Wednesday, February 20
Fire Marshal Bill & School Fire Safety
Fire Marshal Bill (Jim Carey)delivers a fire safety speech at an elementary school. Enjoy!
For Station survivors, painful memories
PROVIDENCE - Gina Russo’s head was seared down to the skull, her body pocked by third-degree burns, her future consumed by painful skin grafts and guilt over having survived The Station nightclub fire when her fiance had not.
“I remember people would come to visit, and then when everybody was gone, thinking, ‘How am I going to do this? Why was I kept alive?’ ” Russo said.
Five years ago tomorrow, fire tore through the club in West Warwick, killing 100 people and injuring more than twice that many. The blaze began when pyrotechnics used by the band Great White ignited flammable soundproofing foam that covered the walls and ceilings.
Survivors live with disfigurement, depression and steep medical bills, and victims’ relatives endure flashes of bitter anger and loneliness.
However, they also have found ways to cope.
James Gahan has set up scholarships for youth sports programs in the name of his son, Jimmy, one of those who died, and has worked for stricter fire codes.
Bonnie Hoisington still tears up when she hears “One Particular Harbour,” a Jimmy Buffett song that reminds her of her daughter, Abbie, but she finds comfort in her new grandchild, born to another daughter after Abbie died.
Russo says she is determined not to let the memory of that night and the loss of her fiance, Alfred Crisostomi, dominate her thoughts.
Russo was placed in a medically induced coma because she had third-degree burns on 40 percent of her body, and she didn’t wake up until 11 weeks after the fire. She remembers the pyrotechnics and seeing the ceiling melting, smoke, heads on fire. Crisostomi put his hand on her back and pushed her forward, yelling “Go!” and she never saw him again. He died from inhaling toxic fumes.
After she woke up, she needed help standing, bathing and tying her shoes. She has scars up and down her arms and wears an auburn-colored wig in public.
During her arduous rehabilitation, Russo drew motivation from the need to care for her young sons, and from her faith that Crisostomi would have prodded her to recover. Even so, as each anniversary awakens painful memories, her normally bright demeanor turns somber and her family knows that’s the time to give her space.
She and others feel let down by the justice system.
A grand jury indicted club owners Jeffrey and Michael Derderian and former Great White tour manager Daniel Biechele, though many victims believed members of the band and the local fire inspector also were culpable. All three reached plea deals, and Biechele and Michael Derderian were sent to prison in 2006.
Biechele is scheduled to be released on parole next month, and Derderian in 2009. Jeffrey Derderian was spared jail time and ordered to perform community service.
VH1 Classic and VH1 on Board to Televise 'VH1 Classic Presents: Aftermath: The Station Fire Five Years Later' Friday February 15, 3:09 pm ETFor the rest of the article click the link "VH1".
One-Hour Special Will Also Share Survivors' Stories on Easter Sunday, March 23 10:00 P.M.*
PROVIDENCE, R.I., Feb. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- VH1 Classic and VH1 will air "VH1 Classic Presents: AFTERMATH: The Station Fire Five Years Later" a one- hour special of concert highlights on Sunday, March 23, 2008 10:00 p.m.* from the upcoming Phoenix Rising! Musicians United to Benefit the Victims of the Station Nightclub Fire. John Rich (Big & Rich), Alabama's Randy Owen, Dierks Bentley, Kellie Pickler and Gretchen Wilson will be joining Aaron Lewis (Staind), Tesla, Twisted Sister, Kevin Max and Stryper featuring Tom Scholz and Gary Pihl of Boston and the just added, Winger among others.
For more info or to make a donation, check out http://www.stationfamilyfund.org/
Tuesday, February 19
Sunday, February 17
Chelsea Handler's Exit Drill
Chelsea Handler suffers a "wardrobe malfunction" and other problems during a surprise fire drill.
Thursday, February 14
Agency Sued Over Death of Firefighter at Tower
Agency Sued Over Death of Firefighter at Tower - New York Times
The sister of one of the two firefighters killed in August fighting a fire at the former Deutsche Bank building sued the government agency that owns the building and several contractors on Wednesday, charging they knowingly created dangerous conditions that led to her brother’s death.
