During the week, a Michigan volunteer firefighter was suspended for improper use of lights and siren. Click here for the story. A good quote that we can all use is this:
""The incident you are responding to already happened, and driving like a mad man to get there will not change that. It may actually cause another unintended incident." — mjf2
Although us getting there is a priority to safety especially in an MVC and us trying to focus on the golden hour, but we have to remember that it's not our emergency. This is someone else's emergency and we DO NOT want to create yet another emergency. If it's a collision in a personal vehicle responding to the accident, we've not only created another incident, but we've lost the manpower for however long. If this happens in fire apparatus, then we not only lose the manpower, we also lose use of the apparatus while it gets checked out and repaired.
When responding to/from the hall to go to a scene, follow the speed limits and all signs, it doesn't take long and you'll have a much better chance of making it. Lights and sirens don't GIVE you the right-of-way, they are like asking for permission to have the right-of-way. Make eye contact, make sure everyone knows you're there, then proceed. Don't drive too fast for the current conditions, and although this may be difficult to judge sometimes, use common sense. If it's snowy and icy out, reduce your speed and make sure you make it to the scene safely. All of these are also included when you're returning to the hall. If it's foggy out, reduce your speed. One of the best ways to think clearly is before you even leave the hall, stop, take a deep breath, and calm yourself down. If you can calm your adrenaline down, you can make better, more clear decisions.
Be safe, and be sure you make it home safe, every time, always. Use better judgment than what's been happening lately. There have been a rash of stories lately about accidents involving responding firefighters and fire apparatus. Plus you can also have incidents involving other apparatus. Clear your intersections properly. Don't get complacent.
Brad MacMillan
Friday, October 29, 2010
Can You Buy A Hero At The Dollar Store? The Bravest Of The Brave
An ordinary day at work took a heartbreaking turn when York Regional Police Platoon Sgt. Rob Cullen was called to a home in Keswick last week. Moved and determined to honour the man found lifeless and alone, Cullen sent his story to AM640 Radio.
THE LETTER
Last night, while working in my usual role as a police platoon sergeant, we were called to a VSA . . . vital signs absent, in the basement apartment of a house just north of Keswick.
The victim was 78 years old. A retired firefighter, he had served from 1959 to 1989 with the North York Fire Department. It no longer exists, having been enveloped by the Toronto Fire Department. The victim had succumbed to a heart attack.
His small basement apartment was very tidy. Upon the walls were tons of framed photos. Pieces of history from 1940s and ’50s baseball, hockey, entertainers, and horse racing. Certificates of gratitude from the North York Fire Department, the City of Toronto, and the pigeon racing club he belonged to after he retired. He had a very organized collection of 78 rpm records from the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s. Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington, Ella, Fats Waller . . . and he had the turntables to play them. The last album he played was Frank Sinatra.
He was very well read. Books of history lined his bookshelves, with an emphasis on Ontario and especially Toronto history. His specialty was the Avro Arrow . . . the huge limited framed edition print on his bedroom wall reflected his interest. Maybe sometime, somewhere, he saw the world’s greatest plane fly. He was a huge supporter of our troops. An article from the Toronto Sun about the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion sat on his desk. Pictures of cops and firefighters were found here and there.
But as we found out, he had no next-of-kin. As the sergeant, it was my job to notify them. I had no one to visit, no one to see. No nieces or nephews, no sons or daughters. He was truly alone.
Satisfied with what I had seen, I left the detectives and constable on scene to await the coroner, and have the body removed to its final rest. As I walked down the driveway, the constable followed me out and said, “Hey Sarge, wait up! Can I ask you something?”
“Sure. Whatdya need?”
“Sarge, they’re gonna carry this guy out in a plastic bag. All the neighbours are watching. He was a firefighter for 30 years. Sarge he’s got no one . . . we can’t let him go like that. Can you find us a Canadian flag, so that when they take him out of the house, we can lay it on the gurney when they roll him to the hearse?”
