Firefighter Close Calls

All, 11th Annual FDNY Search & Rescue Field Medicine Symposium is coming up: May 2 – 5, 2024 The FDNY, in partnership with the FDNY Foundation, is proud to invite all Firefighters, Medics and First Responders to the 11th Annual FDNY Search and Rescue Field Medicine Symposium (SRFM). FDNY SRFM is a conference that brings military, federal, […]

On 4/4/1949 the Saint Anthony’s Hospital fire killed seventy-four in Effingham, Illinois in a 100-bed  ordinary construction health care facility with open corridors, staircases, and vertical shafts, using oilcloth fabrics and combustible soundproof tiles. The fire rapidly spread through the hospital which had no fire alarm or sprinkler system. “Although the cause of the fire […]

Podcasts-they are everywhere. Some love them-some don’t. The good news is if you don’t like one, don’t listen. Sorta like reading The Secret List, Just hit delete. The better news is that you can find some podcasts on just about any subject. As we’ve discussed before, the only suggestion is to perhaps make sure the podcast you are listening […]

Fire crews will no longer respond to most automated fire alarm call-outs from today (Monday 1 April), East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service said. The fire service said that it was changing its response policy “to drive down the burden of false alarms”. It said: “The service will no longer attend fire alarms operating in […]

Riley County officials issued a disaster emergency declaration late Monday after the county’s P25 public safety agency radio communication system lost connection as part of a cybersecurity incident that developed earlier in the day. Emergency responders in Riley County are currently using the backup state system for emergency communications. P25 is a solution for intra-agency […]

Register Now: Ohio AFFF Takeback Program Important Registration Details Below Attention, Members of the Ohio Fire Service,   The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s new Aqueous Film-Forming Foam (AFFF) Takeback Program is officially underway. While AFFF is a critical tool for fire departments in battling flammable liquid fires, its effectiveness comes at a cost. AFFF contains high concentrations […]

“When I started we had a kind of a tradition that you sent the new guy in, or new girl in, to do all the dirty work, or all the unfavorable work, so to speak,” Brian Thompson with the Sutter County Fire Department says in a scene from the new documentary “Yes, There is Hope” […]

On 4/3/1962 “the Norwich, Connecticut fire department lost four firefighters in a violent and fiery explosion at the Van Tassel warehouse. An employee reported smoke coming from the trailer of a truck that was being unloaded at the dock. The truck was carrying a 20-ton load of organic peroxides from New York that may have […]

PROCTORVILLE, Ohio (WSAZ) – The Proctorville Volunteer Fire Department’s station sustained extensive damage in Tuesday’s storms. According to our crew at the scene, a rear block wall collapsed along with part of the roof. Despite that damage, the department’s main fleet of vehicles didn’t sustain damage. One fire truck was damaged by the roof collapse. […]

AIKEN COUNTY, S.C. (WFXG) – One person is dead after a two-vehicle crash involving an Aiken County ambulance. The crash happened on Saturday at approximately 10:20 p.m. on Richland Avenue West near Augusta Road. A 2013 Dodge Charger was traveling east on Richland Avenue when it struck the back of the ambulance, which was traveling […]

On 4/2/1979 the Wayside Inn fire, a board and care home, killed twenty-six in Farmington, Saint Francois County, Missouri after a fire started in the rear of the building near the kitchen in a one-story granite building. Thirty-seven patients and one attendant occupied the building when the fire started. The fire started around 5:00 a.m. […]

We regret to pass on that there was a double fatal crash involving a Somerset-Pulaski County EMS ambulance and a commercial truck around 0900 in Garrard County (south of Lexington) this morning. The crash happened near the Rocky Top Food Market Shell station at the intersection of US 27 and Old US 27. The intersection has […]

FORT WORTH, Texas – A Fort Worth firefighter was injured in an overnight crash. Police said a fire engine was headed toward a fire in the downtown area when it collided with an SUV near Sundance Square. The SUV rolled over, but the driver was not hurt. A firefighter who was in the engine was taken to the hospital […]

On 4/1/1853 the first salaried fire department was established in Cincinnati, Ohio; 444 men were hired as part-time firefighters. However, it was not until 1873 that firefighters were hired on a full-time basis and required to remain on duty in the engine houses. On 4/1/1886 in the late night hours, “a major fire destroyed a […]

All, Thirty-one-year-old Brandon Hoskins and 37-year-old Stacie Stegall have been charged with misdemeanor breaking and entering into the house that burned, killing Lexington (NC) Fire Captain Ronnie Metcalf. As you know, Captain Metcalf (a 19-year veteran of the Lexington FD) suffered burns on 60% of his body after getting trapped in that house on Tuesday morning. […]

31-year-old Brandon Hoskins and 37-year-old Stacie Stegall have been charged with misdemeanor breaking and entering into the house that burned, killing Lexington (NC) Fire Captain Ronnie Metcalf. As you know, Captain Metcalf (a 19-year veteran of the Lexington, NC FD) suffered critical burns on 60% of his body, after getting trapped in that house on […]

LEMONDOKOP-Two drivers lost their lives in a head collision between an ambulance and a sedan on Friday, March 29. The ambulance was responding to an accident scene in Bellevue village when the collision happened on the R81 Road at the Lemondokop turn. Tragically, both drivers involved in the collision lost their lives upon impact, while […]

All, A Scott County (Virginia, near the TN border) Firefighter died in the Line of Duty yesterday, Saturday while fighting a wildfire. Firefighter James Ward reportedly collapsed while working with a hand crew when he collapsed and was then treated/taken to Holston Valley Medical Center in Kingsport, Tennessee, where he later died. FF Ward had worked with the […]

All, We regret to pass on that a Firefighter was killed in the Line of Duty in an apparatus crash today in South Carolina. The crash happened around 1100 hours on Highway 72 in Clinton (Laurens County, NW of Columbia) while Firefighters were responding to a call. Initial reports are that the fire apparatus was involved in that […]