Firefighter Robert Beddia, who died in an August fire.
The sister, Barbara Beddia Crocco, contends in the suit that her brother, Robert Beddia, 53, died because of conditions caused during the dismantling of the building, including piles of combustible debris, dismantled fire connections, compromised stairwell walls and barricaded exits.
But in a striking omission, Ms. Crocco did not sue New York City or the city’s Fire Department, even though city officials relieved three senior fire officers of their posts about 10 days after the Aug. 18 fire. Aryeh Portnoy, a lawyer for Ms. Crocco, said his client had not ruled out suing the Fire Department, “at the right time.”
The suit seeks unspecified punitive and compensatory damages. Mr. Beddia and a second firefighter, Joseph Graffagnino, 33, died when a broken standpipe in the basement could not deliver water to the fire, which fire marshals said was probably started by a cigarette. At a news conference in August, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said three senior fire officials had been stripped of their command during an investigation into the fatal fire.
The mayor said the local firehouse had failed to conduct any required inspections of the building, which was on the edge of ground zero, since 2006.
Wednesday, February 13
California Captain Pinned Between Fire Trucks
California Captain Pinned Between Fire Trucks - Firehouse.com News
A Marin County fire captain was in critical condition Monday after a fire engine struck him and wedged him against another fire truck, officials said.
Rubin Martin, 37, of Windsor was airlifted from the Throckmorton Ridge fire station, where the mishap occurred, to the trauma center at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, firefighters said. Martin suffered a broken leg and a "massive blood loss," according to fire broadcasts.
"It sounded like he was in pretty bad shape, losing blood internally," said Deputy Chief Rich Lopez.
The incident occurred at 3:20 p.m. as the Throckmorton crew was returning from a call. Martin, a longtime county firefighter, got out of the truck to help guide a colleague who was backing the fire engine into the garage, said acting Sgt. Bryan Yops of the California Highway Patrol.
When Martin moved from the left side of the rear bumper to the right side, he got pinched between the moving fire engine and a stationary one, Yops said. The firefighter who was driving the truck, 35-year-old Todd Lando of San Anselmo, heard Martin yell and quickly moved the truck forward.
"(Martin) temporarily lost consciousness and lost quite a bit of blood," Yops said.
The fire truck was backing up at less than 5 mph, he said.
A medical helicopter landed at the fire station and flew Martin to John Muir. He was in critical condition Monday night and was admitted to the hospital, a nursing supervisor said.
The incident will be investigated by the California Highway Patrol and Cal/OSHA, the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health.
"We don't know whose fault it is at this point," Yops said.
Friday, February 8
Oops! Alarm Was Off in Building Where Fire Injured 33
Alarm Was Off in Building Where Fire Injured 33 - City Room - Metro - New York Times Blog
Even though the alarm wasn't required by code to be installed, once installed, it is REQUIRED to work.
An early-morning blaze in a stationery store led to the evacuation of tenants from a luxury apartment building at 200 East 72nd Street on Thursday, the Fire Department said. Thirty-three people — 19 firefighters and 14 residents — were injured. One firefighter was hospitalized for smoke inhalation, fofficials said. The other injuries were less severe.
Officials said the building’s fire alarm was out of service for repairs at the time of the fire. They said the local fire company, Ladder 16, had issued a violation order for a problem with the alarm system on Jan. 30, and the owner was in the process of fixing the system at the time of the fire. The officials did not know the nature of the original problem on Thursday afternoon. Violation orders are typically written by local fire companies and, because they are handled on a case-by-case basis, there is no fixed deadline for repairs to be made, fire officials said.
The Fire Department said an alarm was not required for the 35-story building, which contains fire-resistant construction materials, although once a fire alarm is installed it is required to be properly maintained.
The department said it received a report of a fire at about 5:10 a.m. Ultimately, 145 firefighters responded to combat the blaze, which was under control at 6:51 a.m., officials said.
The fire was contained to the one store, State News, on the ground floor, the department said. The cause remains under investigation. According to the city’s Finance Department, the building is owned by 72nd Street Associates.
