Good old film from LAFD–times have changed or have they?

Love the old apparatus and gear, some of that was still in use when I started.

Uploaded by wdtvlive42 on Oct 23, 2011

"Your Fire Department" was a public education film released by the Los Angeles Fire Department in the late 1940's which showed the equipment, personnel and activities of the Fire Department, with detailed segments showing firefighters at work, various types of fires, and fire prevention & safety. The film also shows the many different types of fire fighting vehicles used at the time.
Detailed scene synopsis:
excellent color footage of firemen at work; all in the city of Los Angeles, California;
man sleeping in bed at night; smoke from a fire curling up from beneath a door;
man stumbling out of smoke filled room to call fire department;
montage of people talking on the phone, they all have expressions of concern on their faces as they are reporting fires; telephone switchboard;
emptying ashtray; child grabbing matches; changing fuses;
various fire stations; fire trucks; suburban fires;
attaching hoses to hydrants; men running with hoses;
ladder trucks; operation of hydraulic ladders; chopping holes in roofs;
gas masks; salvage companies save property from water damage;
brush fires; extinguishing fires; bulldozer constructing fire break; fire roads;
fireboats; looking down on boat passing by from bridge; giant water tower;
ferocious oil fires; manufacture of foam to extinguish fire;
airports; racing trucks between planes; rescue companies; artificial respiration; administration of oxygen;
fire chief; map of fire battalion of Los Angeles;
excellent footage of physical tests; doctor taking blood pressure; training of firefighters;
how box alarms are responded to; sliding down a pole; dispatcher communicating by two-way radio; Arson Bureau, burned out house; man is arrested by arson squad; jail cell; pyromaniac; people carrying belongings out of burning house; fire prevention inspectors;
Shell fuel truck; manufacturing plant with barrels of chemicals
Neon signs: The Palladium: Earl Carroll Theatre; Plantation Hotel (with flashing Vacancy sign); movie marquee "Words and Music: with Gene Kelly and Judy Garland; sign: West Haven Rest Home
school safety campaign; backyard full of trash being examined by a fire inspector;
fireman explains safety guidelines to housewife holding child on porch; radio broadcast at station KHJ
man (citizen) climbing down fire ladder pulling his pants on
CU telephone dial and finger dialing; breaking glass and pulling hook on street fire alarm box

Good reminder video from Fire rescue TZV

The Fire Rescue TV staff has created a safety video to remind you to be alert this weekend during Halloween. Children may be wearing dark colored costumes.

• Fire Rescue TV

Interesting Article over at FF close Calls

Building Owner Sues FD For "Not Doing Enough" (The Secret List) www.FireFighterCloseCalls.com

Tuesday, October 25, 2011 Hey, 
The owner of a former furniture factory that was destroyed by a fire in early December, has now sued the Union City (PA) Fire Department, claiming that "proper efforts" weren't made to save the 210,000-square-foot structure. Hmmmmmm.
In the suit, which was filed last Friday, Carl Boone claims that firefighters did not "act with a sense of urgency" in fighting the Dec. 2 fire at the former Cherry Hill Division of Ethan Allen Interiors Inc.
Boone said that a fire-suppression system in the building, which the Union City VFD was made aware of during a tour in November, was not charged and operated by firefighters who responded to the fire. His lawsuit also claims the fire department's command also directed other responding departments to not provide "adequate fire protection services-despite their willingness to fight the fire".
"There was a pre-determined decision by the Union City FD that if the building ever caught on fire, Union City Firefighters would not attempt to extinguish the fire but would instead operate as a 'controlled burn structure fire,'" the suit claims. That isn't all that unusual - since many FD's are not provided with adequate resources to protect what they are expected to protect...amongst other issues....including FD leadership being able to explain what is needed, well before the building is on fire.
25 fire departments from throughout the area were called in to fight the fire, which is indicitive that command DID try to control the fire, which was reported at about 1140 hours on Dec. 2. Union City Fire Chief Robert Wolf said on the day of the fire that it had gotten such a head start by the time the first firefighters arrived that when crews made their first entry into the building, they encountered heavy flames and were pulled out. The massive fire was predictably fueled in part by decades of sawdust that packed itself into walls and between floors.
The fire burned for most of the day, leveling the building and producing heat that damaged some homes on a street along the south exposure of the 1.95-acre property.
The suit also alleges that the fire was set off by two people who were cutting metal with a blowtorch on the second floor of the building. The unnamed individuals were "not authorized" to be in the building, and it is believed that they were stealing metal to sell as scrap, according to the suit.
However, fire investigators said after the fire that workers using torches accidentally set off the fire. Much more on this latest fire related lawsuit to follow.
More now at www.TheRepublic.com
Take Care-Be Careful,
BillyG
The Secret List 10-25-11 / 0930 hours
www.FireFighterCloseCalls.com

