The FireLedeFirefighter Updates for Rockland County NY

STATter911.comWASHINGTON, DC — As the investigation into the death of Stephanie Stephens continues, a top official at Children’s National Medical Center has made his views about the case known. In a letter to the editor in Monday’s Washington Post, Dr. Joseph Wright said, "The decision not to immediately transport a 2-year-old with respiratory symptoms is inexcusable."Dr. Wright is referring …

By Kieran Crowley and Murray Weiss The New York PostNEW YORK — A Long Island fire chief and an FDNY cohort were busted for taking the law into their own hands — hunting down a gunman who sprayed bullets blocks from the Hempstead firehouse, police said yesterday.Michael Charles, 51, the Hempstead fire chief and a decorated former NYPD detective, and Brian Schuck, 33, are accused of stopping …

By Kieran Crowley and Murray Weiss The New York PostNEW YORK — A Long Island fire chief and an FDNY cohort were busted for taking the law into their own hands — hunting down a gunman who sprayed bullets blocks from the Hempstead firehouse, police said yesterday.Michael Charles, 51, the Hempstead fire chief and a decorated former NYPD detective, and Brian Schuck, 33, are accused of stopping …

By Dennis Yusko The Times-UnionSARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — A fire that ripped into a historic three-story building in Franklin Square and injured a city firefighter was likely started by an electrical malfunction in a second-floor laundry room, fire officials said Monday.The smoky blaze in the late 19th-century Victorian mansion started minutes before midnight Friday, and was reported by a resident.The …

By Dennis Yusko The Times-UnionSARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — A fire that ripped into a historic three-story building in Franklin Square and injured a city firefighter was likely started by an electrical malfunction in a second-floor laundry room, fire officials said Monday.The smoky blaze in the late 19th-century Victorian mansion started minutes before midnight Friday, and was reported by a resident.The …

By Paul Peirce The Tribune-ReviewIRWIN, Pa. — An Irwin firefighter who allegedly called in to report a fire is accused of intentionally setting the blaze last week in Penn Township.Volunteer firefighter Eric Penska, 22, of 240 Belmont St., North Huntingdon, is accused of helping to set the blaze in a vacant house at 502 Baker School Road at 3:22 a.m. Wednesday. A damage estimate was not available.Penska …

By Paul Peirce The Tribune-ReviewIRWIN, Pa. — An Irwin firefighter who allegedly called in to report a fire is accused of intentionally setting the blaze last week in Penn Township.Volunteer firefighter Eric Penska, 22, of 240 Belmont St., North Huntingdon, is accused of helping to set the blaze in a vacant house at 502 Baker School Road at 3:22 a.m. Wednesday. A damage estimate was not available.Penska …

In the wake of the massive earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, it’s a good time to review crush syndrome and the basic treatment called for whenever patients are trapped for a length of time. Here’s what EMS providers need to know.

In the wake of the massive earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, it’s a good time to review crush syndrome and the basic treatment called for whenever patients are trapped for a length of time. Here’s what EMS providers need to know.

Brad Walls warns firefighters of Exterior Insulation Finishing Systems, a petroleum-based material that can harm firefighters

The Patriot Ledger BOSTON — A board of inquiry probing a deadly Boston fire-truck crash that killed a Quincy man found a number of contributing factors, including a lack of preventative maintenance.Lt. Kevin Kelley was killed in January 2009 when the ladder truck he was riding in suffered a brake failure on a steep hill in Boston and slammed into a building. Kelley and his wife raised their three …

Verbal comprehension tests for civil service jobs are different from reading exams in school. These techniques can help you succeed on this important step in the fire service hiring process.

By George Barnes The Telegram & GazetteHUBBARDSTON, Mass. — Fire Chief Seth A. Knipe said he takes full responsibility for problems that occurred in billing for the Fire Department ambulance service, but believes the problem could have been handled without a police investigation."I’m not hiding behind anything," he said. "As chief, the buck stops here. I just would have liked …

CBC NewsTORONTO — A 12-year-old Toronto girl died Monday of injuries sustained in a weekend fire that claimed her father’s life.Family and friends of Ken Einboden announced his daughter’s death at a news conference outside Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children early Monday afternoon. They said Britney Einboden had succumbed to her injuries moments earlier."Today, God took back one of his angels …

The Associated PressHARRISBURG, Pa. — Authorities in Pennsylvania say a gas station patron died when static electricity ignited a fire as he filled up his tank.Authorities say 19-year-old L. David Byers of central Pennsylvania died early Friday at the gas station in Camp Hill.A gas station equipment expert says the only other fatality from a static-generated fire was in Oklahoma more than a decade …

By Joshua But The South China Morning PostHONG KONG — Fire chief Gregory Lo Chun-hung fought to hold back tears yesterday as he spoke of the loss of another colleague in a blaze.Lo, who took command at the scene of the fatal fire in Lai Chi Kok yesterday, had to pause twice to compose himself as he announced the death of senior fireman Yeung Chun-kit, 47.Yeung was the third officer to die in the …

