Fire House Digest

Category: Featured

  • Pileup on I-81 in PA Leaves Five Dead

    Pileup on I-81 in PA Leaves Five Dead

    A massive pile-up during a snow squall on Interstate-81 in Foster Township sparked a large fire and claimed five lives.

    By Frank Andruscavage – Source The Citizens’ Voice, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. (TNS)

    Five people are confirmed dead after a multi-vehicle accident in the northbound lanes of Interstate 81 in Foster Twp. during a snow squall Monday morning.

    The sudden onset of heavy snow coupled with fog in the area proved a dangerous combination as tractor-trailers, trucks and passenger vehicles slammed into one another. The impact caused at least one tractor-trailer to catch fire; another truck carrying acetylene cylinders was near the blaze.

    The crash occurred around 10:30 a.m. just north of the Minersville exit, Exit 116.

    Emergency personnel said that as many as 40 vehicles may have been involved.

    Authorities reported that, as of 3:50 p.m., five people were known to be dead, and workers continued to search vehicles for other victims.

    As several firefighters worked to extinguish the fire, others walked from crushed vehicle to crushed vehicle, checking on occupants and treating the injured.

    A mass casualty center was set up on the property of the Wegmans Distribution Center near the crash site.

    State police are beginning the complicated investigation as to what caused the crash, which is believed to be weather-related.

    The American Red Cross, Greater Pennsylvania Region, Pennsylvania Rivers Chapter, Allentown, responded to provide resources and assistance to affected motorists.

    Red Cross Disaster Team members, in coordination with local officials and emergency responders, established a reception center to provide a safe and warm central hub for motorists and their families to receive information, blankets, food and drinks.

    Firefighters originally shut down the northbound lanes at the Hegins exit, mile marker 112, but later moved the closure south, shutting the highway at the Tremont exit, mile marker 107.

    Southbound traffic was brought to a standstill at the Highridge exit, mile marker 119, and later pushed back to the Frackville exit, mile marker 124. Southbound lanes reopened about 5 p.m.

    Also closed at some point was Keystone Boulevard in the Highridge Industrial Park, Gordon Mountain Road and Route 901 in both directions, toward Minersville and into Barry Twp. As of 3:45 p.m. Gordon Mountain Road was open.

    The northbound lanes of the interstate are expected to be closed for an indefinite amount of time.

    On Feb. 19, a crash involving around 40 vehicles shut down a 3-mile stretch of I-81 in the northbound lanes some 20 miles north, near mile marker 139, between Exit 138 ( McAdoo/ Tamaqua) and Exit 141 ( Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce Beltway). Five people suffered minor injuries, authorities reported at the time.

    That crash also occurred during a snow squall that caused whiteout conditions.

    (c)2022 The Citizens’ Voice (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.)

    Visit The Citizens’ Voice (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) at citizensvoice.com

    Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

  • LA Crews Battle a 3-Alarm Apartment Fire

    LA Crews Battle a 3-Alarm Apartment Fire

    New Orleans firefighters battled a three-alarm fire in an apartment building that left one resident injured.

    Source: Firehouse.com News

    New Orleans firefighters battled a three-alarm apartment fire on the 2100 block of Westbend Parkway that left one resident homeless.

    Firefighters were called to a reported apartment fire in the Westbank neighborhood on Monday afternoon. The first arriving company reported heavy fire engulfing much of the building and requested a second-alarm, according to the New Orleans Fire Department.

    Crews initiated primary searches of the building removing all residents while they conducted suppression operations to control and stop the spread of fire. The fire escalated to three-alarms to provide relief crews operating at the scene.

    Twenty-seven fire department units and fifty-eight firefighters responded to the scene, no firefighters were injured.

  • Cooking Fire Damages LA Apartment Building

    Cooking Fire Damages LA Apartment Building

    Baton Rouge firefighters battled an apartment fire that damaged multiple units, injuring one occupant.

    Source: Firehouse.com

    Baton Rouge firefighters battled heavy flames at an apartment fire that injured one occupant who was cooking.

    Firefighters were called to the apartment fire around 9:00 p.m., Sunday and arrived to heavy smoke pushing from a unit in the building.

    “The occupant stated that they were about to fry some fish when the grease splashed onto the burner and caught fire,” the Baton Rouge Fire Department told BRProud.com.

    Firefighters stretched handlines to control the blaze and had it under control within 20 minutes of the initial call. The occupant of the fire unit sustained a minor burn to their hand.

    BPRoud.com reported a total of nine units were affected by the fire and were being assisted by the Red Cross.

