May 17, 2023 “It was seconds or mere minutes from when they stepped off that bucket into that window until that portion of roof collapsed in the bucket,” Providence Chief Derek Silva said.
Providence firefighters had a very close call at a house fire this past Saturday when their tower ladder was damaged in a partial roof collapse.
“It was seconds or mere minutes from when they stepped off that bucket into that window until that portion of roof collapsed in the bucket. So had things been different, had they remained in the bucket, had they operated from the bucket … they would have been injured and possibly something worse,” Chief Derek Silva told WPRI.
“When it was extended in the air, that roof came down into the bucket and effectively turned the inside of this bucket into a fire pit,” the chief said adding that the controls and cables in the bucket melted.
Tower Ladder One, worth about $1.4 million, was put into service in 2021. The extent of damage is being determined.
May 16—SABATTUS — The town will hire an independent investigator to sort out the details of an ongoing dispute between the fire department and Town Manager Timothy Kane, it was decided Tuesday night.
The matter was addressed before a packed house at town hall as roughly five dozen residents and a handful of news reporters turned out to hear discussion of the matter at a regular town meeting.
Over the weekend, a fire official circulated a document, signed by dozens of Sabattus residents, expressing loss of confidence in Town Manager Kane. By the start of the Tuesday night meeting, more than 100 citizens had signed the ‘no confidence’ letter.
The document, prepared by firefighter and lifelong Sabattus resident Austin Gayton, is part of a packet outlining various complaints about Kane’s handling of city business. The packet has grown to contain more than 100 pages plus audio and video files. At the start of the Tuesday night meeting, Gayton handed out copies of that packet, compiled in white binders, to the media and to others residents.
Early in the meeting, when the matter of Gayton’s petition was raised for the first time, Selectman J.P. Normand LaPlante quickly made a motion to hire an independent investigator to look into it. Once the matter was voted on, no further discussion about the dispute was allowed — a move that did not go over well with some citizens.
“A lot of people want answers,” said one woman, a Sabattus resident since 1957. “And we’re not getting them.”
As it turns out, the rule was not a hard one and several comments were made about the dispute despite the earlier ruling. Kane himself stood briefly to address the crowd about the complaints outlined in Gayton’s ‘no confidence’ letter.
“The petition,” Kane said, “contains a lot of false claims. And I have recommended, before they made this motion, that the board initiate an investigation into the allegations so that I have a full and fair opportunity to address any questions or concerns that are raised by an independent investigator not related to this town.”
Gayton’s petition implies ongoing issues between the town manager and the people who work under him. The situation came to a head last week, though, when popular Fire Chief Troy Cailler announced he was retiring after disputes with Kane. Among the complaints lodged by Gayton and Cailler were that Kane refused to properly address a boiler issue at the fire station, which they say resulted in a lack of hot water the department needs for a variety of purposes, including decontamination.
However, a few people stood at the meeting to assert that money being spent by a rapidly growing fire department is bound to cause an increasing tax burden for the average citizen.
“We have to be able to afford to live here,” one man said.
Former Chief Cailler, who was not at the meeting, has implied that Kane has been trying to halt growth at the fire department, which was part of the reason Gayton created a petition. Kane, however, sees it differently.
“It is important for the public to understand,” he told the crowd, “that the petition is motivated by actions that I have taken as a town manager, to hold the Sabattus Fire Department properly accountable to the taxpayers and elected officials of Sabattus.”
A few at the meeting praised the work Kane has done since he took over as town manager in 2021. One woman, Laura Clifford, who runs the farmers market in town, said that every time she reaches out to the town manager with questions about the business, she gets an answer, regardless of the hour of the day.
Another woman echoed those comments, and suggested that those complaining about Kane in the wake of the fire department fray are not getting all the information because they don’t attend town meetings regularly.
A few criticized the firefighters for going to the media with their complaints, creating divisions within the normally tight knit community and creating an air of hostility.
“You can cut the tension with a knife right now,” said 76-year-old Paul Curran, who has lived his whole life in Sabattus. “It’s really embarrassing and it’s really a shame. … It’s a shame when people are pitted against each other without all the facts.”
Former Selectman Guy Desjardins observed that much of the dispute has been argued on social media, where tempers flare and facts are often in short supply. The result, he said, is a town in turmoil.
“It’s so divided right now,” Desjardins said, “and it hurts.”
Selectboard Chair Mark Duquette sat out the Tuesday night meeting since he is named in Gayton’s documents complaining about the town’s response to problems. Gayton’s packet included emails implying that Duquette had failed to intervene in the dispute with Kane. Duquette said he was out of town addressing a personal matter when the situation first arose and that he was not aware, at the time, that his help was being sought.
