Uncle Jay Explains --- Mar 27, 2011

UncleJayExplains on Mar 27, 2011

The madness isn't just on the court. No, the game is hot between the Mighty Qadaffy Ducks and the Ragtag Rebels, with the Krazy Koalitions running interference. Uncle Jay can barely fit in any real news! But he does

Odd Fire News today

Firefighters To Extinguish Blazes With 'Harry Potter' Wand
MyFox Los Angeles
(NewsCore) - BOSTON -- Scientists have invented a way of controlling fires using a wand that puts out flames by zapping them with electricity, a physicist said Sunday. The Harry Potter-style device could enable firefighters to quell flames without ...
See all stories on this topic »

Future Firefighters Could Fight Fire With Blasts of Flame-Bending Electricity
Popular Science
But fundamentally, we're still fighting fires the old fashioned way: point hose/bucket/pressurized container and drench. But a team of Harvard researchers envisions a day when firefighters will snuff out flames not with a physical suppressant but with ...
See all stories on this topic »

A fire truck that suppresses fires without water
By Bill
A new design for a fire truck for suppressing wildland fires, using sand.
Wildfire Today - http://wildfiretoday.com/

Boat like nothing we've seen
Quad City Times
"We've had fires during floods, and we had no way of getting water to property on the river. "It's just a matter of time before something like that happens again. There's an opportunity for disaster." The fire department currently uses flat-bottom john ...
See all stories on this topic »

Top 10 Actors Who Died in Fires
By JFrater
The 84-year-old Patrick, who played Vaughn Leland in the hit soap Dallas, was found dead by firefighters, with the body of his dog Josh on the floor next to him. It took more than 50 firefighters 30 minutes to put out the fire, ...
Listverse - http://listverse.com/

Odd In The News

from Small Bits & Pieces

Woman falls asleep at drive-thru
A Tampa Bay-area woman faces several charges after authorities say she passed out while she and three children waited at a Burger King drive-thru.
The Pasco County Sheriff's Office reports that employees called authorities Tuesday night after watching 27-year-old April A. Musson fall asleep in her car. Children -- ages 1, 3 and 5 -- were also in the vehicle.
The sheriff's office says deputies found an oxycodone pill and marijuana on Musson, and she told them she had smoked marijuana earlier that day. Musson was arrested and charged with driving under the influence, child abuse, possession of marijuana and possession of a controlled substance without a prescription.
.
Try fitting this cable bill into the monthly budget
An Ohio man says Time Warner Cable told him he owed the company $16.4 million.
Daniel DeVirgilio, of Beavercreek, says his payment was rejected because it wouldn't cover the total. His bill is usually $80.
DeVirgilio wanted to watch the NCAA basketball tournament's Sweet 16 but didn't expect it to cost a million dollars per team. He jokes he should have added Showtime to his channels because the charge of a few extra dollars doesn't seem big in comparison.
Time Warner says human error is to blame for the payment problem. Officials say a worker typed the wrong amount owed, and a letter to DeVirgilio was automatically generated. They're working to resolve the issue.
.
2 arrested for meth after car runs out of gas
Two Missouri men are facing charges after the car they were in ran out of gas -- and responding officers allegedly found a mobile meth lab.
Maries County deputies responded to a call about a suspicious person on Route 68 near St. James around 3:30 a.m. Thursday. Sheriff Chris Heitman says deputies found a vehicle that had run out of gas.
They then found the two men from the car, along with components of "shake-and-bake" meth, which is typically made by shaking up ingredients in a 2-liter soda bottle. Both men are now jailed.
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2,500 stolen rubber ducks
Police in the western Chicago suburb of Yorkville are searching for thousands of stolen yellow rubber ducks.
About 2,500 ducks were taken sometime this week. Police say several of the toy ducks have been found on a Yorkville roadway since they were stolen. Police ask anyone who finds a duck to return them.
The Yorkville Citizens Police Academy planned to use them for its annual charity "Duck Pluck."

