FIREFIGHTERS RESCUE MAN STUCK IN WALL DURING FIRE

KEIZER, Ore firefighters rescued a man who got himself stuck in a bathroom wall when the dinner he was cooking caught fire in the kitchen. Keizer Fire District officials say the homeowner was in his bathroom Tuesday evening when he heard his smoke alarm sound. He opened the door to heavy smoke and flames, so he shut the door, called 911 and began kicking his way through the drywall into another room. But when he tried to crawl through the hole he had made, he got stuck.

John Orr
During the ’80s and early ’90s, a series of fires around the Los Angeles went unsolved.

John Orr was a fire captain and arson investigator in Southern California for the Glendale Fire Department. He was first on the scene at dozens of arson fires – people often questioned how he was able to be there so quickly. He was also a serial arsonist.

Orr was one of the arson investigators assigned to a 1984 South Pasadena fire that destroyed a hardware store, killing four people. All of the arson investigators agreed that the cause was an electrical fire, but Orr insisted that it was arson.

Investigators noticed that the fires were started in shopping areas next to major highways and later realized they were started around the time arson investigation conventions were being held nearby. During the investigation, police discovered a fingerprint on a time-delay incendiary device from a fire in Fresno, California (1987).

The fingerprint was eventually linked to arson investigator John Orr. Orr was found responsible for the South Pasadena fire as well as several other retail store fires. Orr was a frustrated police officer, who reveled in his authority as an arson investigator and the publicity it brought him. Orr was convicted and charged with three accounts of arson and is currently serving life in prison.

Curious about the crazy people who become serial arsonists? Read Red Flag Warning

http://www.kurtkamm.com

It was Christmas Eve 2008 i was at a gathering with my family. My pager went off for a flooded basement. I went to the station and when some other guys showed we started to gear up. When we were ready to leave the station, we got hit for a vehicle accident with entrapment on the PA turnpike.

Once on scene we saw a car on its side with the driver trapped. We started extrication. It took us 30-45 minutes to cut this guy out. We realized that what we thought was a car was actually an SUV. The driver went off the road, his car spun and his roof hit the bridge. What was left of the SUV landed on its side on the highway. We had a total of 9 guys on scene and 3 EMS personnel.

I learned that night how important my families are — both in the fire service and at home. In my 7 1/2 years in the fire service, that was one of the worst accidents I have ever been to. It showed me that we have a good group of guys and our training paid off . As far as we know, the trapped guy is still alive.

My most memorable experience on the job is not a good one. In 2008 my crew and I got called out to a two story structural fire. When we arrived on scene, we were unsure if anyone was still in the house. Four of us got sent in to check things out and run some water through to the inside.

After feeling around for a couple minutes things started to go wrong. A beam fell and the second story collapsed. A few seconds later, the first floor collapsed. I got trapped underneath a beam and could see two of my fellow firefighters and best friends five feet away, not moving.

Our PASS devices were chirping like crazy and I knew they were seriously injured or had passed on. I blacked out and eventually got pulled out and taken to the hospital.

When I got to the hospital, I was told by my Cap that two of my fellow guys had passed away on scene and the third firefighter was seriously injured. I ended up having to have four surgeries and put on medical leave, then I was diagnosed with PTSD. The other firefighter who survived required two surgeries and he retired after this incident.

Training. Training. Training. ….You are never really ready for your first dance with fire…that is until you meet her. Wild. Free. Unlike anything you have ever laid eyes on. I though i was ready; and i was right.

We got the call during a routine hose washing session. Beep, beep, beep…vegatation fire…Susanville engine 3230..blah blah blah. “Would i remember everything”….”Will i be safe”…”Can i really do this”..thoughts like firewhirls sweep through my mind. As we arrive on scene, SA starts to kick in; wind direction, escape routes, lookouts, safety zones, fuel type…everything i have learned is still there. As we start the mobile attack, i cant help but smile to myself, i am finally a firefighter…this is not a drill, this is not a paper fire. We quickly knock down the fires edge and suppress a small spot fire on the right flank. As we circle around to the left flank, another small spot fire surfaces but is quickly knocked down. The sound like a million bees signals the arrival of the saw team. The hand crew follows behind and just like that, it is over.

You see, it is June 20th, Northern California. Everything is green, green, green. The fire spread to a whopping 1/4 acre in the beginning of out fire season. You know the rest of the story…mop-up. But even though some would not consider this a real fire, i will never forget my first dance with her…she is beautiful, she is free, she is fire.

Remember the lost

The Homewood Fire Department was dispatched to a report of a structure fire at a single-family residence. First arriving fire crews found a house with visible smoke and flames, and were advised that at least one occupant remained inside the structure.

Firefighters initiated rescue and suppression operations, yet, upon entering the structure, encountered heavy heat and fire conditions. Because of the extreme heat from this intense fire, and notwithstanding the crews’ valiant efforts, 87 year old Wendell H. Elias, could not be reached.

