STATter 911

(Updated 11:37 AM)

Pipeline explosion: Two people working on a northern Minnesota crude oil pipeline are dead after an explosion and fire Tuesday afternoon. It is being called one of the largest such pipelines between Canada and the US. Image above by Eric Hylden, Grand Forks Herald. The story, here.

Georgia explosion

An explosion this morning near Warm Springs, GA. WXIA-TV image above. Photo gallery, here. Details from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Five people were injured Thursday morning when an explosion rocked a metal recycling plant in Meriwether County, about 60 miles south of Atlanta.

The explosion occurred before 8:30 a.m. at G&S Metals off Ga. 85 in Manchester, according to Manchester police.

Three people sustained "fairly critical" injuries and two others suffered less serious injuries, said Buzz Weiss, a spokesman for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency.

Weiss said late Thursday morning that all employees had been accounted for.

Authorities said the company, which buys, sells and processes aluminum scrap, has about 60 employees.

Emergency crews from surrounding counties also responded to the incident, which occurred in an industrial park near downtown Manchester.

The cause of the explosion has not been determined, Weiss said.

Ken Rauch, human resources manager at the plant's parent company, in Wabash, Ind., said Thursday morning that he and other executives were about to board a plane to travel to the plant. He declined to say anything further or to provide details about the plant, which opened in 2006.

Manchester, near Warm Springs, is about 60 miles south of Atlanta.

Flag flaps

In Florida, firefighters are upset over the decision, later reversed, to keep flags from being flown at half-staff to honor Firefighter John Curry who died during a training exercise this week. Click the image above to see the story.

In Edwardsville, Kansas, Chief Billy Goldfeder of firefighterclosecalls.com fame, reports the mayor has a similar issue. Goldfeder is reporting today that Mayor Heinz Rodgers has ordered the flags raised after they were lowered to honor the death last week of a Kansas City, Kansas firefighter.

More of the naked truth in Johnson City

You may recall the story we told you about on November 12th of the assistant chief in Johnson City, New York who celebrated his 20th anniversary with the department by showing up in his birthday suit. Well, it seems Kenneth Roe, who is now retired, isn't getting much support from the troops. The quote above from a fire captain is just a part of it. The police have statements from other firefighters, including one who distributed pictures of Roe's arrival at a city fire station and one who said this:

"...I was shocked and disgusted. I could not believe that he would come to work naked."

All of this is coming out in court where Roe is charged with "Exposure of a Person". WBNG-TV, which first showed the pictures, has more. Just click the naked assistant chief above to see the story.

Donna and the Magic Fire Truck

The Johnson City story is pretty tame compared to this one. Make sure you check in on FireGeezer to get the latest installment on one of the strangest stories in a while. The Geeze has been focusing his journalism talents on Seligman, AZ and an ex-con, female impersonator who has fire trucks and a fire department and a lot of names.

Some STATter 911 housekeeping

If you are trying to easily find some of the local, raw video we have posted, or video from the STATter 911 archives, or a report we have linked to, check this link: STATter 911 Links-911 Recordings; Radio Traffic; Raw Video; Documents; Archive Video . It is also to your left at the top of our permanent links (just below my all-important biography). One-stop-shopping for some of our more interesting material. It was recently updated.

A Winnebago with a sprinkler system

Well, not exactly. The Winnebago with the sprinkler system is the firm's factory in Forest City, IA and the sprinkler system did its job. Read more, here.

Giving credit where credit is due

That's what the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs wants. The group is lobbying the federal government to provide tax credits for volunteer firefighters. Read the details of this plan to improve volunteer recruitment and increase retention.

Fire chief's test

In Oswego, NY, everyone's preparing for the fire chief's test. That's the fire chief's job that came open after the previous chief was accused of releasing a 911 recording of a city alderman. Read the details, here.

Theft hinders response time

In Tennessee, a recent break-in at a new fire house is causing some problems. Read the story.

MA lumber yard fire

Video from Tuesday night's five-alarm fire at an Ayers, MA lumber yard. FirefightingNews.com has details. Two more parts to the video can be found here.

San Jose fire update

WithTheCommand.com has the update on the boarding house fire in San Jose, CA we first told you about yesterday. A body was found in the rubble. Click here to see the story.

Trestle fire suspect plea deal

You may recall the spectacular March fire that destroyed a quarter-mile long Union Pacific railroad trestle in Sacramento. See the video above for the resolution, sort of, to this arson. More details can be found here.

More Jackson helmet-cam action

Jackson, Mississippi handling a house fire Monday morning. Details, here.

Ontario fire

House fire at 25 Beland South in Hamilton early Tuesday morning.

Western MD HEAT

A training video from the Cumberland Fire Department helicopter tactical team.

Chicago Arson Hotline

A 1983 public service announcement.