Feb. 28, 2023 Baltimore County firefighters said a man jumped from a second-story window to escape.
Source Firehouse.com News
A house fire in Dundalk early Tuesday has claimed two and firefighters are searching for another.
Heavy smoke was encountered when Baltimore County firefighters came into the area, WBAL reported.
A man jumped from a second-story window to escape the fire and sustained non-life- threatening injuries.
Feb. 28, 2023 The suit demands reinstatement of 11 chiefs who were demoted or requested transfers.
By Thomas Tracy, Elizabeth Keogh Source New York Daily News (TNS) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Former FDNY assistant chiefs who were demoted by Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh have filed a lawsuit demanding they and other chiefs affected by the recent shakeup in the upper ranks be reinstated.
The lawsuit, filed in Brooklyn state court on Monday names Assistant Chiefs Joe Jardin, Michael Gala and Fred Schaaf as plaintiffs. Kavanagh relegated all three to deputy chief earlier this month.
They are suing the Fire Department and Kavanagh, the city’s first woman fire commissioner.
She made the demotions after bringing her grievances regarding the three chiefs to John “Jack” Hodgens, the most senior uniformed official in the agency, and Chief of Fire Operations John Esposito, but the men didn’t reprimand the trio, sources said.
They were considered “bad apples” sources have told the Daily News.
In the aftermath of the demotions, multiple high-ranking members of the department gave up their own positions in protest, including Hodgens, Esposito and Deputy Assistant Chief Michael Massucci — who is named as the fourth plaintiff in the suit.
The suit demands 11 chiefs total, including the plaintiffs, get their old jobs back.
Massucci also requested in writing to be demoted back down to deputy chief.
The lawsuit claims that without the recently demoted chiefs, the city is lacking in experienced incident commanders — or chiefs who mobilize firefighters into action and supervise blazes — and that when the demotions go into effect next month, there will be no chiefs who have ever served as incident commanders on a five-alarm fire.
The FDNY did not immediately answer a request for comment. The city Law Department said it will review the case.
The filing claims Kavanagh has “abused the office of fire commissioner” and “put the public and members of the FDNY at risk.”
“Kavanagh’s brief tenure as FDNY commissioner has shown what happens when a political operative is put in charge of a public-safety agency as vital as the FDNY,” the suit reads.
The plaintiffs are seeking a reversal on “the Commissioner’s recent retaliatory decisions.”
“These are some of the same firefighters who put their own lives at risk on September 11 and on countless other occasions to uphold their oath to protect New Yorkers from lethal fires,” said the chiefs’ attorney Jim Walden. “To remove these experienced officials from their essential safety functions puts lives at risk and is simply a gross misjudgment and dereliction of duty by the Commissioner.”
Feb. 28, 2023 Sandy Springs firefighters exchanged fist bumps and high-fives through the glass.
Source Firehouse.com News
The training drill brought smiles and a flood of emotions for Sandy Springs firefighters and their tiny fans.
The rappelling exercise at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta will be a fond memory for many.
“Not everyone wants someone in the room with the kids, so it was a cool way of them getting to be close to us without us having to go in their rooms,” Capt. Kyle Sweeney told FOX5.
He said crews formed an instant bond as they saw the children’s eyes light up. There were fist bumps and high-fives through the glass.
“It really brightened his day,” said Zach Lansdell, whose son Levi has been in the hospital for 200 days.
“It really made a huge impact on Levi and was a huge morale booster,” said Zach, adding that it was one of his three-year-old son’s best days.
Lt. Chris Mileshko was among the firefighters. His father’s video company, Mileshko.com, took some unforgettable photos of video of the special day.
After their high-angle introduction, the firefighters went inside to visit. But, it didn’t end there.
Some have developed friendships with parents and have gone back to spend time.
Feb. 28, 2023 The San Antonio firefighters, not the intended targets, suffered minor cuts.
Source Firehouse.com News
San Antonio police continue to search for the person who fired shots while firefighters were tending to a patient early Sunday.
Someone drove up to the crew and said they were being followed, according to KENS 5.
“An argument ensued between the occupants of the vehicles. The crew then heard gunfire from those vehicles and proceeded to take cover,” SAFD Spokesman Woody Woodward said, adding it does not appear that the firefighters were the intended target.
Radio traffic obtained by the station indicated that when the bullets were flying, the firefighters ducked for cover and then left.
They sustained minor cuts and bruises.
Police said Monday they are still investigating the incident.
