Friday, July 10, 2009
Quick takes
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Another sign of the times in Prince George's County: This was the scene at the Allentown Road VFD (Station 832) on Thursday. Career staffing was removed for the 24-hour shift that began at 7:00 AM. Last week, Volunteer Chief Nick Finamore warned PGFD's Acting Chief Eugene Jones that there would be no volunteers to respond on calls. Major Derrick Lea tells STATter911.com that PGFD does not close stations. He says career personnel are removed and it is expected that volunteers will fill in at those stations. Volunteers are covering the shifts at other stations around the county. A group of volunteers are also helping stations that need staffing. Sources tells us that volunteers at Forestville (Station 823) were surprised to come into the station on Thursday morning and find that it wasn't staffed. The station was not on the schedule for losing career staff and sources indicate Forestville's chief was not notified of the last minute change. Major Lea says the PGFD command staff was meeting again with the volunteers to iron out any communications difficulties. Some stations are getting little or no notice of the changes due to a decision by the county to not spend overtime funds to cover for firefighters who call in sick.
Ranting and raving on the radio: For almost nine hours a man with a stolen Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department radio interfered with emergency radio traffic. The transmissions were made throughout the day and evening on Channel 1, the main dispatch channel. We have recordings of some of the transmissions along with more details. Click here.
The man who would normally have to answer our questions about the stolen radio sends rescue pictures from his vacation hideaway: Off-duty and trying to enjoy some distance from the constant hounding coming from our direction, PGFD's Chief Spokesman Mark Brady interrupted his vacation to take pictures of an ocean rescue. We have those pictures and an email Brady sent to Ocean City, Maryland officials. Check it out.
The aftermath of another rogue radio message and other issues in Houston: The Houston Fire Department has been dealing with bad news for months. From LODDs, serious injuries, a tragic fire truck crash and a series of racially charged incidents. After Tuesday's discovery of graffiti at an airport fire station and Wednesday's radio transmission with a racial slur, Mayor Bill White wants a consultant to review the department. Check here for that story.
The mayor says he will personally oversee the investigation into how two female firefighters were treated. Watch the story.
Here's the raw video from Mayor White's press conference.
The Chronicle attempted to put all of the Houston City Council members on record about the issues with the fire department. Here are the results.
In addition, a retired female firefighter adds her voice to this story.
Also in Houston - A fire captain asks for help in finding his daughter's killer: The Houston Fire Department helped set up a press conference to allow Capt. Larry Lira make a plea to the public. He wants the man accused of killing his 23-year-old daughter Michelle to surrender. Click here for that story.
And one more interesting story from Houston - Firefighters have to say no to gifts from "Mattress Mack": Jim McIngvale, known as "Mattress Mack", wants to donate TVs and furniture to all of the fire stations that responded to the May fire at his Gallery Furniture store. Due to an open arson investigation and other ethics concerns, the department is saying no to the more than $300,000 worth of items McIngvale planned to donate. There were similar issues during a raffle at a picnic the furniture store owner held for firefighters and their families. Check out the story.
Whistle blower lawsuit from LAFD battalion chief and captain: The two claim they tried to report misconduct in the arson and counter terrorism unit, including at least one false arrest and fabrication of evidence. Both have been put back into the unit after being removed for a period of time. The Los Angeles Times has the story.
Chief Cochran still worried about Atlanta: While some cuts have been restored, Chief Kelvin Cochran is still concerned about budget issues for the Atlanta Fire Department. As he gets ready to head to Washington as U.S. Fire Administrator Chief Cochran believes Atlanta remains vulnerable. Read and watch the interview from WXIA-TV.
Don't get mad, open fire hydrants: Apparently the reason for two teens opening hydrants and letting them flow in two Texas towns is because one of them was mad with the Blanco Fire Department. Dustin Garrett is a 19-year-old former volunteer. The hydrant prank apparently severely lowered Blancos water supply (one of our readers who saw the first story on this noted in the comments section yesterday the math on how much water and what it cost was a bit off). Here's the latest.
No ladder trucks in Edison, NJ: The chief says he isn't worried, but the union president insists it's a big problem. Both of Edison's ladder trucks are out of service. Read details.
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