PA FF electrocuted; Memo on Montgomery budget cuts; MD store burns; Lt. Keepers’ funeral; Rekindle policy in Pittsburgh; AC demoted over video
(Updated at 8:18 PM, Sunday)
Captain electrocuted, two civilians killed, during Scranton house fire
From The Scranton Times-Tribune
(Note: Early reports had the captain’s last name as Robson, The Scranton Times-Tribune and IAFF Local 60 are using Robeson)
Scranton Fire Department Captain Jim Robeson was electrocuted while in the bucket of a tower-ladder during a Sunday morning house fire. An elderly couple died in the fire. The images from the fire, above, are from WNEP-TV.
The Scranton Times-Tribune is reporting that the bucket apparently did not have direct contact with the wires, but rather arced between the wires and truck. Here are excerpts from the paper’s latest article:
While fighting the fire at the converted home of 808-810 Ash St., Capt. Robeson and firefighter Jennifer Hawker ascended to a higher elevation in the bucket lift of a ladder truck.
The firefighters knew the fire had already claimed two victims, said Chief Davis (Fire Chief Tom Davis) but there was still a lot of concern of the fire spreading to neighboring homes.
When the bucket lift reached a height that put it near power lines, electricity jumped from those lines to the truck, electrocuting Capt. Robeson and shocking Ms. Hawker and two other firefighters who had been near the truck, Richard Czyzyk and Thomas Owens.
Ms. Hawker and Mr. Czyzyk sustained injuries that are not life-threatening, said city public safety director Ray Hayes, while Mr. Owens was not injured.
Pennsylvania State Police in Dunmore confirmed Richard Fenstermacher, 82, and his wife, Maria Fenstermacher, 87, died in the fire.
Johanna Luscher, of 807 Ash St., woke up to the sounds of sirens and worried it was her house on fire. She watched the firefighters working, but had her back turned when the incident unfolded that lead to Capt. Robeson’s death.
She watched the firefighters lower the bucket lift and pull out their comrades, but said later she was lost for words on how to describe what she saw.
Mr. Hayes said Scranton police and fire officials requested Pennsylvania State Police take over the investigation of both the fire and death of Capt. Robeson so as to not allow for the appearance of a conflict of interest.
Trooper Bill Satkowski said Sunday the cause of the fire was undetermined, pending further investigation. With the status undetermined – which means state police do not yet know for sure if it was accidental or arson – Trooper Satkowski declined to release the origin of the fire within the home.
Trooper Satkowski said investigators had determined Capt. Robeson died from arching electricity, or rather, electricity jumping from the power lines to the bucket of the truck.
State police are investigating whether firefighters requested PPL shut off power to just the home or also to the power lines running above the home.
A spokesman for PPL, Rich Beasley, said the company was conducting an investigation as well and wouldn’t comment further on the fire.
Other links: FirefighterCloseCalls.com; WYOU-TV; IAFF Local 60; FireGeezer.com; WithTheCommand.com
Montgomery County, MD budget cuts
Belt tightening in Montgomery County. STATter 911 has Chief Thomas Carr’s memo about the cuts. Click here to read the memo.
The Washington Post outlines County Executive Isiah Leggett’s overall plans. Here are excerpts relating to fire and EMS:
Fire Chief Thomas W. Carr Jr. has proposed $3.7 million in reductions, which would redeploy firefighters and equipment throughout the county and scale back overtime hours, prompting questions from the council and the community about how quickly the department would be able to respond to emergencies.
Under the plan, some firefighters assigned to stations in Glen Echo and Laytonsville at night and on weekends would be transferred to Gaithersburg and Kensington. The arrival of a ladder truck in Hillandale would be delayed, and a rescue squad with career staff in Germantown would be eliminated.
Council members Phil Andrews (D-Gaithersburg-Rockville) and Roger Berliner (D-Potomac-Bethesda) said they are concerned about slowing down response times when the county is opening new fire stations and Montgomery’s population is approaching 1 million.
“I don’t believe that we should be taking short-term budget actions which could literally affect life and death,” Berliner said. “This is among the most basic services provided by county government.”
Jeffrey Hearle, president of the board that oversees the Glen Echo station, equated the proposal to “robbing Peter to pay Paul” and said it could have a ripple effect in neighboring Potomac and Bethesda. He suggested that Leggett look for additional administrative cuts.
“Everyone deserves a basic level of service,” said Hearle, who has started a Save Our Ambulance e-mail campaign. “It’s saying our citizens are less important than those in other areas.”
Carr said his recommendations were based on the number of calls for service in different parts of the county. Glen Echo, for instance, has less activity than do some Upcounty neighborhoods. Although ambulance service would come from other locations, such as Cabin John or the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad, Carr said, “care will not be delayed.”