LODD

Notice of Firefighter Fatality: Fairfax, VA

Horace "Chris" C. Pendergrass of the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department in Fairfax, VA has died as the result of an on-duty incident that occurred on 2011-10-22

Initial Summary:  
Firefighter Pendergrass was discovered deceased in bed by fellow firefighters at shift change, having passed away during the night in his sleep from a cause still to be determined. Incident Location: Station #41, 9610 Hampton Road, Fairfax Station, VA 22039-2813

Notice of Firefighter Fatality: Atlanta, GA

Harold Gregory Gibson of the Fulton County Fire Rescue in Atlanta, GA has died as the result of an on-duty incident that occurred on 1993-06-19

Initial Summary:  
Firefighter Gibson contracted Hepatitis C after coming in contact with blood while treating a patient injured in a traffic accident in 1993. Due to medical complications related to Hepatitis, Firefighter Gibson left the fire department in 1998 and passed away in July, 2011.

Good review–good class–Art of reading smoke

Could almost be a science – Copy of power point below at Firefighter Close calls.com

Art of Reading Smoke PowerPoint  www.firefighterclosecalls.com/news/fullstory/newsid/106558

Art of Reading Smoke PowerPoint. Share ·  Thanks to Dave Dodson for providing this download to FirefighterCloseCalls.com for .

Reading Smoke Practice - YouTube

This is an excerpt from Dave Dodson's video - "The Art of Reading Smoke". This segment allows you to practice some o

he Art of Reading Smoke DVD: Dave Dodson: Fire Engineering ...

www.pennwellbooks.com › Fire Engineering Books & Videos › DVDs

The Art of Reading Smoke DVD. By David W. Dodson, former Battalion Chief and current Lead Instructor of Response Solutions.

New look

Working around with the new blogger templates, also added a mobile view for those with smart phone and itouch devices.

Never know what you’re going to get

Body found by farmer harvesting corn

HECTOR, Minn. (AP) — Renville County authorities are investigating the discovery of a man's body by a farmer who was harvesting corn.

The farmer found the body around 5 p.m. Saturday, about 10 miles northeast of Hector in Brookfield Township.

Sheriff Scott Hable says the body appeared to be that of an adult male. He has not been positively identified and an autopsy is planned.

The Renville and Meeker County sheriff's offices and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension responded to the scene and are continuing the investigation.

Future of auto extrication?

Would, could, should this type of machine be used for auto extrication,

building collapse? Could be the future of rescue tools?

Raytheon-Sarcos Prototype Power Loader

from MAKE Magazine by Sean Michael Ragan

It rolls on tracks instead of walking, but this ditch-witch style tracked chassis retrofit with a pair of giant waldos is pretty much the power loader from Aliens. This video showing it in action is a great news segment from Ed Yeates of Utah’s KSL-TV, right up to the point where they start talking about the system as an “equalizer” opening up jobs to women “that might’ve otherwise been closed just based on strength issues.”

Last time I checked, guys, there aren’t a lot of men running around out there who can wave 200-lb steel I-beams around with one arm, either. Still, in all, an extremely cool toy developed by Raytheon-Sarcos (Wikipedia), the same folks who produced the XOS-series powered exoskeletons we’ve featured here before. [via Gizmodo]

LODD

Notice of Firefighter Fatality: Cape May, NJ

Andrew "Andy" K. Boyt of the Cape May Fire Department in Cape May, NJ has died as the result of an on-duty incident that occurred on 2011-10-03

Initial Summary:  
A few hours after working a twenty-four hour shift, Lieutenant Boyt's personal vehicle was observed parked on the side of a local road. Boyt was inside of the vehicle, slumped over the steering wheel. Police, EMS and medics responded, found Boyt unresponsive and started CPR. He was immediately transported to Cape Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly thereafter. Lieutenant Boyt had responded to fire calls within 24 hours prior to his passing. The cause of his death is still under investigation.

