FF Close Calls

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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 23 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) SAN FRANCISCO FD FAILS TO IMPLEMENT DAs ALCOHOL RECCOMENDATIONS Thursday, April 2, 2015   The San Francisco Fire Department has not acted on a warning from the city’s district attorney that it needs to toughen its alcohol-testing rules for firefighters — a warning that anticipated a judge’s dismissal of drunken-driving charges against an ex-firefighter who crashed his rig.Superior Court Judge Kay Tsenin — citing a “Keystone Cops” investigation —tossed felony charges last month against Michael Quinn in the June 2013 crash at Fifth and Howard streets that left a moto... [ more ]         VENTILATION ISSUES MAKING OCEAN CITY MD FFs ILL Thursday, April 2, 2015  Ocean City firefighters have reported headaches, congestion, and general sickness after being on duty, the result of vehicle fumes leaking from the ground-level engine bay into second-story bunk rooms.Fire Chief Chris Larmore told Ocean City Council members Tuesday that the firefighter's union has brought their illness issues to his attention, and that such health problems most likely were caused by an HVAC design flaw in the living quarters. He also said the problem may be fixable, by relocating bunk rooms to another side of the building, as part of an ongoing renovation. And, while Larmore pledged to make whatever changes are necessary to improve living conditions to the 55-year-old facility, he also said "there's no reason to believe" the bunk room is unsafe. "There's a difference between uncomfortable and unsafe," the fire chief said in an interview Wednesday. "If we had employees that went to a doctor and said, this has symptoms of mold, or some sort of ai... [ more ]         GRASS RIG BURNS UP AT INDIANA GRASS FIRE Thursday, April 2, 2015  The Liberty Volunteer Fire Department lost a truck Wednesday while fighting a field fire on Indiana 101 South. Firefighter Matt Reuss, who was driving the small truck known as the “grass rig,” said firefighters already had applied two tanks of water to the fire and were on their way for a third load when the wind shifted. “The truck died in the bottom of the field,” Reuss said. “I got it started and was driving uphill when (farmer) Kevin Pinkerton yelled, ‘Your truck is on fire.’” Firefighter Jeff Moles, who was a passenger in the truck, said fire and smoke quickly surrounded the truck. “I couldn’t even see Matt,” Moles said. Moles and Reuss escaped the vehicle without injury, but the truck is a total loss, Chief Jim Barnhizer said. “It’s about as totaled as it can get,” Reuss said. The fire likely was sucked into the engine compartment through the engine’s air breather, Barnhi... [ more ]         DEPUTY FIRE CHIEF ALLEGEDLY PRESSURED TO ALTER FIREFIGHTER LODD REPORT Thursday, April 2, 2015   A day after an internal presentation of a Philadelphia Fire Department critique detailing errors and delays in the December blaze that killed Firefighter Joyce Craig, the report's author wrote in an official department log that he was being pressured to redact portions of his work.Deputy Chief Rich Davison, the author of the report, wrote that Deputy Commissioner Jesse Wilson - the department's second-in-command - had asked for redactions and explained his request with the suggestion that "some statements in the critique could hurt the city," according to a copy of the entry obtained by The Inquirer. Executive Fire Chief Clifford Gilliam, a department spokesman, wrote in an e-mail that nothing from the report had been redacted. Davison declined to comment. Rather than asking Davison to remove anything, Gilliam said, Wilson had called Davison to "discuss the content and method used to collect information contained in the critique." Gi... [ more ]         23 PA FFs EVALUATED AFTER SILO EXPLOSION AND FIRE WNEP.com Video Thursday, April 2, 2015  A stubborn fire in a silo at a pet food processing plant in Hazle Township kept firefighters from four counties busy Tuesday night into Wednesday as they meticulously worked to extinguish the smoldering product and contain damage. Bill Gallagher, Hazle Township supervisor and volunteer firefighter with its fire company, was one of many volunteers who responded to Vita