had reached him; he answered that there had been a "slight extension" - meaning that the fire had grown, and gotten closer, but not by much.

But that was wrong: the fire was all around and beneath him. The question was asked again. "Slight extension, slight extension," the lieutenant replied.

As usual, the reports are not available on the FDNY website (or anywhere else). As soon as the reports are available I'll post the link.

UPDATE: Here is a second article from the NY Times.

Recommendations touch on the failures that undercut the rescue effort, and the authors - a panel of five fire chiefs - suggest a number of steps, including improved evacuation training, the use of personal escape ropes, better discipline, better preparation to deal with water loss and putting weather forecasts on daily fire schedules.

Shots Fired at Firefighters

Cripes! As if firefighting wasn't dangerous enough, some clown starts shooting at the firefighters (from FirefightingNews.com).

(PA) September 14, 2005 - In Schuylkill County rescue crews ran into an unexpected wave of violence while trying to fight a fire Tuesday night. Just after 7p.m. police in West Penn Township spotted flames. When fire crews got to the scene, a man began firing shots at the responders.

Report on New Orleans Responders

This article from Firehouse.com does a great job of detailing the situation of the first responders in New Orleans. Here are some snippets:

In a televised press conference this morning, New Orleans Fire Chief Charles Parent reported that they had 11 reported fires, six of which were inaccessible because of water. Three large buildings were lost on a college campus.

He said there were still about 100 New Orleans firefighters in the city but he was trying to get them out for R&R and with their families. To fill in he had over 800 firefightes from other states including New York and Maryland.

...

According to the Statement: "New Orleans officials are reporting that 150-200 firefighters are self-dispatching daily to the city and surrounding areas. There are currently 1,000 firefighters at the staging area in Algiers, They are set up for 500 and can not logistically support additional personnel. Please do not self-dispatch to Louisiana."

...

Other reports indicated firefighters and fire departments are swamping state and local emergency management agencies in Louisiana and Mississippi directly with offers to help and that is tying up phone lines. Officials reiterated that departments should go to the emergency management agencies in their own state first.

...

Captain Patrick Claunch of the Glen, Mississippi Fire Department, said many departments in that state are significantly impacted. Claunch and other members of his department spent a day in Gulfport, and said they have lost three of their 12 stations. The Pass Christian Fire Department lost its headquarters ( see pictures, right. "There is nothing left but a slab," he said. Firefighters there constructed a make-shift shower out of a CPAT push-pull station (Pictured, bottom right photo).

Emphasis added by me.

Even though the article is lengthy, you'll want to read the whole thing.

Article Highlights Coordination Difficulties

This article (from cbs2chicago.com) is about some Chicago firefighters that have been delayed in helping out the firefighters in New Orleans.

The fact is things are very difficult here, with the orders of evacuation being given, the city is on virtual lockdown. We had to pass through four different checkpoints just to get here to this spot in the French Quarter.

...

But in another example of the bureaucracy getting in the way of people to help, these Illinois firefighters are stopped 80 miles short of New Orleans and have been for the past 24 hours, throwing footballs instead of fighting fires.

I don't think people outside of emergency services realize the amount of coordination that needs to happen to effectively utilize all of the responders at an incident of this size. You can't just send them all in and say "Get to work".

Each and every responder needs to be tracked in case something were to happen to them - its called accountability. The responders themselves have needs such as food, water, and shelter that have to be arranged. Accurate reports from the incident need to be received so that proper deployment of responders can take place. All of these things take time but it helps insure the safety of the responders.

I wish the media reports would include some of this type of information instead of just barking about the slowness of emergency response - grrr.

Katrina Q & A

There are some notable facts in a Q & A article from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution via Fire Engineering. Read the whole thing - it's short.

FEMA Explains Firefighter Disaster Volunteer Effort

FEMA has taken some heat for the jobs they have assigned to firefighters in the Katrina disaster relief effort. Here they explain (via Firefighter Blog):

The hiring of Community Relations disaster employees occurs at every disaster. This time, due to the constraints of doing background investigations when we hire private citizens, we made the decision to hire firefighters that already have gone through a criminal background investigation. We desperately needed 2000 people who could be hired as federal employees and deployed quickly.

These people will not be performing firefighter duties. They will become temporary FEMA Community Relations personnel, doing a job we do in every disaster.

At least they have come out with an explanation, but a little more info at the beginning may have averted some hard feelings.

