House fire in Baltimore County: We are a day late in posting the latest from Michael “FirePix1075” Schwartzberg. This is from early yesterday morning at 5527 Pembroke Avenue in Woodlawn. Michael tells us an interior attack was abandoned after a gas line ignited. You can read his account at the Pikesville VFC website. There is more video – Part 2 and Part 3.
Ellerbe document to remain under wraps for now: The DC Department of Human Resources (DCHR) acknowledged on December 16 there is a formal agreement between the government of the District of Columbia and Sarasota, Florida that lets Kenneth Ellerbe remain a deputy chief in the DC Fire & EMS Department while he is chief of the Florida Department. As for getting that document, well, that’s another story. Saying it “would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy”, DCHR denied our FOIA request to see documents related to this arrangement. Click here for the full denial letter to my colleague Amy Leone. Click here and scroll down for our previous coverage of this issue.
PGFD responds to union press release on staffing during recent multi-alarm fires: Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department Chief Spokesman Mark Brady has a statement about the press release from IAFF Local 1619. The union pointed out understaffed and failed responses impacted operations at two large garden-apartment fires last week. Brady writes –
Handling the volume of calls for service that our Department does on a daily basis will, at times, stretch our resources thin. Prince George’s County Fire Chief Eugene A. Jones is working with the Local 1619 leadership to find a mutually agreeable way to conduct our day-to-day activities in the safest and most efficient way possible.
You can click here for Brady’s entire response and here for Local 1619’s press release.
Riverdale VFD president critical of our coverage: Stephen Lamphier brings up some interesting issues in his Christmas Day letter to STATter911.com. Lamphier is concerned how I portrayed a video of Riverdale’s members enjoying the recent snow storm. Please take a moment to read it.
A little more than 24-hours left in the contest: We have some good guesses so far (and a few that are really far off) as to what the top 5 most popular stories were on STATter911.com for 2009. We can always use your entry. Click here to read about the rules and the amazing prize.
Raw video from DC second-alarm: Vito Maggiolo was on the scene for the DC Fire & EMS Department at an apartment fire on Sunday. Check it out.
Arrests in Woonsocket. RI: Well, I knew I was on to something when I made the map showing the very short distance between two multi-alarm fires in vacant buildings that occurred about 30-hours apart. I just didn’t know there were more fires and how quickly this would wrap up. Firegeezer’s posting alerted me to the arrests yesterday. It turns out there were four homes and two vehicles that burned. A 41-year-old man and two teens have been arrested. Read more.
Decision in New Mexico scandal: In Eunice city officials have determined the fate of troubled Fire Chief Ron Grogan and two of the other firefighters charged with stealing a radar detector at a crime scene. But the details haven’t been released. Here is the latest.
Transcipts from dramatic and chaotic fireground audio on Northampton arsons: A local paper has now added transcripts with names of the chief officers to go with the fireground audio we first alerted you to on Sunday. This documents how dispatchers, firefighters and police tried to handle a dozen fires and attempted fires in 75 minutes, including one that killed two men. Click here.
Firefighter hit by parked police car: A secondary crash leaves a firefighter injured in Boardman, Oregon. Read the details.