Not so Sweet: Sugar Refinery Explosion, 6 bodies found
Did you know sugar is highly explosive???
Bodies Found Following Georgia Refinery Blast - Firehouse.com News
Firefighters working gingerly through a still-burning sugar refinery found three bodies Friday and were trying to reach the remains of three others killed in an explosion overnight, Georgia's top fire official said.
Crews found the three bodies in tunnels beneath the building, which was reduced to a mass of rubble, twisted beams and mangled metal, Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John Oxendine said.
Local authorities said they had not heard of any recoveries.
"We have not had any confirmed deaths yet. I know that for a fact. They are still going through the rubble as we speak," Savanah-Chatham County Police Sgt. Mike Wilson said.
Police Chief Michael Berkow told families of missing workers that rescue efforts at the massive Imperial Sugar Company refinery had shifted to recovery operations hours after the explosion erupted late Thursday. Dozens of the nearly 100 people were working inside at the time of the blast were hurt, many critically burned.
Fire officials said they had begun clearing debris so they could move farther into the plant, and predicted the blaze could be extinguished by Friday afternoon. Fire Chief Greg Long said he wasn't giving up hope some of the missing might still be found alive in rooms blocked by debris.
"I have friends that work at this plant," Long said. "I don't want to see a casualty list."
Officials had not determined what caused the explosion Thursday night but said they suspect sugar dust, which can be volatile.
"There was fire all over the building," said Nakishya Hill, a machine operator who escaped from the third floor of the refinery on the Savannah River.
"All I know is, I heard a loud boom and everything came down," said Hill, who was uninjured except for blisters on her elbow. "All I could do when I got down was take off running."
The blast was felt by residents throughout the Savannah suburb.
Police Lt. Alan Baker and his wife, Joyce, told CNN they were among the first on the scene. Alan Baker said he went with a maintenance worker to turn off a gas main while his wife, a Red Cross first aid instructor, treated the injured.
"It was like walking into hell," Joyce Baker said. "We had approximately 13 men who were coming out and they were burned, third-degree burns on their upper bodies. And they were trying to sit down and the only thing that they wanted was to know where the friends were."
Some of the burned men had "no skin at all" and some had skin "just dripping off them," Baker said.
More than 30 people were taken to hospitals, some airlifted to a burn center in Augusta, 130 miles up the Savannah River, according to police and hospital officials. Several were in critical condition, including some who were placed on ventilators, said Dr. William Wessinger, the medical director at Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah.
Beth Frits, a spokeswoman for the Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctors Hospital in Augusta, said 15 fire victims transferred from Memorial were in critical condition and three were in serious condition.
The plant is owned by Imperial Sugar and is known in Savannah as the Dixie Crystals plant.
"A far as we know, it was a sugar dust explosion," Imperial Sugar CEO John Sheptor said. He said it happened in a storage silo where refined sugar is stored until it is packaged.
Workplace disasters involving combustible dust have been a concern for federal safety officials for years.
In a November 2006 report, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, which investigates industrial chemical accidents, recommended that the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration issue a comprehensive combustible dust standard for general industry.
A posting on the CSB Web site Friday said the 2006 recommendation was still open. An OSHA spokeswoman did not immediately return a call Friday seeking comment.
The plant's last inspection by the state Department of Agriculture was Oct. 30, 2007. Records show it was cited for two violations, one involving an opening in a packing room area that could allow for pests to enter and another related to buckets used for packing molasses in a warehouse not being properly protected.
Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Lynn said the river was closed to ship traffic from the Port of Savannah while the river was searched for possible victims.
"It's a large facility, and there is still a significant amount of fire," said Clayton Scott, assistant director of Chatham County Emergency Management Agency. He described the refinery as covering an area the size of a Super Wal-Mart.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board said Friday it is sending an investigative team to the plant.
Sugar dust is combustible, according the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration's Web site. Static electricity, sparks from metal tools or a cigarette can ignite explosions. Sugar dust is suspected of sparking a nonfatal explosion last summer at a factory in Scottsbluff, Neb., and one that killed a worker in Omaha in 1996.