Uncle Jay Explains - Mar 20, 2011

UncleJayExplains on Mar 20, 2011

How's your March Madness going? Will Libya be a slam-dunk, or are you betting on overtime? Japan's team is giving it everything, but the heat is intense. Oh, yeah, there's some basketball, too, but Uncle Jay makes a fast break to explain everything else!

MINE FIRE UPDATE - Soudan Mine Fire 99 Percent Out

(Released March 20, 2011) From MN DNR

Responders to the Soudan Mine Shaft Fire reported Sunday that a fire that began the evening of March 17 appears to be out, but they were not able to determine its exact location.

A three-man team, using the mine’s operational elevator, descended slowly into the shaft on Sunday, dropping to the mine’s 27th level. It was their first descent in the shaft after thousands of gallons of foam and water had been sprayed into the mine during the past 48 hours. The team was only able to descend after determining that carbon monoxide levels were safe and underground communications were established with the surface. Their safety equipment included Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) and oxygen masks.

The crew did not find any active fire. They started critical sump pumps on levels 12 and 22 and water is flowing from the sump pumps to the surface. The team descended to the University of Minnesota physic lab on level 27, the mine’s lowest level and where a third pump is located, and encountered large amounts of foam. The crew tested communications from that level, but did not enter the laboratory chamber.

Fire officials will not declare the fire is officially out until its source has been located and any smoldering ashes or embers have been extinguished. Sunday’s inspection did not indicate the location of the fire. The cause has not been determined.

The fire was discovered around 9 p.m. Thursday when smoke alarms were activated. The mine, located within Soudan Underground Mine State Park, is a popular tourist attraction between May and October.  Minnesota’s first iron-ore mine, the mine, about a half-mile deep, attracts 37,000 visitors per summer.  It is also the location of a University of Minnesota physics lab that has several national partners. The lab equipment is estimated to be worth $50 million to $100 million.

“This incident has made this community teary-eyed,” said Jim Essig, Soudan park manager. “The mine is not just a source of livelihood. It’s a part of our history.”

The response to the incident involved many different agencies. They included the Breitung Township and Tower Volunteer Fire Departments, Inver Grove Heights Fire Department, staff from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), University of Minnesota and the U.S. Department of Energy. The latter supplies funding for the physics experiment.

Media contact: Carson Berglund, Minnesota Interagency Fire Center; 218-327-4558.

Soudan Mine Tour - Physics at Minnesota - The half-mile or so of earth above the Lab blocks almost all these cosmic ....This experiment looks for the main component of dark matter, ...

Free Resource for Safety Educators

 

Free or at low cost and Online Educational Resources from the Home Safety Council

The Home Safety Council stocks the Expert Network with home injury prevention information, teaching materials, links and downloads. The site is updated regularly and is available on demand.

Their home page link HERE

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Remembered MARCH 25, 1911

NY1 Movie Review: "Triangle: Remembering The Fire" - NY1

from Alltop RSS

NY1

NY1 Movie Review: "Triangle: Remembering The Fire"
One hundred years after New York's tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, a new HBO documentary, "Triangle: Remembering The Fire," looks at this landmark incident. On March 25, 1911, a fire broke out in the Asch Building on the edge of Washington ...

More HERE Below Links
100th Anniversary Of Deadly Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Approaches CBS New York
What the Triangle Shirtwaist fire means for workers now Washington Post
HBO's Triangle: Remembering the Fire is a must see doc, March 21Monsters and Critics.com
Christian Science Monitor -Yahoo! News -OCRegister
More 28 news articles »

YouTube Video Below

Hasn’t happened for 18 Years

Viewing the Supermoon: Tips and Tricks [Supermoon]

From Lifehacker by Dave Drager

The "Supermoon" officially arrives today at 3 PM Eastern Standard Time when the moon orbits closer to earth than it's been in 18 years. Tonight's views of the moon will be especially neat because the moon's perigee, the closest point in its orbital cycle to the earth, aligns within an hour to when the full-moon actually occurs. More »

Mine Fire

Fire underway in mine shaft at Soudan Underground Mine State Park

by scpengel  Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Minnesota Interagency Fire Center (MIFC) are responding to a fire that has been detected inside the mine shaft at Soudan Underground Mine State Park near Tower, Minn.

