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Photo by SF Zoo / Flickr
Photo by SF Zoo
Firefighters were called in to assist San Francisco Zoo officials when Tony the tiger couldn’t (or wouldn’t) climb back out of the dry moat that surrounds the tiger exhibit. It wasn’t exactly a technical rescue, but there was a small amount of rigging, some hauling, and tranquilizer gun involved. Click more to read the story. (more…)
The Associated Press Reports:
OTTER ROCK, Ore. (AP) – A Coast Guard helicopter has hoisted four surfers to safety near Otter Rock, Ore., after they got caught by a rip current and then swept into a wave-lashed cove.
Depoe Bay Fire District Lt. Dennis Knudson said three men and one woman – all from the Salem area – were rescued Thursday afternoon from heavy surf near the Devil’s Punch Bowl.
Photo by Maise
One construction was trapped in a pile of bricks and critically injured when building under construction in Brooklyn came crashing down. Three other people, including 2 workers and a passerby who tried to help, sustained non-life threatening injuries.
FDNY sent a major collapse assignment and was able to free the man trapped victim in about 20 minutes. City engineers believe a critical support may have been removed, causing the collapse. See the video below, it has some good shots of the collapse scene.
Sky News Photo
Sky News reported the confined space rescue went something like this:
“The first rescue attempt involved hoisting the thinnest member of the group down the pipe to try to attach a harness around him. But the boy was too far down to reach and the rescuer could not get his shoulders into the narrow pipe.” “A group of firemen then lowered a makeshift harness down and encouraged the boy to grab it, and eventually hauled him out. The boy emerged shocked but otherwise uninjured.”Here’s the the video, sorry no subtitles available…
Special Operations Units are some of the most expensive fire department assets to maintain, and often have a much lower run volume. As budgets across the country get tighter, special operations teams are facing dramatic cuts or even being eliminated all together.
The Honolulu Fire Department staffs a 110′ fire boat owned by the state. The state gives HFD $2,000,000 for maintenance and a six person crew 24×7. The State would like to find a less expensive arrangement, possibly reducing the staffing to 2 members 24×7.
Photo by KTRK Houston, Texas
A tank truck turning out of a chemical plant overturned in Harris Count, Texas. The roll over caused an unknown amount of hydrochloric acid to spill onto the roadway and ground. The Harris County Hazmat Team responded and spent most of the day assisting with mitigating the incident.
Photo by Jamie Andea / AP
Firefighters from Painesville, Perry, and Madison were called to the Perry Nuclear Power Plant outside Cleveland. They assisted the plants fire brigade with fighting a fire described as small, but stubborn. Two members of the fire brigade were transported for heat exhaustion.
Initial reports are that the fire involved a lubricant for a pump motor, and may have spread to insulation soaked with the lubricant. The fire re-ignited several times, but was finally contained after about 3 hours.
Plant personnel reduced power output to 70%, but said there was never any danger to the public.
No information was included on the date or circumstances.
The Mineral County, Colorado Sheriff’s Department Search & Rescue Team pulled a dog to safety after it fell/slid several hundred feet down a cliff. A passerby heard the dog barking and called the Sheriff. The Search & Rescue team lowered a rescuer down the cliff and attached a harness to the dog. Both were then hoisted up the cliff.
Mineral County has a pollution of 831 people. I highly doubt the rescue team performed this rescue for the “public relations”. So why did they do it then ? Maybe they did it for the old fashion reason…because it was the right thing to do.
Two thumbs up for MCSD SAR team.
Photo by 1st Lieutenant Ryan Sutherland
The 85th Civil Support Team was called when 11 employees of the Utah National Guard began felling ill. The employees, including soldiers and civilians, were working to upgrade technology in a classroom at Camp Williams, a national guard training base. Some of the employees drove themselves to a near by hospital, complaining of burning nose, throat, and watery eyes.
When the hospital learned they had been exposed to an unknown material they called for a fire department hazmat team to decon the employees, before allowing them to enter to the hosptial. The employees were told to sit in their cars until the hazmat team and decon trailer from the Unified Fire Authority arrived. Click more to see the video and more pics. (more…)
Photo by John Richard
Photo by John Richard
Firefighters found four victims on the ground when they arrived at the West Liberty Foods plant. A total of 16 people were transported to area hospitals and clinics, most with respiratory irritation. Plant officials believe the leak occurred at a valve near the ammonia storage tank on the roof. The plants HVAC pulled the ammonia vapors inside. Click here to read the story or more to see the news broadcast. (more…)
Photo by Gavin Lesnick
A property manager discovered the body while checking on the renter who had not be seen in awhile. A note was found nearby indicating a hazmat team was needed.
The North Little Rock Arkansas Fire Department Hazmat Team responded. The team removed a bucket of chemicals that had been mixed together in an apparent suicide attempt.
Although most chemical suicides occur in cars, responders should be on guard for a possible chemical suicide on all EMS, runs including man down or welfare check type calls.
In many instances, but not all, the victim has left a warning note for responders. Although responders should always look for the presence of a note, don’t bet you life on the kindness of stranger. Stay alert, and when in doubt, don your bunker gear and SCBA.