7:30 on a Tuesday night. Where to find a flag? . . . Yup, the Dollar Store. The only thing open and, sure enough, they had one. Contrary to popular opinion, not everything at the dollar store costs one dollar. At this point, the cost was not really an issue. I bought the flag, and took it back to the scene.
The coroner released the body, and firefighter Robert Wilson was brought up from his apartment. Before he left the door, the flag was draped in its full glory across him, to honour the life of a man who was willing to give it at any time. For the 50 feet it took to take him to the removal vehicle, the neighbours watched in silent respect. The people from the funeral home tucked the flag secure and removed it with him. I expect it will be buried with him, too.
For a short time, the time it takes to walk a body 50 feet, he wasn’t alone. He was a firefighter, a hero. He was a Canadian. All it took was a flag to show it.
Maybe it’s time we find our heroes before their only honour comes from a dollar store.
Amy Dempsey
My opinion
I thought this was a very touching story and I send out a VERY BIG KUDOS to these officers. They did an extremely commendable thing and I hope the best for them in their future endeavors. Remember Karma works both ways everyone.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
ROBERT MILLS
Lowell Sun
LOWELL - It started as a routine "box alarm," one of hundreds city firefighters respond to every year.
The automated alarm at 353 Bridge St. came in no different than any other, and when firefighters arrived a little after 4 a.m. they saw no signs of smoke or flames, said Deputy Fire Chief Michael Donnelly.
Some firefighters went to the front of the four-story building at the corner of Bridge and Second streets. Donnelly went to the side.
"I saw a person up on the fourth floor -- in trouble," Donnelly said.
Firefighters immediately grabbed a ladder and began climbing toward that man, but the unseen flames inside the building quickly grew too much for him to bear.
"Just as we got to him, he jumped," Donnelly said. "The conditions in the room became such that he couldn't stay there."
Crews immediately called for paramedics and MedFlight, but things would quickly get even more challenging.
"It all went to hell in a minute," said Donnelly.
At the front of the building, firefighters saw four people trapped on the fourth floor, and five trapped on the third floor.
Resident Kris Wilmot, 21, said he and his friend, Jeff Grigg, woke up when they began choking on smoke inside Wilmot's third-floor apartment. Also in the apartment was Grigg's younger brother, Matt, and two girls.
"Everyone started panicking," said Grigg, who helped fight fires in the Army when he served from 2006 until earlier this year. "I opened up the door and got knocked on my ass by the flames."
Grigg said the third-floor hallway was full of fire, leaving no chance for escape.
Soon firefighters would simultaneously use an aerial ladder to reach the residents on the fourth floor and a ground ladder to get those on the third floor out a window and to the ground.
Wilmot and Grigg did not even have time to put on pants. Four people were rescued from the floor above, crying as they climbed off the ladder truck.
The man who jumped was flown to Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston in critical condition. Three other residents were hospitalized.
As other residents, some shirtless, others in pajamas, huddled inside Dunkin' Donuts across the street, firefighters realized there was still at least one man inside the building, on the rapidly burning fourth floor.
Flames towered 20 feet or more into the sky from the rear of the building, and 10 feet or more from fourth-floor windows at the side as incredulous neighbors gathered across the street.
Firefighters from Ladder 3, Engine 7 and Engine 6 climbed back into the building, one perilously rolling over a railing on a narrow balcony four floors up as he made his way inside.
Among those firefighters, according to Fire Chief Edward Pitta, was Lt. Jason Strunk, Lt. David Keene, Capt. Brett Dowling, and Firefighter Russell Fisette.
Two of them would suffer injuries before returning to the ground.
As loud blasts of the horns on an engine and a ladder truck told firefighters to get out of the building, where the roof would soon collapse, initially no one emerged from the windows.
And then one after another, firefighters made their way out a window and onto the narrow iron balcony where they had entered. Behind them they doggedly pulled a man's body.
Firefighters were unable to get the body over the balcony railing and onto an aerial ladder as flames grew closer and more intense.
