All Blog Posts (7,007)

fire

Fire destroyed 12 apartments in Dauphin County early Friday morning, leaving 22 adults and 17 children homeless.

It happened at the Quail Run apartments on Rawleigh Street in Lower Paxton Township. The fire started in the back of the building on the second or third floor around 5 a.m.

"Everything in the back is just demolished, like the patios fell over and everybody's stuff is just like wet over there," said witness Jacquise Navedo.

State and local fire… Continue

Added by Ted McAfee on June 14, 2010 at 11:21pm — No Comments

Canines to the Rescue, Part 3: Can that dog hunt?

Canines to the Rescue, Part 3: Can that dog hunt?

By Brett Martinez

Author Note: This the third article in FireRescue magazine’s rescue canine Web series. Part 1 discussed the type of K-9 teams currently deployed in the field, while…

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Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on June 14, 2010 at 9:00am — 1 Comment

Tragedy to a Benefit

A tragedy occurred in January of 2008 in our county. Torrential rains had washed out a section of road over a creek in the northern part of our district. Traveling home, a mother and her 2 year old son went off into the creek and perished. Her sister, trying to locate them, also goes off at the same area into the swift flowing water. She and her passenger survived.

Two long years have passed for this family. Instead of being bitter at the fire departments for any multitude of reasons, the… Continue

Added by Tandy Young on June 13, 2010 at 2:12pm — No Comments

New Web Site for IAFF local 3107

Hello Brothers and Sisters, The career firefighters from the City of Biddeford Maine have a new Web site. www.biddefordcareerfirefighters.org I hope you visit the site and leave comments.

Be safe

Ken

Added by Ken Thorpe on June 12, 2010 at 5:58pm — No Comments

Ganging Up: To deliver effective flow from a fill site, you may need to join several portable pumps together

RURAL FIRE COMMAND

Ganging Up

To deliver effective flow from a fill site, you may need to join several portable pumps together

By Patrick Pauly

I had the opportunity recently to review pictures from several rural fires in which portable pumps were… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on June 11, 2010 at 11:30am — 3 Comments

What Happens Online…Goes Everywhere

What Happens Online…Goes Everywhere

Be conscious of what you post online as it may affect your career

By Scott Cook

I’ve written about this before, but it’s becoming a bigger issue. In fact, you’ll recall that around Feb. 11, Firefighter Jason Brown from Colleton County (S.C.) Fire-Rescue was fired for something he posted on his personal Facebook page. According to Brown’s termination letter, he was fired for…

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Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on June 11, 2010 at 8:00am — 3 Comments

Are You a Disciplined Fireman?

Dave LeBlanc challenges us to reconsider what discipline means.

Well are you? This doesn’t mean you are well behaved or obey all the rules. In fact let’s explore what it actually means. …

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Added by Bill Carey on June 10, 2010 at 6:00pm — 2 Comments

Dichotomy

I am roundly criticized for not yelling and generally being a wet blanket for exciting fun stuff. My outward form is quiet and thoughtful. It’s my form of the typical command presence. Inside however I am a maze of flashing lights and dichotomy. That’s the part I want to share, the other half.

Here’s the way my internal “dad psyche” works. I live at threat level “blue” for guarded, as in the Homeland Security Advisory System. The sound of our tone for an MVA with injuries interrupts my… Continue

Added by Peter Lupkowski on June 10, 2010 at 12:38pm — No Comments

Rescue Report: Woman Crashes Car into LA Flood Channel

By Tom Vines

Los Angeles-area rescuers arrived on scene to find a station-wagon down about 10 feet in a flood channel with high vertical walls but, fortunately, no flowing water. After a quick assessment, paramedics applied spinal…

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Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on June 9, 2010 at 4:30am — No Comments

Why Thinking Inside the Box Keeps Us Safe -- & When It's OK to Think Outside the Box

What’s Good About the Box?

