A Florida man attempting to rob a jewelry store last week injured a worker there when the ricochet from a shot he fired hit her in the head. The man fled the store while being fired upon by the owner and an employee. During the escape, the man and his partner abandoned their rented van […]
Flu season is off to a rapid and deadly start according to reports coming in from states that are experiencing widespread activity, especially the South. The CDC’s Weekly U.S. Influenza Surveillance Report said five children died so far and the Arkansas Department of Health is reporting six deaths in people 45 years old or older, […]
A plant that produces chemical and petroleum-based products exploded Thursday morning just after 1a.m. in Port Neches, Texas, injuring three workers–one of whom had to be air-lifted with serious burns, AP said. The blast blew out windows and doors on homes and apartments up to several miles away. Residents within a half mile have been […]
News organizations this past week reported on numerous, and separate, shooting sprees in Fresno, Calif., Newark, N.J., San Diego, Philadelphia, Duncan, Okla., and Pleasantville, N.J. which have left a total of 15 dead and 19 injured. The San Diego murder/suicide involved children ages 3, 5, 9 and 11, three of whom have died. In Philadelphia, […]
At least one person is dead, and four others were severely wounded, after a suspect opened fire Thursday at a High School in Santa Clarita, California, about 40 miles north-northwest of Los Angeles. The gunman, who is reportedly a 15-year-old boy, was “in custody and being treated at a local hospital,” said the L.A. County […]
Emergency personnel responded to a report of an explosion at a vacant farm in the northern Italian province of Alessandria Tuesday. While they were attempting to put out a fire in an unoccupied building due to the detonation, a second, stronger blast occurred, collapsing the building and killing three firefighters. Two other firefighters and a […]
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the ISIS terrorist group, detonated a suicide vest killing himself in a tunnel below his compound, as U.S. troops carried out a two-hour nighttime raid to capture him. Baghdadi was identified through DNA, which matched a sample taken after his arrest in Fallujah in 2004. According to the CIA, […]
Building inspection is a critical core competency of FDNY field units. Inspections are carried out for two primary reasons: safety of the public and safety of Firefighters. Safety of the public is enhanced when field units identity hazards that endanger occupants of a building. Such hazards may include exit doors that do not open properly, […]
FDNY members encounter many kinds of non-fireproof (NFP) residential buildings during fire and emergency responses or during Building Inspection Safety Program (BISP) periods. When it comes to secondary egress, Firefighters are concerned with whether the building is a multiple dwelling (MD) or a private dwelling (PD). The reason for this is that apartments within NFP […]
When Craig Fugate became Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in May 2009, he pushed his organization to change their disaster response to “go big, go early, go fast and be smart.” Not surprising that with a firefighting background, this motto was adopted from best practices of fire departments. On December 13, 2013, […]
Editors Note: This is part of a 4-Part Series entitled Man in the Mud. See feature article. I was the second EMS Officer to arrive (after EMS Lieutenant Fred Desarno) at the incident at approximately 2040 hours. Lieutenant Desarno, acting as the initial Medical Branch Director, instructed me to proceed to the south excavation entrance […]
Editors Note: This is part of a 4-Part Series entitled Man in the Mud. See feature article. By prior arrangement, on the evening of March 19, 2013, I was at Fire Department Headquarters. The initial call for a construction worker trapped in the Second Avenue subway tunnel came in at approximately 2030 hours. While monitoring […]
Editors Note: This is part of a 4-Part Series entitled Man in the Mud. See feature article. On arrival, Chief Hayde observed a construction worker trapped up to his chest in a clay and water slurry solution. Ladder 43 personnel had secured him with a lifesaving rope that was draped over a steel shoring strut. […]
Whosoever saves a single life saves an entire universe.–taken from the Talmudic Tractate Sanhedrin 4:5, as referenced/verified by Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, FDNY Chaplain. Initial response On Tuesday, March 19, 2013, at 2033 hours, units were assigned to respond to Manhattan Box 1233 (a medical emergency; male buried in mud at a construction site) at the […]
In recent years, the importance of ventilation at “modern-age” fires has been stressed on FDNY members and the seriousness of this factor cannot be taken lightly. Although controlling the door and wisely venting windows have been drilled into all members since basic fire behavior lessons in Probie School, Firefighters now have the foresight from experience […]