One firefighter leaned forward to grab the man's hand as flames shot 10 feet into the air from a window just a couple feet in front of his face.
Donnelly said he eventually had to order his men to stop that effort, fearing they too would be killed.
And crews on the ground soon had no choice but to turn on high-pressure hoses, blasting both the flames in the windows and their colleagues with a stream of water than can carry more than 100 pounds of pressure -- enough to knock a man down at close range.
Firefighters on the ladder and balcony appeared temporarily stunned as the streams of water struck them while going from window to window to beat down flames that would return in a matter of seconds.
They straddled the balcony one by one, shifting over the edge four stories up and into the box at the end of the ladder.
The last firefighter over the railing was blasted with water several times just to beat back the flames so close to his back and the tank of oxygen strapped to it. Soon he too rolled over the balcony railing, and the weary men made their way down the ladder.
Two of those firefighters were later taken to the hospital, Fisette due to smoke inhalation and Strunk due to a back injury. They were said to be OK last night.
Flames had by then engulfed the fourth floor. The roof soon collapsed as the fire progressed to four alarms and Donnelly and Deputy Chief John Dowling directed dozens of firefighters.
The intensity of flames would prevent firefighters from retrieving the body on the balcony for more than an hour, when they later used a saw to cut through the railing and then pull the man onto the ladder.
Police closed both Bridge Street and VFW Highway as fire trucks, ambulances and other emergency vehicles filled the lanes. Soon National Grid would cut power to the entire block, killing the lights in Dunkin' Donuts and Walgreens where residents and onlookers had gathered.
Volunteers from the Merrimack Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross arrived at the scene, trying to find those left homeless or injured.
Dozens of firefighters would continue to battle the blaze from around the building for hours, some perched atop ladders even higher than the roof as dawn arrived and investigators made their way to the scene.
Lowell Sun
LOWELL - It started as a routine "box alarm," one of hundreds city firefighters respond to every year.
The automated alarm at 353 Bridge St. came in no different than any other, and when firefighters arrived a little after 4 a.m. they saw no signs of smoke or flames, said Deputy Fire Chief Michael Donnelly.
Some firefighters went to the front of the four-story building at the corner of Bridge and Second streets. Donnelly went to the side.
"I saw a person up on the fourth floor -- in trouble," Donnelly said.
Firefighters immediately grabbed a ladder and began climbing toward that man, but the unseen flames inside the building quickly grew too much for him to bear.
"Just as we got to him, he jumped," Donnelly said. "The conditions in the room became such that he couldn't stay there."
Crews immediately called for paramedics and MedFlight, but things would quickly get even more challenging.
"It all went to hell in a minute," said Donnelly.
At the front of the building, firefighters saw four people trapped on the fourth floor, and five trapped on the third floor.
Resident Kris Wilmot, 21, said he and his friend, Jeff Grigg, woke up when they began choking on smoke inside Wilmot's third-floor apartment. Also in the apartment was Grigg's younger brother, Matt, and two girls.
"Everyone started panicking," said Grigg, who helped fight fires in the Army when he served from 2006 until earlier this year. "I opened up the door and got knocked on my ass by the flames."
Grigg said the third-floor hallway was full of fire, leaving no chance for escape.
Soon firefighters would simultaneously use an aerial ladder to reach the residents on the fourth floor and a ground ladder to get those on the third floor out a window and to the ground.
Wilmot and Grigg did not even have time to put on pants. Four people were rescued from the floor above, crying as they climbed off the ladder truck.
The man who jumped was flown to Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston in critical condition. Three other residents were hospitalized.
As other residents, some shirtless, others in pajamas, huddled inside Dunkin' Donuts across the street, firefighters realized there was still at least one man inside the building, on the rapidly burning fourth floor.
Flames towered 20 feet or more into the sky from the rear of the building, and 10 feet or more from fourth-floor windows at the side as incredulous neighbors gathered across the street.
