Dec. 25, 2022 A number of San Francisco fire stations took part in this year’s station decorating competition and judges selected Station 19 as the winner.

By Peter Hartlaub Source San Francisco Chronicle Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Dec. 23—Firefighters strung fire boats with lights, took spectacular drone footage and had snow hauled in from the Sierras for the city’s annual fire station decoration contest.

But it was Station 39, a charming neighborhood fire house at 1091 Portola Dr., that took the top prize — turning the historic station at the foot of Mt. Davidson into a light-covered wonderland.

The contest originally ran from 1948 to 1950, and was extremely popular, but ended bitterly after San Franciscans voted down a firefighter cost-of-living raise. It was revived in 2020, after a Chronicle article documented the original contest and suggested a return.

The 2022 contest was arguably the biggest ever. Several stations hosted block parties, and a Teamsters truck, escorted by emergency vehicles, crossed the Bay Bridge early Tuesday morning filled with several tons of winter snow. Also, San Francisco Mayor London Breed was the final judge, choosing the winners from finalists picked by a group that toured 10 stations on Tuesday night.

Station 39 was the winner, with Station 12 finishing second and the Bureau of Equipment in the Mission District third. The BOE, which has a snow-making machine and was the beneficiary of the Teamsters snow, was the 2021 winner.

“Thanks to our Fire Department we got to experience great community parties, mesmerizing Sierra snow, colorful lights, fun snowball fights, delicious homemade cookies and festive spirits all over San Francisco,” Breed said. “It is delightful to see people having fun at our fire stations and meeting firefighters, police officers, neighbors and small business owners.”

Station 39, founded in 1936 and still in its original building, lined its fire house in multicolored lights, built a firefighting scene on the lawn and framed the garage in holiday trees covered with yellow lights. A snow-making machine dusted the front sidewalk while an inflatable Santa waved from the roof.

Honorable mentions included Station 13 in the Financial District, Station 38 in Pacific Heights and Station 35 — the floating fireboat station along the Embarcadero.

Sponsors included San Francisco Fire Credit Union employees, Los Bomberos Employee Group and Code 3 Transportation.

The winners split $3,000 in money going to charities of their choice.

Fire stations will remain lit at least until December 31. 

“This year’s station holiday decoration competition was absolutely amazing,” said San Francisco Fire Department Chief Jeanine Nicholson. “Your San Francisco firefighters, paramedics and EMTs did an amazing job engaging with not only each other, but the communities that they serve.”

Dec. 24, 2022 The small plane landed and then flipped on its roof on a Santa Monica beach, sending two people to the hospital.

By Alexandra E. Petri Source Los Angeles Times Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

LOS ANGELES — Former Santa Monica Mayor Rex Minter died after a small plane in which he was a passenger crash-landed on the beach in Santa Monica on Thursday afternoon, city officials confirmed.

Santa Monica Mayor Gleam Davis confirmed in a tweet Thursday night that Minter was a passenger in the single-engine Cessna airplane that flipped over after the pilot landed on the shoreline.

No one on the beach was injured.

“Sadly, former SM mayor and judge Rex Minter was the passenger in the plane,” Davis said in a comment on a video of the incident posted to Twitter. “He has passed away. I have spoken with his family and relayed the City’s condolences to them.”

Minter was elected to the Santa Monica City Council in 1955 and served as mayor from 1963-67. He later served as city attorney for Arcadia, and as a judge for the Los Angeles County Superior Court. He also served in the Marines.

The city of Santa Monica said that flags in front of City Hall will be lowered to half-staff, and a city council meeting in the new year will be adjourned in honor of Minter’s service.

Firefighters were called at 3:17 p.m. to the 1800 block of Santa Monica Beach, said Capt. Patrick Nulty, a spokesperson for the city’s fire department.

The airplane landed on the beach and flipped over into the surf, Nulty said. Two people, including Minter, were on board.

Both occupants were transported to a hospital, the captain said.

