FF 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 85 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)  FD Ambulance Car Jacked-Fatal Results  Monday, December 15, 2014    An ambulance from the Branchville VFD (Co. 11) in Prince Georges County (MD) was car (ambu) jacked earlier tonight resulting in what appears to be the death of an innocent civilian. Around 1700, Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department Ambulance 811 (of the Branchville firehouse) was carjacked by an EDP (emotionally disturbed person) who assaulted the crew. This occurred on the Capital Beltway near I-95 and Route 1. Apparently, the ambulance had stopped on the beltway to assist at a crash they saw. Initial reports are that once they stopped, the person driving the crashed vehicle made a grab for the ambulance. After assaulting crew members, the alleged psycho then car (ambu) jacked the unit. Following that, as that person drove the stolen ambulance. the unit was then involved in a very serious crash in front of Joe’s Crab Shack at Greenbelt Road & 62nd Avenue. As of now reports are that there is one fatality and other inju... [ more ]   CLOSE CALL AT PA ATTEMPTED SUICIDE SCENE INVOLVING HAZ-MAT  Monday, December 15, 2014    Emergency workers responding to a suicide attempt in Palmer Township complained of fumes burning their eyes Sunday, which prompted a hazardous materials response, according to the township fire commissioner.Fire Commissioner Stephen Gallagher said the emergency workers arrived at 2:09 p.m. after receiving a call of a suicide at 2 Orchid Court. Gallagher said a woman in her 30s drank various household cleaners in order to kill herself. Emergency workers felt burning in their eyes and called for a hazardous materials response at 2:15 p.m. Local emergency workers initially entered the home to determine a baseline level of contamination, Gallagher said. A hazmat crew from Lehigh County came to check the toxicity of the air before letting anyone in the home. Emergency workers had the cul de sac blocked off with traffic cones for about an hour. Two fire trucks and a Northampton County emergency response vehicle were on the scene Sunday afternoon. more ]         PG CO, MD - BREAKING NEWS - STOLEN MEDIC UNIT INVOLVED IN POTENTIALLY FATAL CRASH  Sunday, December 14, 2014    A Prince Georges CO MD Medic Unit from Branchville VFD was stolen this evening.  Reports are a female was in labor in the back of the medic unit and there was at least one trauma code on scene.  NO FIREFIGHTERS WERE INJURED. The wreck occurred at Greenbelt Rd and 62 Ave.  Here are some photos from the scene. More on our home page as it becomes available.   2 OR FFs INJURED AT HOUSE FIRE  Sunday, December 14, 2014    Officials say two firefighters were injured early Sunday while fighting a blaze at a home in Eugene.Deputy Chief Randy DeWitt of the Eugene-Springfield Fire Department says one firefighter was taken to a local hospital with leg injuries, while the other was taken to another hospital with arm injuries. The two-story home had been converted into four units and the people living there were out of the home when fire crews arrived just after 3 a.m. Investigators were working Sunday to determine what caused the fire.         ONE FIRE DEPARTMENTS BATTLE WITH FIREFIGHTER CANCER  Sunday, December 14, 2014    Recently the San Antonio (TX) has experienced numerous members of the SAFD family being diagnosed with cancer. As a profession we are prepared to “risk a lot to save a lot” and often times we equate that principle to incident factors like structural stability, fire progression, and rescue prioritization. Little do we realize that there is another more insidious risk threatening our safety and that of our sisters and brothers.  We need to be aware of the hidden and always present threat we, as firefighters, face daily when we report for duty in the form of carcinogens. BELOW is a video that the SAFD Cancer Task Force put together. We would like to thank the SAFD brothers who exhibited the courage to go on film and make this video, and its message, possible.  