Firefighters from Ladder 3, Engine 7 and Engine 6 climbed back into the building, one perilously rolling over a railing on a narrow balcony four floors up as he made his way inside.
Among those firefighters, according to Fire Chief Edward Pitta, was Lt. Jason Strunk, Lt. David Keene, Capt. Brett Dowling, and Firefighter Russell Fisette.
Two of them would suffer injuries before returning to the ground.
As loud blasts of the horns on an engine and a ladder truck told firefighters to get out of the building, where the roof would soon collapse, initially no one emerged from the windows.
And then one after another, firefighters made their way out a window and onto the narrow iron balcony where they had entered. Behind them they doggedly pulled a man's body.
Firefighters were unable to get the body over the balcony railing and onto an aerial ladder as flames grew closer and more intense.
One firefighter leaned forward to grab the man's hand as flames shot 10 feet into the air from a window just a couple feet in front of his face.
Donnelly said he eventually had to order his men to stop that effort, fearing they too would be killed.
And crews on the ground soon had no choice but to turn on high-pressure hoses, blasting both the flames in the windows and their colleagues with a stream of water than can carry more than 100 pounds of pressure -- enough to knock a man down at close range.
Firefighters on the ladder and balcony appeared temporarily stunned as the streams of water struck them while going from window to window to beat down flames that would return in a matter of seconds.
They straddled the balcony one by one, shifting over the edge four stories up and into the box at the end of the ladder.
The last firefighter over the railing was blasted with water several times just to beat back the flames so close to his back and the tank of oxygen strapped to it. Soon he too rolled over the balcony railing, and the weary men made their way down the ladder.
Two of those firefighters were later taken to the hospital, Fisette due to smoke inhalation and Strunk due to a back injury. They were said to be OK last night.
Flames had by then engulfed the fourth floor. The roof soon collapsed as the fire progressed to four alarms and Donnelly and Deputy Chief John Dowling directed dozens of firefighters.
The intensity of flames would prevent firefighters from retrieving the body on the balcony for more than an hour, when they later used a saw to cut through the railing and then pull the man onto the ladder.
Police closed both Bridge Street and VFW Highway as fire trucks, ambulances and other emergency vehicles filled the lanes. Soon National Grid would cut power to the entire block, killing the lights in Dunkin' Donuts and Walgreens where residents and onlookers had gathered.
Volunteers from the Merrimack Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross arrived at the scene, trying to find those left homeless or injured.
Dozens of firefighters would continue to battle the blaze from around the building for hours, some perched atop ladders even higher than the roof as dawn arrived and investigators made their way to the scene.
Volunteer Firefighter Dies Enroute To Call
GHENT, N.Y. - Authorities say a volunteer firefighter has died after his pickup truck crashed into a utility pole as he responded to an emergency call in a Hudson Valley town.
Columbia County Sheriff David Harrison Jr. says 52-year-old William Akin was headed to the scene of a traffic accident around 9:10 p.m. Tuesday when his pickup slammed into a utility pole on Route 66 in the town of Ghent, 25 miles southeast of Albany.
Harrison says Akin was pronounced dead at Columbia Memorial Hospital in Hudson.
The cause of the accident is under investigation.
Akin was a volunteer with the Ghent Fire Company.
My Opinon
This is a tragic story. One that hopefully won't be repeated but probably will. All too often volunteer firefighters responding in their personal vehicles die or become injured from injuries going to a call. Whether or not they have lights or sirens, doesn't seem to make a difference, it mostly seems to be excessive speed. We all want to make it to the call, but sometimes we don't think about the sacrifice we're making by speeding to get there. This is why we have fire apparatus. I'm not saying he was speeding, but it tends to be a going trend among us volunteers. My heart goes out to those affected by this incident, and hopefully we all learn from this.
Columbia County Sheriff David Harrison Jr. says 52-year-old William Akin was headed to the scene of a traffic accident around 9:10 p.m. Tuesday when his pickup slammed into a utility pole on Route 66 in the town of Ghent, 25 miles southeast of Albany.
