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Submit Your Close Call / Near Miss Navigation Home Close Calls 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 2015 10 2014 87 2013 101 2012 83 2011 81 2010 87 2009 93 2008 118 2007 118 2006 107 "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)  FF DOWN IN HOUSTON - CPR IN PROGRESS  Scott Engle Video  Friday, February 20, 2015    According to Houston Fire Department firefighters a house fire was reported at England and Cosey in south Houston Thursday evening. Also reports of people trapped. Crews arrived on scene and after exiting the structure a firefighter collapsed. He was transported to Hermann Hospital with CPR in progress. At this time a press conference will take place at about 915 to get an update.Today marks the tenth anniversary of Houston Fire Captain Grady Burke, when he perished in a house fire. Burke was from the same station as tonights firefighter.         3 FFs HURT AT YONKERS FIRE  Thursday, February 19, 2015   A fire ripped through a multifamily home in Yonkers on Wednesday night, gutting the house and leaving 12 people out in the cold.Firefighters battled a three-alarm blaze at 39 Locust Hill Ave., where flames tore through the second and third floors of the three-story wood-frame house. None of the occupants were hurt but three firefighters were injured, Deputy Fire Chief Thomas Fitzpatrick said. More than 40 firefighters from about a dozen companies responded around 4:30 p.m. They initially tried to get inside the house but the fire was too intense, though they did rescue a cat from the building. The main fire was knocked down around 7 p.m., but not before destroying most of the home. The cause of the fire was under investigation. "Our firefighters had their work cut out for them," Mayor Mike Spano said from the scene.         FFs TAKING PROACTIVE STEPS TO PREVENT CANCER  ABC6 Video  Thursday, February 19, 2015   Proactive steps are beginning to be taken across Ohio to prevent the new killer claiming careers and lives of firefighters. Cancer is haunting firehouse after firehouse, with studies pointing to a link between cancers and the job firefighters do. There was a meeting of the minds Wednesday to discuss methods of prevention and bring about an increased awareness. “When you’re a firefighter you have a mindset that you can do anything, that nothing can stop you,” Firefighter Mark Rine said. “Now, every day you’re basically reminded that that life is gone.” ABC 6/FOX 28 introduced you to Mark Rine last July. He has melanoma cancer and was told he only has a couple more years to live. Rine’s cancer is one of several skin-related cancers that researchers say is linked to firefighting. Rine’s made it his mission to educate firefighters across the state, even setting up a day-long summit to force a change in culture and prevent futur... [ more ]         REPORT: GLENDALE FFs USED EXCESSIVE FORCE  Video | News | Weather | Sports Wed Feb 18 19:09:09 PST 2015 Report says Glendale firefighters used ’excessive force’ on patient Two Glendale firefighters used "excessive force" during an altercation with a mentally ill patient in October. view full article AZFamily.com Video  Thursday, February 19, 2015    Two Glendale firefighters used "excessive force" during an altercation with a mentally ill patient in October, according to the city's internal investigation. A neighbor recorded part of the incident on his phone, and Glendale human resources staff and a Glendale city attorney used the video and witness statements to come up with their ruling. The patient, 30-year-old James Murillo, suffers from schizophrenia, according to his family. He was having seizures after an overdose on medications. Murillo punched one of the firefighters who arrived to take him to... [ more ]         AUBURN, AL FIRE CHIEF PASSES AWAY AFTER ILLNESS  Wednesday, February 18, 2015    A spokesperson for the City of Auburn is confirming that Fire Division Chief Lee Lamar has died following a prolonged illness. Chief Lamar died Wednesday morning. Auburn Mayor Bill Ham issued a statement saying: "I was very sad to hear the news of Fire Chief Lee Lamar's passing. Lee was completely dedicated to the fire safety of the Auburn community and spent his career building one of the finest fire divisions in the State of Alabama. Not only will we miss his expertise and leadership as Chief of the Fire Division, but we will miss his friendship, his deep concern for others, and his generous spirit. We express our deepest condolences to his family, his friends, and all the members of the Fire Division. Lee meant a lot to many people and will be sorely missed."         