Wall collapse caught on video: It looks like Martin Grube and his FireRescueTV.com got the best video from yesterday morning’s two-alarm fire at the Grand Furniture warehouse in the 6300 block of Virginia Beach Boulevard in Norfolk, Virginia. At :55 into this video (about 35-minutes after the fire was reported) the wall on Side C collapsed. Firegeezer has additional video and more details about the fire. Here is the Google Maps Street View of the building.
Lots of new videos from around the country (look over here >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>) – Emily Cyr has been busy loading up our player in the right hand column. The latest entries include another version of the Norfolk, Virginia furniture store fire, a Lexington, South Carolina house fire caused by someone’s (un)controlled burn (read more), the riverboat Robert E. Lee that burned in St. Louis (more here) and a concrete plant that burned in Sacramento, California. If you want to beat the editor of this blog to the news check the player on a regular basis. Emily often gets video loaded there (like the DC rowhouse fire on Peabody Street, NW) well before I have a chance to write about it.
You will definitely want to see this one: I figured it was just a matter of time before we saw the video from a camera from the locomotive of the Amtrak train that hit Detroit’s Ladder 13 earlier this month. That time is here. Check it out.
Some DC fire action: Broadcast engineer and historian Tom Buckley had his camera at the ready when the DC Fire & EMS Department showed up in his neighborhood yesterday morning. Here are the results.
Rosenbaum son-in-law gives view on latest DC EMS problems: Toby Halliday sat on the task force formed to reform EMS in the Nation’s Capital after the serious problems noted about the care provided to Halliday’s father-in-law, David Rosenbaum. With new, high-profile incidents receiving a lot of attention, Halliday provided The Washington Post his thoughts on the progress made since the task force made its final report. Click here.
Accused firefighter/arsonist doesn’t fit the usual pattern: The stories we find about firefighters setting fires tend to be about younger, newer members of a department. That is not the case with 43-year-old Stark Liedtke who has now been fired after 22-years as an on-call firefighter with New Hampshire’s Alton Fire Department. Investigators say Liedtke admits to setting 11 fires over four years. Here’s the story.
Firefighter reinstated after firing: This is a rather complex sexual harassment case from Westbrook, Maine that we first mentioned in October. The allegations were rather graphic. Now, a state labor board has told the fire department to reinstate Firefighter Matthew Lamontagne. Here is the latest.
Parity means pay up: The City of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania has once again been told to live up to its promise that firefighters are to get pay parity with the cops. It could mean 13k for each firefighter. Read about the court ruling.
Aw chute: This is a really stupid story (but if it weren’t for things like this many of you would find the work much more boring). A 20-year-old man, acting on a dare from some children, wanted to show that he could make it down a home’s laundry chute. You can guess the rest and who had to come save the guy. The rescue apparently traumatized a young girl. Read more from Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin.
