Feb. 3, 2023 Five Virginia Beach firefighters who worked at the 2012 ‘Good Friday Miracle’ have been diagnosed with cancer.

Source Firehouse.com News

A decade after five Virginia Beach firefighters battled the flames after the crash of a Navy FA-18, they have something else in common — cancer.

The fire was dubbed the “Good Friday Miracle” as all the souls aboard as well as those in the apartment complex the jet hit survived. 

While no one can say for sure that the crash is the culprit behind the cancer diagnoses, the toxic brew that filled the air and littered the ground that day was extremely hazardous, according to an investigation conducted by 13NewsNow.

“There is a handful of us who have developed some type of cancer and we’ve all been to the jet crash and that’s pretty eye-opening,” said Capt. Chris Isdell, who was also diagnosed with non-invasive follicular thyroid cancer in September.

Surgery successfully removed the cancer in the 31-year-old, who was a rookie at the 2012 fire. 

“It was taken care of with just surgery, didn’t have to do any kind of treatment, it’s just going to be constant monitoring and scans,” he said.

Virginia Beach Chief Kenneth Pravetz told reporters: “When things burn, it’s a whole different game. You know, the chemicals were there when it started, but when things burn, the carcinogen effects of the chemicals and the burning and the meltdown, it creates complex new chemicals that you really don’t understand.”

Capt.  Matt Chiaverotti, 44, was diagnosed last summer with late-stage anaplastic thyroid cancer, a rare disease making up 1% to 2% of thyroid cancer cases.

It’s taken its toll and sometimes he doesn’t have enough energy to get out of his recliner.

The department has been spearheading safety improvements in the years since the crash, “We’ve gotten second sets of turn-out gear. The hoods we wear now actually have a barrier in them now to protect our necks,” Chiaverotti said.

Virginia Beach Professional Fire and EMS president, Max Gonano, who has been leading the charge for changes, has become the department’s resident expert on the jet crash and the hazardous agents it produced. Over the years, he’s been in touch with everyone from the military to scientists and officials at the Department of Defense. 

“The Virginia Professional Firefighters, which is our state affiliate, has designated naming thyroid cancer, melanoma, bladder and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma to the named cancers for presumptive benefits for firefighters. We have a lot of friends in Richmond and we’re hoping that we can get this legislation accomplished but we’re not going to stop until we do,” Gonano told the reporters.

The state list right now includes leukemia, pancreatic, prostate, rectal, throat, ovarian, breast, colon, brain or testicular cancer. And there is promising news.

State Sen. Bill DeSteph, whose district covers a portion of Virginia Beach, has vowed his support behind expanding the list of presumptive cancers. “It’s directly related to their line of duty, and it should be covered,” he told reporters.

A bill that expands the workers’ compensation presumption of compensability for bladder and thyroid cancers is making its way through the General Assembly, having already passed the Senate unanimously. 

Six hazardous chemicals were present at the jet crash, including hexavalent chromium, the contaminant featured in the 2000 movie, “Erin Brockovich.”

Other hazards include but weren’t limited to Americum-241, Xylene, Triphenyl phosphate, jet fuel and cadmium.

Chief Pravetz said the focus now is to increase screenings for cancer and for levels of poly-fluoroalkyl (PFAS) among the firefighters. PFAS, linked to cancer, is present in turnout gear as well as foam used to quell flames.

Feb. 3, 2023 The suit alleges North Las Vegas fire officials knew about drug activity in the station and failed to act.

Source Firehouse.com News

A judge ruled the City of North Las Vegas can be held responsible in the lawsuit filed on behalf of the family of Tiffany Slatsky, the late wife of a former firefighter.

She died of a drug overdose three years ago, and Christopher Candito, her husband, was criminally convicted in her death, according to KVVU. 

The city wanted its name removed from the lawsuit. However, the judge ruled that even though Candito wasn’t on duty, taking her to the fire station meant he was working under his duties as an EMT.

Instead of calling 911, Candito took her to his fire station 23 miles away from their Henderson apartment and administered Narcan, documents showed.

“Candito’s access to the fire station and the supplies with which he treated Tiffany was under the City Defendants’ control. The Court thus finds that Candito was acting in a way related to the performance of his official duties,” Judge Daniel Albregts wrote.

In the lawsuit filed in 2022, attorneys claim fire station 51, “had a reputation of being a ‘party station’ with numerous employees engaged in the purchase, sale, trade, and/or use of steroids and illicit drugs.”

The suit also alleges city superior officers and NLVFD employees failed to take actions.

Candito, who pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter was released on parole in November after serving 16 months. 

Feb. 3, 2023 The Grand Isle firefighter is accused of being on the clock when he was actually somewhere else.

Source Firehouse.com News

A Grand Isle firefighter has been arrested for payroll fraud.

Colby Calderone, 32, was charged with theft over $25,000 and public payroll fraud, WDSU reported.

The arrest comes after investigators have been looking into the department’s finances.

Calderone is accused of being on the clock when he was actually at home or at other locations, according to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office. 

Feb. 3, 2023 Seattle firefighters helped neighbors capture 115 excited dogs who escaped.

By Madeleine List Source The Charlotte Observer (TNS) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Firefighters rescued 115 dogs from a doggy daycare after a dryer caught fire in the building, according to Washington fire officials.