The fractious gathering Tuesday night came just a week before the town’s annual Town Meeting, which is slated for May 24. Although that does not provide an independent investigator time to look into the matter — especially since one hasn’t been hired yet — some are hoping that the big meeting next week will not be haunted by bad feelings that have arisen during the dispute.
“I really hope that we’ve been looking at the agenda; that we can look at each individual article and vote as a team — as a town — and put this aside for now,” Desjardins said. “Let’s get a good Town Meeting going, vote what we feel and move forward.”
A semi-truck with a trailer driver was backing up to the Ralph’s store loading dock when it hit and sheared off a fire hydrant.
Water shot 50 feet into the area for about 40 minutes. Firefighters responded after public works employees couldn’t shut it off.
The firefighters appeared to be swimming as they were trying to find the valve. Water made it into the underground parking but was draining quickly, according to OnScene reports.
A Métis wildland firefighter from East Prairie Métis Settlement is in a coma in an Edmonton hospital after being injured while battling a wildfire that was threatening his home and community.
Frankie Payou, 33, has been a firefighter for 14 years, APTN news reported.
He was helping to fight the fire that was coming closer to his neighborhood. “Frankie had done everything he could to try to save their house,” said Jessica Supernault, Melody’s cousin. “He went to a neighbors’ to help another house and within that 15 minutes their house had burned.”
Payou was cutting down a burned tree when it came down on top of him. He was airlifted to Edmonton to deal with his extensive injuries. He remains in a coma.
He has liver and kidney damage, broken ribs and back injuries.
Firefighters are on the scene of a three-alarm blaze Tuesday morning inside a Southwest Portland apartment building at 1041 S.W. Taylor Street in Goose Hollow. The call appears to have come in around 10:30 a.m.
Heavy, black smoke is visible from downtown and throughout the Portland skyline.
Photos and video posted on social media by Portland Fire & Rescue show smoke billowing from the windows of the four-story structure as firefighters appeared to evacuate and rescue tenants and pets from the fire-escape stairs on the building’s facade.
By 11 a.m., fire bureau on-scene command directed crews to withdraw from the building because the fire was still growing. At 11:45 a.m., the agency tweeted that it had become a four-alarm fire and crews were performing a “Personal Accountability Report” — making sure all firefighters were accounted for.
Portland General Electric turned off power to the area, the fire bureau said. Outages are expected to last a few hours in the neighborhood.
It’s unclear if anyone is still trapped inside the building. Firefighters expanded the diameter around the building to protect neighboring structures because the apartment building may fully collapse, the fire bureau said. Emergency response vehicles were moved away from side of the building “in the event of a structural collapse,” the agency tweeted.
The apartment building is two blocks away from Lincoln High School, which lost electricity Tuesday morning.
Lincoln principal Peyton Chapman sent an email to parents just before noon, saying it appeared a transformer had blown nearby. The school is running emergency lights on emergency generators and bringing students who were off site back into the school due to the worsening air quality from the “massive fire.”
Durham firefighters feel they’re underpaid and their wages are making it hard to retain staff.
The department that ran more than 31,000 calls for service in 2022 has a problem with retention, WRAL reported.
Since January, 17 firefighters have left. And, about 60 percent of those remaining have less than five years of service.
The roots of the issue lie with the COVID-19 pandemic. The union said the city froze salaries citywide more than three years ago.
The way a firefighter’s pay is structured, they receive a 5% merit raise every year. With the exception of that mid-year adjustment 16 months ago, They haven’t seen a merit increase in more than three years.
“Not one Durham firefighter I’ve talked to, not one is asking for a raise right now,” said Jason Davis, president of Professional Firefighters of Durham. “What we’re asking for is for them to keep their end of the deal. We all signed up. We knew what the starting pay was going to be and when they laid that paper in front of us and said as long as you do a good job you’re going to get your 5% [raise] every year. They haven’t kept the end of the bargain yet. That’s what we just want them to do, keep their end of the deal.”
Firefighters on the South Shore of Massachusetts are being praised for their efforts at a massive house fire Monday evening.
Hull Fire Chief Chris Russo told a WCVB reporter the combination of intense flames and strong winds caused siding to melt on the house across the street.
“There was a lot for them to contend with, but they did a tremendous job of keeping this to one house and not losing a whole block.”
Sadly, a dog perished in the fire. No other injuries were reported.
Departments from seven nearby towns responded to assist with the fire.
IL Comptroller Susana Mendoza wipes a tear while speaking on behalf of her brother, police Sgt. Joaquin Mendoza, during a news conference at Chicago’s City Hall on Feb. 21, 2023.
A day before the state and federal governments’ COVID-19 mitigation protocols are set to expire, Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday signed into law a measure aimed at making it easier for Chicago’s first responders to acquire full benefits if they suffered long-term disability because of the virus.