Imperial Sugar, based in Sugar Land, Texas, acquired Savannah Foods & Industries, the producer of Dixie Crystals, in 1997. The acquisition doubled the size of the company, making it the largest processor and refiner of sugar in the U.S., according to the company's Web site.
Imperial markets some of the country's leading consumer brands, Imperial, Dixie Crystals and Holly, as well as supplying sugar and sweetener products to industrial food manufacturers.
Tuesday, February 5
Wednesday, December 12
Fireman Sam-Do you have what it takes?
Open Day at Pontypandy Fire Station and Norman Price says he wants to be a fireman one day. (Disclaimer-Property of S4C / Hit Entertainment) Do you have what it takes to be a firefighter? 9:58
Driving the Fire SUV
Everybody wants to grow up to be a firefighter. Comedian Hannibal Burress wants to drive the fire SUV. Funny stand-up 1:23. Enjoy! Link repaired 2/20
Guess who's hiring???
Santa Rosa is in need of a FIRE PROTECTION SUPERVISOR. $6,155 - $7,985 per month. Open Until Filled First Screening Date: December 28, 2007 More detailed information may be obtained from the Human Resources Department , 100 Santa Rosa Avenue, Room 1, Santa Rosa, CA 95404; (707) 543-3060; via email at jobs@srcity.org; or via the City website at www.srcity.org/jobs.
Santa Clara County is hiring a DEPUTY FIRE MARSHAL I and DEPUTY FIRE MARSHAL II Salary Range Deputy Fire Marshal I: $7,065.34 to $8,587.97 Salary Range Deputy Fire Marshal II: $7,976.02 to $9,694.90 Applications may be downloaded from the Santa Clara County Fire Department website at www.sccfd.org. Deadline to Apply: Open until filled. (Second review of applications will be December 21, 2007.)
OCFA (Orange County Fire Authority) is looking for some entry level Fire Prevention Services Specialists Salary: $14.32 - $19.29 hourly
$2,482.13 - $3,343.60 monthly Closing Date/Time: Thu. 12/20/07 5:00 PM For more info check out http://www.ocfa.org/ocfamain.asp?pgn1=6
Wednesday, December 5
This just in.....More Jobs!!!
City of San Diego (CA) is looking for a Fire Recruit. Monthly salary (during the fire academy) $2458-2963 Requirements: 18, GED, EMT-I, CPR. Application period: 11/16/07-1/16/08. Go to www.sandiego.gov for more info.
Arlington County Fire Department (Arlington VA)is accepting applications for Firefighter/EMT Trainee. Starting salary $44,363 per year. Min Quals: 18, GED, US resident & the ability to fog a mirror! Application period 12/7/07 til 1/18/08. For more info visit www.ArlingtonVa.US/Fire. To apply visit www.ArlingtonVa.US/Pers
Fire Safety First is a full spectrum Fire Protection Company serving Los Angeles & Orange Counties. They are accepting resumes for a full time Fire Protection Inspector. Min qual: 18 yrs, GED & Clean driving record. Fire TEchnology Core classes and Fire Academy graduate is desirable. E-Mail or Fax resume to: trusso@firesafetyfirstl.com FAX 714-836-4120
The City of Vacaville Fire Department invites applications for the position of Fire Prevention Specialist. SALARY $4,564.77 - $5,548.50 Monthly $54,777.24 - $66,582.00 Annually OPENING DATE: 12/03/07 CLOSING DATE: 12/17/07 Applicants can apply on-line at www.cityofvacaville.com.
Monday, December 3
Jobs Jobs Jobs!!!
The city of West Sacramento wants entry level & senior level inspectors. Click here for the job announcement! $55,000 to aprox $76,000 per year plus bennies. Closes 12/28
City of Big Bear needs a Fire Prevention Officer too! SALARY: $49,254-$61,048
annually, plus excellent benefits. 3% @50 retirement and other competitive benefits..Open til filled. For full job announcement and application, contact Big Bear City Community Services District, Human Resources (909) 584-4021. Position is open until filled. Listing can also be found at www.firepreventionofficers.org
Orange County Fire Authority is in need of an Assistant Fire Marshal Salary: $5,749- 7,748/mo.Plus a competitive benefit package. As only on-line applications will be accepted for this recruitment, all interested candidates are invited to visit atheir website www.ocfa.org for complete application details. Final Filing Date: December 21, 2007.