“It’s never a good time to cut back in service,” he said. “But this puts us in the best position to provide service with the resources we have.”
MD liquor store fire
Pictures from Brett Livingston
A fire around noon on Saturday destroyed a 60-year-old business in Ijamsville, MD. Firefighters from Frederick, Montgomery, and Carroll Counties responded to Franklin Liquors at 2913 Urbana Pike in Frederick County Station 23’s (Urbana VFD) first due. In addition to the first-alarm units, a safety task-force, 2 water supply task-forces were dispatched. Damage is estimated at $1 million.
Farewell to Alex Keepers
Firefighters said good-bye to Alex Keepers. The career lieutenant from Loudoun County, VA and volunteer with Frederick’s Independent Hose was buried Saturday. The picture above the Frederick News Post’s Graham Cullen. See more pictures. Read the story.
Weekend video round-up
We have a bunch of recently posted videos gathered over the past week. Click here to see them.
Stand-by me: New Pittsburgh 4-hour fire-watch policy to prevent rekindles fires-up union
Watching this story from KDKA-TV, I have more questions than answers (as I suspect many of you will … update: FireGeezer is already asking those questions in his Morning Lineup). But union officials are irate over a policy that will require a crew to be on stand-by for a rekindle after a fire.
Update 2: A fire service veteran familiar with the situation points out this policy has to do with how the department handles fires in abandoned buildings. It is an effort to make sure the fire is extinguished, even though it may have been deemed unsafe to enter and conduct overhaul. The source says this is just an effort to put in writing a practice unofficially followed by many departments.
See the story. Excerpts from KDKA.com:
Under the policy, which goes into effect on Monday, a group of firefighters would have to wait outside the structure for four hours after the fire is out to make sure it doesn’t rekindle, depending on the fire.
“It’s never happened. It’s never happened,” Pittsburgh Firefighters Union President Joe King said.
Firefighters are fighting the new policy, calling it dangerous.
“In this type of weather, you look like a popsicle before you go back to your engine company. It takes you hours and hours to thaw out,” King said. “And now you’re gonna tell them they’re gonna sit there.”
“We’re gonna rotate a fresh crew in there,” Public Safety Director Michael Huss said.
“With the vacant buildings and things that we face a lot of times here in the city, we do not want our firefighters to enter those structures and get themselves injured,” Huss said.
“We’re just requiring that a fire unit remain there in an effort to ensure that the building doesn’t rekindle and if in fact it does take the appropriate action,” he added.
13-year-old video causes assistant chief to be demoted and placed in charge of air unit
Capt. Todd Chandler from WAPT.com
Jackson, Mississippi Chief Vernon Hughes has made his decision. Despite calls for the firing of Assistant Chief Todd Chandler, Hughes has instead demoted him to captain and appointed him to supervise the air unit.
Hughes said the demotion is based on an internal investigation into the evidence of a recent video released. The video showed Jackson firefighters making racist statements about black recruits in 1994
In the video, a firefighter, dressed in gear labeled T.H. Chandler, is shown fumbling with equipment as he plays the part of a dumb recruit.
Hughes said Chandler denied participating in the video, but he believed it was Chandler on the video.
Chandler will work in the air supply unit of the fire department, which will take air packs to firefighters and supply them with air bottles.
Former fire chief dies in Iraq
Family members and Chester Township fire officials say a former fire chief who was in Iraq doing contract work has died.
Edward Hanzel was working for private security firm Wackenhut Services, which provides fire services to Department of Defense locations in Iraq. Details of his death were not available. Family members say his death was not combat related.
Hanzel served 32 years for the fire department in suburban Cleveland before becoming chief, a position he held from 1998 through 2002. The 58-year-old also was a full-time firefighter in Beachwood for 25 years.
Chester Township Fire Chief John Wargelin says Hanzel had an infectious smile and preferred that his men just call him “Eddie.”
Church arsons in Alabama
A TV station is reporting three church arsons in East Alabama, including at least one today. Read the story.
Lt. John Martinson
Update Friday afternoon – WNBC-TV reports a six year old boy started the fire where Lt. John Martinson di
ed:
The boy lit the packaging of his toy car with a gas stove that his family was using to heat the apartment, according to officials. Fire Marshals investigated and determined the cause.
Officials said the boy, fearing he’d get in trouble, hid the smoldering paper under his mom’s bed and that ignited the fire
Lt. John Martinson of Engine 249 died Thursday evening at a high-rise apartment building fire in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. Here are excerpts from a New York Times article:
A fire lieutenant died Thursday evening fighting a smoky and blinding fire that enveloped a high-rise apartment building in Brooklyn at the site of the former Ebbets Field, city officials said.