Feb. 27, 2023 Six Pompton Lakes firefighters, who were in the house, suffered minor injuries.
Source Firehouse.com News
Six Pompton Lakes firefighters who were in a house when it exploded walked away with minor injuries.
Dramatic body cam footage of the January blast has just been released, CBS2 reported.
Just seconds before, footage shows one firefighter walking into the home from the porch.
“Two of them were blown out because they were right by the door. They got blown out the door into the driveway,” Pompton Lakes fire official John Keating told reporters.
Two firefighters, along with a lieutenant, were in the basement and the lieutenant helped them out.
Three other firefighters including an assistant chief, were on the first floor. Two were pulling a line into the home.
“It was the assistant chief and the two other guys who got blown out. Thankfully, they were in the right spot of the house,” Keating said, adding that their gear saved them.
“They have their full-time jobs. They have their families, and they give up their time to come to something like this. It’s really truly amazing,” a neighbor, Tracey Alvarez said.
She went on to describe the incident: “The house literally lifted off the foundation and came back down. It was like The Wizard of Oz.”
All those injured are volunteers.
The assistant fire chief had burns to his ears because his hood blew off while the lieutenant, suffered third-degree burns to his hands.
The cause remains under investigation.
Feb. 27, 2023 All eight of Lincoln Fire and Rescue’s medic units will be equipped with the latest emergency medical response and cardiac care technology.
By Andrew Wegley Source Lincoln Journal Star, Neb. (TNS) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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Feb. 17—All eight of Lincoln Fire and Rescue’s medic units will be equipped with the latest emergency medical response and cardiac care technology thanks to a $2.2 million investment from the city, officials announced Friday.
The new equipment includes 35 cardiac monitors that will alert first responders earlier to changes in a patient’s heart condition and a dozen “power cots” that could lift 750-pound patients without human assistance, said Jamie Pospisil, the department’s chief of emergency medical services.
Altogether, the new equipment — which also includes 20 heart rhythm simulators, six automatic external defibrillators and 12 “stair chairs” that help responders move patients up and down stairs — is meant to reduce the strain on firefighters and paramedics while helping improve patient outcomes, Fire Chief Dave Engler said.
“The new equipment will also make certain that the members of our community are getting the best patient care,” Engler said at a Friday news conference at Lincoln Fire and Rescue Station No. 15, where he appeared alongside Pospisil, Medical Director Noah Bernhardson and Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird.
Also added are eight automated compression delivery devices, which replace the need for first responders to hand-deliver chest compressions when performing CPR.
The department’s seven regularly used medic units — along with an eighth medic unit Engler activated earlier this month to serve during peak call hours to ease paramedic workload — will be outfitted with the equipment, which officials repeatedly said would be “lifesaving.”
Lincoln Fire and Rescue reserve medic units, which are deployed when all normal medic units are out on calls, will also be equipped with the department’s latest purchases, which Engler said were included in the agency’s annual budget.
And each of the department’s engine companies will also be equipped with a state-of-the-art cardiac monitor, Pospisil said.
The city is leasing the equipment from Stryker Sales, a medical equipment manufacturing company, for $2.19 million over the course of 49 months, paid in annual installments of $439,000, according to the city’s lease agreement with the company.
Pospisil said the city will have to replace the equipment when the lease period ends.
The equipment is meant to provide an additional boost to the city’s response to cardiac arrest calls — an area where Lincoln Fire and Rescue already excels, with a cardiac arrest survival rate that is more than double the national average.
Bernhardson, the department’s medical director, credited that success both to the agency’s medics and Lincoln’s residents, who, as bystanders, provided CPR in 70.8% of the 141 non-traumatic cardiac events in 2022, he said.
The national average for bystander intervention is 40.8%, he said.
“This is an outstanding contribution by the members of the Lincoln community,” Bernhardson said, before encouraging all residents to learn to administer CPR.
For Gaylor Baird, Friday’s announcement marked the latest in a series of news conferences where the mayor has touted her office’s investment in the city’s public safety agencies — a theme that has become a hallmark of her reelection campaign.
“As Lincoln grows, my administration continues to prioritize public safety investments in our city budget that keep you, your families and our first responders safe,” she said. “Those investments are contributing to impressive results.”
Earlier this month, the mayor announced that the Lincoln Police Department’s Special Victims Unit had moved into the BraveBe Child Advocacy Center following a public-private expansion of the center, which was predominantly funded by a private fundraising campaign.