Union City needs a Senior Haz Mat Inspector. Salary:$6,516 - $7,920/mth Plus 4.5% City Paid PERS Final Filing Date: December 21, 2007 For a copy of the job flyer click here.
Collins & Associates in Ventura are looking for a Fire & Life Safety Specialist. Salary is negotiable. Open until filled. Click here for the job flyer.
Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety is in need of a Fire Protection Engineer. $85,754.86 - $104,235.66 annually Closes Dec. 14. Click here for the job flyer.
Gilbert Arizona FD will be recruiting firefighters in February! The Town of Gilbert Fire Department is now preparing for the next Firefighter testing cycle. Application packets will be available February 22nd through the 29th, 2008. Completed application materials must be returned to the Town of Gilbert Personnel Department by 5:00 PM on the 29th. Application packets will not be available until February 22nd. For more info click here.
Student Paper's Fire-Alarm Article Leads Santa Ana College to Begin Hourly Patrols
Student Paper's Fire-Alarm Article Leads Santa Ana College to Begin Hourly Patrols - Chronicle.com
Student Paper's Fire-Alarm Article Leads Santa Ana College to Begin Hourly Patrols
Santa Ana College has begun hourly fire patrols in seven buildings because their fire alarms are not working — and in some cases have been broken since 2005, according to the Orange County Register.
Problems with the alarms were revealed last week by the community college’s student newspaper, El Don. Subsequently the board of the Rancho Santiago Community College District, of which the college is a part, met in emergency session to begin the process of buying a new central alarm system for the campus. In the meantime, the college is seeking parts to repair the existing alarm systems in individual buildings. Repairs are expected to take about a month.
El Don reported that alarms in some buildings had been switched to a “silent” mode, rather than getting needed repairs, and that in the gym alarms were not working and water lines leading to fire hoses had been disconnected. College officials said the general counsel’s office had begun an investigation aimed at finding out who is to blame for the alarm failures.
But why stop there???
Fire alarms broken at Santa Ana College: Some officials knew of problem for two years.
SANTA ANA - Fire alarms are not working at seven buildings at Santa Ana College as part of a longstanding problem that was known but not addressed, officials confirmed this week.
Until the alarms are fixed, the buildings are on manual "fire watch" during which a security guard manually patrols looking for problems at least once an hour while people are in the buildings.
College trustees were not told about the broken alarms which in some cases date back to 2005 and originally involved as many as 11 buildings, said John Hanna, president of the board of the Rancho Santiago Community College District, which operates the college.
"We're furious about this," Hanna said. "People in management were informed and nothing was done."
The seven buildings on manual fire watch are the Cook Gym, Hammond Hall, Phillips Hall, the Library, and the Administration, Fine Arts, and Security buildings, officials said.
The issue became public this week only after the El Don college newspaper published an investigative story about the system. The district board held an emergency meeting Tuesday night to approve a request for bids for a new alarm system which could take as much as two years to install.
Meanwhile, parts are being sought to fix the antiquated, standalone, bell-type fire alarms and they should all be fixed in about a month, officials said.
"Everything will be functional within the next 20 to 30 days," college President Erlinda Martinez said. "Each building will have 100 percent of its alarms functioning."
Martinez said she only found out about the problem "a few weeks ago" during a meeting of the campus facilities committee.
The problems came to light in 2005 and 2006 inspection reports, but there are no records that anything was ever done with the information. Campus safety officials told the El Don campus newspaper they had reported the problems but repairs were not made.
Minutes from previous facility committee meetings over the last two years do not show any mention of problems with fire alarms, despite written reports about them.
In some cases, problems with the bells ringing caused officials to simply disable them instead of repairing them.
A May 2006 inspection report shows not only rusted and non-working alarms, but also many panels that had dead batteries and other routine maintenance that had not been performed.
