Fire Service Today

Caught on video: Firefighters rescue man from house fire

The San Bernardino City Fire Department responds to a structure fire with a victim trapped. This is a first hand look at how the engine company made the rescue. The footage was taken from both the engine captain's helmet camera as well as a local news reporter.

New fire threat: People living in storage units

FireRescue1 published an article recently that highlights a new fire threat that the fire service needs to be aware of - and we wanted to draw our reader's attention to it. 

They point to several people's efforts to cut costs in South Salt Lake, where police discovered they had set up house inside several storage units.

Their alleged set up inside the storage units located at 3202 S. Davis Drive was apparently quite elaborate — complete with heaters, air conditioners, beds, recliners and electronics.

"I realize people are up against hard economic times, but we will evict them," said South Salt Lake police spokesman Gary Keller. "It was just a recipe for disaster. Storage units weren't made to be habitable. They are not designed for that."

Police said they first became suspicious after they were asked to respond to a trespass call there on March 19. When they returned a day later along with city code enforcement officers and the city fire marshal, they said the property manager told them that she knew there were people living in other units, the search warrant states.

Officers said while investigating, they found several found people illegally living there. At least one occupant had knocked holes in the walls to allow for movement between units, the search warrant states.

Keller said the living conditions posed both health and safety risks. In one unit, he said officers found a woman locked on the inside. The occupants had set up a system so the units always looked like they were locked, Keller said.

Police also discovered a make-shift bedroom with food, clothing and other living accessories. Three other units also contained make-shift bedrooms constructed with beds, clothing, food, plugged-in televisions, microwaves, recliners, computer workstations, lamps and other accessories, the search warrant stated. Police also found the human waste was being stored inside bottles.

The health and saefty risks of this scenario are countless, and fire service members needs to be aware of the potential for this new fire threat. 

Oregon firefighter plunges through burning roof

A firefighter survived a fall through a burning roof at a two-alarm condominium fire in Portland, Oregon recently, and we wanted to bring you the story from Fire Engineering.

Once the firefighter fell through the roof, two other crew members crawled over to the hole and checked on him, signaling that he was okay, according to a KSN.com report.

Two firefighters were transported to an area hospital with burns on their knees and heat exhaustion. A number of other people were being treated outside the apartment building for smoke inhalation.

This incident reminds us all to take precautions at the fire ground to maintain firefighter safety and health. We're glad that this story does not end in tragedy. 

Metro Chiefs meet in Louisville

The Metropolitan “Metro” Fire Chiefs Association, a section of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and NFPA held its 2012 annual conference in Louisville, Kentucky May 19-24. Approximately 90 Metro chiefs from Canada, the Republic of China, the United Kingdom, and the United States attended the conference and elected the Section’s 2012-2013 officers and board members.

The officers are: 

• Chief Stephen Dean of the Mobile Fire Department, Mobile, Alabama, president;
• Chief G. Keith Bryant of the Oklahoma City Fire Department, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, vice president;
• Chief Larry Few of the Fulton County Fire Department, Fulton County, Georgia, secretary; and
• Chief Ken Block of the Edmonton Fire Department, Edmonton, Alberta, treasurer.

The board members are: 

• Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr of the Austin Fire Department, Austin, Texas, board member;
• Chief Michael Grant of the New Haven Fire Department, New Haven, Connecticut, alternate board member;
• Chief (retired) William “Bill” Stewart of the Toronto Fire Services, Toronto, Ontario, senior board member; and, 
• Chief (retired) Ned Pettus, Jr. of the Columbus Division of Fire, Columbus, Ohio, immediate past president.

Chief (retired) Jeff Johnson, CEO of the Western Fire Chiefs Association and Chief (retired) Bill McCammon, executive director, East Bay Regional Communications System Authority were co-recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award for their work on the D-Block legislation.

NFPA President & CEO James Shannon, Deputy USFA Administrator Glenn Gaines, IAFC President & Chairman of the Board Al Gillespie, IAFC CEO & Executive Director Mark Light, and Chief Paul Fuller, incoming President of the Chief Fire Officers Association of the United Kingdom addressed the chiefs. A comprehensive education program included presentations ranging from groundbreaking research on fire and EMS, on-going studies on high-rise fire challenges, an update on the National Fire Academy, hoarding issues, the plane crash in Virginia Beach, the IAFC/IAFF Labor-Management Initiative and much more.

The chiefs also passed resolutions expressing unanimous support for numerous initiatives, such as the NFPA Fire Sprinkler Initiative and Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition, the IAFC Foundation, the National Fallen Fire Fighters Foundation, firefighter health and safety efforts and more.

The 2013 Metro conference will be hosted by Chief Bob Khan and the Phoenix Fire Department. The conference will be April 5-12 at the Sheraton Hotel.