The legislation was pushed by Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza, whose brother, Chicago police Sgt. Joaquin Mendoza, was infected with COVID-19 and fell badly ill, but was denied full disability benefits by the Policemen’s Annuity & Benefit Fund of Chicago.
“I am super sad that it happened to my brother. … I absolutely am horrified by it and mortified by it,” Mendoza said during a signing ceremony at the Illinois State Capitol. “And in a terrible twist of fate, he and I are both thankful that it did happen to him because I wouldn’t have even known about it otherwise.”
Under the measure, it would automatically be assumed that Chicago police officers, firefighters and paramedics who suffered long-term disability from COVID-19 contracted the virus because of their working conditions.
The law will apply to Chicago police officers, firefighters and paramedics who got sick with the virus from March 9, 2020, through June 30, 2021. If they were previously denied a duty disability benefit they could acquire “a retroactive duty disability benefit.”
“For these first responders, serving and protecting wasn’t just their job, it’s been their calling,” Pritzker said. “There are no words to describe the anguish and pain, both physical and emotional, that they’ve been through. But when our first responders aren’t given their full due, the state of Illinois won’t let them down.”
Legislation passed during the height of the pandemic stipulated that first responders statewide would be entitled to various protections if they contracted COVID-19, and considered it would be automatically assumed that they caught the virus while on the job. But that law didn’t apply to Chicago police and firefighters because they’re on a separate disability system, state officials said.
The measure signed by Pritzker on Wednesday was passed unanimously by the House and Senate. It takes effect immediately.
“We do do things sometimes in a partisan fashion here, and we do it for the right reason. And this is one of those times,”state Rep. Jay Hoffman of Swansea, a top ranking House Democrat and one of the bill’s chief sponsors, said at Wednesday’s news conference.
The comptroller accused the city of Chicago of setting impossible standards for cops like her brother to receive full benefits and criticized Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s political appointees on the pension board for their decision. Lightfoot has denied that she had any influence over the board’s decision.
Mendoza has said her brother contracted COVID-19 in 2020 — before the availability of the vaccine — while working 17 straight days on the job. He spent 72 days in the hospital, suffered kidney failure, lost the ability to use his left arm and suffered a number of strokes.
Duty disability provides 75% of the officer’s salary and free health insurance. On ordinary disability, an officer receives 50% compensation and must pay for health care.
Mendoza has said her brother is on ordinary disability, which she’s said, “essentially acknowledges that he’s disabled but says that because he could not prove which specific act of duty as a police officer led him to contracting COVID,” he wasn’t entitled to the full duty disability benefits.
Susana Mendoza and Lightfoot held dueling news conferences about the issue the week before Lightfoot lost her bid for reelection on Feb. 28. While Mendoza accused Lightfoot of being neglectful of officers like her brother, the mayor defended the pension board’s 4-3 decision to deny him the benefits in 2022.
The decision, which included four “no” votes from Lightfoot appointees, was also upheld in court after Joaquin Mendoza challenged it.
Susana Mendoza, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2019 against Lightfoot, has insisted that the timing of her decision to go public with her brother’s story had nothing to do with the mayoral election.
“This was an injustice that was done and frankly it should not have taken legislation to fix this,” Mendoza said at the news conference.
A Turtle Creek volunteer firefighter will be wearing a different helmet later this week — that of the Los Angeles Rams.
Mike McAllister, an undrafted free agent with the Rams, is headed to rookie camp in California on May 12, WTAE reported.
“Since I was 9 years old, I told people I was going to play in the NFL,” McAllister said, adding that he got the call he dreamed about at 8 p.m. last Saturday. “These months of hard work finally paid off, and I’m under contract to play in the NFL.”
He joined the fire department as a teen. “I fell in love with it at a young age, and I’ve always made time for this place. It’s like a second home to me, I just like the idea of volunteering the free time that I had.”
His free time was limited though because of another passion — football. But you’d find him hanging out at the firehouse during the summer and on other school breaks. As he joined others responding to emergencies, he did his best to avoid injury.
Fire Chief Jack Osman has been cheering McAllister on since his time as a Woodland Hills High School Wolverine, then as a center offensive lineman for Youngstown State University.
“You’re trying to guess who he might go to, and it was like, OK, anything but Cleveland. Cleveland, we don’t want to hear,” Osman said.
“To hold him back, it’s kind of hard to get in front of him to stop him. And you know that’s why he’s going to the NFL. He still has to make the team, but he’s a hard worker. He doesn’t do anything halfway.”
McAllister said his fellow firefighters couldn’t be happier for him.
“It’s a big family down here, and one of their family members just saw his life’s dream come true.”