The El Don reported that alarms in two buildings had been switched to "silent mode" rather than having been repaired.
The paper also reported that alarms inside Cook Gymnasium, scene of large athletic events attended by hundreds, are not working and its fire hoses were disconnected from water lines.
An investigation by the college's general counsel's office is underway to determine what happened and who is at fault, officials said.
The college had money to make the repairs from hundreds of millions in bond money that the district had acquired for building construction and renovations. Thirty million dollars of that pool was used to build a new sheriff's academy that recently opened.
The problem seemed to have been related to a decision to replace the standalone ringing alarm bells with a new technology that will allow all the buildings to be connected to a central panel in the campus security building.
Instead of repairing broken alarms, campus staff apparently did nothing because of plans to install the new system. However, no bid requests ever went out for the new system until this week, Hanna said.
"It boggles the mind why that wasn't done," Hanna said. "Had someone come and asked us for money to get that done, we would have given it to them."
Santiago Canyon College, also operated by the same district, used deferred maintenance funding to repair its alarm system in 2005 and 2006, Hanna said.
Even in the October facilities meeting in which the issue came to light, Hanna said no mention was made of the broken alarms until a concerned faculty member brought it up.
Martinez said that the college has hired Pyro-Comm of Huntington Beach to make temporary repairs on the standalone system and will seek bids to install a modern system called "Notifier."
It is against state law for classroom buildings to not have working fire alarms.
Santa Ana Fire Marshal Lori Smith said the city is aware of the problem and that the college voluntarily proposed the plan to have a security officer patrol buildings hourly whenever students are present.
"They are under notice to repair the existing system and get it working," Smith said.
Martinez said that college officials are also looking into reports there may be problems with sprinkler systems and water hydrant pressure. "We are following up on everything that was brought up," she said.
But wait! There is more!
Faulty fire alarms at Santa Ana College put thousands at potential risk:
The alarms have been broken since 2005, according to contractor reports. 'Something's rotten, trustee board president said, 'and we're going to find out about it.'
Seven buildings at Santa Ana College, including the administration offices and the library, have faulty fire alarms, placing thousands of students, faculty and staff in potential danger.
The alarms have been broken since at least June 2005, according to reports given to the school at that time by a contractor the college hired. Some have broken handles, others do not ring, and at least one was turned off because it would not stop sounding.
The Rancho Santiago Community College District has hired a law firm to find out why nothing was done for more than two years after reports documented the problems.
"It is an unacceptable practice to compromise the safety of our students or visitors," said Board of Trustees President John Hanna, who called an emergency meeting Tuesday for trustees to pass a resolution to repair the alarms. "Inspectors don't issue reports just for the fun of doing it. Somebody knew about this and made a conscious decision not to do anything about it. Clearly something's rotten in Denmark, and we're going to find out about it."
Inspections completed in 2005 and 2006 revealed widespread problems with the college's 1960s equipment, citing several buildings that lacked working fire alarms.
In some of those cases, campus security would not have known if there were a fire because the system makes noise only in the building where the alarm is pulled and does not alert authorities. The campus security building is one of those where the alarms don't work.
The college district in 2003 earmarked $400,000 in state maintenance funds to go toward replacing Santa Ana's nearly obsolete fire alarm system, but four years later, the overhaul has not been started.
The problems came to the attention of top district officials last month. Short-term repairs approved at the board meeting, expected to cost $68,000, should be completed in about a month. Meanwhile, security guards at the college have started a fire-watch program and hourly are patrolling buildings without alarm coverage. Other buildings without working alarms include the gym, the fine-arts building and the theater.
Three portable classrooms also had broken alarms, but they recently were fixed.
"I'm not sure whether it was a communication thing, a process thing, or an individual person thing," district Chancellor Eddie Hernandez said. "This should not have taken this length of time to solve it. There are plenty of people in retrospect that dropped the ball." Santa Ana Fire Department officials, who annually review the college for fire code violations, do not inspect fire alarms but rely on the college to hire a contractor to ensure they are working.
The college's fire alarms date to about 1966, making replacement parts nearly impossible to find, according to a contractor's report this month.