Leading the interior attack was 28 year old Homewood Firefighter/Paramedic Brian Colin Carey. In keeping with the longstanding traditions of the fire service, Brian willingly risked his life to save the life of a man he did not know. Sadly, this heroic act would become Firefighter/Paramedic Brian Colin Carey’s last alarm. During his unwavering effort, Brian was gravely injured. Crews both on-scene and at South Suburban Hospital, with great passion, worked feverishly to resuscitate Brian.

Well into that night, with God’s blessing, Brian Colin Carey, a fiercely brave and kindhearted young man, peacefully passed away.

(From Posted by UK Forces Media Team)

As you would expect for someone who has served on five overseas tours – including one in Iraq and a previous tour of Afghanistan – Sgt Steve Pickston, 28, has been in some perilous situations. None, however, has been as dangerous as the fire he faced last month in Afg.

As a sergeant in the RAF Fire and Rescue Service, Sgt Pickston was off-duty on the evening of May 16 when he received orders to attend a blaze at Leatherneck, a US Marine base next to Camp Bastion. A storage area had caught fire and the smoke and flames stretched so high into the air they could be seen from more than a mile away.

Sgt Pickston’s main priority was to stop the fire spreading to any of the camp’s living quarters, but after less than an hour, he and his crew received a radio message warning them that a sandstorm and 60mph winds were heading their way. Thirty seconds later, the storm blew in, fanning the flames and spreading the fire.

“The situation deteriorated very quickly,” says Sgt Pickston. “It blew everything towards us – the flames, the smoke – and it was every man for himself. You literally had to get out as fast as you could.”

Two men were overwhelmed by the fire and Sgt Pickston and a colleague dragged them to safety. Outside of the danger zone, the sergeant was unable to account for a further two men. He asked for volunteers and then, together, they headed back into the blaze – which now covered an area the size of two football pitches – to make sure the men were safe.

It was an incredibly brave thing to do. As well as the intense heat, metal cylinders from the store room were exploding and flying through the air. Sgt Pickston saw one fly less than 15ft in front of his face.
“I’ve been in some hairy situations but that was probably the worst,” he says now. “The heat was incredible.”

The sergeant eventually located the missing men. They were alive and well and, once the storm had died down, Sgt Pickston reassembled his crew and went to work with hoses and water cannons. After five hours, they brought the fire under control, with no loss of life.

“We don’t have fires all the time but we do a lot of training,” he says. “Fires like this one prove we’re an efficient and capable force.”

MURPHY’s LAWS OF FIRE FIGHTING
1. If it’s a stupid idea but works, it isn’t stupid.
2. Don’t look conspicuous, it attracts work.
3. Never work at a fire that is braver than you.
4. Never forget that your equipment was made by the lowest bidder.
5. If your efforts are going really great, you’re in the wrong place.
6. All fire fronts 1 hour away, will arrive in 30 minutes.
7. The media will turn up, just as your brilliant plan turns to s&&t.
8. When you have an area under control, don’t forget to tell the fire.
9. If you are short of everything except fire, things are normal.
10. Things that must work together, usually aren’t shipped together.
11. The maps sent to you will be the wrong ones.
12. Reinforcements will arrive, as soon as the fire is contained.
13. Anything you do will be wrong, including doing nothing.
14. If you put out more fire than you are asked too, you will be given more fire to put out.
15. You will always have more fire than water.
16. The distance from a piece of equipment you need is directly proportional to the urgency with which you need it.
17. The firebreak you spent all night constructing is in the wrong place.
18. Your biggest save will have no witnesses.
19. Your biggest mistake will have hundreds of witnesses.
20. The person who contributed least to the fire fighting effort will be the only one interviewed on the six o-clock news.
And last,
21. No matter how bad things get, it will look worse on TV.

I was toned out for a disoriented 70+ female several years ago. The family said she just wasn’t acting right. Well, needless to say she had Alzheimers and OF COURSE she wouldn’t act right. We get to the house, she of course has no clue what is going on, just a little disoriented, not combative or anything.

Upon speaking with her care provider, we decided to take her to the hospital for a check-up. I will always remember this woman. Once I had her in the back of my squad, strapped into the cot, we started down the road. She was seated upright and I was just talking to her as there really wasn’t anything other than a normal assessment that I could do for her. Anyhow- my driver was cruising down the road and we hit a bump, this woman throws her hands up in the air, yells “WHEEEEE!” looks at me and says, “Can we do it again?” Instantly I fell in love with this woman.

I’m a fire chief from Hallam, Nebraska, about 20 miles SW of Lincoln. Population. 310. On May 22, 2004  Hallam was leveled by a 2.5 mile wide F4 tornado (Widest on record). It was on the ground for 52 miles. 19 tornadoes were confirmed with 7 hitting the city limits. Better than 75% of our 28 members either lost their homes or sustained severe damage. Initially, seven of us were able to respond. We requested a county wide “All Call” for mutual aid assistance. 19 depts. including the City of Lincoln Paramedics, and a private ambulance service responded. By 4am the next morning all residents had been  evacuated to a center in Lincoln, 39 transported to area hospitals by ambulance. 1 fatality.