Harrison says Akin was pronounced dead at Columbia Memorial Hospital in Hudson.
The cause of the accident is under investigation.
Akin was a volunteer with the Ghent Fire Company.
My Opinon
This is a tragic story. One that hopefully won't be repeated but probably will. All too often volunteer firefighters responding in their personal vehicles die or become injured from injuries going to a call. Whether or not they have lights or sirens, doesn't seem to make a difference, it mostly seems to be excessive speed. We all want to make it to the call, but sometimes we don't think about the sacrifice we're making by speeding to get there. This is why we have fire apparatus. I'm not saying he was speeding, but it tends to be a going trend among us volunteers. My heart goes out to those affected by this incident, and hopefully we all learn from this.
Friday, October 1, 2010
NIOSH: Improper Ventilation Caused Flashover Death
Investigators say crews failed to recognize signs of an imminent flashover; firefighters were between the fire and ventilation points
By Ken Robinson
FireRescue1 Associate Editor
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| Related Articles: Rookie firefighter killed by explosion in Ill. fireFirefighters, police honor fallen brother in Ill. Related Resources: Read the full NIOSH reportVideo: Hundreds gather for Ill. FF funeral Related content sponsored by: |
HOMEWOOD, Ill. — Uncoordinated ventilation caused a flashover that killed one firefighter and injured another when both failed to recognize signs of rapidly deteriorating conditions, investigators found.
Insufficient staffing was also cited as a key contributing factor in the incident, as crews on scene were stretched thin according to a NIOSH report released Tuesday.
Rookie Homewood Fire Department Firefighter-Paramedic Brian Carey was killed of smoke inhalation on March 30 while assisting in search and rescue of a reported victim trapped in a house fire, the report said.
Responding to reports of a downed brother, firefighters conducting a search discovered Firefighter-Paramedic Carey entangled in a hoseline and not wearing his helmet or facepiece, and without a hood.
Firefighter-Paramedic Karra Kopas, who had entered the structure along with him, was injured in the fire and had to be rescued four feet from the front door where she said her gear melted to the living room carpet.
At the time of the flashover, firefighters performing ventilation were not coordinating with hoseline and search and rescue crews inside the house, according to the investigation.
Both Firefighters Carey and Kopas were between the fire and the ventilation source.
"One firefighter accounts heavy, turbulent, black smoke pushing from a window on the B-side after it was broken," the report said.
"Shortly after, the house sustained an apparent ventilation-induced flashover."
NISOH says the thick, black and heavily pressurized smoke that exited through ventilation should have been acted upon as a warning sign.
"The IC, and individuals working on the exterior, need to recognize this as a potential for extreme fire behavior and evacuate interior crews," the report said.
In addition, investigators recommend training firefighters under realistic conditions to indentify the signs of an imminent flashover.
"Obtaining proper training and hands-on experience through the use of a flashover simulator may assist interior firefighters in making sound decisions on when to evacuate a structure fire," the report said.
The inability to appropriately coordinate fireground operations may have been directly tied to inadequate staffing.
"Due to short staffing, the ambulance personnel were tasked with fire suppression activities, thus taking them out-of-service as a medical unit," the report said.
The incident commander, a Lieutenant, was also required to ride and operate as the officer of an Engine Crew due to short staffing.
"This removed him from his command response vehicle which would have allowed him to command at a tactical level versus having to potentially perform tasks," the report said.
Investigators also found an accountability system was never put in place and a personnel accountability report was never conducted following the incident.
