http://www.iacoj.com iacoj en-us http://www.iacoj.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=67 Firetruck and SUV collide; 3 killed City police are checking whether either vehicle drove through red light Battalion Cmdr. Edward J. Cooper (left) and Division Chief Jeffrey R. Segal of the city Fire Department confer hours after a firetruck and SUV crashed about 3 a.m. in Northwest Baltimore. (Sun staff photo / December 9, 2007) By Gus G. Sentementes | Sun reporter December 10, 2007 Article tools E-mail Share Digg Del.icio.us Facebook Fark Google Newsvine Reddit Yahoo Print Single page view Reprints Text size: A Baltimore firetruck responding to a call in the northwestern part of the city plowed into a sport utility vehicle early yesterday, killing all three people in the SUV, officials said, in one of the worst accidents in the Fire Department's history. The firetruck crushed the 2006 Nissan Murano at Park Heights Avenue and Clarks Lane, and rescue crews had to use high-powered cutting tools to get to the victims. Four firefighters were treated at Maryland Shock Trauma Center for minor injuries and released yesterday afternoon. Related links Truck 27 rests in a ditch after being involved in an accident Photo Mikhail and Iryna Petrov Photo Igor Saub Graphic Fire truck accident kills three people "We heard the firetruck and then, suddenly, a loud boom," said Shmuel Perlman, 29, who lives near the intersection and was awakened by sirens about 3 a.m. "There was no screech [of wheels]. The whole house shook." The victims were taken to nearby Sinai Hospital, where they were pronounced dead shortly after being admitted, a Fire Department spokesman said. According to city police, the driver was Iryna Petrov, 49; her husband, Mikhail Petrov, 35, was in the front-seat; and the rear passenger was Igor Saub, 24. No further information was immediately available. The Baltimore Police Department, which is conducting the primary accident inquiry, is investigating whether either vehicle drove through a red light at the intersection. All fire and police vehicles responding to an emergency are required to use lights and sirens, and to stop at stop signs and traffic signals, officials said. If police investigators determine that the firetruck failed to stop at a signal, they would review the incident with the city state's attorney's office to determine whether criminal charges against the driver are appropriate, according to police officials. The accident was considered the worst fatal collision involving fire and civilian vehicles for as long as some firefighters could remember. "I'm numb," said Stephan G. Fugate, head of the Baltimore Fire Officer's U nion, Local 964. "It just doesn't get any worse than this. This is as bad as it gets." The Fire Department is conducting an internal review of the fatal collision, which included mandatory drug and alcohol testing of all four firefighters who were on the truck, according to Chief Kevin Cartwright, a department spokesman. He said the tests returned negative results. The names of the firefighters were not released. City officials could not say whether there were any witnesses to the crash, other than firefighters. But the intersection has a police surveillance camera mounted on a pole, and investigators will check the camera to see if it recorded the crash, according to Sterling Clifford, a spokesman for the city Police Department and Mayor Sheila Dixon. Dixon asked the city to pray for the families of the three people who died "These firefighters were on their way to help people, and it is an almost unimaginable tragedy that this accident occurred instead," she said in a statement. "The families of the three who died will be in my heart and in my prayers today, and I ask the citizens of Baltimore to pray for them as well. My office will do whatever we can to help these families in this difficult hour. I know that this is an incredibly difficult day for the Baltimore Fire Department family as well." For most of the morning, city police, firefighters and public works crews shut down the 6700 block of Park Heights Ave. in both directions as they cleared the scene. Fire officials said that the road had been wet from overnight rain when the accident occurred, and a light rain persisted through most of the morning. Cartwright said the firetruck - Truck 27 - was coming from Engine Co. 45's station house in the 2700 block of Glen Ave. - less than a mile away. He said the driver, an officer and two firefighters were responding to a call about smoke in an apartment building in the 7200 block of Park Heights Ave. Fire officials said the smoke was coming from a pot of food on a stove, which had not caught fire, though someone had called 911. Another firetruck - Engine 29 - was following the Truck 27, and the