Firefighter Close Calls

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Submit Your Close Call / Near Miss Navigation Home Secret List Gallery EMS CloseCalls Drills Firefighter Staffing Personal Survival Safety and survival SOGs Links Modern Fire Behavior About Us Never Forget Fire Communications Pass it On LODD STATS Yearly Totals Year Totals 2014 77 2013 101 2012 83 2011 81 2010 87 2009 93 2008 118 2007 118 2006 107 2005 115 "In Memory Of" Click this patch   Custom Search Contact Info Email BillyG info@ firefighterclosecalls.com Email Weekly Drill Suggestions to Drills@firefighter closecalls.com Click Here for The 9/11 Widows' and Victims' Families Association Click Here: Skyscraper Safety Campaign       Also check the most current issue of THE SECRET LIST for related News and Updates-(Click Here) Tweets by @alertpage FIREFIGHTER DIES IN THE LINE OF DUTY-NEW JERSEY-AT MULTI ALARM FIRE RIP Chief Thursday, November 20, 2014   We regret to pass on that Cape May County (NJ) Fire Coordinator Art Treone passed away late last night. Chief Treone was on scene of a multiple alarm fatal fire in North Wildwood when he developed chest pains on the fireground.  He was immediately treated and then transported and admitted to Cape Regional Medical Center where he succumbed. Art was a retired Lieutenant of the Cape May County Sheriff’s Dept as well as past Chief of the Townbank Fire Company in Lower Township, in Cape May County. Chief Treone was well known as one of the ‘good’ guys, a real legend in that area. MORE: Arthur E. “Art” Treon, whose name was synonymous with fire fighting and emergency management in the township, county, and state, died Wednesday night after leaving the scene of a fatal fire in North Wildwood. Town Bank Fire Chief Lou McGonigal, a longtime friend, said Treon ... [ more ]     Tweet   TWO FIREFIGHTER SUICIDES IN FLORIDA Thursday, November 20, 2014  Out of respect to the families and members of those affected, we won't share names or the departments-but once again, two of "our own" have taken their lives in just the last few days, One FF in South Florida and the other in the Tampa Bay area. In addition to the "awareness" of the two losses, we wanted to share the leadership shown by a Chief of Department: It is with deep regret that I must inform you of the untimely death of Firefighter who took her own life this morning.  Words cannot express the profound sadness that we all feel.  I am at a loss as to how to make sense of her death, many of you have expressed the same sentiment.   We may never have an explanation that makes sense to us.  I have no words to offer that will make this right, or even bearable.  I can only say that I am both saddened and sorry that she did not feel like she had another option.  Our grief cannot compare to what Toni's family is going through s... [ more ]     Tweet   FIREFIGHTER DIES IN THE LINE OF DUTY-COLLAPSES IN NEW YORK STATE FIREHOUSE Thursday, November 20, 2014  We regret to pass on to you that a veteran Summit (Schoharie County, NY, SW of Albany) Firefighter died after being stricken inside the firehouse Tuesday night while he was helping other Firefighters getting ready to deploy to western New York to assist in the aftermath of the blizzard. James Foote, 57, one of the Summit Fire Department Commissioners collapsed in quarters and while treatment was immediate, he tragically died at Cobleskill Hospital. Our condolences to all those affected. RIP.     Tweet   FIREFIGHTERS: TWENTY FIVE FREE SCHOLARSHIPS TO FDIC 2015 Wednesday, November 19, 2014  While not a CLOSE CALL-this is an amazing and rare TRAINING opportunity fire Firefighters that we are passing on. Do you know someone who deserves to attend FDIC, but can’t due to budget restrictions or other impediments? What if you could make that happen? Honeywell First Responders (Morning Pride, Pro Boots etc) and UL (Underwriters Labs) have partnered together to offer TWENTY FIRE full-paid (travel, hotel etc-see below!) scholarship to TWENTY FIVE brave men and women protecting our communities to attend 2015 FDIC. * All you need to do is tell them why you’re nominating them! REGISTRATION IS OPEN NOW! The registration link can be found on the FDIC website: www.fdic.com/scholarship.html Whats the fine print? Not much! TWENTY FIRE FIGHTERS WILL WIN...and that includes round trip travel, a VIP dinner reception, full stay private hotel room and full access to all FDIC classes, activities, sessions, exhibits! WHAT D... [ more ]       Tweet   IN PURSUIT OF SMART (From the NFPA