By Art Carey The Philadelphia InquirerBENSALEM, Pa. — Daniel McIntosh, those who knew him say, died the way he lived — serving others, preferring to speak with deeds rather than words.A full-time paramedic, part-time police officer, and volunteer firefighter, McIntosh, 39, suffered an apparent heart attack Sunday night while chasing a man who was threatening to commit suicide, police said …

The Associated PressPHILADELPHIA — Authorities say five cars on a freight train derailed in downtown Philadelphia, but none tipped over and there were no injuries or hazardous materials involved.CSX spokesman Bob Sullivan says the 123-car train was heading from outside Albany, N.Y., to Hamlet, N.C., when it derailed about 10:35 p.m. Monday.Battalion Fire Chief Mike Kane tells The Philadelphia …

By Jamie Thompson FireRescue 1 Senior EditorEMMITSBURG, Md. — Over the past 70 years, the number of LODDs suffered by the FDNY has been drastically reduced.From 1941 to 1960, an average of 9.25 firefighters lost their lives in the line of duty. Over the next 20 years, it dropped to 8.25. From 1981 to 2009 — excluding the September 11 terrorist attacks — the department has averaged …

By FireRescue1 staffGRETNA, La. — A firefighter’s underlying heart condition and the stress of fire suppression tasks were likely the trigger of a fatal heart attack, investigators found.David Crockett Steam Fire Company No. 1, Louisiana, firefighter Ricky Christiana was responding to a structure fire on September 11 last year when he suffered the heart attack, according to a NIOSH fatality report …

U.S. Fire Administrator Kelvin Cochran delivers keynote speech at the 2010 Everyone Goes Home Safety Summit

By Kadir Konuksever and Suzan Fraser The Associated PressOKCULAR, Turkey — A strong, pre-dawn earthquake knocked down stone and mud-brick houses, barns and minarets in eastern Turkey on Monday, killing 51 people in five villages, the government said.The earthquake surprised many residents as they slept, crumpling buildings into piles of rubble. Panicked survivors fled into narrow village streets …

By Kadir Konuksever and Suzan Fraser The Associated PressOKCULAR, Turkey — A strong, pre-dawn earthquake knocked down stone and mud-brick houses, barns and minarets in eastern Turkey on Monday, killing 51 people in five villages, the government said.The earthquake surprised many residents as they slept, crumpling buildings into piles of rubble. Panicked survivors fled into narrow village streets …

By Douglass Dowty The Post-StandardBORODINO, N.Y. — A Borodino volunteer firefighter died Saturday evening after complaining of trouble breathing while responding to a barn collapse in the town of Spafford.Gerard Marcheterre, 50, was riding in a rescue pumper truck en route to the collapse when his breathing became labored, said his brother, Second Assistant Fire Chief Joseph Marcheterre. A SAVES …

By Douglass Dowty The Post-StandardBORODINO, N.Y. — A Borodino volunteer firefighter died Saturday evening after complaining of trouble breathing while responding to a barn collapse in the town of Spafford.Gerard Marcheterre, 50, was riding in a rescue pumper truck en route to the collapse when his breathing became labored, said his brother, Second Assistant Fire Chief Joseph Marcheterre. A SAVES …

By Harold Brubaker The Philadelphia InquirerBENSALEM, Pa. — A Bensalem paramedic died last night of injuries suffered when he and others tried to approach an emotionally disturbed man who was threatening suicide, police said.Few details were available. The paramedic, whose name was not immediately released, had gone with police to an address in the 2600 block of Kiansas Avenue at about 7 p.m …

By Harold Brubaker The Philadelphia InquirerBENSALEM, Pa. — A Bensalem paramedic died last night of injuries suffered when he and others tried to approach an emotionally disturbed man who was threatening suicide, police said.Few details were available. The paramedic, whose name was not immediately released, had gone with police to an address in the 2600 block of Kiansas Avenue at about 7 p.m …

The Associated PressSANTA FE, Texas — The bad luck of a stuck duck changed when firefighters in Santa Fe rescued the bird wedged in a chimney. Fire Chief Tommy Anderson said the homeowner heard the bird and lit a fire, hoping the duck would get out on its own from the open-top chimney. Anderson said the plan backfired, when "it filled her house with smoke." Firefighters who were summoned …

The Associated PressSANTA FE, Texas — The bad luck of a stuck duck changed when firefighters in Santa Fe rescued the bird wedged in a chimney. Fire Chief Tommy Anderson said the homeowner heard the bird and lit a fire, hoping the duck would get out on its own from the open-top chimney. Anderson said the plan backfired, when "it filled her house with smoke." Firefighters who were summoned …

The St. Paul Pioneer PressTAYLORS FALLS, Minn. — Firefighters were working on the home of one of their own early Sunday when a house burned in Taylors Falls.The family of volunteer firefighter Jerry Waltman lost their home and their dog.Assistant Fire Chief Mark Clasen told KARE-TV the call came in at 2:15 a.m. and the firefighters realized they were at Waltman’s home when they pulled into the …