The pilot had reported engine issues after taking off from Santa Monica Airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash. Further information was not available from federal authorities Thursday.

Dec. 24, 2022 Two children were critically injured and two others were hurt in the fire that engulfed the second floor of the Staten Island home.

By Emma Seiwell, Rocco Parascandola Source New York Daily News Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Fire ripped through a three-story Staten Island house on Friday morning, killing a 5-year-old girl and a 6-year-old boy and injuring four of their siblings, neighbors and authorities said.

Two children in the family — boys, ages 5 and 10 — were rushed to the hospital in critical condition. Two older children, a boy, 12, and a girl, 14, suffered smoke inhalation and were expected to survive.

The mother of the children, who was not home at the time of the fire, was rushed to the hospital in a state of shock, but was in stable condition, said Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh.

“It’s an incredible tragedy, and we feel it as New Yorkers,” said Kavanagh. “Our [ FDNY] members, of course, are parents themselves. This is right before Christmas. It’s tough for all of us.”

A firefighter was also hospitalized with minor injuries.

The blaze erupted around 10:20 a.m. in a house on Van Duzer St. near Vanderbilt Ave. in Grymes Hill.

“We heard the thumping and we saw real big flames coming out the windows,” said Jessica Little, a next-door neighbor.

An across-the-street neighbor, Adam Alv, 26, said his roommate heard the children inside the house screaming.

Firefighters responded to a 911 call and were at the scene in three minutes, the Fire Department said.

“They immediately started an aggressive interior attack on the fire,” said FDNY Chief of Department John Hodgens. “The entire second floor was engulfed in flames.

“Once they started to move in the hose line, they quickly extinguished the fire. And we found the victims inside all unconscious and needing to be removed.”

Firefighters brought the injured children to the street and performed CPR and other measures to save their lives until EMTs arrived and administered advanced care, Hodgens said.

“All members operated under very intense conditions to try to save these lives,” said Hodgens. In all, 60 firefighters responded to the scene.

“They were a big family, a very respected family. The kids were very happy and this is very tragic,” said neighbor and friend who gave his name as Jorge Luis, 53.

“As for character, she was top-notch,” Luis said of the mother. “The kids would always give me a warm welcome, gleefully and happily say hi.”

”I’m so saddened for them. That this happened a day before Christmas Eve is awful,” Luis said.

Little said her father frequented the family’s house to offer food to the children. “If we had heard it sooner, we could have helped them,” Little said.

“I can’t even imagine what she is going through,” said another next-door neighbor who wished to remain anonymous. “They were quiet and the kids were good.”

The cause of the fire was not immediately clear.

Dec. 23, 2022 An alert firefighter heard the Surf City firehouse’s siren sounding and, upon investigation, found fire and smoke conditions inside the station.

Source Firehouse.com News

A New Jersey fire company is out of service after their station and emergency vehicles were were damaged by fire Thursday night.

A nearby firefighter heard the Surf City Volunteer Fire Company station’s siren sounding, indicating a fire alarm at the station and responded to the facility check on it.

“Fortunately the Fire Siren worked as designed, and when our investigating Firefighter arrived from home, he found heavy smoke and flames inside the Apparatus Bay, and then called 9-1-1,” the department shared on Facebook.

Firefighters used extinguishers while others drove the apparatus out of the station and then crews used a hoseline from Rescue Engine 4913 to knock down the fire.

Other companies responded to assist Surf City firefighters at the scene.

One firefighter suffered minor injuries and was treated and released.

With the station and equipment out of service, the company said firefighters from the Ship Bottom and High Point volunteer fire companies will respond, along with the Barnegat Light First Aid Squad.

The Ocean County Fire Marshal’s Office determined the fire was caused by malfunctioning electrical equipment and ruled it accidental.

“We would like to give a huge thank you to our mutual aid Fire and EMS organizations that responded and assisted us tonight. We will be back up and running very soon!” 

Dec. 23, 2022 Boise firefighters treated two men after a person jumped off Baybrook Bridge and struck their raft.