There have been no injuries or loss of life due to the fire. It does not pose a risk to nearby communities or the environment.

Full Story

Fire underway in mine shaft at Soudan Underground Mine State Park ... Mar 18, 2011 ... Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the Minnesota InteragencyFire Center are responding to a fire that has been detected inside ...

LODD

Notice of Firefighter Fatality: Lee, FL

James Von Roden of the Lee Community Volunteer Fire Department in Lee, FL has died as the result of an on-duty incident that occurred on 2011-03-12

Initial Summary:  
Captain Von Roden was responding to the fire station for an outdoor fire call when he collapsed from a cause still under investigation. Captain Von Roden was transported to a local hospital where he passed away from his injury. Incident Location: 9782 Southeast River Road, Madison County

LODD

Notice of Firefighter Fatality: Lee, FL

James Von Roden of the Lee Community Volunteer Fire Department in Lee, FL has died as the result of an on-duty incident that occurred on 2011-03-12

Initial Summary:  
Captain Von Roden was responding to the fire station for an outdoor fire call when he collapsed from a cause still under investigation. Captain Von Roden was transported to a local hospital where he passed away from his injury. Incident Location: 9782 Southeast River Road, Madison County

Wake and Mass Information for Retired Chicago Battalion Chief Raymond Hoff. Please click link for details:

LINK

CITY OF CHICAGO MEMORIAL
SERVICES FOR RETIRED BATTALION CHIEF
RAYMOND C. HOFF

OF BATTALION 4 WILL BE
HELD ON MARCH 26, 2011 AT HOLY FAMILY
CHURCH, 1080 W. ROOSEVELT ROAD
WAKE (AT CHURCH)
0900 HOURS TO 1100 HOURS
FOLLOWED BY A MASS AT 1100 HOURS
UNIFORM MEMBERS
WALK‐THRU AT 1030 HOURS

NIST Release report on SOFA SUPER STORE FIRE

Publication Citation NISTAuthor(s): Bryner, N. P.; Fuss, S. P.; Klein, B. W.; Putorti, A. D.;

Title: Technical Study of the Sofa Super Store Fire, South Carolina, June 18, 2007, Volume I

Published: March 14, 2011

Abstract:
A fire occurred on the evening of June 18, 2007, in the Sofa Super Store in Charleston, SC. NIST analyzed the fire ground, consulted with other experts, and performed computer simulations of fire growth alternatives. Based on these analyses, the following sequence of events is likely to have occurred. A fire began in packing material and discarded furniture outside an enclosed loading dock area. The fire spread to the loading dock, then into both the retail showroom and warehouse spaces. During the early stages of the fire in the two latter locations, the fire spread was slowed by the limited supply of fresh air. This under-ventilation led to generation of a large mass of pyrolyzed and only partially oxidized effluent. The smoke and combustible gases flowed into the interstitial space below the roof and above the suspended ceiling of the main retail showroom. As this space filled with unburned fuel, the hot smoke also seeped through the suspended ceiling into the main showroom and formed a hot smoke layer below the suspended ceiling. Up to this time, the extent of fire spread into the interstitial space was not visible to fire fighters in the store. If the fire spread had been visible to the fire fighters in the store, it would have provided a direct indication of a fire hazard in the showroom. Meanwhile, the fire at the back of the main showroom and the gas mixture below the suspended ceiling were both still fuel rich. When the front windows were broken out or vented, the inflow of additional air allowed the heat release rate of the fire to intensify rapidly and added air to the layer of unburned fuel below the suspended ceiling enabling the ignition of the unburned fuel/air mixture. The fire swept from the rear to the front of the main showroom extremely quickly, and then into the west and east showrooms. Nine fire fighters were killed in the Sofa Super Store fire. Based on NIST s simulation of events, this report includes eleven recommendations ...

