Firefighters Conduct a Level B Entry.

Tuesday morning, the Santa Maria, California Fire Department responded to the American Automobile Association office in Santa Maria, after an employee reported finding a white powdery substance inside the envelope.

After arriving on scene, fire officials evacuated the office and called the Santa Barbara County Hazardous Materials Response team, which arrived around 1 p.m.

By 3:30 p.m., they were able to determine that the substance was not hazardous.  What exactly the substance is, or where it came from, has yet to be determined

The Times Tribune.com Reports:

SCRANTON, PA – City firefighters had to cut apart a pool table Wednesday night to rescue a young boy who twisted his arm shoulder-deep in a hole to reach the cue ball.

The boy, who is 8 or 9 years old, was stuck for a half-hour in the table at the Comfort Suites hotel, Acting Lt. John Judge said.

Firefighters used saws, chisels and hammers to pry apart the table. It was a surgical rescue, Lt. Judge said. And though it was his first time saving someone from billiards, it was familiar territory for veteran firefighter Mike Grimes, which gave the Rescue 1 crew a ready game plan.

Body lotion from the hotel was used to finally slip the boy’s arm free. He was unharmed.

Photo by King5 TV

KING 5 News and Associated Press Report:

MOUNT BARING, Wash. — Authorities say a BASE jumper who spent the night hanging from parachute straps on Mount Baring was rescued Tuesday and flown to Granite Falls where he was arrested for an unrelated case in Skagit County. Sheriff’s Deputy Will Reichardt says 44-year-old Eldon Burrier of Lynnwood was booked into jail on a district court warrant accusing him of reckless endangerment in May at a Washington state park. Burrier was released because of overcrowding at the jail in Mount Vernon.

Sheriff’s deputies said the Lynnwood man attempted to do a BASE jump on his own Monday night to memorialize another BASE jumper who died at the mountain on July 25 when her chute didn’t open. Burrier’s parachute lines got snared on a “chimney” rock outcropping, leaving him dangling in his parachute harness on the rocky mountain side for 12 hours

“I’ve been told that this was his first jump off Mount Baring and that he did it alone,” said Peter Teske, Snohomish County Sheriff’s Dept.

Burrier was uninjured, other than suffering minor bruises and abrasions, and used his cell phone to call 911 for help around 9 p.m. His call mobilized a massive rescue effort by Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office Patrol and Search and Rescue, Mountain Search and Rescue, Index Fire, Seattle Mountain Rescue, Bellingham Mountain Rescue, and Olympic Mountain Rescue.

A rescue team in a helicopter tried to rescue Burrier, but were unsuccessful in taking him down safely. A ground crew ascended the mountain close to where he was and kept in contact with him throughout the night. Snohomish County Lt. John Flood said Burrier wasn’t dressed for the elements, and he kept warm by wrapping himself with his parachute.

Early Tuesday, about 60 search and rescue team members hiked over four hours and arrived at the north part of the mountain about 6:30 a.m. and lowered ropes some 200 feet down a cliff. Rescuers said it was an extremely technical climb to get to the top and to secure the bolts and anchors needed to safely reach Burrier.

“From which point they had to traverse and descend to the patient using rope rigging, bolting and anchoring to the mountain itself – a huge effort. Hundred of hours of manpower,” said Teske.

Photo by Bruce Graner / bgraner@pnj.com

About 100 residents of the Value Place Motel in Escambia, Florida were evacuated into the streets while police, fire, and hazmat responders searched the hotel for the source of a suspicious stank.  Responders feared the fumes may be from a meth lab in one of  the hotel rooms.  In the end, responders did not find the source of the mystery odor, and allowed the patrons to return to their rooms.

Waynesboro, VA public works crews reported a leak in a one-ton container of chlorine at the water treatment plant. The employees were able to shut  the valve off as they evacuated the building.  There were no reports of injuries.

Waynesboro fire department responded and dressed out responders in level A PPE.