Firefighters Face Lack of Water Amid Flood

The media is finally coming out with some reports from New Orleans about firefighting. In this story from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the New Orleans FD is having trouble finding water that they can use to fight fires.

NEW ORLEANS -- Firefighters battling blazes caused by everything from natural gas leaks to candle accidents are paradoxically struggling with a shortage of usable water in the flood-ravaged city.

It could take weeks or months before the city regains water service and electricity, meaning people will continue burning candles to light their homes.

"I'm sure there's going to be a lot more fires," Fire Capt. Scott Chappuis said Tuesday.

Unclean river and flood water can be used to fight fires but only as a last resort. The contaminates and debris damage the pumping systems, fire officials said.

I think departments all over the country run into this once in awhile. If we run short of water here, we end up drafting from stock dams and dugouts (drinking water for cattle) to fill out tanks. It just seems out of place in an area that is so badly flooded.

Update on Theatre Fire in Egypt

From the New York Times, the theatre fire in Egypt that I posted about yesterday actually killed 32 people, not 29. The theatre performance was part of a theatre festival and many of the audience were festival participants.

IAFF Stories about Katrina

Firehouse.com has a cool page dedicated to posting stories from the frontlines of Hurricane Katrina. It is set up similar to a blog. The stories come from the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF). It looks like they update it regularly with interesting stuff.

Theatre Fire in Egypt

From Fox News, a fire in a theatre in Egypt has killed 29 people.

BENI SUEF, Egypt — A fire that began when an actor knocked over a candle on the set of a play ripped through a crowded theater in this central Egyptian city late Monday, sparking a stampede of audience members and killing at least 29 people, survivors and officials said.

The fire spread quickly across the set, which was made entirely of paper and had been ringed with candles. Panicked audience members trampled each other trying to get out the one available exit door, which at one point was partially blocked by a piece of wood that fell during the blaze, survivors said.

Open flame, highly flammable set materials, and one exit. Someone should have recognized that this was a problem waiting to happen.

Emergency Relief Fund for Fire Departments

The National Volunteer Fire Council has started a relief fund for fire departments that have been affected by Hurricane Katrina. From their website:

The NVFC Emergency Relief Fund was established to aid volunteer and combination fire departments that have been affected by Hurricane Katrina. The NVFC is working with its state member fire associations to identify departments in need. The Fund will focus relief efforts toward equipment and facility repair and replacement to allow departments to become fully operational in a timely manner.

If there is any way you can help, please do.

Housing Project on Fire

I just saw on Fox News that a housing project in New Orleans is on fire. I'll follow up with more posts, once I know more.

UPDATE: I haven't seen anything on the web yet and no details from the TV. From the video I've seen, it looks like a couple of houses, but I can't tell if it is a bigger incident than that. At this point, I would caution against assuming anything about the fire.

UPDATE 2: The fire must not have been that big of a deal. I haven't seen any additional coverage on the news or on the internet. When I first saw the footage on TV, it reminded me of the terrible fires that hit Grand Forks, ND, when that city was flooded back in 1997 or 1998.

Harry Carter's Column on the Disaster

I've enjoyed reading Harry Carter's columns for a long time. Here is his column focused on the Hurricane Katrina disaster.

Think about it my friends. Those folks on the fire department reported to work from a wide variety of locations. When they left for work they had homes. They remained on duty, diligently working to ease the suffering of their fellow citizens. While the winds ripped around them, they stood fast in the face of nature's devastation. Many now have no place to go.

Now they are faced with the challenge of rebuilding not only their lives, but their homes and their city as well. More than that, they were just one of the many places that were obliterated by the forces of nature. All up and down the coast reports of devastation continue to flow in.

How many smaller fire departments have been completely destroyed? How many fire stations have been wiped out? How many of our brother and sister firefighters have been left with nothing? How many communities now have little left to protect themselves and their communities?

As Harry points out later in the article, let's be ready to lend a hand.

New Orleans FD Prepares for Hurricane Katrina

Are you wondering what the New Orleans FD is doing as it faces Hurricane Katrina? Here is an article from Firehouse.com that sheds some light:

The New Orleans Fire Department is preparing for a worst case, doomsday scenario that could produce significant damage and injuries, but vastly limit the agency's ability to respond in the hours leading up to and perhaps days after Hurricane Katrina makes landfall early Monday.

