National FireWire...12/8/14 Before Connecticut Firefighters Death, Safety Equipment Found Lacking Two days before Hartford firefighter Kevin Bell was killed on duty, an internal department email revealed that an inspection of his engine companys equipment found numerous safety problems, including empty air tanks. Bells breathing apparatus was seized as part of the investigation into his death on Oct. 7. There is no indication whether equipment issues played a role in his death. In a stinging email written on Oct. 5, Lt. John Nolan of Bells Engine Co. 16 cited equipment issues, including a generator empty of fuel, a water hose not working properly and two empty Scott air bottles. Life safety cannot be taken lightly, Nolan wrote in an email to Fire Chief Carlos M. Huertas. The emails were obtained by The Courant under the Freedom of Information Act. [Fire] House work has not been performed anywhere near satisfactory, if at all, Nolan said, referring to routine equipment checks that are supposed to be done daily at the end of each shift. Nolans email requests that Huertas assign for retraining another lieutenant in the company and a firefighter who he alleged indicated that a water hose was ready for use when it was not. Within 20 minutes of getting Nolans email, Huertas forwarded it to interim Assistant Chief Terry Waller, ordering him to immediately correct this egregious behavior. HARTFORD COURANT Related: Email days before Firefighter Kevin Bell’s death outlines safety concerns California fire department still reeling from chemical blast Three Santa Paula firefighters were the first to show up on a dark morning in mid-November after the back of a truck exploded at a wastewater plant west of town. Told that it was only a sewage explosion, they entered the grounds of the Santa Clara Waste Water Co. without any special protection for what turned out to be a chemical blast, Fire Chief Rick Araiza said last week. Now, the firefighters are ill and on 30-day disability leave with an unknown prognosis, he said. Capt. Milo Bustillos, Engineer Matt Lindsey and firefighter Matt May declined to comment on the advice of legal counsel. But Araiza said the mens illnesses plus damage to an engine that may never be returned to duty have created havoc in the Santa Paula Fire Department. Im extremely upset, Araiza said. Ive lost some of my best firefighters. The fallout is personal for the small department serving a city of 30,000, he said. We know their families, he said. We grew up together. For this to happen when theyre doing their jobs is just devastating. He fears his best fire engine — one of three in the department — may be a total loss because of contamination. A city mechanic sent to help clean up the engine has fallen ill, as well, he said. FIREHOUSE Firefighter struck by vehicle while rendering aid on Pennsylvania Interstate A volunteer firefighter, trying to help a driver who had just been in a crash, is recovering after he was struck by a vehicle on Interstate 95 early Sunday. Daniel Callaway was on his way to work at the Wilmington Manor Fire Company in New Castle, Delaware when he came upon a one car crash around 4:30 a.m. in the southbound lanes of the highway near Route 420 in Tinicum Township, Pennsylvania, his family and police tell NBC10 While helping the driver involved in the crash, Callaway was hit by a different vehicle, emergency officials said. NBC PHILADELPHIA 250 Firefighters battle massive fire at Los Angeles apartment complex under construction PHOTOS: A fire erupted overnight at a seven-story apartment complex under construction in downtown Los Angeles, shutting down two major freeways in the area. The blaze started around 1:20 a.m. Monday on the 900 block of West Temple Street. The bulk of the fire was knocked down after about 90 minutes. At its peak, 250 firefighters were on scene. Two nearby buildings were affected by the fire. A 16-story high-rise building at 221 North Figueroa was exposed to the flames, causing an active fire on three floors. Another high-rise at 313 North Figueroa was also exposed, but no active fire was reported there. There were no reports of injuries. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. The 110 Freeway was initially closed in both directions, but the southbound side reopened just before 5 a.m. The northbound side was expected to remain closed due to possible collapse of debris onto the freeway. The Temple, Broadway and Los Angeles off-ramps from the 101 Freeway were also closed. KABC-TV ABC 7 LOS ANGELES 3 Florida dispatchers fired following ambush shooting of deputy at house fire Three veteran dispatch agency workers were fired this morning when an internal review determined they did not follow dispatch protocol for a fire call that led to the shooting death of Leon County Deputy Chris Smith. Tim Lee, director of the joint Consolidated Dispatch Agency, told the agencys board he terminated the employees because they failed to relay to first responders call notes put in the system just two weeks prior that Curtis Wade Holley had threatened to shoot law enforcement officers if they came to his door. Lee said the dispatchers were trained to relay the information — which popped up as it was supposed to on the right side of their computer screens — but for reasons he could not explain, each failed to click on the alert. The system functioned properly. It displayed the premise hazard, Lee said. The dispatcher, through human error, failed to click on the premise hazard. Consequently, on the morning of Nov. 22, firefighters and Deputies Smith and Colin Wulfekuhl were sent without warning to 3722 Caracus Court for what they thought was a simple house fire. Instead, they were ambushed by Holley, 53, who investigators said harbored anti-government views and set the home ablaze to lure first responders. TALLAHASSE DEMOCRAT
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 21:39:42 +0000
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