Line, 1111 N. Park Drive, Humboldt Industrial Park, when the fire began Tuesday around 6:30 p.m. The business is a short distance from state Route 924. Firefighters at first believed equipment inside the plant caught fire and later sparked two secondary fires. They just about had the blaze extinguished around 9 p.m., Gallagher said, when Vita Line maintenance workers found two other pieces of equipment on fire, including a silo. The exact cause of the fire has not been determined. After the discovery of the new fires, Hazle Township Fire and Rescue contacted Luzerne County 911 and requested additional fire... [ more ]         LAST ALARM: The final shift of Cincinnati Firefighter/FAO Daryl Gordon Wednesday, April 1, 2015  Before the sun rose March 26, flashing lights illuminated the misty streets as fire truck sirens bellowed, echoing from Firehouse 14 racing to 6020 Dahlgren St.It was just another fire run, a call to duty for 54-year-old Cincinnati firefighter Daryl Gordon, who was just an hour and a half from signing off of his shift. Just months from retirement after proudly serving 30 years, first as a firefighter, and then as a Fire Apparatus Operator and Explosive Ordinance Disposal Technician, Gordon could not have known this would be his last fire. 'It's On Fire' On duty since 7 a.m., Gordon’s shift was just about to end; 24 on, 48 off. It's a shift he'd worked for decades. It had been a busy night. There had been structure fires on Harrison Avenue, Queen City Avenue and President Drive. Then a half dozen 911 calls flood dispatch. “Cincinnati 911 what is the address of your emergency?” It’s 5:31 a.m. The 911... [ more ]         NJ FF LODD – Medical, US Forestry Helicopter Crash at Controlled Burn (The Secret List) Tuesday, March 31, 2015   All- We regret to inform you of the Line of Duty Death of Firefighter Barry Van Horn, 63, of the Somerville, NJ FD. Firefighter Van Horn responded to a fire alarm call at 07:25 hours on March 25, 2015.  After the call, he returned to his office to fill out the fire report of the incident (Firefighter Van Horn was also the municipal Fire Official). He felt ill, however, and went home.  Shortly thereafter, around noon, Firefighter Van Horn suffered a heart attack.  He was transported by ambulance to Robert Wood Johnson Medical Center where he remained until his death on March 27, 2015. Our condolences to his family and all affected by his death. US Forestry Helicopter Crash at Controlled Burn While not declared a LODD as of yet. 2 US Forestry Department Contractors died, and another was very critically injured while operating at helicopter that crashed yesterday at a controlled burn in Harrison Co. MS. Eddie Baggett, prescrib... [ more ]         MAYDAY IN MILWAUKEE - 2 FFs INJURED Fox6 Video Tuesday, March 31, 2015  A three-alarm fire that broke out Monday night on Milwaukee’s south side reignited into a four-alarm fire Tuesday morning. Some had to jump to an adjacent building in order to get out alive. A tavern and several apartments were destroyed.The fire weakened the backside of the building, and it collapsed Tuesday. As the building is set to be demolished, residents say it’s a miracle everyone is okay. Fire officials were initially called out to the scene near Cesar Chavez Drive near Walker Street around 10:30 p.m. Monday. Firefighters were called back to the building around 8 a.m. Tuesday after smoke was reported coming from the building. The fire was upgraded to a four-alarm. The three-story structure, which contains a bar on the first floor and apartments on the second the third floors, sustained significant fire and water damage.         NJ FF LODD - MEDICAL Tuesday, March 31, 2015  We regret to inform you of the Line of Duty Death of Firefighter Barry Van Horn, 63, of the Somerville, NJ FD. Firefighter Van Horn responded to a fire alarm call at 07:25 hours on March 25, 2015.  After the call, he returned to his office to fill out the fire report of the incident (Firefighter Van Horn was also the municipal Fire Official). He felt ill, however, and went home.  Shortly thereafter, around noon, Firefighter Van Horn suffered a heart attack.  He was transported by ambulance to Robert Wood Johnson Medical Center where he remained until his death on March 27, 2015. Our condolences to his family and all affected by his death.