Sneak Peek: Watch the first 5 minutes of new show Lives On Fire

Sneak Peek: Watch the First 5 Minutes of Lives On Fire

This looks like a great new show and we wanted to share a clip with you all before it premiers! Welcome to Cal Fire; Rose starts her first shift at her new station in hopes of promoting while Diley continues to prove herself at one of the toughest stations around. Nica responds to a wildfire and Michele aids in the recovery of a dead body.

Watch the first 5 minutes of the series premiere before its television debut, then, tune in for the premiere of Lives On Fire on Friday, June 8th at 9/8c, only on OWN.

Celebrate National EMS Week; Getting the most from social networking

Social media is always a big discussion topic among the fire service and emergency responders. We've done a few blog posts on the topic - one on what fire departments should know about social media, and another on integrating social media into emergency communications. 

During National EMS Week, NAEMT has made social networking one of the topics of focus. They point out that increasingly, social media is how Americans communicate. To establish links with them, emergency services must master it too. Doing so can pay off not only during special celebrations like EMS Week, but all year around. 

On the EMS Week ideas page, you will find a list of do's and don'ts, a social media toolkit for getting started, and a guide on how to promote events. Take a look and see what you might be able to use to get your team on board. 

Take a look at all of NFPA's social media profiles here - and be sure to let us know if you have any questions!

Celebrate National EMS Week; Grow and enhance your career

It's National EMS Week and we have been blogging about different ideas, tools and tips all EMS practitioners should consider. Today, we look at ways to grow and enhance your career. 

Providing you with tools to help grow and enhance your career. The EMS Week Ideas site helps you explore new ways to participate in and grow your profession, and includes comprehensive career resources, tips on using social networking, an EMS advocacy guide, community education project ideas, and information on EMS history and heroes. 

Under the planning your career section, you'll find information on; 

• Career Options
• Become a Paramedic
• EMS Leadership
• EMS Jobs Center
• Advanced Learning
• Degree Programs
• Become an EMS Educator

As the EMS Week site puts it, with the increasing breadth and complexity of prehospital medicine, opportunities abound for EMS practitioners to grow into new, expanded and exciting roles in serving their communities' needs. Take a look around the site for details!

Celebrate National EMS Week; Protect your health

Protecting your health. With EMS practitioners suffering numerous career-ending and life-altering injuries, NAEMT, in collaboration with the American Council on Exercise, is working to develop suggested physical fitness guidelines for EMS practitioners that take into consideration the variety of EMS delivery models and environments. 

The initiative will identify fitness requirements for EMTs and paramedics and develop suggested fitness guidelines that take into consideration the variety of EMS delivery models and environments within which EMS operates. These suggested guidelines are intended to be used by:
1. EMS agencies in hiring practitioners and maintaining fitness levels within their agencies, and 
2. EMS practitioners to help them understand the physical fitness levels required for their jobs and how to maintain those fitness levels. 

To initiate the project, the NAEMT Health & Safety Committee has selected five sites across the country that reflect a diversity of service delivery models and environments, populations served and geographic locations. The following services are serving as host sites for the EMS Fitness Project: 

• Upper Pine River Fire Protection District, Bayfield, Colorado
• Memphis Division of Fire Services, Memphis, Tennessee
• Charleston County EMS, Charleston, South Carolina 
• Austin-Travis County EMS, Austin, Texas
• North East Mobile Health Service, Scarborough, Maine 

For more information about the EMS Fitness Project, please contact info@naemt.org. Please also take a look at NFPA 1500, the Standard on Fire Department Occupational Safety & Health for further guidelines. 

Off-duty firefighter saves a family from lightning fire on their home's roof

An off-duty firefighter is in the right place at the right time -- and saves a family. Lightning struck a home in Thorton, Colorado starting a fire to the roof. Nate Kelly, the off-duty firefighter, drove by at that time and noticed the flames. He used a garden hose to put water on the flames until the fire department arrived. Watch the video below for the full story:

For extra safety, please review NFPA's lightning safety tips. 

Vote for your favorite finalist in our fire service video contest

Recently, NFPA, IAFC and NVFC asked career firefighters, volunteer firefighters or other fire department employees and fire service members to submit a video that highlights their fire company operationally demonstrating firefighter health and safety.

The contest was run under the theme of NVFC and IAFC's combined International Fire/EMS Safety and Health Week (June 17-23, 2012) of “Rules You Can Live By.”

A panel of judges from NFPA, IAFC and NVFC have selected two finalists - the Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue for their video "Rules you can LIVE by," and Westampton Township Emergency Services for their video "Rules of Engagement for Firefighter Health." 

Congratulations to our finalists! Everyone is able to vote on their favorite finalist once per day through June 11th. Vote here if you are a Facebook member and here if you do not have a Facebook account.