San Diego fire and lifeguards responded when a man took a tumble down a cliff. The rocky terrain made moving the patient difficult, so rescuers elected to hoist onboard Copter 2, hovering overhead. Try not to get hypnotized (like I did) by the light up rescue hook and the cool blinky thing on rescue tech that was lowered by the helo.
DC area fire departments gave a demo of their new Mobile Emergency Response Vehicle (MERV). It’s a battery powered cart that can be assembled on-site, then transport responders along the railroad tracks. Check out Statter911 for some videos of the gadgets in use, and to learn about a previous incident where they made have come in handy.
Below is a video of responders assembling a MERV.
While your over at Statter911, read the story and listen to the radio traffic of a swift water rescue training that turned real when an instructor played victim for a group of rookies.
Photo by Marianne Mathers / The Beacon News
The Downers Grove Fire Department in Illinois responded warehouse fire involving 100 cylinders of Acetylene. DGFD elected to let the cylinder burn themselves out. Acetylene is an extremely unstable product. Take a look at a few tactical considerations that when responding to acetylene fires. (more…)
The Marshfield, Massachusetts Fire Department requested the assistance of the Plymouth County Technical Rescue Team when a horse became trapped in a swimming pool. The horse escaped from the stables, and wandered into the pool.
Firefighters credit the successful rescue to having the right equipment and training, including a special large animal rescue sling. More details and incident photos can be seen at The Patriot Ledger.
Photo by Mike Dirks / Times-News
There was no one home when the $375,000 residence in Mountain Home, North Carolina was blown to pieces. The cause of the blast remains unknown. You can read the full story on BlueRidgeNow.com
Photo by Denny Clopper
Photo by Denny Clopper
The Friendship Hose Company responded to a water rescue, when a vehicle drove around barricades and became partially submerged in the flooded roadway. The 1994 Nissian Pathfinder was occupied by three adults and an infant in a car seat. A bystander walked out to the SUV and retrieved in the child.
The adults, including the child’s dad who was the driver, elected to wait for rescue. Rescuers were able to pick the stranded occupants up in a boat, and walk it to shore. The driver of the SUV was charged with disorderly conduct.
Photo by Travis Anderson, The Boston Globe
The Associated Press Reports:
“A car driven by a 69-year-old woman crashed into the reception area of a medical office Wednesday, injuring two people in the vehicle and three in the building.
The Nissan Infiniti sedan had pulled up in front of the offices of Internal Medicine Physicians of the North Shore before it accelerated into the building’s glass facade”
Donnie Adkins, a Glasgow, WV firefighter, died when the rescue boat he was riding in flipped over. Adkins and other firefighters were rescuing people trapped by rising flood waters. After an intensive week long search, his body was recovered on March 19th.
Fellow responders gathered in Beckley, WV to honor the sacrifice made by firefighter Adkins. At the conclusion of the ceremony, firefighters draped an American flag on his casket and loaded into a waiting ambulance. A health NET EMS helicopter flew over head.
Photo by WSOCTV.com
A hazmat team along with EMS were called to the Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina, when 9 people, including 2 pilots, began filling ill onboard a US airways flight. The 767 had just pushed back from the gate when passengers and crew began coughing and complaining of burning eyes.
Hazmat members entered the plane with meters and checked the entire aircraft, but didn’t detect any hazardous chemicals. The FAA says that faulty seals on two of the plane’s doors may have allowed exhaust fumes to seep into the cabin.
Apparently, this same plane has had odor issues on three previous occasions. Read the full story here.
Photo by ABC4.com
Photo by Brian Carlson ABC4.com
The Utah Highway Patrol says the driver fell asleep, then over corrected, rolling the truck over on I-15 at about 4:20am. Responders closed the highway in both directions as they worked to contain the leaking fuel.
The Hamilton Township, Ohio fire department was called when someone reported “smoke” from an industrial building. Firefighters arrived and made entry, and quickly discovered the smoke was actually a cloud of sulfur dioxide (SO2).
The SO2 was leaking from a cylinder at A&G Cylinder, a business that cleans out compressed gas cylinders. A&G says they only accept empty cylinders. They were unaware the cylinder contained product.
Click more to see the video and review response considerations for SO2. (more…)
Photo by Fox6Now.com
Never under estimate the power of cleaning chemicals. Click more to read the incident details, to review how to handle an incident that involves chemicals that have mixed. (more…)
Photo by Gene Kaiser / South Bend Tribune
According to the South Bend Tribune, the story goes like this:
“Three people remained in Memorial Hospital Saturday afternoon after the car in which they were riding ran into a vacant building on South Chapin Street on Saturday morning, partially collapsing the building.
Anthony Hutchinson, 22, of South Bend, was listed in critical condition.
Police said Hutchinson, who was a passenger in the car, was trapped in the 1998 Ford Explorer for about an hour while members of the South Bend Fire Department Tactical Rescue team shored up the building enough to get him out.”
Click more to see a close up of the trapped vehicle and some raw video of the incident scene. (more…)
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Here is the conclusion to the most recent case: 76 year old female CC: Chest pain. To see Part I… (more)
Fourth of a short series on the establishment of the Metropolitan Fire Department in NYC. Zouaves… (more)
AP reports eight people are still unaccounted for in the foothills above Boulder today, two days… (more)
The powder was not identified, but determined to be non-harmful.… (more)
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