As winds hit 45 miles per hour sometime before Midnight Sunday, the city's fire and EMS personnel will not be responding to emergencies.

"Our primary concern this point is the safety of our personnel and equipment," Charlene Barthe, Public Affairs Coordinator for the New Orleans Fire Department, told Firehouse.com late Sunday.

It could be hours -- or longer -- before responders may be able to roll once again.

"It could be well longer than after [Katrina] passes, depending on what happens as the waters rise," Barthe said. "If it rises [to the streets] we won't be able to get out to respond [until it subsides]."

...

Fire Department personnel have been assisting with evacuations and operations at the Superdome -- the NFL stadium where over 12,000 citizens unable to evacuate the city are seeking shelter.

...

Approximately 200 members of the department were on duty Sunday, one of three platoons in the city. Personnel assigned to Monday's platoon were expected to report to work on time.

...

The New Orleans Fire Department has 33 stations with 759 personnel.

I would think trying to prepare for emergencies during a hurricane would be very difficult. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people and firefighters of New Orleans.

Western Wildfires Burn Homes

A pair of wildfires out west have burned some homes.

Deer Creek Fire in Oregon (from KVAL-TV):

Near Selma - Governor Ted Kulongoski has invoked the emergency conflagration act for a wildfire burning in Southern Oregon. The Deer Creek Fire has already charred at least four homes and hundreds of acres since it broke out Thursday.

Manton Fire in California (from redding.com):

MANTON — A wildfire that forced the evacuation of this entire town and burned at least 20 buildings continues to blaze toward the northeast early this evening.

The blaze had burned over 1,000 acres by 11:30 p.m. Friday and continued to burn to the north and east. Some 800 firefighters were battling the blaze.

I probably wouldn't have posted on these fires individually, but its unusual that on the same day, two separate fires would each take out multiple structures.

Skinny Firefighter to the Rescue

I got a kick out of this story from Fire Engineering.

WESTFIELD, N.J. - At 6-foot-1 and 160 pounds, Jim Pfeiffer is used to being called skinny. But Pfeiffer's beanpole status came in handy Monday, when the 25-year-old firefighter slipped into a narrow crevasse to rescue a toddler trapped 9 feet underground.

...

Said Pfeiffer: "The guys used to laugh at me for being so skinny, but I guess in this case it paid off."

I can relate to Firefighter Pfeiffer. I'm the designated attic explorer on my fire department since I can fit through the entrance into the attic fairly easily. However, I have to leave the heavy lifting to the big guys on the department.

This story just shows that it takes all shapes and sizes to get the job done.

Apartment Fire in Paris Kills 17

All fires that result in fatalities are tragic, but France has had its share of tragedies this year. This is the second fire this year that has had a large number of deaths (from Fox News).

PARIS — A blaze raced through a Paris apartment building housing African immigrants early Friday, killing 17 people, up to half of them children, officials said.

The fire also injured about 30 people.

Many of the victims were from the west African nation of Mali. Others were from Senegal, Ghana and Tunisia, according to building residents.

It was the second blaze since April to take a devastating toll on African migrants in Paris.

Portuguese Douse Wildfires

Finally, Portugal is seeing some relief from the devastating wildfires it has faced. This from the Mercury News:

LISBON, Portugal - Cooler temperatures helped firefighters bring most of Portugal's devastating wildfires under control Thursday, although several small blazes broke out, authorities said.

...

Earlier this week, the National Authority for Forest Fires estimated that fires had burned through 445,000 acres so far, compared with 320,000 acres last year. But the figure is well below the 2003 of one million acres, the worst year for wildfires in the last two decades.

There has been tons of media coverage this year on these fires, even though they have not burned even 50% of the acreage that burned in 2003. I think this is because there have been firefighter fatalities both in Spain and Portugal.

EU Sends Firefighting Equipment to Portugal

Portugal is still burning up and they asked for assistance from the European Union. It looks like the EU is responding by sending planes, helicopters, and personnel. Check out this article from the BBC.

Spain and France have each sent two water-dropping aircraft and another is due to arrive from Italy on Monday.

Two helicopters are being sent from the Netherlands and three from Germany, along with experts to help tackle around 27 blazes in wood and farmland.

The fires have left at least 15 dead and 140,000 hectares destroyed.

Be sure to check out the pictures too. The links are on the right side of the BBC article.