 

Notice of Firefighter Fatality: Hagatna, GU

Vince Cruz of the Guahan (Guam) Fire Department in Hagatna, GU has died as the result of an on-duty incident that occurred on 2011-09-28

Initial Summary:  
Firefighter Cruz passed away while onduty from a cause still to be determined. Cruz, posthumously promoted to Fire Lieutenant, was reported by authorities to have responded to a number of emergency calls the fire department answered the previous night. 

On arrival video, Raw footage of a well involved structure fire

Appears to be a under construction multiunit building.

Uploaded by jck5055 on Oct 17, 2011

Again the cost is the factor

Emergency responders say more funding necessary as calls increase

SUGAR GROVE — Emergency medical service is becoming more routine than emergency and that is creating a serious crisis, according to presenters at the Emergency Medical Services House of Representatives Task Force meeting Monday at Waubonsee Community College. “We’re not so much emergency services as health-care services,” said Aurora Fire Chief Hal Carlson. About 30 firefighters, police officers, paramedics and other emergency personnel were invited to provide comments at the meeting, which is the fourth in a series of 14 scheduled across the state. The hearings run through Dec. 6, and will culminate in a report to legislators for possible …

Guard Gator

Cops: Cary man used gator to guard marijuana operation

Sun-Times Media Updated: October 15, 2011

Gator guarding pot?: A Cary man was keeping more than just a clandestine cannabis-growing operation inside his house, McHenry County Sheriff’s Police said. Nicholas Cosmano, 26, of 7203 Owl Way also had a 5-foot-long alligator in the home, they said. Deputies acting on a search warrant entered the home Wednesday and found 16 cannabis sativa plants, approximately 100 grams of processed cannabis, grow lights, ballasts, growing chemicals and various items of drug paraphernalia. along with the alligator. Sheriff Keith Nygren estimated the value of the drugs seized throughout the investigation to be in excess of $2,100. The alligator was turned over to the McHenry County Animal Control Office for safekeeping and review of possible ordinance violations. Cosmano was charged with possession of cannabis and possession with intent to deliver, manufacturing of cannabis sativa plants and possession of drug paraphernalia.

National Fallen Firefighters Memorial 2011 Weekend Live on the Web

 

Live Broadcasts: FROM FireHero.org

National Fallen Firefighters Foundation www.firehero.org/

The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation is a non-profit organization that offers programs to honor U.S. fallen firefighter

» Candlelight Service Broadcast: Saturday, October 15, 2011 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time
   (Telecast Begins at 6:15 p.m.; Service Begins at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time)
» Memorial Service Broadcast: Sunday, October 16, 2011 9:00 am - 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time
   (Telecast Begins at 9:30 a.m.; Service Begins at 10 a.m. Eastern Time)

» Download: Satellite Coordinates for Broadcast of the 2011 Candlelight & Memorial Services

Broadcast the Candlelight and Memorial Services on Your Website - Interested in Providing 2011 Memorial Weekend Video on Your Site?

Only at Wal-Mart

A Saturday morning of shopping turned into an emergency hazmat situation at a Baltimore Walmart where two patrons threw bleach and disinfectant at one another, officials said.

Baltimore County Police responded to a call at about 10:48 a.m. Saturday and found two women fighting inside the store.
The bleach and disinfectant created toxic fumes, forcing the immediate evacuation of the entire Arbutus store, officials told ABC News affiliate ABC 2. It closed for several hours.
Fire, EMS and hazardous materials units were dispatched to the scene, as well as 10 medics.
Nineteen people reportedly received treatment, including three Walmart employees. One person was taken to the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins Hospital for treatment, officials said.
Three Walmart employees were being treated for respiratory problems, a Walmart spokeswoman told ABC News.
Police have arrested Theresa Monique Jefferson, 33, after she turned herself in to authorities, according to the Associated Press.
She has reportedly been charged with first-degree assault, second-degree assault, theft under $100 and malicious destruction of property. She is being held on $350,000 bail.
The brawl was a result of an ongoing dispute between Jefferson and the victim because the victim's boyfriend is the father of Jefferson's child, according to the AP.
Police spokesman Shawn Vinson told the Washington Post that Jefferson initiated the attack when she followed the victim into the store.