Before thinking “outside the box” related to a new tactic, strategy or piece of equipment, we must first test the theory against 6 fire service principles

By Jim Baird…

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Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on June 8, 2010 at 8:30am — 1 Comment

Reservist Fire Fighters

Establishing a more effective Service Model to…

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Added by Rick Franks on June 7, 2010 at 1:05pm — 5 Comments

Run-to-the-Curb is Top Story

It's been more than a month since my presentation at FDIC and my live Internet radio talk show on FirefighterNetcast from the show floor, but a lot of exciting things have…

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Added by Tiger Schmittendorf on June 7, 2010 at 12:30am — 2 Comments

EMT

Well, went back to EMS..got a 94 on my class written, passed the NYS practical and now just waiting til the NYS written on the 17th!

Added by Beverly on June 6, 2010 at 6:32pm — 3 Comments

A Chat with Easy

We interrupt this post to bring you some history.

When you use the phrase 'band of brothers' be especially mindful of who you are talking about, especially this month.

We owe them all our thanks and respect.

"The picture was taken at Greenham Common Airfield in England about 8:30 p.m. on June 5, 1944. My 22nd birthday."…

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Added by Bill Carey on June 6, 2010 at 8:30am — 1 Comment

May Backstep Roundup

Here is a recap of the postings and provocations from Backstep Firefighter for the month of May. Each month we will give you a brief summary of our posts and related subjects.

"Over-estimating Technology"

May was relatively quiet and far as the number of posts, but what… Continue

Added by Bill Carey on June 5, 2010 at 12:00pm — No Comments

from Tony in Philly

From my brother firefighter Tony in Philly...Here are some observations from the recent Harrisburg Fire Expo show:"If nothing else, I have to witness again and again the immutable fact that the fire service will take anybody." Dewly Whacker, wearing the stained tee shirt stretched tight over his gut, carrying the $1500 light bar that he will install on his $200 truck, while his tired-looking and very ugly wife pushes the carriage containing the mean little results of his sperm colliding… Continue

Added by Chris Couell on June 5, 2010 at 10:32am — 5 Comments

Cultivating Leaders: How to encourage the development of well-rounded leaders in our department

By Chief Jeffrey D. Johnson, EFO, CFO, MIFireE

From the June 2010 issue of FireRescue magazine

Leadership development” has to be one of the three most common topics on any fire service conference program. Although that’s appropriate, I wonder if our leadership programs back home are intentional and integrated into the daily work of our organizations?

As chief officers, one… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on June 5, 2010 at 8:30am — No Comments

Notes from a Rookie Firefighter...June 4, 2010

It's a warm day in NJ and today begins our Relay for Life event at Mennen Arena. We have a team of about 40 people in support of one of our own who has cancer. Our team was put together last minute but it doesn't matter. We do what we need to do. In a short time we raised over $5,000 for the American Cancer Society.

I am happy to contribute to Relay and looking forward to showing support for someone who has made a real contribution as a firefighter and a police…

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Added by Denise Imperiale on June 4, 2010 at 5:59am — 1 Comment

Structure Fire in Clarendon, VT

Busy day for Rutland County, VT area fire departments.

A reported structure fire in the Mill River condominium apartments in Clarendon Vermont was reported at 9:58 am. The fire was ruled under control at about 11:30 am. Firefighters and equipment remained on the scene until after 1 pm.

My new young LT requested Mutual Aid immediately based upon not knowing how many firefighters would show up, being it was a week day and the time of the day. That is a very big factor in… Continue

Added by Norman E. Flanders on June 3, 2010 at 10:30pm — 5 Comments

Firefighter Wives- What Makes Them So Special?

We all know about the emotional weight carried by firefighter's wives (and husbands) that comes from having him go off to work or respond to a call not knowing if he'll return in one piece, or not at all.

If that one quality wasn't enough, we know that there are many unique

qualities that make wives of firefighters so special- their ability to

juggle the family when he's not home, last minute changes in… Continue

Added by Firefighter NetCast on June 3, 2010 at 9:10am — 8 Comments