Kids may not pay close attention to what their parents or teachers say, but that’s not the case when the one giving the life-saving lesson has four legs.
Molly, the well-known Dalmatian with painted nails, traveled 25,000 miles annually with her human partner, Dayna Hilton, to teach fire safety to children.
Although she crossed the Rainbow bridge last month, her legacy will continue through videos and other promotions. Her valuable safety messages were shared as far away as Russia.
“She just loved children,” Hilton said. “She just had a gift that started when she was about nine weeks old.”
Molly, who sported a fire helmet and scarf, showed the children how to drop low and crawl to escape smoke.
Hilton, a volunteer firefighter in Arkansas, made fire prevention her mission in 1999 when she learned that her state was ranked fourth for home fire-related deaths.
“That was unacceptable,” she said.
Not long after she hit the road with Sparkles, her first fire safety companion, Hilton got a call from a principal in Tulsa. “She shared with me that two children from separate families knew what to do in an actual fire-related situation. One of the girls was able to help with getting her dad outside. She told him he had to get down and crawl like Sparkles does.”
Hearing that so many years ago, solidified her passion for fire safety education. She knows they were getting the message across.
In addition to crawling low, Molly would start out covered up in a little bed. When the smoke alarm sounded, she’d jump out and crawl out of the room. She was taught to go to a predetermined meeting area.
Other talents included closing the door and using her nose to test a smoke detector.
But, she wasn’t limited to just hanging out with children either.
She threw out first pitches at baseball games, visited fire museums around the country and hung around with children outside a science center in Canada.
“She just loved to perform and be around people. She loved everyone.”
During their first live television show, Molly leaned over and kissed her mother’s cheek, something Hilton said she wasn’t expecting.
“We’re big fans of Chicago Fire, and they let us not only hang out at the station where it’s filmed, but we Skyped from there.”
She is featured on the back cover of Anthony Rubio’s coffee table book, Canine Couture.
Molly took every opportunity to promote fire safety education and was selected to be the official ambassador for the Superpower Dogs, an IMAX film.
“She had such an impact on so many people.”
Molly died of copper storage disease just a little over a week shy of teaching a virtual class in Idaho, which would have been her swan song – teaching in all 50 states.
“Her little brother, Boden, and I joined the children in Idaho earlier this month. He will continue to carry on the message as we have some videos planned.
Hilton says she’ll continue with the work. But, her traveling days are over.
“I really miss Molly,” she said. “We went everywhere together. I just loved her…”
A string of fires in Detroit has residents on edge.
A funeral home was the latest target last Friday, WDIV reported.
There have been three other fires or fire-bombings along Chalmers Street. The main difference this time, it was occupied.
Detroit firefighters used a ladder to rescue the resident, just in the nick of time.
“I was asleep, and the next thing I know, I hear a loud bang and then boom,” Lawrence Pillow said, adding that something came crashing through the window of the apartment he keeps on the top floor of the building.
He was trapped as the flames crew.
“I went back to the bedroom and knocked the windows out and stuck my head out of the windows because the flames was coming towards me.”
Pillow had been renovating the funeral home on Chalmers Street in hopes of opening it back up.
A fire was intentionally set inside a Target store in Buckhead on Monday evening, leading to evacuations and a temporary closure, officials said.
Crews were called to the department store along Piedmont Road in the Lindbergh area shortly after 5 p.m. and discovered the blaze in the bedding section on the first floor, fire officials confirmed. Investigators said they believe someone “intentionally” set the fire to create a distraction, allowing the offender to shoplift and escape as customers rushed to exit the building.
Target spokesman Brian Harper-Tibaldo said that all customers and employees made it out safely. Three employees were evaluated for injuries and smoke inhalation, but ultimately no one was injured, the fire department said.
The flames were extinguished in about 30 minutes and crews said they then began working to ventilate “the extremely heavy smoke conditions inside of the store.”
On Tuesday morning, employees continued working to clean up the store, which shares a plaza with several other businesses, including Best Buy and Home Depot.
“We’re working to understand the extent of the damage, but we expect the store to be closed for an undetermined amount of time,” Harper-Tibaldo said.
Monday’s fire is not the only case in which officials are trying to make an arrest. Recent fires at Walmart stores located at 835 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and 1801 Howell Mill Road are also being investigated as arsons, the fire department confirmed.
According to Channel 2 Action News, the Howell Mill store went up in flames in December after someone set fire to the men’s clothing section. That store has permanently closed.
The Vine City store on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive also caught on fire in December, Channel 2 reported. It temporarily closed, but Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens announced Monday that it will reopen.
“Food and nutrition security for Atlanta families is a moral right for our communities,” Dickens said. “The intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard is a nexus of multiple northwest and southwest Atlanta communities with seniors, children, students and thousands of individuals and households who already lack accessible options for fresh, affordable food.”
In all three cases, authorities said they believe the fires were intentionally set to allow the suspects to shoplift.
