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10 injured in Chicago fire engine wreck. Paper reports alcohol a factor with civilian driver.

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According to the Chicago Tribune, alcohol was apparently involved in a crash that injured 10 people.  Engine 62 was responding through a West Pullman neighborhood on the Far South Side when a car stopped but then continued into its path.  More information available here.

From the Chicago Tribune:

None of the victims — including three children and four Chicago firefighters — suffered  life-threatening injuries when the truck, responding to a fire call, collided with a mid-size sedan at Halsted and 128th streets, police said. A female passenger did suffer a broken neck, authorities said.

One source said the sedan's driver, a man, had a blood-alcohol level over the legal limit. A second source said police were seeking felony charges against the driver.

Posted by on February 1, 2012 • Filed under: Apparatus, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, Uncategorized • Tagged: , , , , , ,

Pennsylvania State Police say driver of fire truck at fault in fatal wreck. Mount Holly’s Citizens Fire Company rig hit SUV in South Middleton Township on way to vehicle fire.

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Above is the story from the scene yesterday.

Photos from crash scene

From WGAL-TV:

State police said a fire truck is at fault for a fatal crash that happened about 3 p.m. Thursday south of Carlisle in Cumberland County.

The crash happened near Holly Pike/Route 34 and Old York Road/Highway 174 in South Middleton Township.

From Ed Komenda, The Patriot-News:

State police spokeswoman Michelle Davis said an investigation found that the fire truck driver, of Mount Holly's Citizens Fire Company, failed to yield to 70-year-old Carlisle resident Constance Walsh's car at the intersection of Old York Road and the Holly Pike in South Middleton Township, Cumberland County.

The state's vehicle code says non-emergency vehicles have to yield to emergency vehicles responding to a call, Davis said. But emergency vehicles also have the obligation to yield to non-emergency vehicles entering their path, she said.

 

Posted by on December 9, 2011 • Filed under: Apparatus, command-leadership, ems-topics, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, news, vehicle-operations-apparatus • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Chief decides wall is the best choice after fire engine’s brakes give out

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Three week ago, when the master cylinder gave out on a 36-year-old pumper for the Sangerville Fire Department in Maine as Chief Chuck Bean was backing it into the station, the chief had some decisions to make. The rig, carrying 750 gallons of water, began to roll down hill without brakes.

Here's what Chief Bean told Nick McCrea at Bangor Daily News this week:

At this point, Bean said, the truck was heading toward the fire department building, another firetruck and several other vehicles in the parking lot.

“I just tried to avoid anything, that was all I could do,” Bean said. “I could have hit a few vehicles and a building we just put an addition onto.”

The truck came to rest after hitting a 3-foot “retaining wall” that divides the town office entrance from the fire department entrance, Bean said. The back of the truck was hanging over the wall, so a wrecker had to be called from Newport to pull the truck onto all four wheels.

The chief's choices were apparently pretty good. Total damage was $3000 and the fire engine is back on the road, but with a little body damage. Everyone seems to agree it could have been a lot worse.

Posted by on August 4, 2011 • Filed under: administration-leadership, Apparatus, command-leadership, ems-topics, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, news • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

February 18 Roundup: Homecoming | Tight Squeeze | Funding & Fundraisers

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HOMECOMING

Teen firefighter Clay Thornburg was on his way to a call December 28 when his truck slipped on ice and flipped. The Hugh’s Pond Fire Department (North Carolina), where he serves as a volunteer, had to cut him out, and he has spent the past 7 weeks in the hospital recovering from his injuries. Wednesday morning, his department drove him home. Fire trucks with signs and flags waited for the motorcade to pass along the 40 mile ride, and residents lined the streets of his hometown of Cherryville to welcome him home.

Click on the picture above to see WSOC’s full interview with Clay and here for the full story and here for a slideshow of his ride home. WBTV also has more on the story and pictures here.

NEW APPARATUS + OLD BUILDINGS = TIGHT SQUEEZE (The Danbury, Connecticut, Version)


How to move the Danbury (Connecticut) Fire Department forward — that’s what a 13-member task force was asked to decide. The group, which included career and volunteer firefighters and city officials, submitted its report in November. One of the problems is shared by other departments around the country.

The department has apparatus with tight squeezes in stations. There are some rigs that are too large to be worked on in headquarters, so they must wait until warm weather for repairs or maintenance. Among the task force’s recommendations is to remodel or replace facilities. Read more from the NewsTimes.com here.

The previous FireTruckBlog.com entry “NEW APPARATUS + OLD BUILDINGS = TIGHT SQUEEZE” about a similar situation in Boston is here.

INCIDENTS & ACCIDENTS

One person was transported after a car and a Los Angeles City fire truck collided. The driver of the car was taken to the hospital. The rig was headed to a call. More in the Beverly Hills Couriers here and from KCBS here.

In Chicago, a pizza delivery car and a fire truck collided. The pizza delivery driver suffered minor injuries. ABC7′s story is here.