NBC29.com reports ”Their actions in cutting the valve off, the only thing remaining to leak out in the system was what residual chlorine pressurized,” explained Kenny Hyden with the Waynesboro Fire Department. “By the time our crews were assembled in fully encapsulated suits and made entry into the building, there was no active chlorine leak at that point.”

Responders prepare to mark a house during Hurricane Katrina SAR Operations. Photo by USCG Petty Officer Robert M. Reed

Guest Editorial by Mick Mayers: I have long been a proponent of adding water response capability to the US&R bag o’ tricks, but the extent of capability must be objectively assessed by team leaders before launching into this mission wholesale.

While the immediate need for water rescue response assets is certainly necessary for communities where flooding is a possibility, I was asked to discuss the growing trend of US&R teams adding water rescue capability to their capability.

I have long been a proponent of adding water response capability to the US&R bag o’ tricks, but the extent of capability must be objectively assessed by team leaders before launching into this mission wholesale.  Unless your US&R team is a relatively local one (some of the metro department US&R teams come to mind, like Fairfax, LA City, LA County, etc.), by the time your unit gets mobilized and to the scene, the waters have receded and the emergency is over.  Like it or not, flash flooding is a very local event.

However, in the event of prolonged flooding situations (like Katrina, the Iowa floods, and others), it is my observation that US&R teams do in fact have some capability that can be brought to bear on the situation that would benefit all involved.

In South Carolina, there are a number of water rescue assets that range from NIMS-equivalent* Type 4 teams to full-on Type 1 water rescue teams.  These assets are located throughout the state and can be deployed to local incidents without too much trouble.  But in the event that a longer event occurs, like when Hurricane Floyd flooded the Myrtle Beach region in 1999, resources like helicopter reconnaissance and rescue operations are hard to come by, if anything simply because the locals don’t have the need to have those resources available on a regular basis.

As a result, the South Carolina US&R Task Force entered into agreements with regionally located personnel and the South Carolina National Guard to provide helo support during these types of events, and have implemented a plan to respond if needed.  These personnel have undergone a significant amount of training over the past two years and have also begun to expand the system to include some other select members.

However, the biggest problem with local water rescue response during riverine flooding is the lack of command and control capability with these teams; thus, the biggest area in which established Type 1 US&R assets can be of the greatest help.

While a pure response of US&R is targeted at search and rescue in collapsed structures, the ready accessibility to special operations personnel with lots of equipment seems to fit right in to the deployment of Type 1 and 3 teams into these events.  That these teams aren’t equipped with water rescue equipment (with the exception of teams like those in Texas, California, and Florida) isn’t so much of a problem.  The personnel assigned to these teams have historically been those ones who given a situation, would take the resources at hand and develop solutions; US&R personnel are clearly the Special Forces personnel of the fire service.

An even better use for these teams, however, is the use of what I term the “C4” package: command, control, computers, and communications.  The concept is basically a coordination and logistical support effort to provide overhead for multiple small teams operating in a given area.

Since these teams are not designed for prolonged operations, they don’t possess the support mechanisms to provide those extended efforts, which poses a problem when they are deployed to remote parts of flood-affected jurisdictions.  I see a scenario in which a US&R task force, if it were set up to keep that C4 package separate and deployable independent of the other parts of the cache, could support four or six teams as the coordinating group.  Within that already existing cache, the US&R team could provide extra radios, base control, access to computers, cellular, and satellite communications, and expertise dealing with multiple teams.  US&R teams have the tents and mess facilities to support teams in the field, they carry food and water to supply personnel for at least 10 days, and a number of other capabilities that are rarely used, yet very essential.

The South Carolina State Search and Rescue Program Plan provides just that overhead if requested through the State Fire Marshal’s Office.  The Fire Marshal is tasked by way of the South Carolina State Firefighter Mobilization Program to coordinate requests for state-wide fire department assistance via the State Mutual Aid Agreement.  The SAR Plan spells out that in the event of a major incident with local jurisdictional response but no overhead support (especially in some counties that don’t have extensive resources), SC-TF1 can be called to provide expertise in coordinating and supporting those responders.