Real Fire at Fire School

There is nothing like some authentic training to get you up to speed. Check out this article from the Boston Globe about an explosion and fire at the firefighting training facility at Naval Station Newport.

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. --A 4,500-pound propane tank exploded at Naval Station Newport on Thursday morning, causing a large fire at the firefighting training facility there.

The tank, one of two near the building, exploded with a loud boom shortly after 7 a.m., said David Sanders, a spokesman for the Naval station. The fire, which could be seen around the area, was extinguished around 8:30 a.m.

There were no injuries, and the cause was being investigated by the Navy, Sanders said.

It is unfortunate that some property was destroyed, but this kind of thing tickles my funny bone. Other headlines that would give me a chuckle would be "Arrests made at Police Academy" or "Injuries Sustained at EMT Class". It reminds me of The Far Side comic strip.

Portuguese Wildfires

Sounds like Portugal is still having big trouble with wildfires (from Forbes.com). Here is a snippet from the story I found interesting:

Portugal has a largely volunteer firefighting force and firemen are often seen battling blazes wearing T-shirts instead of specialized protective gear.

Fighting fires without PPE is a recipe for more injuries and fatalities.

Close Call on Tarkio Fire

From the Billings Gazette, some firefighters deployed their fire shelters as a wildfire burned past them:

Barbian said the three men who took cover under emergency personal shelters, which all firefighters carry, were unharmed.

"They were able to get into a safety zone, so it all worked out," he said. Such zones, sometimes places that already have burned, were identified earlier as part of a safety plan.

"The fire shelters worked," Barbian said. "They did what they're supposed to, and we have three people alive because of it."

He said the fire burned right over the firefighters as they hunkered down inside what are essentially lightweight, fireproof tents. After the fire passed, they were able to return to camp, he said.

There is a good lesson here. If you can make it to a safety zone and deploy fire shelters, you've got a good chance to survive. However, it's best to use your training and experience to stay out of situations that would require a shelter deployment.

European Fire Pictures

Check out the photos from the BBC on the European wildfires that are ravaging Spain, Portugal, and France.

My favorite is the lady in the blue hat and skirt with a hand tool right on the fireline.

Bear Lake Township Fire Station Burns Down

Whenever I hear about a fire station burning down, I really feel for the firefighters of that department. Especially if it is a volunteer department that probably has few financial resources.

According to this report from the Traverse City Record Eagle, the Bear Lake township fire station burned down a few days ago. The worst part about it is the fact that a firefighter was seriously injured:

A Bear Lake Township firefighter is in stable but serious condition after he and other members of the department battled an early morning blaze that destroyed their station.

Officials said Rolland Sargent, 48, of Kalkaska, is at Hurley Hospital in Flint with burns over 40 percent of his body after he was injured in a fire that gutted the township's fire station on M-72 Thursday morning.

Our prayers are with Firefighter Sargent and our thoughts are with the Bear Lake Township Fire Department.

School Fire Destroys Residences

From KOMO 4 News (via Firefighting News):

Firefighters on Monday began to assess the damage from a 37,000-acre wildfire that whipped through canyons, wheat fields and forestland in southeastern Washington, destroying more than 100 residences near Pomeroy.

That's a lot of homes. When fires get that intense there isn't much to do except to get out of the way.

Portugal Wildfires

On the international front, Portugal is apparently burning up (via the LA Times):

More than 2,700 firefighters battled about 30 wildfires racing through parched woodland on Portugal's hottest day of the year Thursday, and authorities warned temperatures would continue to exceed 104 F through the weekend.

About 790 vehicles and 21 aircraft supported the fire crews who fought against strong, hot winds from Africa, the Civil Protection Service said.

Portugal is enduring its worst drought on record and woodland is tinder-dry, officials said.

Spain has had a rough fire season too.

Trouble in Paradise?

Did you know that Hawaii has big fires too. Check out this article from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin on the 25,000 acre (yes - 25,000) Waikoloa Fire.

A 25,000-acre grassland fire bordering Waikoloa village in West Hawaii was declared contained yesterday.

A separate 2,500-acre fire along Akoni Pule Highway to the north of Waikoloa was considered 90 percent contained, Hawaii County Civil Defense official Neil Gyotoku said.

Increased wind speeds at Akoni Pule, up to 40 miles per hour, were giving firefighters concern as night fell, but the winds were carrying embers out to sea, meaning no danger as long as the wind direction did not change.

