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Tag: firefighter

  • Oklahoma Wildfire Kills One And Still Burning

    A wildfire in Guthrie, OK that broke out on Sunday has displaced thousands and killed at least one. According to Guthrie Fire Department Chief Eric Harlow, the fire started on Sunday afternoon and within hours had destroyed between four and six square miles. Due to Monday’s high temperatures and strong winds, the fire continued to burn and is expected to continue at least today and Wednesday.

    While the Woodcrest Fire Department has stated the fire began as a controlled burn, there will be an investigation to determine whether there was any criminal activity involved. As of Monday, Harlow attested the fire had burned about 3,000 acres, 30 buildings and killed one man. The fatality could have been prevented, as the victim refused to leave his trailer when the fire approached his home.

    37 firefighters have needed treatment for injuries, and one has been shot. Volunteer firefighter Frank Megow was attempting to save a building when he was struck by exploding ammunition from handguns within the home. “As we went to make entry in the structure that’s when the ammunition started cooking off. I took two to the chest and one to the head,” said Megow.

    Specialist wildfire teams and Black Hawk helicopters have been enlisted to battle the wildfire, as hot and dry weather conditions are expected to continue for several days. “Fire weather conditions will continue today through Thursday across a large part of western Oklahoma,” said the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management. Governor Mary Fallin may enact a statewide burn ban, which means setting any fires, including crop fires or campfires, will be prohibited.

    Image via YouTube

  • Cop Arrests Firefighter at Crash Site

    Cop Arrests Firefighter at Crash Site

    On Tuesday evening, a California Highway Patrolman arrested a fire fighter. The cause? The firefighter was too busy tending to injured motorists at a crash site to move a fire engine on the cop’s orders.

    Okay, it was probably more complicated than that. Maybe the fire engine was blocking traffic. Maybe the motorist’s injuries weren’t too dire. Maybe the firefighter had a few choice words for the patrolman. Maybe the cop had had a bad day.

    But whatever the story behind the story, it became a publicity mess for the California Highway Patrol after a local news station arrived on scene and got footage of the event. A CBS affiliate out of Chula Vista arrived in time to film the police handcuffing the firefighter, identified as 12 year veteran Jacob Gregoire, and placing him in the back of a patrol car. Gregoire was released and was not charged with any crime.

    Now the Chula Vista Fire Department and the CHP are trying to come to a resolution on the matter. They released the following joint statement on Wednesday:

    Last night there was an unfortunate incident at the scene of a traffic collision on I-805, where both our agencies had responded. Both the CHP and the Chula Vista Fire Department share a common goal of protecting the public and providing the highest level of safety to responding emergency personnel, involved parties and other drivers at collision scenes.

    Both of our agencies have the utmost respect for each other and our respective missions. This was an isolated incident and not representative of the manner in which our agencies normally work together toward our common goal.

    This morning representatives from both agencies met to discuss the incident to improve communication and ensure the highest level of service is provided to the public. This incident will be a topic of future joint training sessions, in an ongoing effort to work more efficiently together.

    The International Association of Fire Fighters, however, is unimpressed. The IAFF local chapter has released a fairly biting response to the incident, claiming that Gregoire had “positioned a Fire Engine consistent with his training in a manner that was intended to protect the safety of the victims of the accident the accident as well as the emergency personnel on scene,” that the police officer had clearly stated that Gregoire was under arrest, that Gregoire was searched for weapons, and that he’d been asked “to move his Fire Engine before it was safe to do so.”

    As yet, the name of the highway patrolman has not been released.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Sam Springsteen, Bruce Springsteen’s Son, Becomes A Firefighter

    Throughout his musical career, Bruce Springsteen has been known to sing about the working man, and the people who risk their lives for others.

    Although his son will not follow in his footsteps musically, he will make his father proud by pursuing a career that he has sung about in his songs.

    Years after recording his hit song “Into The Fire,” his son, Sam Springsteen has taken the steps to become a firefighter. He graduated from the academy last week.

    Sam Springsteen is Bruce’s youngest son, and at the age of 20, he has become a firefighter in the Springsteen home of New Jersey.

    He recently graduated along with 41 others from the Monmouth Fire Academy in Howell, New Jersey. While his dad has previously sung about the firefighting heroes, and specifically the ones that were a part of the FDNY on 9/11 on his album “The Rising,” his son will follow suit, and help to make his father proud.

    Henry Stryker III, the Fire Marshall of Monmouth spoke highly of Sam Springsteen, saying that he pulled his weight throughout a grueling process. He also mentioned that “This is not an easy course. There’s a lot of physical stuff and a lot of book work.”

    Both of them are very proud of their young son, and his mother took to Instagram to share the news, and share a picture with the hashtags “proud” and “ourfamilyhero.”

    When he says the course it is not easy, he is not lying. The Firefighter 1 course includes 188 hours of instruction on rescue, fire extinguishment, hazardous materials response, cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, electrical safety, and the care of hoses, ladders and other equipment.

    Sam Springsteen is the youngest son of his father Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa. The two of them are married, and Scialfa is also a member of the Bruce’s E Street Band. Both of Sam’s parents attended his graduation ceremony on January 15th.

    Bruce Springsteen also has reason to celebrate after releasing his new album, “High Hopes,” just over a week ago, and debuting at No.1 on the Billboard 200, which makes this his 11th No.1 album.

    With several hit songs throughout his career involving fire including “I’m On Fire,” “Streets Of Fire,” and “Into The Fire,” the next time Springsteen takes the stage to sing one of those songs, his son could be at working putting out a fire at the same time.

    Image via Instagram

  • 19 Firefighters Killed in Arizona

    Nineteen firefighters have been killed battling wildfires in central Arizona near the town of Yarnell.

    All 19 were part of an elite “hot shot” crew, a group of firefighters who hike miles into the wilderness to clear vegetation and dig trenches to halt a wildfire’s advance.

    At a news conference Sunday, Prescott Fire Chief Don Fraijo confirmed that the crew was part of the Prescott, Ariz. Fire Department. “We grieve for the family,” he said, “We grieve for the department. We grieve for the city. We’re devastated. We just lost 19 of the finest people you’ll ever meet.”

    The fire originated with a lightning strike on Friday and had spread to 2,000 acres by Sunday. The area has been experiencing gusty, dry, and exceptionally warm weather. Over 50 homes have been evacuated, and, on Sunday afternoon, the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office order the evacuation of many residents of Yarnell, a small community 85 miles northwest of Phoenix.

    The 19 firefighters had been forced to deploy emergency fire “shelters,” essentially fire-resistant blankets meant to protect them from the blaze. According to Fraijo, the shelters are “one of the last fail safe methods that a firefighter can do. [The firefighters] literally . . . dig as much as they can down and cover themselves with a protective — kinda looks like a foil type — fire-resistant material — with the desire, the hope at least, is that the fire will burn over the top of them and they can survive it.”

    Fraijo went on to say that the emergency shelters may only offer a 50% chance of survival and that they represent “an extreme measure that’s taken under the absolute worst conditions.”

    This event is perhaps the deadliest such incident on record. In 1994, 14 firefighters were killed in a single event in Colorado. The 1954 “Rattlesnake” blaze in Southern California killed 15, and the 1949 Man Gulch fire in Montana killed 13.

    Prescott is one of the only towns in the US to have a hotshot team. The unit was founded in 2002, and the city has 75 suppression team members.