This program came as a result of research I did to support an Executive Fire Officer Applied Research Project for the National Fire Academy, and since then, was edited and implemented as the strategic plan for the State SAR response.  Instead of reinventing the wheel and adding yet another water rescue asset to the long list of local responders, US&R Task Force leaders should consider meeting a real need: providing the support necessary to those responders so that they can respond and not have to worry about having enough radios, or having a place to camp overnight, or having people who are used to accounting for a large number of event participants spread over an entire disaster complex.

As is everything in fire and EMS, we need to keep an open mind and where capability exists, use it constructively and proactively to provide the best solution to the emergency, not to increase the complexity.  US&R assets have a role in manangement of the widespread flood disaster, but not exactly in the manner that they have been used for in the past.  It’s time for US&R leadfers to step up to the bat and allow the operational guys the time to do their job and for us to be the good big brother and support them with the expertise, knowledger, and tools we can bring to the table.

About the Author, Mick Mayers

Michael “Mick” Mayers is a Battalion Chief with Hilton Head Island (SC) Fire and Rescue and Deputy Director of the South Carolina Emergency Response Task Force’s Urban Search and Rescue Program (SC-TF1). Chief Mayers began his emergency services career in Bridgeport, PA in 1980.  Click Here to Learn More About Mick

A group of 5 men set out to help install a french drain at a Pennsylvania home, when one of them became trapped in the trench they dug.  A wall of dirt gave way trapping the man to his chest in the 6 foot deep by 4 foot wide trench.  Numerous fire, EMS, and police agencies from across Allegancy county worked together to fee the man.

Photo from baldwinems.com

Photo by baldwinems.com

According to the PittsburgChannel.com: Alvin Henderson, assistant chief for Allegheny County Emergency Services, said crush syndrome was a concern because it can set in almost immediately as the weight of the dirt cuts off circulation to the legs and lower extremities.

Click Here to See the News Video

More Incident photos are posted on Badlwin EMS’s homepage

AP Photo/Gus Ruelas

Two men were killed when a Los Angeulus industrial building exploded and collapsed.  One man was thrown into the street as a result of the blast, the second was electrocuted when he contacted a down power line attempting to move his truck.

LAFD PIO Erik Scott reports the LAFD’s response to the 100×100 commercial building included: 16 Companies of Los Angeles Firefighters, 11 LAFD Rescue Ambulances, 3 Arson Units, 1 Urban Search and Rescue Unit, 1 Rehab Unit, 2 Hazardous Materials Teams, 3 EMS Battalion Captains, 3 Battalion Chief Officer Command Teams, 1 Division Chief Officer Command Team, 2 bull dozers

The Urban Search and Rescue Team, was then able to eliminate hazards and shore up beams, allowing a safer environment to perform a detailed and thorough search. K9 units were utilized to locate anyone possibly trapped under the rubble, however there were no hits and no additional victims were found.

ASTORIA, Ore. – A 17 year-old boy is hoisted into an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter after falling from a 200-foot cliff at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Lewis and Clark State Park, Wash., Sunday, July 25, 2010. An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Astoria, Ore. responded to the scene, hoisted the boy and transported him to Columbia Memorial Hospital.

U.S. Coast Guard video by Petty Officer 2nd Class Josh Hollingshead.

Photo by Robert Miller - New York Post

When a intoxicated man jumped from  a pier into the East River, his friend jumped in an attempt to rescue him.  Next a good samaritan dove in, trying to lend a hand.  Soon the trio were all in trouble. An NYPD detective was the first to arrive, and jump into the water.  The NY Post Reports “Detective Andy Bershad, said he untied his shoe laces, emptied his pockets en route to the call”.   Bershad held the victims head above water until FDNY arrived,

When Engine Co. 53 and Ladder 43 arrived, several firefighters leaped into the river.  They were able to pull all the victims from the water.

The NY Post interviewed a Battalion Chief as the scene was wrapping up: “Right now it looks like everyone is going to survive. Two of them weren’t in the greatest shape,” said FDNY Battalion Chief Jim Gintey. “I don’t want to speculate on what could have been – but it was a good thing that they got them when they did.”