Early video of Santa Rosa fire: A neighbor captured this one, posted it to YouTube but didn’t say where the fire occurred. We were able to trace to a fire in vacant units in a Santa Rosa, California complex late Monday night. Here are details and photos of the aftermath.
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Zone911.com has the pictures from a tanker that ran off the road in Levis, Quebec. This is the same fire department that had wrecks with two quints a few weeks apart in October and November and October of last year. Click the image for more from Zone911.com
Breaking news – 3 children pulled from DC fire: A fire just before 6:30 this morning has sent three children to the hospital. DC Fire & EMS Department PIO Pete Piringer reports all three were rescued from 1920 Naylor Road, SE. At least two of the children are reported in critical condition. The fire was on the second floor in an apartment kitchen and according to Piringer is under control. The children were found in a bedroom. Check in with WUSA9.com through the morning for more. The address is a 3-story apartment building. Click here for the Google Maps Street View.
Acting chief says fire protection is wholly inadequate and tragedy is inevitable: Harsh words from Brian Murphy who took over running the Lawrence Fire Department in Massachusetts a month ago. Murphy says the city is lucky no one died in the late Monday morning fire in a three decker just six doors from the firehouse that was closed in August. Thirty-years-ago when Murphy joined the department there were 44 to 48 firefighters working each shift. Now there are about 20. Read more from Chief Murphy’s comments. Click here for video of the fire.
PGFD on the rescue beat: It has been a busy two days in Prince George’s County. We have video of a couple of unusual rescues. One involves a man who decided he just wanted to stand in the middle of a frigid waterway. It required police to suit up to help the firefighters. Prior to that it was down a 100-foot ravine to rescue a teen who had taken a tumble. You will find those stories here. Also, more information on the ravine rescue can be found in this story from WUSA9.com’s Lindsey Mastis.
By the way, many new videos will show up in the player to the right even before I get to write about them. Emily Cyr and Jillian Coyle at WUSA9.com often post fresh fire & EMS videos from the Washington, DC area and around the country. Please check them out. The player is always filled with 30 of our most recent stories.
With friends like this: In an article at AJC.com about DeKalb County’s departed chief, the point is made by some that David Foster had clashed with his bosses over staffing and was looking to leave before the scandal surrounding the January 24 fatal fire. One politician who indicates he is a Foster supporter might want to choose his words more carefully when describing the chief’s legacy-
“We learned about this after the media. We didn’t know he was going to leave,” said Commissioner Larry Johnson, the presiding officer. “Since he came in, Chief Foster built several fire stations and increased response times.”
Memphis firefighter fired: The focus of a number of news reports in the last two weeks, Memphis Fire Department’s Lawrence Batiste has been fired. A convicted felon when he took the job (after being fired from adjacent Shelby County), Batiste ran into more problems. Here’s more.
Firefighters charged in more than 20-year-old assault against colleague inside firehouse: This story is from Australia where seven firefighters are facing charges in a case from 1989 that allegedly occurred inside a Sydney fire station. A male firefighter claims he was “sexually assaulted, bullied and harassed” and superiors did nothing about it. Read more.
24-on and 48-off was a non-starter in Lancaster, Pennsylvania: We told you yesterday how the mayor pinned the layoffs of four firefighters on the union not providing concessions. Now, the union responds. Click here.
Cops say firefighters got a better deal: An interesting dynamic in Tulsa where firefighters saved 147 jobs and agreed to concessions while the police took a different route. Now police union officials say the firefighters received a better deal from the city. Click here for the story and here for an editorial on the issue from Tulsa World.
L.A. dog out of pound: Spikey has successfully complete his quarantine and is back with his owner. He’s the dog rescued from the Los Angles River by LAFD’s Joe St. George. Spikey’s teeth left the firefighter with a broken thumb and a lost fingernail (plus some great video to show the grandchildren someday). Here’s the update.
Another cop makes a poor choice in dealing with a man intent on setting himself on fire: Firegeezer recently had the story of the Portland, Oregon officer who thought she was using a fire extinguisher on a man who set himself on fire. Instead, it was a large canister of pepper spray. Now Bill takes us to Perth, Australia where a police officer was trying to subdue a man who was splashing gasoline around the house and himself. The man had gone into the kitchen for matches. He really didn’t have to bother, because a police officer used a Taser. Here’s the story.