Journal) Wednesday, November 19, 2014  THE ENGINE 308 FIRE HOUSE IN SOUTH QUEENS is the kind of place where visitors receive a firm handshake and a strong cup of coffee upon arrival. Upstairs, Eugene Ditaranto’s office is equally old-school. The walls are clad in 1970s-era wood paneling, and Ditaranto, chief of Battalion 51 for the New York City Fire Department (FDNY), has tacked up clipboards and maps of his district. A couple dozen binders are arrayed in a bookshelf against the far wall, and the surface of the chief’s simple wooden desk is covered neatly in stacks of papers, folders and Post-it notes. Every few minutes the landline phone rings over the chattering buzz of two window AC units. Online Only - Video from author Jesse Roman about his experience with the FDNY. Even in this modest space, Chief Ditaranto is only a few keyboard clicks away from one of the most ... [ more ]     Tweet   CA FFs INJURED IN EXPLOSION Explosion Viideo Tuesday, November 18, 2014  Reports out of California are that at least 3 Firefighters were rushed to local hospitals morning after chemicals loaded into a vacuum truck exploded in Santa Paula. Approximately 1,000 gallons of an organic peroxide exploded from the truck at the Santa Clara Waste Water Company in Santa Paula, the Ventura County. The explosion scattered the chemical, which began to crystallize and spontaneously ignite. Firefighters had to leave one engine behind because its tires began to ignite as it rolled over the material. The chemical has also sickened 12 hospital employees at the VCMC emergency room. The hospital was working to contain the ER in order to prevent the chemical from affecting additional personnel. The cause of the explosion was unclear. The chemical, possibly an organic peroxide, spontaneously combusted as it was being loaded into a vacuum truck. The explosion caused the chemical to shoot ou... [ more ]     Tweet   INDIANA APPARATUS STRUCK ON THE EXPRESSWAY Tuesday, November 18, 2014  A driver is in critical condition and three firemen were injured Tuesday morning while responding to an accident on the U.S. 20 bypass near Mayflower Road. Just after 4:30 a.m. St. Joseph County police were called to a crash involving three cars . Three people were taken to the hospital for their injuries. One driver in critical condition Medical staff determined that the injuries to driver Joseph Quick, 61, of South Bend were consistent with being hit by another vehicle while standing outside of his car. Quick is listed in critical condition with head, spinal and leg injuries. At this time, investigators believe that another vehicle struck Quick and then left the scene. Anyone with information about this crash is asked to contact Major Dean Chandler at 235-9611. Fire engine seriously damaged ... [ more ]     Tweet   LODD UPDATE: DRUNK WHO STRUCK AND KILLED FIRE CHIEF CLAIMS HE THOUGHT HE HAD STRUCK A DEER Tuesday, November 18, 2014  Glen Rock volunteer firefighter Zachary Immel was on the scene, slowing down traffic, while crews closed a portion of Interstate 83 southbound between exits 8 and 4 in April 2013. A call had come in about a half hour before that there was a crash – with entrapment – in the northbound lane, and Immel's job that night was to create a helicopter landing zone in the next lane over. While stopping traffic that night, though, he testified on Tuesday that he saw something strange. "About four cars back, I saw a vehicle with heavy front-end damage," the firefighter said. The crashed-in hood and shattered windshield caught his attention right away and concerned him enough that he walked back along the line of cars to check on the driver. "I asked if he was OK, and he said he was fine," Immel said, recalling the driver's calm demeanor. That driver, later identified as Matthew Diehl, 33, of Shrewsberry, told Immel that the damage came from a deer he had just hit.... [ more ]     Tweet   FIREFIGHTER COLLAPSES IN QUARTERS-LINE OF DUTY DEATH Monday, November 17, 2014  We regret to advise you that 40-year-old Alejandro Castro of the Brownsville FD died late Sunday night. The incident happened at Fire Station No. 8 off Captain Donald L Foust Road next to the Port of Brownsville around 2230 hours last night. Initial reports are that he passed out and later died in the Line of Duty. It's not clear what caused him to pass out and die but this death remains under investigation. Brownsville Fire Chief Lenny Perez said firefighters are treating the case as if Castro died in the line of duty. Our condolences to all affected.     Tweet