The Seattle Fire Department responded to The Dog Resort on Lake City Way in northeastern Seattle just before 11 a.m. on Feb. 1 and found multiple dogs trying to escape the smoke-filled building, according to the department.

The fire department called Seattle police and animal control to help corral loose dogs and prevent them from running into the road, the department said in a statement. Nearby businesses helped provide temporary shelter for the dogs.

Seattle news station KOMO News took aerial video of the fire.

Seven people evacuated the building, and paramedics treated a 19-year-old, the statement says. She was in stable condition and didn’t go to the hospital.

Firefighters searched the facility for all remaining dogs. Four dogs suffered smoke inhalation, and crews used specialized oxygen masks to give them air while performing CPR, a spokesman said. They were taken to a veterinary hospital.

The doggy daycare later said that it had accounted for all 115 dogs that were staying at the facility, according to the spokesman.

The resort posted on Facebook that all dogs were now at the facility’s second location or another daycare called BowWow Fun Towne.

BowWow Fun Towne asked owners picking up their dogs to be patient because its staff were assisting with the emergency.

Fire department investigators later determined that the fire had started in a dryer and spread to the back of the building. It caused about $300,000 in damage, according to the department.

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Feb. 3, 2023 The Los Angeles medics were treating a patient in the back when the rig was hit.

Source Firehouse.com News

A car struck a parked Los Angeles Fire Department ambulance head-on in North Hills early Friday morning.

LAFD medics were in the back of the rig treating an overdose patient when it was struck, KCAL reported.

Neither they nor their patient was injured in the wreck. However, the driver of the striking car was transported with minor injuries.

The original patient. was transported in a separate ambulance. 

The investigation of the 2:30 a.m. crash is continuing.

Feb. 3, 2023 Chula Vista, Bonita and San Miguel firefighters were involved in the operation.

Source Firehouse.com News

It was a time-consuming rescue operation that involved crews from three departments.

Their patience and coordination paid off as Indy, a retired police K-9, was hoisted from the 60-foot hole.

Chula Vista’s Urban Search and Rescue Team was joined by crews from Bonita and San Miguel fire departments.

Rescue crews attempted a number of maneuvers, including sending down a number of different specialized hooks to Indy.

“But because of the way the hole was, nothing was long enough to make it down,” Ken Gilden of the San Diego Humane Society Emergency Response Team told CBS8. 

In the meantime, another firefighter tried lowering a lasso to secure the frightened canine, as time kept slipping by.

“And nothing was happening, and then right at the end, the dog lifted his head and the firefighter who had the lasso was able to get it around his neck,” Gilden added, “and as soon as he did, they pulled it tight and we just brought him right up!”

Rescue crews say Indy was not hurt by the rescue procedure. However, he did have bruises and cuts from the ordeal. 

Feb. 2, 2023 San Antonio Chief Charles Hood remembered finding a makeshift memorial in the forest where one of astronauts had perished.

Source Firehouse.com News

As many have in the past few days, San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood couldn’t help but think about the Columbia disaster 20 years ago.

He was deployed to help search for debris that held that was scattered over at least 200 miles.

“It’s just a time to reflect. It’s a time to look at the work that we did as far as finding those black boxes so the space program could move on,” Hood told a KSAT reporter.

Working in Phoenix at the time, he was activated to lead an elite search team through dangerous terrain on the Texas-Louisiana border.

“I had a team of about 60 that were wildland firefighters that they had brought in,” Hood said adding that the cockpit and the boxes were somewhere in Hemphill, Texas, around and in the Sabine National Forest.

It wasn’t a nice walk in the park by any means. There were about 1,000 others in the forest as well. 

“We were cautioned when we got there of snakes, of hogs, of meth labs, of clandestine pot farms, of hunters, big mounds of fire ants, all kinds of bugs. So we were in a very dangerous environment.”

They stood shoulder to shoulder for two weeks, wading through the dense forest and swampland for 10 to 12 hours a day. They slept on wood pallets raised from the wet ground.

“We did not have the technology back then of drones. We had helicopters, but we would actually have to go walk and see if there’s a broken branch or something that would indicate something fell. We had some members from the military there in case of any explosive devices. We had two NASA engineers assigned to each group because we were finding things. They determined what they were.”

He said the sacrifice was worth it.

“Were able to locate the landing gear. There were pieces of clothing. There were engine components. We came upon one of the places where one of the astronauts perished, and there was like a little makeshift memorial,” the chief remembered.

Morale was rough at times, so it was important for the crews to see the bigger picture.

“Every evening, we would open up the warehouse area for tours so the search teams could see the progress because everybody shared in that success. If anything was found, it was a big deal for all of us..”

Another motivation came from NASA astronauts themselves.

“It was just austere conditions, so we’d have astronauts come in the evenings, and they would give motivational talks. If you found things as a team, they would give you shuttle pins or NASA pins. And so there was motivation.”

Hood is proud that he was part of history. Those pins and a special NASA patch have taken a prominent place on a wall behind his desk.

“You wouldn’t see the things that have happened now that has helped all of mankind through being able to travel into space. I was honored to go, and I’m even more honored now.”