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 73 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 ENCOURAGING NEWS FOR FIREFIGHTER RECOVERING OUT OF ALABAMA Friday, November 14, 2014  There is encouraging news to report regarding a Prattville firefighter who was critically injured after falling more than 20 feet off a ladder back on November 1. Chief Terry Brown says Battalion Chief Lowell Strock is making improvements daily as he continues his recovery at Baptist South Hospital in Montgomery. He is expected to begin therapy after being discharged from the hospital. Strock, a 24-year veteran with the fire department, was performing maintenance on a station heater when the accident happened. There has been an outpouring of support for a veteran Prattville firefighter who was seriously injured in an accident at a fire station. Following the accident, fire crews from across the region united for a prayer vigil for Strock, who is also chief of the White City Volunteer Fire Department, where the service was held. Ten volunteer fire departments and a rescue squad from Autauga County were invited tomore ]     Tweet   FIREFIGHTERS: A SINCERE THANK YOU Friday, November 14, 2014  Our sincere thanks to each of you who have purchased the book "PASS IT ON-What We Know, What We Want You To Know" Thanks to you, last month I sent checks to the Chief Ray Downey Scholarship Fund and the Nat'l Fallen Firefighters Foundation for $20,000.00---the book has only been out since April-but you folks "out there" have made it a best seller, made it possible to raise some serious bucks for these two important charities and have made a difference. And have, by reading the book, learned from and about some of the absolute best people in our business. Thanks so much also to each of the 99 fire service and related contributors for making this possible! WITH THE HOLIDAYS COMING, PLEASE CONSIDER "PASS IT ON-What We Know, What We Want You To Know" as a gift for your friends, family, brother/sister firefighters. Chiefs-have a few training or related bucks left at the end of the fiscal year? Consider PASS IT ON for your Fire Officers and Firefighters. We've a... [ more ]     Tweet   DISPATCHER PUT BALT. SAFETY OFFICER BACK IN QUARTERS - DELAYING FINDING HIM MISSING AT SCENE CBSBAL Video Friday, November 14, 2014  New information on the death of a Baltimore City firefighter found dead in a vacant home hours after being dispatched to a scene. Rochelle Ritchie looks into the action of a dispatcher that may have kept the safety officer from being found sooner. The death of Baltimore City fire safety officer Lt. James Bethea remains a mystery after he was found dead in the basement of a vacant home just hours after responding to a fire next door. WJZ has learned the actions taken by a dispatcher may have resulted in the 40-year veteran not being found sooner. According to fire officials, Lt. Bethea was still showing on scene at dispatch headquarters. That’s when a dispatcher decided to place him back in station, indicating he had returned. That is typically done by the firefighters and safety officers themselves. “That is not something that is normal. And that is something we are inve... [ more ]     Tweet   FIREFIGHTER STAFFING - ANOTHER BATTLE Friday, November 14, 2014  A bill being debated in the Illinois Legislature over firefighters has many Illinois Mayors up-in-arms. Some say the bill would create an added burden on taxpayers, while firefighters claim it wouldn't.  When it comes to fighting fires, firefighters say having enough people on hand is critically important. But, how many are really needed, and who gets the final word in that debate? It's a question that has city leaders and firefighters unions often at odds--and at the heart of a new bill being debated on the State Senate floor. Right now, the law allows firefighters unions to discuss wages, hours, and work conditions.  