  • Mayday called after FF falls through floor of burning Md. house

    Mayday called after FF falls through floor of burning Md. house

    EMS providers treated the firefighter on site, and crews from multiple counties assisted in putting out the fire

    By: Leila Merrill – FireRescue1

    Maryland Line Volunteer Fire Company firefighters and surrounding agencies battled a house fire in Parkton that resulted in a mayday when a firefighter fell through the floor.

    Firefighters were called to the 19600 block of Graystone Road in Parkton around 9:20 p.m., Sunday evening for a reported dwelling fire.

    Crews arrived to a working fire in a single-family dwelling. Firefighters from Maryland Line and Hereford stretched lines into the structure for fire control, but had to withdrawal due to changing conditions, according to a post on Maryland Line Volunteer Fire Company’s Facebook page.

    Once firefighters got a bulk of the fire knocked down, crews had re-entered the structure when the mayday was called after a firefighter fell through the floor. Firefighters were able to quickly locate and extricate the firefighter.

    The firefighter was evaluated by paramedics. Firefighters from Baltimore County, Harford County, and York County in Pennsylvania assisted with operations.

  • Firefighter Dies in Basement Fire at his NY Home

    Firefighter Dies in Basement Fire at his NY Home

    Thronwood firefighter Sean Carroll – who comes from a firefighting family – died in a fire that started in the basement of his home.

    November 27, 2021 – Source Firehouse.com News

    A family committed to public safety lost a firefighter-son in a tragic early morning fire at their Thornwood home on Thanksgiving Day.

    Thornwood firefighters were called to the home on Kensico Road and Warren Avenue shortly after 5 a.m. and reported no signs of a fire from the exterior. 

    Firefighters knocked on the door of the home to alert four occupants of the home to the fire, according to News 12. 

    Watch Video

    Thronwood Fire Chief James Gedris told the television station that the fire started in the basement and became visible shortly after they arrived.

    A 26-year-old man was perished in the fire.

    According to a post on the Thornwood Fire Department Facebook page, firefighter Sean Carroll is the man who died. He was an eight-year member of the department and served as the department’s recording secretary. 

    In a post on FundtheFirst.com, it states Carroll’s father, Richard, and brother, Matt, are also Thornwood firefighters. Rich is a police officer with Rye Brook Police Department and Matt is an FDNY firefighter. 

    Sean Carroll, 26, a Thornwood firefighter, died in a house fire that displaced his brother, an FDNY firefighter and his father, a Rye Brook police officer.
    Sean Carroll, 26, a Thornwood firefighter, died in a house fire that displaced his brother, an FDNY firefighter and his father, a Rye Brook police officer.

     Firefighters from seven departments responded to the scene and the fire was placed under control in an hour. 

    Officials told News 12 that the fire is believed to have been accidental and electric-related.

    Viewing hours will be Sunday with a funeral mass Sunday morning. 

  • DE Child Beats Cancer, Becomes ‘Firefighter’

    DE Child Beats Cancer, Becomes ‘Firefighter’

    Elliott Slocum was welcomed by Wilmington firefighters at Fire Station 6 after two years of almost daily treatments for bone cancer.

    November 26, 2021 – By Krys’Tal Griffin – Source Dover Post, Del.

    Nov. 25—As 6-year-old Elliott Slocum stood at a Wilmington Fire Station 6 over the weekend, waiting to become a firefighter, there was not a dry eye in sight.

    “Are all those people there for me?” his mother, Grace Slocum, 44, recalls him asking. “He’s really fixated on firetrucks and firefighters. I know he loved it and thought it was amazing. He still asks me when he can go back to the fire station.”

    Over the last two years, Elliott has been at a hospital almost daily for treatment of pre-b acute lymphoblastic lymphoma, commonly known as bone cancer.

    He finally went into remission on Oct. 3 and recently returned to Olive B. Loss Elementary School, where he’s interacting with a large number of people for the first time since being diagnosed in June 2019.

    Upon his arrival, one of the first things he told his guidance counselor was that he wanted to be a firefighter, said Grace Slocum.

    When second grade teacher Erin McCullin, 43, heard about his love for all things firefighter-related, she knew she had to do something special.

    McCullin asked her brother Bobby McCullin, a Wilmington firefighter, if Elliott could meet him.

    After Elliott heard the news, he asked McCullin daily when he would meet “firefighter Bobby,” she said.

    “Elliott and his family thought they were just coming to see my brother. Maybe a firefighter and a firetruck,” said McCullin.

    Little did the Slocum family know, there was a lot more to the surprise than they assumed.

    On-duty firefighters came to join Elliot Slocum after he was named a Wilmington firefighter after enduring two years of treatment for bone cancer.
    On-duty firefighters came to join Elliot Slocum after he was named a Wilmington firefighter after enduring two years of treatment for bone cancer.