FUNDING

West Long Branch Fire Department (New Jersey) — $25,000/year for 10 years from Monmouth University

Galveston — $191,000 (from Homeland Security)

Bridgeton (NJ) Fire Department — more than $1 million (from Homeland Security)

Landisville Volunteer Fire Department, in Buena Borough (NJ) — $237,500 (from Assistance to Firefighters Grant program)

North Ridgeville (Ohio) — $270,000 (federal grant)

FUNDRAISERS

This Saturday, the Ira Township Fire Fighters Association (Michigan) is hosting an evening of pizza, bowling, and raffles to raise money to help restore a 1929 REO/Howe pumper. Last August, the association bought the antique which is a replica of the Ira department’s first apparatus. Details for the fundraiser are here in the Voice.

Enjoy ice fishing? Join the Jamestown (North Dakota) Rural Fire Department‘s annual fishing derby this Saturday. The money raised in 2009 helped purchase a $140,000 water truck. This year, the department plans on getting a new grass truck. If you’re in the area and want to fish for a good cause, click here for details in the Jamestown Sun.

If you’re going to be in Fall River, Massachusetts, on March 6, you might consider stopping by a clam boil to benefit the Fall River Fire Museum. According to the Herald-News, the museum memorializes “city firefighters that died in the line of duty.” They’ve also been collecting new and vintage equipment, including apparatus. More details are here.

Posted by on February 18, 2011 • Filed under: Community, funding-apparatus, in-the-line-of-duty, line-of-duty, news, vehicle-operations-apparatus • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Icy Weather Continues To Hamper Firefighting Operations

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FROZEN HOSES:

It was so cold in Chicago Wednesday night, the hoses froze while firefighters battled the flames at Andy’s Deli.

These pictures shared by Larry Shapiro of ChicagoAreaFire.com show how the CFD had to carefully get the hoses back to the rigs. Then they drove back to the station with the hoses on top of the apparatus.

Firefighters first had to deal with frozen hydrants around the building that houses Andy’s Deli.

According to Shapiro, the Mobile Ventilation Unit (9-2-3) from Engine 106′s quarters was called in to “push the fire to the rear and through the roof to allow companies to get at it since much of the roof had remained intact.”

Larry Shapiro
has many more photographs
which can be viewed
here.


VIDEO FROM LARRY SHAPIRO:

VIDEO FROM STEVE REDICK:

RAW VIDEO FROM NBCCHICAGO.COM:

More from NBCChicago.com is here.

ICY DRIVEWAY: In North Buffalo, Pennsylvania, apparatus from East Franklin and Worthington after Worthington’s truck slid down a driveway at the scene of a garage fire. There was some damage to both rigs and the hose lines. PittsburghLive.com reports a heavy duty tanker from South Buffalo had to pull another Worthington rig out of a snow bank — it also slid on the driveway. Read more here.

Posted by on February 11, 2011 • Filed under: Apparatus, firefighting-operations, fires, videos • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Chicago Fire Department deploys snowmobiles for blizzard.

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Preparing for the blizzard, now underway, the Chicago Fire Department placed 50 snowmobiles at firehouses around the city. Additional firefighters are assigned to the units to make sure CFD gets to residents on snow blocked streets.

Here are some details from WGN-TV:

It is believed to be the first time the city has used snowmobiles to help out during a massive snowfall. The vehicles will be sent to half of the Chicago Fire Department’s 100 firehouses around the city.

Some suburban fire departments will also be using snowmobiles to respond to emergency medical needs in hard-to-reach spots.

“We have a six-wheel ATV sitting here,” said Barrington Fire Chief Jim Arie, also chief of the Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District that has fire stations in rural Barrington Hills and Lake Barrington. “We’d use that if our engines or ambulances were not able to get to an emergency or to a patient.”

The Harlem-Roscoe Fire Department is also using snowmobiles. Chief Don Shoevlin tells WIFR, “The snowmobiles are equipped with oxygen a heart monitor, even a back-board to haul away injured patients.” WIFR has the full story here.

Posted by on February 2, 2011 • Filed under: Apparatus, ems-health-safety, ems-topics, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, news, videos • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

VIDEO: Funeral Procession for Chicago Firefighter Corey Ankum

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Posted by on December 31, 2010 • Filed under: in-the-line-of-duty, line-of-duty, videos • Tagged: , , , , , ,

Engine 72 Carries Chicago Firefighter Corey Ankum’s Body From Church To Cemetery

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click on the picture for larger image from ChicagoBreakingNews.com

Thousands paid tribute to Chicago Firefighter Corey Ankum during his funeral Thursday morning. Ankum and fellow Firefighter Edward Stringer died December 22 when the roof collapsed during a fire at an abandoned dry cleaners.

From ChicagoBreakingNews.com:

“If you were trying to draw up a description of the ideal firefighter, you’d come up with someone very much like Corey. And I know because he told me every time I was with Dameka how great the fire department was,” said Mayor Richard Daley. “Every time I spoke to him, all the time, it didn’t matter where I was or who I was with, the first thing he said was ‘I love the fire department.’”

Firefighter Corey Ankum Remembered at Funeral: MyFoxCHICAGO.com

Firefighter Ankum’s wife is Mayor Daley’s personal secretary. He also leaves behind two daughters and a 1-year-old son.

