STATter 911

(Updated at 11:50 PM)

On thewatchdesk.com, Rich Schaffer, with the help of Jim Embry, just added a little holiday gift for everyone. Some pictures from a long mutual aid run of long ago. Click the image above to see the pictures and read the details from 1904.

Elderly couple dead in Christmas Eve fire in DC

Picture from Alan Etter, DC Fire & EMS

From wusa9.com:

A husband and wife in their 80s died in a house fire Christmas Eve morning in northwest DC.

George O'Keefe, 88, was found dead on the first floor of the two-story home on Oliver Street. Firefighters found Gisela O'Keefe, 80, upstairs in cardiac arrest. Crews performed CPR, but she was pronounced dead in the hospital a short time later.

Fire department spokesman Alan Etter says officials believe the blaze started in the basement, but they still don't know the cause. Etter says it appears that the house had no working smoke alarms.

He says the O'Keefes were longtime residents of the neighborhood. Family members told authorities that George was a retired Marine, while Gisela was a part-time school librarian.

Racially charged video has assistant chief on hot seat

In Jackson, Mississippi, a skit on a video has some people demanding that Assistant Chief Todd Chandler be fired. Read the story.

2nd alarm at the firehouse

On the eve of Christmas Eve, fire broke out in the recreation room of the Oak Valley Fire Company near Deptford, NJ. No one was in the firehouse at the time. Apparently the apparatus was saved and most of the second-alarm companies weren't needed. Read more.

911 calls and security cameras from Florida explosion

Above, the 911 calls from the deadly explosion at the T2 Labs in Jacksonville on Wednesday.

Above, security cameras capture the flash and shock wave of the blast.

I yam what I yam

STATter 911 clearly overlooked a few points in our second-guessing and bashing of the brave and dedicated firefighters seen in the video above (typical of the news media, isn't it?). We have updated the page, adding a critique of this incident from a source with a more modern perspective. You can see it here and also can scroll to the comments section to add anything we missed.

Volunteer incentives requested to combat dwindling membership

In Pennsylvania, a request for property tax rebates, tuition credits at state and county colleges and a statewide retirement plan. Some volunteer companies are asking politicians at various levels for some help. Read the story.

Many of the CA wildfires sparked by power lines

The Washington Post takes a look at what was behind 21 fires in 3 days. Here is an excerpt:

A 10-year-old boy confessed to starting one fire while playing with matches. That blaze blackened 38,000 acres north of Los Angeles, though authorities opted not to press charges against the youth, who has been described as distraught.

Two other fires were attributed to arson, something officials said happens routinely when fires erupt elsewhere. "The arsonists jump in because they have cover; there's other fires already," said Bill Peters, spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

In an odd twist, a convicted arsonist was discovered among the volunteers fighting fires in San Diego County. Paroled after setting seven blazes 10 years ago, the man was not implicated in the October fires.

The leading cause of ignition appeared to be power lines.

As many as eight fires were blamed on sparks from lines blown down by the high, hot Santa Ana winds that sweep across Southern California each autumn. The Witch fire, which burned 200,000 acres and killed two people, was ignited by a power line, as was the smaller Guejito blaze with which it merged.

2nd alarm house fire

According to the caption, there was some confustion on the address of this house fire in Lynn, MA. A second alarm was called as the order came to switch to a defensive operation.

NJ 5th alarm

Fire just before 9:00 Sunday morning at La Rosa's Pizza in Metuchen. Read more, here.

Police say drunk teenager crashes truck into home and kills at least five

This is from Bogota, Colombia on Saturday night. Read the story.

UK fire


A storage facility in flames in Portlethen on Saturday afternoon. Click the image above to see the video and read the story.

Fire in Texas

No details on this one.

Smoke free firehouse bingo

Mixed reaction to this idea in Shippensberg, PA. Read the story.

Those who throw stones shouldn't live in glass houses

Everyone is a critic. In Chicago on Sunday night, in the middle of the 10:00 PM news, the driver of a minivan decided he wanted to be in the middle of WLS-TV's State Street studio. Click here to see two videos, including the reaction of the anchor as the vehicle makes its entry.

# posted by Dave Statter @ 10:24 PM