Quick Takes

Water rescue in Texas: A firefighter in Conroe, Texas dangling over Alligator Creek on Monday in an effort to rescue a man pinned against a pylon by the rushing water. Read more about this rescue. This is one of many fire & EMS videos you will find in the player to the right from around the country (and the world). Check them out. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Brought up on charges over volunteering, IAFF member quits: An interesting story from New Jersey where Cherry Hill firefighter Michael Schaffer was brought up on charges last year because he was a member of the all-volunteer West Berlin department. West Berlin runs mutual-aid with other departments who have IAFF members. A shop steward in one of those departments wrote the Cherry Hill local glad that Schaffer and other career firefighters had their backs while they were volunteering.  Interesting story from reporter Jane Roh at CourierPostOnline.com. Click here.

‘The public has a right to know what the ability is of their volunteer fire service to respond in an emergency’:  In New York, Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney has ordered transparency on response times as she pushes for consolidation of the county’s 57 fire departments. In the past the county refused to release response times and left it up to individual departments. That appears to be changing. Click here for the story.

Fireground audio from Dallas 4th-alarm: A group of restaurants burned early Tuesday. Click here for the audio and video.

Fire investigator struck and killed by Amtrak Train: Forty-five-year-old Brian P. Waynant Sr. was on duty with the Wilmington Fire Department in Delaware Monday night when he was struck and killed by an Amtrak train. There are not a lot of details on the circumstances. Here’s the story.

Geezer digs deeper into the stampede: Bill Schumm looks a little closer into the strange article we told you about yesterday from the UK where a firefighter is accused of starting a fatal cattle stampede while heading to a 999 call. Check it out.

Witnesses say woman was speeding before ambulance crash: A private ambulance in Fort Pierce, Florida overturned yesterday afternoon after being struck at an intersection by a car driven by a woman witnesses believe may have been going twice the 45 MPH speed limit. The woman died. One crew member is in critical condition. Here’s the story.