    McCullin’s brother ran the idea by his Lt., Jonathan Osika, who passed it along to Chief John Looney. Soon enough, about 50 firefighters from all of the stations in Wilmington came together to give Elliott Slocum an official welcome onto the squad.

    He was greeted with a basket of patches and stickers from each fire station, a fire jacket from Bobby McCullin and a real fire helmet.

    He even got to ride on a firetruck and hear dispatch congratulate him on officially becoming an honorary firefighter.

    “He’s just starting to be a real kid. He was so appreciative and excited,” said Erin McCullin . “Coming from a six-year-old, it’s amazing to see it through his eyes. It was just a day like no other. Something this kid is never going to forget, ever.”

    Saturday’s event was organized to put a smile on Elliott’s face, but little did Erin McCullin know, she would never forget this day, either.

    Her father, who was a firefighter at the Wilmington Fire Department for 35 years, passed away from cancer 15 years ago.

    His birthday was Nov. 20, this past Saturday.

    “Elliott was like a little angel sent to my family. It helped my family with our mourning and our loss,” she said. “Seeing the joy in this little boy’s eyes… it made some grown men cry.”

    Since the Slocum family moved to Newark three months ago from South Jersey, they have never felt like they belonged more than they do now.

    “We really didn’t have any support going through this,” said Slocum. “A lot of people don’t know what to do or what to say when a child is diagnosed with cancer.”

    Once Elliott reached remission, the family placed a sign in their front yard congratulating their son on finishing chemotherapy. What they did not expect was the amount of people who would drive by and honk at Elliott in support.

    “These were people that we never really met before,” said Grace Slocum. “It has been overwhelming, heartwarming and humbling. All the words.”


    Almost a week later, the Slocum family continues to process the outpouring of support and the amount of people who made their son’s dream come true.

    “We’re still getting choked up knowing that people put in the time and effort to celebrate him and help him feel more normal,” said Grace Slocum.

    Prior to Elliott’s diagnosis, the pain in his legs from the cancer became so bad that at one point he began crawling everywhere, tears in his eyes. Today, he walks proudly away from

  • CA Firefighters Battle Blaze at Tortilla Warehouse

    CA Firefighters Battle Blaze at Tortilla Warehouse

    Fresno firefighters scrambled Sunday morning to contain a second-alarm fire at a tortilla factory and warehouse that sent thick black smoke into the air.

    October 11, 2021 – By Robert Kuwada and Anthony Galaviz – Source The Fresno Bee

    Fresno firefighters scrambled Sunday morning to contain a large blaze at the La Tapatia tortilla factory and warehouse on Belmont Avenue in Central Fresno near Roeding Park.

    Crews rushed to the scene after the fire was reported just before 9 a.m. and they spent a couple of hours bringing it under control but were able to contain it to one building.

    “When crews first arrived, they found a building pretty well involved and they were forced to aggressively protect the surrounding structures,” Fresno Fire Battalion Chief Brad Driscoll said. “The building that was on fire is going to be a total loss.”

    Heavy clouds of black smoke could be seen at least several blocks away.

    The fire triggered two commercial alarms and a total of 10 units responded, Battalion Chief Thomas Cope said earlier. That translates to about 40 firefighters in all, Driscoll said, and he expected they would remain on scene till about noon doing cleanup.

    “If you’re talking about a second-alarm fire that takes 40 firefighters,” Driscoll said, “we have under 100 firefighters on duty today, you take 40 out of the system we don’t have much capacity for another big incident.”

    It was not known if anyone was working in the building at the time of the fire, but no injuries were reported.

    Traffic was shut down at multiple intersections.

    (c)2021 The Fresno Bee (Fresno, Calif.)

    Visit The Fresno Bee (Fresno, Calif.) at www.fresnobee.com

    Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

  • Two People Badly Injured in FL Home Explosion

    Two People Badly Injured in FL Home Explosion

    Hillsborough County Fire Rescue crews responded after a large explosion severely injured two people and caused extensive damage to a Seffner home.

    October 08, 2021 – By Natalie Weber – Source Tampa Bay Times

    Two adults were severely injured in a Seffner home explosion Thursday afternoon, according to Hillsborough County Fire Rescue spokesperson Jessica Coy.

    Details are limited right now, she said, but first responders were called to a home on King Charles Circle around 4:25 p.m.

    When first responders arrived, they said about half the home had collapsed. Two adults were taken to a hospital trauma center with severe injuries, Coy said.