Officials said the district will replace the old alarm system with one that will notify security staff of fires and include loudspeakers and strobe lights.
It could take as long as two years before the new system, expected to cost between $1.5 and $2 million, is installed.
Santa Ana College President Erlinda Martinez said she did not learn of the broken fire alarms until inspectors brought it to the college's attention again last month. She declined to state which college officials had known about the broken alarms in 2005, saying only that reports about the alarms "didn't rise to the level to where we took action."
Hernandez , the district chancellor, said he was certain some school administrators knew about the problem. "This is a classic case of something falling through the cracks, but safety should come to the top of everyone's list."
Santiago Canyon College, which is part of the same community college district, finished replacing its alarm system in 2005, after two years of construction at a cost of $247,000.
Fire Department Stresses Holiday Safety
Fire Department Stresses Holiday Safety | WEEK News 25 | Local News
The Peoria Fire Department has lit a holiday wreath it wants to keep red.
This is the 15th year for this fire safety campaign. You see, it is up to you to keep the wreath red by practicing fire safety at your home and at work.
For each residential or commercial fire in Peoria from now until January 2, the fire department replaces a red bulb with a white one.
Peoria Fire Department Division Chief Greg Walters said, "That bulb stands out in contrast with the building and it brings up a lot of questions. Why you got white bulbs on there? It gives us that opportunity to talk to the community about fire safety - in general holiday safety."
A white bulb on the wreath signifies a fire with more than $500 damage.
There were 10 white bulbs during the 2006 holiday season.
Mandatory Drug Testing Considered for Boston Firefighters
Mandatory Drug Testing Considered for Boston Firefighters - Firehouse.com News
Wow!! What do you think about this???
All Boston firefighters should undergo random drug and alcohol testing and be pushed to get and remain in shape, according to recommendations by a panel formed after two firefighters died in a restaurant blaze, according to a draft copy of the report obtained by the Herald.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino is expected to discuss the 22-page report during a briefing at 10:30 a.m. today at City Hall.
Autopsy reports revealed West Roxbury firefighter Warren Payne had traces of cocaine in his system and Paul Cahill had alcohol in his system, according to officials briefed on the results of the autopsies. Cahill and Payne died battling a fire Aug. 29 at the Tai Ho Chinese restaurant in West Roxbury.
The mandatory drug testing recommendation would have to be negotiated with the city's firefighter's union, which in the past has blocked such testing.
The panel, convened after the autopsy results were made public, wrote that fire department cooperation is crucial.
"We can design the most effective drug and alcohol testing policy imaginable, but it will be worthless if it is not actively supported by the department," they wrote.
Perhaps the most unique recommendation is that a committeee, including union, city and fire officials would be tasked with implementing the seven recommendations.
Firefighters Local 718 president Ed Kelly was unavailable for comment this morning.
The following are the seven recommendations contained in a draft report provided to the Herald:
1. Establishment of a "strategic planning committee" made up of fire department, city and union leadership to implement recommendations
2. Reorganize and augment the fire commissioner's civilian staff so the commissioner has three deputy commissioners focused on administration and finance; planning and organizational development; and labor and management
3. Institution of "accepted management and oversight practices" by the commissioner and fire chief
4. The department should establish a "credentialed professional development academy" program with specific curricula developed for company and chief-level officers
5. The deapartment should offer classes to help department members prepare for promotional exams as a way of nurturing new leaders and promoting a "diverse departmental leadership."
6. Immediate steps should be taken to improve the health, fitness and wellness of Boston firefighters by establishing a "comprehensive health, fitness and wellness program."
7. Random drug and alcohol testing for all Boston Fire personnel in "safety-sensitive positions" from the commissioner to entry-level firefighters.
The panel reviewed the department's policies and procedures dealing with supervision, accountability and "substance abuse and impairment," among other things, according to the report.
Panelists were James M. Channon, president and CEO of the National Fire Protection Association, Dr. Sheila Chapman, Boston Medical Center addiction and medicine professor, and Craig P. Coy, president and CEO of Homeland Security Group.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)