California inferno; Medic’s union points to hospital; FF shot in firehouse by drunk FF; FFs battle in Iraq; Maine squeeze; Stafford funeral info
Photo from AP’s Denis Poroy via latimes.com
Top story: A dozen Southern California fires. Thousands evacuated in San Diego. 3 FFs critical. Malibu fire 10% contained.
Click here for links to live coverage, emergency radio traffic and raw video of the Southern California wildfires.
Listening to the scanner on the San Diego trunking system here, has been quite interesting.
Chief Billy Goldfeder of firefighterclosecalls.com has been keeping on top of the 4 firefighters who were burned on Sunday when their engine company was engulfed by flames. He passes on the following:
The UC San Diego Medical Center Regional Burn Center began receiving burn patients from the Harris Fire at approximately 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, October 21.
At this time, UCSD has 13 patients hospitalized at UCSD Medical Center-Hillcrest with burns and inhalation damage, including four firefighters injured in the Portrero fire.
UCSD Thornton Hospital is canceling elective admissions in order to maintain bed capacity in anticipation of community needs. Other services are being evaluated as the situation continues to develop.
Conditions of the patients currently hospitalized at UCSD Medical Center-Hillcrest are:
3 Firefighters are in Critical Condition
1 Firefighter is in Fair Condition
4 Civilians in Critical Condition
4 Civilians in Fair Condition
1 Civilian in Good Condition
Injuries are: Critical:
60% burn injuries
29% burn injuries
28% burn injuries
12% burn injuries
8% burn injuries w/inhalation damage
5% burn injuries w/inhalation damage
5% burn injuries w/inhalation damage
Fair: 17% burn injuries
9% burn injuries
10% burn injuries
6% burn injuries
5% burn w/inhalation damage
Good: 4% burn injuries
On a related topic, click here to see a 60 Minutes report on a possible reason for larger wildfires.
Paramedic may not be only concern in death of man who wanted to be a DC firefighter
If you missed 9NEWS NOW reporter Bruce Leshan’s report on Friday, there may be a bit more to the story of Eric Allen who became ill and died after taking agility tests at the DC Fire & EMS Training Academy. While the paramedic who evaluated Allen has been but on administrative leave with pay, the medic’s union rep say Greater Southeast Community Hospital may have some explaining to do. Watch Bruce’s report here.
And don’t forget, the same training academy reported its 4th suspected case of a staph infection on Friday.
Down time in Iraq for firefighters leads to a problem
Click here to see the video of the dueling crash trucks in Iraq. Apparently someone failed to warn these guys that high pressure streams and glass are not a good mix. Well worth watching.
Sheriff: Firefighter drunk and with a gun wounds fellow firefighter
The Clay County, NY Sheriff’s Department calls it an accident. It happened Sunday night inside the Moyers Corner Fire Station 1. One volunteer is recovering from wounds to the arm and chest and another is under arrest. Details are here.
Response times in PA
The map above is from The Intelligencer in Philadelphia. They are looking at response times in Bucks and Montgomery Counties. Here is the article.
Not our top story, but our Maine story
We have been keeping you up to date on the shut down of the Etna fire department over the chief putting a video on YouTube (no, not that kind of video … something actually pretty boring). Bill Schumm (AKA FireGeezer) and I have both heard from the fire and rescue folks locked out of the Etna department. Bill talked extensively with some of their key people and tries to explain how things ended up like this. Read Bill’s interviews and profile of the department, in his first installment, here.
Funeral arrangements announced in Stafford
From Fredericksburg.com details on the funeral for Jason Mooney, the deputy sheriff from Stafford County killed while responding to a wreck on I-95 Friday night. Mooney was also a firefighter with the Stafford Volunteer Fire Department and a Marine who had served in Iraq:
A Mass of celebration will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at St. Mary Catholic Church in Fredericksburg. Burial will follow in Oak Hill Cemetery in Fredericksburg. Members of the Stafford Sheriff’s Office Honor Guard will be pallbearers. Members of the Stafford Fire Department will be honorary pallbearers.
Tire store fire
The video above is from a week ago in Dayton, Ohio. Click here to check out all 4 parts.
Laker Erie rescue
In the video above, high winds and waves made for a difficult time for a pair of kayakers.
NJ sprinklers
This coverage (above) of the sprinklers in New Jersey is a news story from about a month ago that was just posted on YouTube.