BANGOR ME FF INJURED IN COLLAPSE AT HIGH SCHOOL FIRE  Wednesday, February 18, 2015    A fire at John Bapst Memorial High School on Broadway has been brought under control, according to Bangor Fire Chief Tom Higgins.Crews from several area departments began hauling hoses out of the structure after fighting the fire for about two hours, Higgins said at 1 p.m. Wednesday. One firefighter was injured when a portion of the ceiling on the third or fourth floor collapsed, Higgins said earlier. The injured man was brought to a local hospital. Higgins did not release the identity of the firefighter or the nature of his injuries. School was not in session Wednesday because of February vacation so no students were in the building. About a dozen employees were working and evacuated the building safely, according to principal David Armistead. Those employees are being allowed back into the building to collect their belongings, Higgins said.         Jury to be asked: Did locator alarm's failure cause CNY firefighter's severe injuries?  Firefighter Mitch Dryer and his wife,       Aimee, in this 2008 file photo.  Wednesday, February 18, 2015    A Central New York firefighter is charging in a lawsuit that a locator alarm on his breathing apparatus failed when he was trapped in a burning building.Without the alarm, firefighters couldn't find him quickly to rescue him, causing the Oneida firefighter's serious injuries that lead to him losing an arm and an ear. The firefighter, Mitchell Dryer, and his wife, Aimee, are suing Scott Technologies in state Supreme Court in Madison County. A jury is expected to hear closing arguments in the lawsuit on Tuesday. Dryer was injured in an April 2007 fire at the Oneida City Lanes when he was buried in a pile of burning debris. The lawsuit alleges that his burns weren't sustained when the ceiling of the bowling alley collapsed, but instead resulted and worsene... [ more ]         3 CANADIAN FFs INJURED MAKING RESCUE AT TRAILER FIRE  Wednesday, February 18, 2015    A woman, her two young children and three firefighters were injured early Tuesday when flames tore through a home in a South Windsor trailer park.Windsor Fire and Rescue Services received the call around 2:40 a.m. about a fire at 6 Marlin Ct. in Countryside Village. Deputy Fire Chief Brian McLaughlin said the home was “heavily involved” with flames when crews arrived. Firefighters found a woman and her two young children huddled in a bedroom at the back of the trailer. The woman, suffering from smoke inhalation, was initially in critical condition. McLaughlin said later Tuesday morning she had improved and was stable condition. She remains in the intensive care unit. The children are being treated for minor smoke inhalation and first degree burns to their legs. McLaughlin said he didn’t know the exact ages of the children, but said they are around two or three years old. “During the fire fight we also had three firefighters injured,” ... [ more ]         3 FFs INJURED AT MASS. FIRE  Wednesday, February 18, 2015   Three firefighters were injured yesterday afternoon while battling a three-alarm fire that raced through a sprawling mansion in Brookline, a fire official said. "The firefighters did a great job under very difficult conditions considering the freezing temperatures, slippery conditions and the thick, heavy smoke they faced upon arrival," Brookline Fire Department Chief of Operations Robert Ward said. "The fire was moving fast through the third floor and attic area, and the firefighters did a great job to knock it down." A resident of the massive 2 1/2 story, 6,300-square-foot colonial manse, built in 1900 and assessed at $3.8 million, reported the fire at 12:04 p.m., Ward said. One nearby fire hydrant had already been cleared of ice and snow when firefighters arrived on scene, Ward said, but another had to be dug out by first responders, costing crews precious minutes. Two Brookline firefighters and one member of the Somerville Fire Departm... [ more ]         WHAT ARE YOUR FIRE DISPATCH PROCEDURES? Family files wrongful death lawsuit against County for fatal fire  Wednesday, February 18, 2015   The family of a man who died in a south side fire in 2013 filed a wrongful death lawsuit Friday against Dane County.Chris Williams died in his Madison apartment on Oct. 16, 2013, when it took three minutes and 48 seconds to dispatch crews to the scene. An attorney for the Williams family sued in September for access to records related to the fire, including an official complaint... [ more ]         Chief: Firefighter crashes into water tanker, both headed to Hellam Twp. fire  Wednesday, February 18, 2015    An East Prospect firefighter was injured Tuesday when she crashed into Craley Community Fire Co. water tanker as both were on their way to a Hellam Township fire, police said. The crash happened about 9 a.m. in the 1200 block of Nursery Road in Lower Windsor Township, near the intersection of Country Club Drive. The woman was southbound on Nursery Road and apparently lost control of her red pickup truck, which slid sideways into the northbound lane of travel and into the northbound water tanker, according to Lower Windsor Township Police Chief Tim Caldwell. The tanker struck the passenger side of the pickup, he said, adding the East Prospect firefighter was alone in the pickup. "Had there been a passenger in there, it would have been really, really bad," Caldwell said. The water tanker is heavy by itself, plus it was carrying 2,000 gallons of water, the chief said. Will recover: The East Prospect firefighte... [ more ]