Quick Takes: July 2, 2012.
Vacant structure in Providence, Rhode Island: Providence Fire Videos on the scene of a fire at Superior and Wendell Streets Saturday night.
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FDNY looking closely at tactics on residential fires: FDNY is studying ventilation and more in test burns starting today on Governors Island. Besides possibly changing how and when they ventilate, the tests will also compare interior and exterior attacks on basement fires. You will want to check this out.
Chief says women can’t hack it as firefighters: The man who heads the fire service in Cyprus is doing his best to discourage women from being firefighters. Click here.
Positive impact from East Coast storm: One of the few positive things to come out of the powerful and deadly line of storms that hit Friday night was the people in Baltimore getting four extra days of the services of Truck 10, Truck 15 and Engine 11. The three companies were to close Saturday but they were needed for this emergency and will stay open until Thursday to assist with the aftermath. Read more.
Another positive impact: There has been a lot of hard work done along with a big response load for firefighters in the region. There are a lot of examples of fire, EMS and police going above and beyond to help they people they serve. I highly recommend that you check out my friend Willie Wines’ view of the storn from Roanoke. Willie was acting battalion chief when it hit the fan on Friday night.
Social media has been an important way to communicate in the storm’s aftermath. Check out what PGFD has been doing with PIO Mark Brady’s blog and Mark’s Twitter Feed (PGFD Chief Marc Bashoor is also on Twitter). In DC there are Twitter feeds from both IAFF Local 36 in DC and the DC Fire & EMS Department. The Fairfax County emergency management folks are doing a good job of showing how to use social media to connect with the public at a time of crisis. The City of Alexandria is providing updates on its Facebook page.
This is not meant to be a complete list, but rather some examples of how to reach the public during critical incidents. I’m still surprised by the number of fire departments around the Nation’s Capital that aren’t at least on Facebook and Twitter providing vital information to the people who pay their salaries. The days of putting out a press release a day after an incident occurs are long gone. An event like we are experiencing now is one of the most positive uses for social media. Learn from this and be ready for the next one.
Negative impact: The power outages slowed down the posts from one of my favorite websites, Firegeezer. But Bill Schumm had his power restored and is back. Geezer was on top of the building collapse in Prince George’s County that left one man dead (this was before the storm). The body has since been recovered after a lengthy search operation. Here’s Bill’s earlier coverage. By the way, Bill and I will be together again at Firehouse Expo along with firefighter/author Will Wyatt. Hope to see you there.
More negative impact: Despite hundreds of thousands of people without power, phone service, cable and Internet, we were able to keep posting at STATter911.com. I know that’s a big disappointment to some, if not many. Here around the Falls Church, Virginia area there is a wide area on its third day without power, with no prediction on when it will return. STATter911.com World Headquarters is lucky enough to have a natural gas generator. Verizon’s FIOS Internet service cooperated by only being down for a couple hours (but we still posted thanks to a narrow window of some 4g signal coming through on Verizon Wireless).
Some must see explosions: Fireworks came early in Florence, New Jersey with an explosive fire at an import/export warehouse Saturday night. Check this out.
Taking control of the lights: Glenn Usdin’s FireTruckBlog.com has details on one of the new “smart” system installs for controlling traffic signals.
More video from New Jersey apartment fire: We have now posted helmet-cam video from last Monday’s fire in Manalapan.
Video from fire in large DC home: We have a couple of sources of video from Friday’s fire in Northwest Washington that destroyed a large home near American University. It’s also around the corner from a 2009 mansion fire where water supply was a big problem. Here’s more.
Funeral in Virginia: In Louisa County, services will be held today for Firefighter/EMT Charles Dwain Wilson who was killed in a vehicle crash on his way to the firehouse reporting for duty. Firefighters attending the funeral are asked to report to the Mineral Volunteer Fire Department by 11:30 a.m. The memorial service will be conducted at Mineral Baptist Church Family Life Center at 2:00 p.m. Interment will follow at Spring Grove Cemetery with a reception to follow at the Family Life Center.
Lawyer’s actions in FD discrimination suit cause mistrial: Curt Varone looks at a lawsuit against the Vancouver (WA) Fire Department that ended with the attorney for the plaintiff being charged with contempt of court. Quite interesting. Click here.
The Fire Critic has become tiring: Click here and you will see what I mean.
Porn star on rescue squad: We close Quick Takes with a must read from IronFiremen.com’s Willie Wines Jr. Willie reports that a real life former porn star has changed careers and gone into the nursing field. In doing so, she has also joined a local rescue squad in Roanoke County, Virginia. Willie points out that people are having a tough time with this one, but don’t seem to mind that some convicted felons are running with other departments in the region. I think Willie makes some good arguments but it will be interesting to watch how this plays out. Here’s Willie’s coverage of the issue.
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It’s just a car fire: Ed Malik at Mabas21.com reminds us just how many different parts on a car can go boom with this fire on Sunday in Lake Station, Indiana.