Citation:
NIST SP - 1118

Keywords:
fire investigation; fire modeling; fire spread; fire sprinklers; furniture flammability; retail store; fire; sprinklers

Research Areas:
Building and Fire Safety Investigations, Fire Protection Technologies

PDF version:
Click here to retrieve PDF version of paper (9943 K)

Remember they walk among us

 

Good collection of those that keep the EMS system busy. This from the Funny Video Archives for the Best of 2010

Uploaded by FunnyVideosArchives  Here is Funny Videos Archives ' Top 10 Funny/Fail videos of 2010” in no particular order. Which is your favorite?

Caterpillar Foundation provides disaster relief in Japan

The Caterpillar Foundation announced a $1 million grant to the American Red Cross for disaster relief efforts in Japan. The northeast coast of Japan has been devastated by loss of life and destruction following an earthquake and tsunami on Friday, March 11, 2011.
In addition to the American Red Cross grant, the Foundation will match up to $500,000 in Caterpillar employee, retiree and dealer employee contributions to the Red Cross. To qualify for matching funds, contributions must be made by April 14, 2011, via credit or debit card at
http://www.redcrossillinois.org/caterpillar.

Ouch, that smarts!

Nail guns make life so much easier, boy does this make my hand ache.

No Uncle Jay this Week

No installment of Uncle Jay this week, keep the USAR teams in your thought as they are deployed to the disaster.

 UncleJayExplains on Mar 13, 2011

Sorry, but this week's news is beyond explaining. Please help with relief efforts however you can. See you next Monday.

Never before seen video of 911?

NEW? Some say yes and other say no? Well I have never seen this one and I have seen a lot of them.

Never-Before-Seen 9/11 Footage From NYPD Helicopter Released

Leaked 9 11 Video Shot From NYPD Helicopter. 

“From Youtube” A newly-released 17-minute video taken from an NYPD helicopter on September 11th, 2001 shows the events of that day from a new perspective.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology obtained the footage under the Freedom of Information Act as part of its investigation into the day's harrowing events.The footage was then sent to Cryptome, More.. a site which describes itself as a platform that welcomes "documents for publication that are prohibited by governments worldwide, in particular material on freedom of expression, privacy, cryptology, dual-use technologies, national security, intelligence, and secret governance -- open, secret and classified documents -- but not limited to those."

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150115455863441&oid=274466136181&comments

Never before release 911 video, main NYPD source(why now?) Mar 7, 2011 ... Never before release 911 video, main NYPD source(why now?) ... I don't believe there's anything new provided by the video. ...

Uncle Jay Explains - Mar 6, 2011

UncleJayExplains on Mar 6, 2011

Only in the news could the loss of your job and your kids be called "winning." Or that the people overthrowing your country all "love" you. Or that shutting down the government is "an adult conversation." Uncle Jay explains!

Fire Thriller - Chattanooga (TN) Fire Academy Video

Here is a link to a neat video made by fire academy in Chattanooga TN -

This video is part of a longer version created for Chattanooga (TN) Fire Academy 2011. To see the long version, go to:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk8y2vDYO-w
This video is dedicated to the men and women of Chattanooga Fire Academy 2011, who graduated Feb. 24th, 2011. While receiving their training in the academy, they put in some extra time and effort to pay a little tribute to a classic video created by Michael Jackson. No doubt it's hard to dance dressed up like a zombie, but try doing it dressed in full firefighter turnout gear! This video is a gift to the graduates of Chattanooga Fire Academy 2011, and is not for sale. No profit was made from the production of this video.
If you liked this video, you might check out my video for Chattanooga Fire Academy 2009. It's got a James Bond theme and you can see it by clicking here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBqhd83cUpI

LODD

Notice of Firefighter Fatality: Westport, KY

Chris Stock of the Westport Volunteer Fire Department in Westport, KY has died as the result of an on-duty incident that occurred on 2011-02-24

Initial Summary:  
Several hours after participating in a training exercise related to wildland fire incidents, Fire Chief Stock passed away from a heart attack he suffered while at his residence.