Quick takes
Firehouse.com now has a view from what the chief saw during last Wednesday’s sprinkler demonstration. The chief told his interviewer that many of the blog comments he read about the incident that left a firefighter with minor burns were over the top, but that some comments were very accurate in their criticism. No word on which blog he reads. New details and links to our coverage below.
Chief Rubin takes responsibility and likens sprinkler demonstration errors to a “comedy act”: Chief Dennis Rubin cited for Campus-Firewatch.com‘s Ed Comeau a series of errors that were made during last Wednesday’s sprinkler demonstration at Gallaudet University that resulted in a firefighter being burned. These include no safety officer, no briefing, no checklist and no backup line. The chief takes responsibility for the event that he says looked like a “comedy act”. We have details on the chief’s remarks, his recorded phone interview with Comeau and a new video on Firehouse.com that shows the demonstration from Chief Rubin’s point of view. The chief also says he is going to write an article about the episode for a fire service magazine. Click here.
More on Rip Van Winkle: A lot of people have been shaking their heads over the story from Ross Township, PA we first brought you Sunday night. This was about the man who was sound asleep in a burning house for 2 hours and 20 minutes after firefighters arrived to put out the fire. Click here for the latest and most detailed article yet on how this occurred.
Video from West Virginia fire: In Wayne, West Virginia a family owned supermarket burned yesterday morning. Click here for some raw video and here to watch the story.
Milwaukee chief says reducing ladder staffing won’t affect public safety: The plan is to take staffing on the last eight ladder companies with five firefighters down to four, closing a ladder company and an engine company, and instituting brownouts of one or two engine companies a day to cut overtime. An alderman has asked firefighters to take a pay freeze instead. Pointing out that only 2-percent of the responses are structure fires, Chief Doug Holton disputes the union’s contention that four-person crews are unsafe. I couldn’t find clarity in the articles I read on the chief’s position on whether the closing of companies would impact safety. Here is the latest from the Journal Sentinel. As always you can find the view of a front line Milwaukee firefighter at thehousewatch.com.
Former union president who beat prostitution charge loses election: A recount didn’t help Darren Bates retain his seat on Iowa’s Council Bluffs City Council. Bates, a former Omaha fire captain, was acquitted on a charge of soliciting a prostitute earlier this year. Here’s the update.
Car plunges 225 feet off cliff. Two elderly men survive: One was able to go for help after the fall off Point Loma in the San Diego area. Click here and here for the story.
Off-duty firefighter tries to save man whose car was hit by a train: An off-duty Marshfield, Wisconsin firefighter tells the story of his unsuccessful attempt to get a 79-year-old man out of the path of a train. The man, who Jeff Barth had met moments earlier in a convenience store, is in intensive care. Click here to watch the interview with Barth. Read the story.
Efficiency and money savings cited in proposal to close four NC fire stations: Click here for the story from Wake County, North Carolina.
Maryland town goes dry. Fire departments pitch in: Mt. Savage in Western Maryland has run out of water. Fire company tankers are replenishing the supply. Click here for the details.