By Shaun Goodwin Source The Idaho Statesman (TNS) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

In early August, a group of rafters was floating down the busy Boise River when a person jumped off an overhanging bridge and landed on the back end of a raft.

The individual was performing a back flip off the Baybrook Bridge near Parkcenter Boulevard when he crashed into the raft, injuring an adult male and his son.

The incident hospitalized the two individuals, who were pulled from the river by nearby Boise Fire Department members. The first responders did not get the name of the male who jumped from the bridge and then left the scene, however.

The victims now have filed a tort claim against the city of Boise and the Fire Department, seeking in excess of $100,000. Tort claims in Idaho are necessary precursors to litigation and give involved agencies 90 days from the date filed to accept or deny the claim. If a claim is denied or not responded to, the claimant may sue.

Jay Alcala suffered a serious injury to his head and one knee, and has mental and emotional trauma, according to the claim. He has undergone medical treatment for his injuries and likely will require further surgery and treatment on the injured knee, the claim says.

Alcala’s son suffered bone bruising and emotional trauma, according to the claim, and Alcala’s fiancée, Machelle Siegel, observed the incident and suffered from emotional distress.

The claim, filed on Dec. 16 and obtained by the Idaho Statesman, is asking for more than $100,000 for the cost of medical treatment, alleged negligence on the part of the Boise Fire Department for not obtaining the jumper’s name, and potential violations of federal or state law.

What happened?

On Aug. 6, Alcala, his son and Siegel were sitting on the back end of a large raft while floating the river, according to a video capturing the incident.

As the float passed beneath the Baybrook Bridge — also known as the Red Bridge by many — a male jumper “negligently did a back flip off the bridge without first looking to see if it was safe to do so and landed on the raft,” according to the claim.

The jump was illegal, according to Boise City Code, which states that it is against the law to “jump from, throw or drop any object, including a person, from any bridge, tree or other landscape features into the Boise River within fifty feet of any boater, floater, rafter or tuber.”

Punishment for breaking the city code carries a maximum $100 penalty.

Boise Fire Engine Three was patrolling the river from a nearby bank on a busy summer Saturday, according to previous Statesman reporting, and one of the firefighters used a rescue bag to pull one of the victims to shore. The tort claim names three Boise Fire Department first responders.

Siegel asked the firefighters to obtain the name and identification of the male who jumped from the bridge, according to the claim. The firefighters advised her to stay and care for the two victims and promised they would identify the jumper, but they ultimately were unable to, the claim says.

Because firefighters could not identify the jumper, Alcala and Siegel were unable to pursue him for damages, and the tort claim states that’s why they are taking action against the city.

Dec. 23, 2022 James Bartels, a former 911 dispatcher in Gallia County, told authorities he started the fires to “give the boys something to do.”

By Cliff Pinckard Source cleveland.com (TNS) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — An official with a volunteer fire department who also is a former 911 dispatcher is now facing federal charges after he was accused of setting at least 24 arson fires at a national forest in southeast Ohio.

James Bartels, 50, of Patriot, Ohio, has admitted to setting fires in Wayne National Forest, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio. He reportedly set the fires with a lighter to “give the boys something to do” and to distract himself from depression, prosecutors say.

Bartels, who is an administrator at the Greenfield Township Volunteer Fire Department and is a former 911 dispatcher for Gallia County, was arrested Tuesday and is charged with willfully committing arson.

Prosecutors say a truck registered to Bartels was seen near the forest by officers with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources on Oct. 29, and Bartels was seen on a road nearby. Within an hour, a fire was reported in the area, prosecutors say.

Bartels resigned as a dispatcher on Nov. 8. Authorities say at least 17 fires were set after Bartels resigned. He reportedly was seen twice in the vicinity of fires just minutes after they started.

Prosecutor’s say the infotainment system data in Bartels’ truck places him at the locations of the fires.

Bartels is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in U.S. District Court on Jan. 3 in Columbus. Willfully committing arson is a federal crime punishable by up to five years in prison.