“These fires have resulted in millions of dollars in damage,” fire officials said. “Although the motive for the fires appears to be the same, investigators have not linked the fires.”
Anyone who helps identify the suspects responsible is eligible for up to a $10,000 reward after arrest and conviction. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Arson Control Hotline at 800-282-5804.
Five people were injured in a blaze that involved three Philadelphia houses.
Firefighters encountered heavy fire on the first and second floors of a house on Kayford Circle, The Philly Voice reported.
The flames quickly spread to two neighboring houses.
“I heard someone screaming, ‘help me,’ and then explosions,” a neighbor told the station. “I came and looked out the window, and the house was on fire.”
The explosion may have been a propane tank.
Three people from the home where the fire started as well as two from the other houses were taken to the hospital for treatment of burns and smoke inhalation.
An Oklahoma fire department is adding a feature to its vehicles after a man stole one last week while crews were at a medical call.
Mustang Fire Chief Craig Carruth said the firefighters were finished the call and preparing to return to the station when a man drove off in the vehicle, KOCO reported.
“Obviously in shock for sure. When you see something like that, you think, ‘is this real?’ And then it hits you, ‘yes, it’s real,’ and what’s next? They notified who they needed to notify and get the person stopped as soon as possible,” Carruth said.
Police found the vehicle and pursued it before getting it stopped. Daniel Justin Snyder was charged with larceny of a motor vehicle, endangering others while eluding police, possession of controlled dangerous substances and interfering with firemen on duty.
The chief said it’s fortunate no one was injured during the pursuit.
Kill switches are going to be placed on vehicles soon.
Jan. 24, 2023 San Diego firefighters rescued a suspected burglar from the roof of a Mission Valley restaurant after employees heard someone calling from above.
By Karen Kucher Source The San Diego Union-Tribune (TNS)
San Diego firefighters rescued a suspected burglar from the roof of a Mission Valley restaurant Tuesday morning after employees showing up for work heard someone calling from above the eatery’s ceiling.
When crews arrived, they found the man stuck in the vent system on the roof of the California Fish Grill in the shopping center on Camino de la Reina near Mission Center Road, fire Battalion Chief Dave Seneviratne told OnScene TV.
“It appeared he was trying to crawl into the hood system from the roof and got himself trapped,” Seneviratne said. The man was about two feet down from the roof line of the restaurant, the battalion chief said.
Firefighters were able to lift the man out. He was alert and talking to firefighters, Seneviratne said.
He was taken to a hospital to be checked out and will be arrested on suspicion of burglary, said San Diego police Officer Scott Lockwood. The man’s age and name were not immediately released.
The Baltimore Fire Department held a moment of silence at 11 a.m. Tuesday in honor of three firefighters who perished a year ago while battling a row house blaze.
Prior to the silence, a 9-1-1 dispatcher read a tribute to Lt. Kelsey Sadler Engine -14, FF/PM Kenneth Lacayo Engine-14 who gave the ultimate sacrifice.
“Today we remember our fallen members who sacrificed their lives for the City of Baltimore 1 year ago, January 24, 2022, operating at box 55-10, 205 South Stricker St. Our recruits performed their daily reading of this event at line up, followed by a memorial workout the recruits developed themselves to show remembrance of this sacrifice,” Baltimore fire officials wrote on the department’s Facebook page.
The fire was determined incendiary. But no charges have been filed.
While January has been Firefighter Cancer Awareness Month, the effort to educate firefighters about the deadly disease and how they can minimize the risk is ongoing.
The National Volunteer Fire Council is hosting a panel discussion at 2 p.m. Wednesday with subject matter experts to provide an update on the issues.
Recent statistics show cancer is the leading cause of deaths of firefighters.
Among those participating on the panel include Brian McQueen, NVFC board member and co-author of the Lavender Ribbon Report; Joe Schumacher, chief operations officer of the Firefighter Cancer Support Network; Rick Markley, former editor-in-chief of FireRescue1 and advocate for the National Firefighter Registry; and Racquel Cesnalis, deputy director of the Health, Safety & Medicine Division of the International Association of Fire Fighters.
“We are hoping people will actively participate, and ask questions,” said Kimberly Quiros, NVFC chief of communications.
“We need volunteers to register so we can truly understand the depth of the problem,” she said.
In addition to information about the types of cancers that firefighters often face, the panelists will offer actions that people and departments can take to reduce the risks.
Two Memphis firefighters involved in the initial care of Tyre Nichols after the Jan. 7 traffic stop have been “relieved of duty.”
Fire officials won’t say if they have been suspended or dismissed, according to The Commercial Appeal.
Nichols died three days after being stopped by Memphis Police officers. Five have been fired for their involvement and are under state and federal investigation.
During the violent encounter, Nichols repeatedly asked what he did and called out for his mother.
Video of the traffic stop has not been made public, but Nichols’ family members who viewed it Monday called it ‘horrific.’