At least four other firefighters and four residents of the apartment building were injured, but none of those injuries was considered life-threatening.
The fire lieutenant, Lt. John H. Martinson, of Engine Company 249 of Brooklyn, died after a full-scale assault on the 14th floor of the 25-story apartment building at 1700 Bedford Avenue, fire officials said.
Lieutenant Martinson was found unconscious on the floor about 10 feet inside the apartment where the blaze started, the officials said. He was found with his mask off, and was carried out of the building by fellow firefighters. The apartment was empty, officials said. It was not immediately clear what caused Lieutenant Martinson’s death, but firefighters struggled all evening with choking and blinding smoke. The cause of the fire is under investigation, but is not believed to be suspicious, a fire official said.
Lieutenant Martinson, a 14-year veteran of the department and the son of a firefighter, was the department’s first fatality of the year. His follows the deaths of two firefighters at the former Deutsche Bank building, on Aug. 18, 2007.
A resident of Staten Island, Lieutenant Martinson, 40, was a New York City police officer before joining the Fire Department in 1993. He was married, and he and his wife, Jessica, had a 22-month-old son, John Patrick.
The two-alarm blaze at the Ebbets Field Houses trapped residents on upper floors, filled hallways with smoke and soot, and sent water from fire hoses cascading down stairwells, residents said. The cold weather also hampered firefighters, who at times could be seen sliding on ice formed by water from their hoses.
A Fire Department spokesman said more than 100 firefighters and 25 trucks and other firefighting equipment responded to alarms at the building, which has 400 apartments. The emergency call came in about 7:15 p.m., he said, and the fire was brought under control shortly after 8:30 p.m. Two of the injured firefighters were taken to the burn unit at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell hospital.
Lieutenant Martinson was the 1,138th firefighter to die in the line of duty in the department’s history, and the first since Joseph Graffagnino, 33, of Ladder Company 5, and Robert Beddia, 53, of Engine Company 24, died while battling a seven-alarm high-rise fire at the former Deutsche Bank building, at 130 Liberty Street in Lower Manhattan.
Newsday story
Here is more from Chief Billy Goldfeder at FirefighterCloseCalls.com:
Lt. Martinson spent most of his career with Engine Company 80 in Harlem before being transferred to Engine 249 in Flatbush, where he spent the past year. A Staten Island resident, Lt. Martinson tragically leaves behind a wife, Jessica, and a baby son, John Patrick, age 22 months, and his wife is pregnant with their second child. 4 other firefighters were hospitalized, two with smoke inhalation and two with burns during the fire at the Ebbets Field apartments. They were expected to be released from the hospital by Saturday.
The 2nd alarm fire trapped residents on upper floors, filled hallways with heavy smoke and heat conditions and was reported to be wind driven. The residents of the apartment where the fire started had exited their apartment, but had left the door open, potentially contributing to the spread and conditions.
100+ FDNY Firefighters responded to the building fire, which has 400 apartments. The call came in about 1916 hours and was brought under control around 2030 hours.
Baltimore County arson
FirePix1075 was on the scene after 5 fires were set in an apartment complex near Reisterstown Road Plaza late Thursday afternoon. Click here to see more of his pictures and details on the fires. You will find the same on Pikesville VFC’s site.
Firefighters had to assist many of the residents down ladders from the upper floors. See WJZ-TV’s story.
Despite prosecutors doubts, medical examiner makes it official, citing alcohol as a factor for at least one of the students who died in beach house fire
On November 18, we told you that autopsies confirmed alcohol use among 6 of the 7 college students killed in an October house fire in Ocean Isle Beach, NC. You may recall, at the time, the Brunswick County District Attorney disputed the medical examiner’s suggestion that alcohol could have hindered the victims’s ability to respond to the emergency. Rex Gore said: “It’s a tragedy when they have those levels of alcohol. But I haven’t seen anything to indicate that was a major contributing factor to the fire or to the chances of survival.”
Now, the medical examiner has made it official in the autopsy report of an 18-year-old whose “blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit for driving a car”. The report says this contributed to Cassidy Pendley’s death. Read the story.
Smoked glass ceiling
Some women in the Houston Fire Department say altered rules are keeping them from being promoted. Read the story.
Sprinkler system shut down in VA fire
In Virginia Beach, it turns out the sprinkler system was shut off for repairs during a New Year’s Day apartment fire and the fire department says it wasn’t told about it.
CA condo fire
Good quality, but very short clips from a 2-alarm fire in Anaheim. Watch the rest
of the videos, here.