Uncle Jay ?

Where has he been? This short video from Uncle Jay explains his absence, please be patient, I am going though my Uncle Jay withdrawal too!

 

Good article over at FireChief web site

Prepare Fire Leaders Before Their 5 Bugles – From FIRECHIEF
Full Article HERE -

By Glenn Bischoff (glenn.bischoff@penton.com)

Recently, FIRE CHIEF Editor Glenn Bischoff chatted with Jack Parow, immediate past president of the International Association of Fire Chiefs, and the retired chief of the Chelmsford (Mass.) Fire Department, about his year in office.

What were your goals and aspirations when you began your term as IAFC president?
One of my goals was to continue the work that has been done to change the IAFC from a five-bugle chief’s organization to more of a leadership organization. Two years ago, the IAFC’s membership categories were realigned in large measure to bring company officers into the organization, to give them a place to go. We now have a category now for company officers, at a reduced rate because a lot of departments won’t pay for the membership, so it’s going to be on their own dime. Today we have more than 400 company officers as members, and it’s our fastest-growing category. We also commissioned a task force to identify the true needs of company officers, so that we can better develop the future leaders of the fire service.

What did the task force recommend? 
One was to form a section for company officers so that they would have input into the IAFC throughout the year. Another was to provide some sort of leadership or mentoring program for company officers at division conferences. They also recommended that company officers be allowed to join the various task forces and committees, so that they would have input into how the IAFC moved forward. The idea is that including company officers in this way not only will help the IAFC to grow, but also will help to develop the chief officers of the future — and the fire service as a whole will be much stronger.

What do you mean?
In the fire service, we tend to do things backwards. We hire firefighters and then we send them to recruit school to train them. We promote officers and then we send them to officer training school. So we’re trying to flip the scales by developing and training these officers prior to them taking on the true leadership role of chief of the department or battalion chief. The fire service is notoriously behind in that.

Comments worth a read

Poor Leaders Are Like Noxious Gas?

By Michael "Mick" Mayers 

Mick Mayers | Firehouse Zen Michael “Mick” Mayers is a Battalion Chief with Hilton Head Island (SC) Fire and Rescue and a Senior Advisor for the South Carolina Emergency Response ..

From FIREHOUSE ZEN Blog

The lack of real leadership surfaces in a number of the world’s problems. I don’t necessarily feel like people can’t handle the job, I just think that in a lot of cases, people are designated as leaders who have no business in that position. To me, they are like gases with asphyxiant properties.

Some of these gases or mixtures aren’t necessarily harmful in and of themselves, but to us, their harm is that just by occupying space with their presence, they ruin what could be a perfectly suitable atmosphere. So to make the atmosphere tenable again, one effective tactic would be to replace these noxious materials with the materials we find suitable.

Similarly, poor leaders displace good leaders.  By just being present and nothing else, they contaminate the atmosphere. As a result, good leaders are simply forced elsewhere.  Hopefully those good leaders can find places to create a better condition, but the loss of those individuals is intolerable to those left behind and the organization suffers.

In reading and watching the news in recent days I am reminded just how damaging these “asphyxiants” can be to organizations and really, to society. I see my job as being one to facilitate good leadership. I try to encourage you to be better people, to use good judgment, to learn and understand, and to be “missionaries”, carrying the message of good leadership to others. I don’t consider myself to be a good leader – I see myself as a continual work in process and have plenty of faults – but I recognize good leadership and I have observed what it takes to promote good leadership in others.

As much as I’d like to suggest to poor leaders that they should move out of the way to permit good leaders to fill that space, I think it is more realistic to say that perhaps we should convince those individuals to be more open-minded to learning, to engaging their people, and to promoting good practices. So you can see, instead of removing the problem, there is another tactic we can use in mitigating an asphyxiant atmosphere: by mixing the material in with a good atmosphere and making it much smaller in proportion to the whole, we can “safe” the atmosphere. While we may not always have the answers, if we can permit ourselves to be exposed to good practices and to see how things should work, we can make things better, incrementally, but just the same, much improved.

Be an agent of positive change. Promote best practices. And let’s all go home in the morning.