Early this morning in Rochester: Lots of fire on Wadsworth Street in this Guy Zampatori video. Pictures and fireground audio can be found at Monroe County Fire Wire.
The regeneration blues coming to a firehouse near you: Read how one fire chief finds the time-outs for regeneration on his department’s newer diesel engines quite maddening and potentially dangerous. A guest column from Boca Raton Fire Rescue’s Tom Wood. Click here.
UPDATED Houston’s Draycott scheduled to return to is back at work today: “I want to be treated like everybody else. I want to be able to go to work and not be harassed, not be retaliated against.” That’s what Firefighter Jane Draycott told the Houston Chronicle’s Terri Langford yesterday, a day before her scheduled return to HFD’s Station 54 at Bush Intercontinental Airport. Draycott attempted a return in January and found herself in the middle of a “team building” exercise with her fellow firefighters. That four-hour session resulted in a lot of transfers and the resignation of the fire chief. It has been nine-months since Draycott made the news after racist and sexual graffiti were found on Draycott’s belongings in the women’s bunk room at the firehouse. Watch as Firefighter Draycott arrives at Station 54 this morning.
Car smashes into ladder truck … inside the firehouse: Click here to read how police say the driver of a car that crashed through the bay door of a firehouse in Wisconsin may not be at fault.
Driver jailed after crashing into fire truck: Police say two motorcyclists racing near Missoula, Montana led one of them into the back of a fire truck injuring a firefighter. Here’s the story.
A busy weekend in Flint: A dozen fires, including one in a vacant warehouse Saturday that spread to another building. Officials believe 10 of them were intentionally set. So far in April there have been 107 fires compared to 37 last year. This latest arson spree began the day before layoffs were initiated at the end of March. Read and watch the story.
Erosion of political influence: That’s the title of FossilMedic Mike Ward’s latest entry on Firegeezer. Mike is wondering if these budget battles, where firefighter overtime and pensions are targeted, are taking a toll on firefighters who might otherwise enjoy the backing of the public and the politicians. Check it out.
If you would like to tell Mike Ward you agree with him or that he is full of it: You can do so in person this week at FDIC during the big Meetup at Indy on Friday at the Rock Bottom Brewery. Lots of bloggers from FireEMSBlogs.com and elsewhere will be on hand, along with their many groupies. You can even get a free drink ticket for the event by stopping by these booths-
FireRescue Magazine, FirefighterNation.com and FireEMSBlogs.com: Booth #3755 Black Diamond: Booth # 410 Black Helmet Apparel: Booth # 138
I had hoped to be there, but recent knee surgery is keeping me very close to home. My doctor didn’t think I could handle the trauma of the procedure and at the same time deal with the sharp barbs from Rhett Fleitz, The Fire Critic. But you can listen to the latest Indy news from Rhett and his partner John Mitchell (Fire Daily) on their live Firefighter Netcast (or is it Nutcast with that crew?) out of Booth 3755 on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Read more.
Rescuer needs rescuing: A Phoenix firefighter helping to rescue a hiker who fell off a mountain trail fell victim to the heat. Click here to read and watch the story.
Weekend video roundup: A house fire from Gary, Indiana discovered by a battalion chief; a three-alarm apartment fire in New Haven, Connecticut; A Jacksonville, Florida house fire with fireground radio traffic.
4-alarms in Annapolis: FireSceneAudio.com has the radio traffic from Saturday’s fire on Maryland Avenue in the Annapolis historic district. Click here for Part 2. A quick video clip is here and you can read more about the fire.
