We have been under blizzard conditions through most of the day in the National Capital area. Click above to see live coverage of our latest storm.
STATter911.com programming note: You may have noticed we didn’t send out our Quick Takes news digest for the last two days and we are a little late in providing this one. Coverage of the back-to-back snowstorms for television and dealing with the impact of the storms around the STATter911.com World Headquarters complex left our staff with little time to complete their assignments. We have admonished them and have threatened to cut their ration of gruel if they don’t start carrying their weight around here soon. Also, if you don’t see anything posted at all for a long time it probably means the Verizon FIOS line that has been sitting in the snow covered street in front of the Headquarters building finally broke. It came down Saturday with the power pole.
Baltimore County fire station burns overnight: Firefighters were able to get one of two engines out of the bay around 2:30 this morning when fire broke out at Station 6 in Dundalk. But the brand new Engine 6 is now history, along with two medic units, a brush truck and a Maryland National Guard vehicle. Click here for pictures of the damage and more details.
Note – In his noon briefing, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley made mention of concerns of roofs collapsing under the weight of the snow. He cited the brand new fire engine in Baltimore County as being buried under a collapse of a fire station. Yes, that is true. But Governor O’Malley failed to mention the roof came in after the fire started.
Update on Northern Virginia firehouse problems: Even under blizzard conditions, the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department is intending to keep an engine and ambulance operating out of Station 410’s parking lot following Monday’s roof collapse that destroyed the firehouse. That duty is being handled by rotating crews. The truck crew from the Bailey’s firehouse is operating out of Station 428 in Seven Corners, which used to be the home of Tower 28. There is also no cover for the fire equipment at Station 408 just down Columbia Pike three miles in Annandale. Part of that roof is sagging. My colleague Greg Guise tells me the firefighters are sleeping in tents inside the bingo hole. And in nearby Alexandria, firefighters moved back into Station 206 Tuesday afternoon after it was closed the day before due to roof concerns. Click here for our previous coverage and inside pictures of the damage at Station 410.
Power company admits they started the fire: Remember the fire I shot on Sunday where electric company crews had just turned back on the juice for the neighborhood when a home started to burn? While I have been unsuccessful, despite repeated attempts and conversations to get the Arlington County Fire Department to provide specifics on how the fire started (all the PIO would tell me is that it was electrical), there is someone taking responsibility for the fire. Dominion Virginia Power spokeswoman LeHa Anderson told me yesterday afternoon a crew on North Lexington Street, working hard to restore electricity, made a very unusual and costly mistake. According to Anderson, they got their wires crossed, accidentally energizing the neutral line. As you can imagine the power company is now working closely with the elderly woman and her daughter who lived in the house. Here is our previous story.
Controversy over sale of New York firehouse to CNN’s Anderson Cooper: We had previously told you that the historic former quarters of Fire Patrol 2 in Greenwich Village had been sold to the CNN anchor. Now there is concern over what happened to a plaque honoring a patrol member who died on September 11. Click here for the story.
It’s just lunch (or dinner): Yes, it’s February Sweeps in my business. Firegeezer has his own juicy expose on the work of a TV reporter who spent his time checking the eating habits of Boston firefighters. Specifically he reports that they actually use their fire trucks to pick up food for dinner. Shocking. Even Commissioner Roderick Fraser, who has been at odds with the rank and file, found no problem with this practice. Film at 11 (or just click here for Geezer). BTW, on my way to work in the 11:00 AM hour a couple of times I week, I see the same fire companies at the same supermarket. Little did I know I had been passing up a TV exclusive. Clearly, I am just a hack.