As a result of the incident, NIOSH made the following key recommendations for fire departments to follow:
- Ensure that a complete 360-degree situational size-up is conducted on dwelling fires and others where it is physically possible and ensure that a risk-versus-gain analysis and a survivability profile for trapped occupants is conducted prior to committing to interior firefighting operations
- Ensure that interior fire suppression crews attack the fire effectively to include appropriate fire flow for the given fire load and structure, use of fire streams, appropriate hose and nozzle selection, and adequate personnel to operate the hose line
- Ensure that firefighters maintain crew integrity when operating on the fireground, especially when performing interior fire suppression activities
- Ensure that firefighters and officers have a sound understanding of fire behavior and the ability to recognize indicators of fire development and the potential for extreme fire behavior
- Ensure that incident commanders and firefighters understand the influence of ventilation on fire behavior and effectively coordinate ventilation with suppression techniques to release smoke and heat
- Ensure that firefighters use their self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) and are trained in SCBA emergency procedures.
Two Feet Better Than One For Forcible Entry?
The photographer is an early arrival on this detached garage in an alley in Vancouver, BC. What really caught my eye on this one begins at 1:55 on the video. Synchronized, but unsuccessful forcible entry on the second garage door. Sometimes even teamwork doesn’t get the job done.
Lowest LODD On Record In 2009
The annual USFA firefighter fatalities report listed 90 on-duty deaths; heart attacks remained the leading cause of death
By FireRescue1 Staff
EMMITSBURG, Md. — Heart attacks were still the leading cause of fatalities for firefighters on duty in 2009, which had fewer overall on-duty deaths than recent years.
The annual USFA firefighter fatalities report released Wednesday listed 90 on-duty deaths for the year, which the administration says is "one of the lowest totals in more than 30 years of record."
Stress/overexertion accounted for 50 of the deaths, including 39 deaths due to heart attacks.
The remaining on-duty deaths were split among various other causes like vehicle collisions, falls, and fatal injuries of other origins.
The report also showed:
- 16 firefighters died in duties associated with wildland fires, compared to 26 such fatalities in 2008
- 30 firefighters died while engaging in activities at the scene of a fire
- 15 firefighters died while responding to or returning from 13 emergency incidents in 2009, which compares to 24 responding/returning fatalities in 2008
- 10 firefighters died while they were engaged in training activities
The report points out that the death total matches the lowest on record when factoring out the Hometown Heroes Act of 2003, which counts firefighters who die as a result of a heart attack or stroke within 24 hours of duty-related activities.
"When not including these fatalities in a trend analysis, the 2009 total 77 firefighter fatalities equals the lowest number of firefighter losses on record (77 on-duty firefighter deaths occurring in 1992) over the past 33 years," the report said.
The USFA sees the low total as part of a greater overall trend in the decline of on-duty deaths.
"Over the past ten years alone, the trend shows a 14 percent reduction in on-duty firefighter fatalities but we must continue every effort to be sure that when it comes to firefighter health and safety, everyone goes home," Acting United States Fire Administrator Glenn Gaines said.
Off Duty Firefighter Saves Wheelchair-bound Woman
PUYALLUP, Wash. - A fire official says an off-duty firefighter pulled over Tuesday when he spotted a Puyallup house fire and rescued the wheelchair-bound woman inside.
Central Pierce Fire Assistant Chief Randy Stephens tells The News Tribune that the unidentified woman suffered minor smoke inhalation but was otherwise unhurt.
Stephens says the Graham, Wash., firefighter was driving by after picking his son up from school. He kicked open a door and found the woman.
Another passer-by noticed smoke and flames coming from the back of the home and tried to douse the fire with a garden hose.
Investigators say the blaze started on a back porch where a small refrigerator was plugged into an outside outlet. Damage is estimated at $70,000.
Central Pierce Fire Assistant Chief Randy Stephens tells The News Tribune that the unidentified woman suffered minor smoke inhalation but was otherwise unhurt.
Stephens says the Graham, Wash., firefighter was driving by after picking his son up from school. He kicked open a door and found the woman.
Another passer-by noticed smoke and flames coming from the back of the home and tried to douse the fire with a garden hose.
Investigators say the blaze started on a back porch where a small refrigerator was plugged into an outside outlet. Damage is estimated at $70,000.
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