The new bill adds staffing numbers or "manning" to the table as well. "A law to step forward and say you're going to do this whether you can afford it or not--that's something we can't stand for," states Mayor Greg Brotherton of Taylorville, Illinois. The Mayor of Taylorville's point has been echoed by other Mayors, and it doesn't sit w... [ more ]     Tweet   Probe Shows Hose Failures Not Uncommon WCVB Video Friday, November 14, 2014  Attack hoses hauled into buildings are failing, and killing firefighters. Boston Firefighter Michael Kennedy carried a hose into a burning building earlier this year, but it failed after it was burned through. Kennedy and fellow firefighter Lt. Ed Walsh died in the basement after frantically calling for water, a WCVB investigative report showed. "Engine 33, mayday. Charge Engine 33’s line now. It’s getting hot down here." The voices of Engine 33’s Walsh and Ladder 15’s Kennedy were silenced forever, the reporter wrote. Kennedy's mother, Kathy Crosby-Bell said the fact that they were calling for water is infuriating, sad and tragic. "When I look at the firefighters and realize this can happen to any one of them, we need to do so... [ more ]     Tweet   FIREFIGHTERS BURNED IN ARIZONA Friday, November 14, 2014  The Phoenix Fire Department says two of its firefighters were burned while responding to a fire at an abandoned house Wednesday night. It happened in the area of 47th Avenue and Bethany Home Road in Glendale, near the Phoenix border. When firefighters arrived on scene, they began searching the home to see if anyone was inside. The Glendale Fire Department said the two Phoenix firefighters might have been burned in a flashover or by steam after putting water on the flames. The fire is still under investigation. "Some conditions changed and they got burned pretty significantly tonight," said Phoenix Fire Capt. Mike Billingsley. "It got hot really fast." They were transported to the Arizona Burn Center at Maricopa Medical Center. According to the Phoenix Fire Department, one firefighter has first- and second-degree burns on 15 percent of his body, including his legs, torso, arms and hands. The other fi... [ more ]       CordonnVideos Tweet   ANOTHER FIRE DEPT. OPS FOR BULLET PROOF VESTS NewsInc Video Friday, November 14, 2014  They’ve been prepared to work in commercial fire, house fire and car fire. Within the next few weeks, firefighting crews in Fairfield, Calif., can add a new category to that list — gunfire. In what Fairfield Fire Department officials say is a response to recent events across the country, firefighters in the Northern California city will soon begin wearing bulletproof vests on certain types of calls in which first responders are at risk of being harmed through physical violence, such as active shooter situations. We're not going to have to use them very often. For sure during any stabbing, shooting or call asking us to stage. Where anyone's indicated they want to hurt themselves. - Matt Luckenbach, battalion chief After the Los Angeles riots in 1992, several cities including Monrovia, Downey and Santa Ana purchased vests for their firefighters. L.A. city firefighters also have access to bulletproof vests. Fairfield crews are expected to begin w... [ more ]     Tweet   FIREFIGHTERS & SLEEP DISORDERS-A CONCERNING "PARTNERSHIP" Thursday, November 13, 2014  Sleep disorders are independent risk factors for heart attacks and motor vehicle crashes, which are the two leading causes of death for firefighters in the United States. In a national sample of almost 7,000 firefighters, researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) examined the prevalence of common sleep disorders and their association with adverse health and safety outcomes and found that sleep disorders are highly prevalent, and associated with substantially increased risk of motor vehicle crashes and cardio-metabolic diseases among firefighters.Findings of the study, led by Laura K. Barger, PhD, associate physiologist in BWH's Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders, are published in theJournal of Clinical Sleep Medicine on November 13, 2014. "Our findings demonstrate the impact of common sleep disorders on firefighter health and safety, and th... [ more ]     Tweet   FIRE OFFICER FOUND DEAD AT SCENE HOURS AFTER FIRE-FELL INTO STRUCTURE-BALTIMORE CITY Wednesday, November 12, 2014   It is with deep regret that we pass on to you that a Baltimore City veteran FD Safety Officer Lt James Bethea was found dead today at the scene of a fire that occurred last night. He apparently fell down 8' while performing his job. The Safety Officer car had been in front of 708 E. North Ave since the fire last night. Initial reports are that Lt Bethea had gone to check exposures for safety concerns and while doing so, fell 8' into the abandoned structure-remaining there unnoticed initially. An off duty Firefighter reported seeing the SO 2 vehicle on the block. Assistance was sent and the members searched and found him gone in the basement of the delta exposure. Our condolences to all affacted. Much more to follow. RIP.     Tweet