Quick Takes: January 24, 2011
Early video from a house fire in Los Angeles: A neighbor is rolling as LAFD stretches the first lines at 1324 N. Sunderland Street in Echo Park on Friday. Check out the Fire Critic if you want to know more about the fire. Speaking of the Fire Critic, Rhett totally dissed me, and along with his panel of so-called experts or judges, went against my wishes and made STATter911.com a finalist in his Blog of the Century contest. My general philosophy is much like Grouch Marx’s (someone in Roanoke please explain who that was to Rhett), and I never want to join a club that would have someone like me as a member. That said, since they didn’t go for the nomination I suggested, I am not backing any candidates (probably smart considering my dismal record of being 0 for 2 in that arena). Click here to vote your conscience (or whoever offers you the most money). And next time Rhett, do away with the primaries and the hype and let the people speak.
Firefighter Mark Falkenhan to be buried today: If live streaming is available of the funeral for Lutherville VFC’s Mark Falkenhan we will, of course, have it here. For those attending the funeral at 11:00 this morning in Baltimore, click here for updated details.
Fire chief gets a lot of praise for failure: Typical negative spin from the reporter. The comments coming in to STATter911.com indicate that Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department Acting Chief Mark Bashoor showed a lot of leadership completing the CPAT course on Saturday. While he went into a little overtime, our readers thought it was an excellent showing for the 45-year-old chief. I think the next step, if we can get an EMS task force to standby, should be a regional chiefs competition (notice Statter isn’t pushing for a washed-up reporters event). Click here for the video of Chief Bashoor in action. It’s well worth seeing.
Lots of news at FireTruckBlog.com: Plenty of interesting apparatus news on Glenn Usdin’s FireTruckBlog.com. Just click here and scroll down for stories on rigs, people and details on who is buying and who is selling.
Two-alarm townhouse fire with flashover & three injured firefighters: We have video from Paul Lof and fireground audio from AlertPage.net of Saturday’s fire in Springfield, Virginia that critically injured a resident and left a trio of firefighters with minor injuries. Click here for our coverage.
Carrying Josephine Harris once again: We mentioned last week the passing of Josephine Harris, the woman who survived the crumbling of the WTC North Tower with the crew of FDNY’s Ladder 6. On Friday, those same firefighters who carried Ms. Harris to safety, carried their guardian angel once again. Click here to read and watch the story.
Come see me: I had a great and informative time in Phoenix last week for the IAFF-IAFC Labor Management Initiative gathering. I plan to write more about that in the coming days. Next month come join me in Virginia Beach, Virginia for the Virginia Fire Chief’s Association 2011 Mid-Atlantic Expo & Symposium (February 24-27). Click here for details and to register for the event.
UPDATE – FD to change logo: One of the topics I talked about in Phoenix is how you should deal with the press when there is an issue involving a department’s reputation. A Long Island fire company did the opposite of what I suggest and stretched the bad news into a multi-day story. After first threatening and running from the press, the Elmont FD has now decided to change its logo that included a version of the Confederate flag. Here’s the update. The outcome of this was quite predictable. The pattern is repeated daily. Learn from the mistake. Here’s my earlier assessment of the situation.
Pre-arrival video from Santa Maria, California: Neighbor’s early raw video from an apartment fire last week.
Firefighters spend part of their shift at Hooters: Okay, so there was a fire at the restaurant. My headline is still technically correct. Take a look at the video from St. Louis as a police chase comes to a fiery end.
FossilMedic blows a kiss to our friends in NC: Nice little write-up by Mike Ward at Firegeezer about three lensmen from NC, Mike Legeros, Lee Wilson and Jeff Harkey. These guys work hard to grab the shots and keep people informed about the fire world in Raleigh, Wake County and beyond. Check it out. Okay Ward, now that you’ve made nice, let’s do a little investigating and find out what’s really going on. Don’t these three seem just a little too competent, talented and pleasant?
No jail time for firefighter who spooked herd: The plea deal apparently kept UK Firefighter Julian Lawford out of jail in that now infamous case of Lawford trying to drive his rig through a herd of cows crossing the road. The stampede left a farmer dead. Lawford was heading to a car crash with a child trapped. Here’s the latest.
No indictment against driver of vehicle in wreck that killed two Virginia firefighters: I missed this while traveling last week, but IronFiremen.com’s Willie Wines did not. A grand jury did not hand up an indictment against the driver of a vehicle connected to last summer’s tragic crash in Rocky Mount. Click here.
Manhole not for horses: Firefighters in Houston spent part of Saturday trying to rescue a horse that fell into an uncovered manhole. The horse had to be put down. Here’s the story.
Similar problem in Utah with much better results: On Sunday, Saratoga Springs firefighters rescued a young girl who fell into an uncovered manhole. Read the details.
Congratulations to some of the people who protect me: Fairfax County firefighters from Station 408 in Annandale received a Liberty Mutual Firemark Award for a fire a year ago this week. Check out the story from VAFireNews.com.
FDNY in action: The New York Daily News currently has this nicely shot fire video from Bedford-Stuyvesant posted on its website. But no date or exact location is provided that I can see.