Norwegian Coal Mine Fire

I'll try to throw in a post once in awhile about incidents outside of the U.S. I like reading them because it shows the similarities and differences in the fire service across the world.

This story from Science Daily is about a new coal mine fire in Norway:

A fire in a Norwegian coal mine was out of control Monday and a mining company says it could take weeks to put it out.

Aftenposten reports the fire started on Saturday in the Svea Nord mine in Longyearbyen on Svalbard in the Arctic Archipelago from sparks from drain pipe welding.

More than 1,000 meters of Svalbard's largest mine was burning Sunday afternoon and emergency crews were working non-stop.

There are hundreds of coal mine fires worldwide, but it looks like we can add one more to the list. From what I've heard, these are very difficult to extinguish and can burn for decades.

Arsonist Lights Fire Behind Firefighters

Yikes! As if firefighters don't have enough safety issues to worry about, now there is one more. From the Northern Territory News (via Australian Fire Brigade News):

The firies were fighting a deliberately-lit grass fire on the corner of Amy Johnson Drive and the Stuart Highway in Winnellie. They were close to containing the blaze -- but the fire flared up behind them.

"There's no way it could have jumped," Darwin watch commander Ian Buckland said.

"Someone got behind us and deliberately lit it."

This wasn't an insignificant fire either. It burned ten hectares which is almost 25 acres, in stands of grass and scrub six feet high.

If they manage to catch the fire starter, he should be charged with something more than just arson. Perhaps reckless endangerment or assault. Sheesh!

Chemical Plant Fire in Texas

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram (via Firehouse.com) is reporting on a huge fire at a chemical plant.

A series of explosions rocked a chemical plant in north Fort Worth on Thursday afternoon, unleashing a five-alarm fire and an enormous pillar of black smoke that could be seen in Denton and Dallas.

"It sounded like and looked like a tornado," said Jeff Maxwell, who was eating lunch at a nearby restaurant.

Luckily, nobody was killed, but there were three people injured.

An interesting note is that this is the second refinery fire in two days. The first was at the Murphy Oil in Louisiana. This from a press release from Murphy Oil:

According to Neve, the fire started inside the refinery at approximately 2:00 a.m. this morning, affecting both the ROSE Unit and the Vacuum Unit. The fire in the Vacuum Unit was extinguished by 5:15 a.m. The fire in the ROSE Unit was contained to a small area and crews have worked throughout the day to extinguish it. Two employees received first aid for minor injuries.

These two fires have combined to raise oil prices sharply. Bloomberg reports:

Crude oil for September delivery rose as much as 47 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $60.41 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $60.35 at 9:10 a.m. Singapore time.

So what is with the refinery/oil platform fires the last couple of days?

12 Killed at Oil Platform Fire

A fire destroyed an oil platform near India resulting in a death toll of 12 with 16 people missing. From The Tribune:

The mishap happened when a vessel owned by the SCI, buoyed by choppy seas, crashed onto the oil rig setting off a fire. As the installation erupted into flames, most of the 384 employees on the rig jumped into the sea.

Rescuers were trying to reach the six divers trapped in the debris of the crashed platform, CG officials said. So far, 367 persons have been rescued after Naval ships and Coast Guard vessels commenced rescue operations.

ONGC officials say, the casualties were kept low as its support vessels based nearby plunged into action and began picking up those who jumped into the sea. Naval helicopters were also pressed into action and several survivors and some bodies were picked up.

It’s amazing that so many people were rescued. It could have been much worse.

Do oil platforms have trained fire crews? How did the fire become so large? If I find out additional information, I’ll post it.

Fire Hall Lost to Fire

The Milden Fire Department in Milden, Saskatchewan lost its fire hall, tanker, and fire gear to a fire that also destroyed a lumber yard and car wash. See details here and here.

Volunteer firefighters who'd run out to respond to the lumber yard blaze quickly changed into their gear as their fire hall was heating up. One of them drove the fire truck out of the building - just in time, as he suffered minor smoke inhalation, said Fire Chief Randy Reid.

The volunteer fire department lost its water tanker truck, used to put out rural grass fires, and most of its firefighters' suits with jackets alone worth up to $1,000, Reid said. "We just bought a whole bunch of new fire gear," Reid said.

"We've still got a fire department and that's what matters. I can suit up three guys for a fire."

Chief Reid has the right attitude.