    ©2021 Tampa Bay Times. Visit tampabay.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

  • Falling Tree Seriously Injures Four CA Firefighters

    Falling Tree Seriously Injures Four CA Firefighters

    Four firefighters were airlifted with serious injuries after a tree fell and struck them while they were working the KNP Complex fire in Tulare County.

    October 08, 2021 – By Lauren Hernández – Source San Francisco Chronicle

    Oct. 8—Four firefighters working the KNP Complex blazing in Tulare County were struck by a falling tree on Thursday afternoon, authorities said.

    At around 3 p.m., a radio transmission reported that a tree fell and struck four firefighters who were battling the lightning-sparked blaze, according to fire officials.

    All four firefighters were taken to a nearby helispot and were airlifted to local hospitals for treatment on serious injuries.

    They were in stable condition on Thursday night, officials said.

    “We are grateful,” authorities said in a statement.

    The KNP Complex, which is comprised of the Colony Fire and the Paradise Fire, has burned 85,952 acres and was 11% contained on Thursday, fire officials said.

    Lauren Hernández is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.

    (c)2021 the San Francisco Chronicle

    Visit the San Francisco Chronicle at www.sfchronicle.com

    Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

  • Forest Service Chief: We Need More Firefighters

    Forest Service Chief: We Need More Firefighters

    U.S. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore told lawmakers that the agency needs to reconfigure how it mitigates the risk of intensifying wildfires.

    October 01, 2021 – By Erin B. Logan – Source Los Angeles Times

    WASHINGTON — The U.S. Forest Service needs to hire more firefighters and reconfigure how it mitigates the risk of wildfires that are growing more intense, the head of the agency told lawmakers Wednesday.

    This year “has been devastating in not only the size and frequency of large wildfires but also in terms of sustained activity,” U.S. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore testified before the House Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry.

    Moore blamed the severity of recent fire seasons on extreme drought, a warming climate and a century of “overly aggressive suppression policies” that have made forests ripe for more destructive fires.

    As of Monday, about 46,000 fires have burned nearly 6 million acres across the West this year, destroying 4,500 structures and killing four federal firefighters this year, Moore said.

    About 27,000 firefighters have been deployed by the federal government to fight wildfires this year, but they are still stretched thin. The problem reached a critical point this summer when a burst of early wildfires began in the West amid extreme staffing shortages. A combination of low pay, competition from state and local fire departments and exhaustion from longer and more destructive fire seasons has left federal agencies scrambling to fill positions.

    Randy Moore, Chief of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service.
    Randy Moore, Chief of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service.

    “We have seen highly trained personnel leave the Forest Service; we have experienced some inability to recruit new employees; and we are in a constant mode of training new employees,” Moore said in prepared testimony.

    The Biden administration this year boosted the minimum wage from $13 to $15 per hour, enabling the federal government to attract firefighters in states like California and Washington where pay was higher.

    “Federal wages for firefighters have not kept pace with wages offered by state, local and private entities in some areas of the United States,” Moore said in written testimony. “Firefighters must be fairly paid for the grueling work they are willing to take on.”

    Moore told the Los Angeles Times last week that “we’ll never be able to hire enough firefighters to fight our way out of what’s going on on the landscape. We’re seeing conditions out there that I have not seen in my 40-plus years of working for this agency.”

    Last year, California recorded its largest fire season ever. The severe impact these fires have on communities is partly because of the historic approach American officials have taken to eliminating fires.

    Before Europeans colonized North America, many Western forests benefited from frequent, low-intensity fires caused by lightning and Indigenous burning practices, experts say. Post-colonization, U.S. officials instead aggressively suppressed fires, upending that beneficial cycle, and helped create an imbalance that makes wildfires more dangerous and more intense.

    The forest chief told lawmakers that his agency would instead focus on mitigating the impact of wildfires by more aggressively treating forests before fires begin. Such treatments include thinning underbrush and debris, and clearing dead branches and trees to reduce potential fuel for blazes. Moore testified that such treatments near Lake Tahoe helped stymie the spread of the Caldor fire last month, saving homes and lives.

    Moore said about 66 million acres need to be treated, but officials could be nearly as effective if they focus on 20 million critical acres over the next decade.

    “We must actively treat forests,” he said. “That’s what it takes to turn this system around.”

    Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif., said West Coast forests are “in a crisis mode” and that there is no longer a fire season, but a fire year. The federal government needs to devote more financial resources to help the agency shift away from fire suppression to prescribed treatments, Costa said.

    “If we continue in this way, I don’t think we are ever going to deal with the crisis or provide the forests with the proper management they deserve.”

    ©2021 Los Angeles Times. Visit latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.