Special thanks also go out to Casey’s wife, Andrea, who supported this initiative and allowed us to share Casey’s story. Please keep all fire service sisters and brothers who are ba... [ more ]        SFD Cancer Video    FIREFIGHTERS & FAMILY MEMBERS BOOK'M NOW! ..."PASS IT ON" FOR CHRISTMAS, HANUKKAH and KWANZAA!  Don't let the cover scare you...the book       is great!  Sunday, December 14, 2014    WHILE ARE WERE THRILLED that the book "PASS IT ON" sold out on Amazon, it is back in stock....so that the fund raising can continue. FROM AMAZON: http://www.amazon.com/Pass-It-What-Know-Want/dp/1593703198 There are also some autographed copies of PASS IT ON available here at FSP: FROM FSP: http://www.fire-police-ems.com/books/bp0190.shtml Again-thanks to all those who have purchased the book-and to all the contrubutors to the book-we are raising some very substantial funds (over $20,000 from April to Sept!) to the two designated charities: NFFF & The Chief Ray Downey Scholarship.          FIREFIGHTER HERO? DO YOU KNOW A TRUE FIREGROUND HERO?  Chief Ray Downey-RIP  Sunday, December 14, 2014    It's that time of the year again. TIME FOR APPLICATION TO THE CHIEF RAY DOWNEY COURAGE AND VALOR AWARD .....It is time for all of us to consider applicants for the CHIEF RAY DOWNEY COURAGE AND VALOR AWARD sponsored by FIRE ENGINEERING/FDIC. A rescue on the fireground? A water rescue? An unusual run where THAT Firefighter made a difference-a truly once in a lifetime difference? HERE are all the details and the HISTORY of this highly respected award: http://www.courageandvalor.com/ HERE IS THE APPLICATION: http://www.fireengineering.com/content/dam/fe/online-articles/documents/2014/2015-cnv-award.pdf         FIREFIGHTER SEEKS COVERAGE FOR MENTAL HEALTH INJURIES-MINNESOTA  Sunday, December 14, 2014   Jerry Hartsworm was the kind of firefighter who didn't wait for the alarm. When he heard over his pager that the nearby Freeport Fire Department was responding to a barn fire, he jumped into his truck and headed to the Melrose fire station, knowing his department likely would be called to help. What happened that day eight months ago left Hartsworm changed. His physical injuries healed, but the mental scars he suffered have left him tormented and unable to work. Adding to the pain is the legal battle he's faced to get the city's insurance carrier to cover his medical expenses and lost wages. For Hartsworm, 50, who spent four years as a volunteer on the Melrose Fire Department, life has become a daily struggle. "Every one of us, when that pager goes off, we know there's a possibility that we're going to die," he said. "And we accept the fact that we could die. But what I cannot accept is the fact that I'm discarded — that I didn't get ... [ more ]         DC FF STRUCK AT FIRE SCENE  Sunday, December 14, 2014    Police and fire officials say a District of Columbia firefighter on the scene of a blaze was struck by a car and pinned against a fire truck. Police spokesman Officer Araz Alali tells The Washington Post (http://wapo.st/1z7oKbU) the firefighter was in the 800 block of Florida Avenue in northeast Washington about 3:30 a.m. Saturday. That's when the firefighter saw a car moving fast and put his hands up to try to slow the driver down. Alali says the driver instead sped up and struck the firefighter, pushing him against the fire truck. The firefighter was taken to a hospital. Fire department spokesman Tim Wilson says the firefighter's injuries are thought to be non-life-threatening. Police identified the driver as Roy McCall of Auburn Hills, Michigan. McCall is charged with felony assault.         AUSTRALIAN MAN DIES AFTER HITTING FIRE TRUCK ON MOTORCYCLE  Sunday, December 14, 2014   A MAN has died after his motorbike collided with a fire truck, in Melbourne’s west overnight. The motorcyclist was travelling on Ballarat Rd, in Deer Park, when his motorbike hit the back of the MFB truck about 1.55am. The 20-year-old, from Roxburgh Park, died at the scene. No one else was injured. A MFB spokesman said he was unable to comment. Police are investigating. The death takes the road toll to 241.