And last week, Gaylor Baird unveiled a $400,000 federal grant the city received from the U.S. Department of Transportation to help create a traffic safety action plan in an effort to eliminate traffic fatalities in Lincoln.
Reach the writer at 402-473-7223 or awegley@journalstar.com.
On Twitter @andrewwegley
Feb. 27, 2023 Western Taney County firefighters said the two occupants of the historic car suffered minor injuries.
Source Firehouse.com News
Western Taney County firefighters likely recognized the vehicle involved in a crash Sunday afternoon.
It was the General Lee from the Dukes of Hazzard.
The two occupants were transported to a hospital for minor injuries.
The vehicle was the historic car used on the set of the popular show. They noted that there were 309 General Lees built for the show and another 26 made for the 2005 remake.
Feb. 27, 2023 Roy City Fire Rescue crews say the larger patient compartment will allow better access.
Source Firehouse.com News
Roy City Fire and Rescue has replaced its aging ambulances with new larger rigs.
They are larger and more powerful, crews told KSL.
“Even though we are a fire department, most of what we do is medically related,” Battalion Chief Jake Rast said, adding that 90 percent of the 6,078 calls last year were EMS-related.
“I think we average right around 21 calls a day, at times last year,” Rast said.
“Plenty of power: It gets us where we need to go,” said Battalion Chief Jake Rast.
Morgan Palmer, an advanced EMT, said she has noticed a big difference in the new ambulances.
“It’s bigger — more spacious — lets us get ready quicker for those fire calls,” Palmer said…”There are people pulling to the left. There are people stopping. There are people going to the right, so you have to be basically NASCAR!”
The new colored light options are another telltale sign the ambulances are new. In this case, the blue lights are known to be more calming for patients and everyone on hand.
All the providers said they’re really happy about the increase in space.
“The size of the compartments gives firefighters going on calls more space to work and better patient care,” Rast said. “You can hang fluids from both of these, so if people need medications via IV lines…Those are newer. It stabilizes the bag, too.”
The larger vehicles also ride smoother.
Feb. 27, 2023 Philadelphia Firefighter Randy Ballinger suffered a torn aorta, collapsed lung and multiple fractures.
Source Firehouse.com News
A Philadelphia firefighter suffered serious injuries in a fall from a roof while battling a fire Saturday.
Firefighter Randy Ballinger fell about 25 feet from the roof at the two-story house in Kingseesing, WPVI reported.
Ballinger, assigned to Ladder 13, suffered a collapsed lung, broken ribs, a broken pelvis, and multiple long bone fractures in both legs.
By Monday morning, the GoFundMe has raised over $44,000, reaching closer to its goal of $50,000.
“On this job things happen. For all the safety precautions we have, this is something that just happened. I believe Randy was lowering his equipment off the roof through a rope, lowering saws down and was in the overhaul process where he got hurt,” Raymond Vozzelli, a trustee with Local 22, IAFF Philadelphia Firefighters’ & Paramedics’ Union, told reporters.
“Just keep the firefighters in mind. It’s a dangerous job. The more positive vibes we have coming to us the better.”
Feb. 27, 2023 Three Care Flight crew members as well as the patient and his wife were killed.
Source Firehouse.com News
Evidence shows the Care Flight plane that crashed Friday night killing everyone aboard broke up in flight.
NTSB officials will be on the scene near Stagecoach, NV for days.
“How do we know if the airplane broke up in flight? We found parts of the airplane one-half to three-quarters of a mile away” from the crash scene, NTSB Vice Chair Bruce Landsberg told reporters at a briefing. “Right now, we just don’t know. This is like a three-dimensional puzzle. It’s harder when you don’t have the pieces all in one place.”
The pilot of the single-engine Pilatus PC-12 was notified about turbulence in the area around Reno. Audio recordings revealed the air traffic controller issuing the warning and moments later, trying to reach him again.
Airline pilots also tried to communicate with the plane and were asked to keep an eye out for wreckage.
It took local firefighters more than two hours to find the downed aircraft.
Scott Walton was a PC-12 pilot and spent many years flying and teaching students around the world. He left behind a wife and three small children.
The others aboard the Flight Care plane included Flight Medic Ryan Wilson, a new father; Flight Nurse Ed Prikola, a father with two young children; Mark Rand, the patient, and his wife, Terry.
Fire and rescue personnel along with law enforcement officers from the Stagecoach and Reno areas escorted the crew.