Hear Chicago Fire Chief Robert Hoff’s words about Firefighter Corey Ankum from NBCChicago.com:

More from ChicagoBreakingNews.com can be found here, from MyFoxChicago.com here, and from NBCChicago here.

Click here for photos from the Chicago Tribune and here for pictures from the Chicago Sun-Times.

YouTube video from an overpass:

Previous related stories from FireTruckBlog.com:

Posted by on December 30, 2010 • Filed under: in-the-line-of-duty, line-of-duty, news, videos • Tagged: , , , , , ,

Video: Funeral procession for Firefighter Edward Stringer, Chicago Fire Department.

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Click here for Part 3 and Part 4

Just after noon today Chicago Fire Department Engine 63 left Saint Rita’s on the South Side escorted by scores of fire trucks and other emergency vehicles. It carried the body of Firefighter Edward Stringer, killed last week in a building collapse. Firefighter Stringer was buried in a private ceremony ay Beverly Cemetery in Oak Lawn.

Posted by on December 28, 2010 • Filed under: administration-leadership, in-the-line-of-duty, line-of-duty, news, videos • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Fallen Chicago Firefighter’s Company Takes Santa To Children’s Hospital

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Chicago Fire Engine Company 63 carried on a Christmas day tradition while still mourning the loss of Firefighter Ed Stringer.  Firefighter Stringer, who worked at Station 63, died Wednesday with Firefighter Corey Ankum after the roof collapsed in an abandoned dry cleaners.

Engine 63 took Santa to Chicago’s La Rabida Children’s Hospital on Christmas day to deliver presents to the kids.

“It’s really a tough time, but I tell you, the fire department – our firemen are very resilient,” Engine Company 63 Chief Jeffrey Springer told WLS. “We grieve, we mourn, we hurt, but our service to the community and our service to the public continues. We go on.”

Click on the photo above to see more pictures from WLS

Services for Firefighter Stringer and Firefighter Ankum will be held next week.  More information can be found here. Many have left condolences here on Chicago Fire Department’s Facebook page.

Posted by on December 26, 2010 • Filed under: in-the-line-of-duty, videos • Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Fallen Chicago Firefighter Receives Apparatus Escort

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Two Chicago firefighters were killed Wednesday morning and 19 were injured battling a fire in an abandoned building, and the roof collapsed.

Corey Ankum and Edward Stringer were both taken to Chicago area hospitals. Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford told ChicagoBreakingNews.com both firefighters died of trauma.

Photo from Chicago Sun-Times

Engine Co. 98 was among the apparatus which escorted Firefighter Stringer’s body from the hospital.

More pictures can be found here on the Chicago Sun-Times and here from the Chicago Tribune.

The brother of a firefighter on the scene describes what happened after the collapse in ChicagoBreakingNews.com:

Steven Ellerson, a 20-year veteran, rushed in with others to rescue them. “He heard someone calling for help and he looked for him,” Ellerson’s brother Maurice Matthews said.

Ellerson found Ankum on the floor, gasping.

“He found him and knew he was struggling to breathe so he took off his mask to give him some oxygen,” Matthews said. “Corey’s head was stuck somehow and they couldn’t get him out. So my brother went to give him his coat but they came and got my brother out of there. My brother didn’t want to leave him, but there was no choice.

“It was a chaotic scene,” Matthews said. “These guys put their lives on the line every day.”

STATter911.com has extensive coverage including more about Firefighter Ankum and Firefighter Stringer, the Mayday call, the Chicago Fire Department press conferences, reports from the scene, and Mayor Richard Daley’s statement here.

Chicago Tribune and Chicago History Museum

These deaths come on the 100-year anniversary of the Chicago Stockyards Fire.   Twenty-one firefighters, including the chief, were killed that day when a six-story brick wall fell while they were battling a fire that started in the basement of Warehouse 7.  They had rushed to the fire with their horse-drawn steam engines and trucks.

Two days ago, the Chicago Tribune published a story called “100 years since Stockyards fire raged: Remembering Chicago’s ‘forgotten tragedy.’” You can read it here.  The headline refers to the title of Bill Cosgrove’s book “Chicago’s Forgotten Tragedy.”  More about him and the book can be found here.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Cosgrove was approached by Chicago Firefighter Bill Cattorini in 1998 about establishing a memorial to the firefighters after passing by the spot of the 1910 fire.  They decided the memorial should honor all Chicago firefighters who died in the line of duty.  The memorial was dedicated on December 22, 2004, and a ceremony now takes place every October 8–the anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire. More on the story here.

This video from 2008 shows old photographs from the fire, and Cosgrove describes the apparatus arriving at the scene of the Stockyards Fire:

Click here for MyFoxChicago’s coverage of the 2010 ceremony at the memorial.

The video below is a montage of photos from the 2010 remembrance and pictures of the 21 killed in the Stockyards fire set to music.

Posted by on December 22, 2010 • Filed under: firefighting-operations, in-the-line-of-duty, major-incidents, news, videos • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,