Quick Takes
Commercial fire in Falls Church, Virginia: I heard the sirens while standing outside the STATter911.com World Headquarters building on Saturday morning and was heading inside to turn on the scanner. But sad to say I immediately became distracted by some family matter and totally forgot about it. Clearly I am getting old and senile. But, despite my absence, there is video and photographic evidence of the fire on the second floor of a commercial building at 105. E. Annandale Road in Falls Church. There are some earlier photos here.
THE BIG STORY – Fire one firefighter/street person per month until they get the message: As you can imagine, there is a quite a lot of interest in and a growing number of comments about the recording we posted on Saturday from a meeting of an official committee of the Village of Oak Brook, Illinois where the firing idea was floated. The same person called firefighters and cops “street people” who only understand civilized force. Click here. It is worth your time to listen to the audio. It will give you insight into how a growing number people perceive firefighters and the money and pensions they are given to do this job. FossilMedic Mike Ward over at Firegeezer.com did a little research into the politics and the fire department in Oak Brook (and on top of it, he is apparently taking headline writing lessons from me). Make sure you click here to see what Mike discovered.
Early video & audio from Manassas multi-home fire. Plus Dave showing his bias: Yes, I admit it. I am in favor of residential sprinklers and improved fire barriers for outside walls. I’m in agreement with Manassas Fire Marshal Frank Teevan that those two items can help prevent conflagrations like the one last Thursday that destroyed three-single family homes and damaged eight more. Like many, I’m not buying the arguments of NAHB. Click here for the audio & video from the fire, Dave’s rantings and ravings and lots of links to relevant studies.
Firefighter dies on Virginia’s Eastern Shore: EasterShoreFire.com has funeral arrangements and information on the death of William “Hal” Clark at a brush fire on Friday in Accomack County. Clark was president and a life member of the Atlantic Volunteer Fire & Rescue Company.
Firefighter shocked & burned at wildfire that also disrupts 911 service: In Bodega, California, Firefighter Ben Hakala came in contact with a live power line while fighting a wildfire over the weekend. 911 service to the community was disrupted due to the fire. Click here for the story.
Fireground audio & video from six-alarm Toronto high-rise fire: The audio has multiple maydays as firefighters tried to deal with a fire on the 24th floor. Check it out.
Connecticut chiefs explain how budget issues are impacting safety: Chiefs in Wilton, Westport and Fairfield talk about standards and safety issues when operating with less than four people on a fire truck. Read the story.
Raw video from Harris County, Texas apartment fire: A woman is reported have been on the phone with 911 for eight-minutes while trapped in this burning apartment building around 10:30 Friday night. The line went dead and she didn’t make it out. The fire damaged or destroyed 24 units. Click here to read more.