driver of that fire engine gave officials a statement of what he saw, fire officials said. At the scene of the collision, firefighters extricated the three people from the SUV. The firetruck had careered off of Park Heights Avenue, through a row of bushes, and down - and then up - an embankment. It came to a stop about 100 feet from the point of impact. "It must've been going fast," said Shira Perlman, 29, Shmuel's wife. She said that she and her husband walked out of their house and watched as firefighters tried to save the lives of the people in the SUV. "A firefighter told me that they didn't know there was a third person in there until after they started opening [the vehicle] up," she said. "It was bad. I was traumatized." City officials could not estimate how fast the truck was traveling, saying that investigators would try to determine its speed as part of the police investigation. After the firetruck struck the SUV, the vehicle carrying three people plowed into a metal pole housing electrical hardware for the intersection's traffic signals, according to the Perlmans. "We try to emphasize to the public certainly to yield the way to emergency vehicles, which would limit the potential for accidents such as these to occur," Cartwright said. "Our hearts and prayers go out to the family of these individuals, whose lives were lost in this accident." The city Fire Department has reeled this year from controversy involving allegations of racism, a cheating scandal on a promotional exam, and the accidental death of a recruit during a flawed training exercise in February. "Compared to everything that's happened in the last year or so, this is clearly the worst," Fugate, the fire u nion chief, said yesterday. "This is it. This is bottom." http://www.iacoj.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=66 Mt. Savage House Burns Firefighters douse Mount Savage flames Daleen Berry Cumberland Times-News MOUNT SAVAGE - More than 50 firefighters from all over Allegany County spent Tuesday afternoon fighting a fire that officials believe began inside the structure with an act of arson. Volunteers fought the blaze for nearly four hours, as it fully engulfed the two-story house owned by Tammy and Robert Charlton at 12715 Cobblestone Run. Although no one was injured in the 2:03 p.m. blaze, "34-year-old Tammy Charlton was admitted to (the hospital) for an unrelated medical condition," Deputy State Fire Marshal Howard Ewing said. The first firefighters to arrive at the scene stood just feet away while spraying water furiously from the roof of a neighboring house, as they tried to keep the blaze from jumping across the divide. "We've got a (horrible) fire. Just about every company on this side of the county's here. It's a bad fire," Bud Wade, with the Allegany County Fire Police said. Aside from his official duties, Wade also had a personal reason to worry - his home sits just one block away. As firefighters from nine companies attacked the building from all four sides, many Mount Savage residents lined Main Street to watch as the structure burned. One such onlooker was Bill Shaffer, who found the fire while taking out the trash at his tavern, just up the street. "I smelled smoke and walked down and saw the front porch was on fire," Shaffer said. "It probably wasn't within a few minutes and half the house was on fire." Shaffer ran back inside Shaff's Tavern, where his mother, Betty Ann Shaffer, called 911. He believes the house - among others like it in the neighborhood - is at least 100 years old. And its proximity to Jim Hersh's house next door, was a cause for concern. "If it wasn't for (Shaffer), it probably wouldn't be (safe from the fire)," Hersh said. He and a friend were driving less than a mile away when they "saw the smoke bellowing out," and turned around to see where it was coming from. But Hersh didn't know it was the house next door at the time. "It would have been nice if it had been a controlled burn," Hersh said. "Now, an excavator will have to be brought in." Hersh and other observers at the blaze talked about how, just across the street, many of the equally old, vacant buildings will soon be torn down. "All those buildings will come down the first week of December," Hersh said. "They're falling down. The roofs are caving in," Shaffer added. In response to community concerns about the danger the buildings posed, the Allegany County commissioners recently awarded a contract to Brabson and Sons, a Ridgeley, W.Va., firm, to demolish the dilapidated structures. The money comes from county funds set aside from Federal Emergency Management Agency flood match money. "Six months ago, the fire department came through on a ladder and matchsticked all of these (buildings), Shaffer said. "So this is a good example" of why that action is needed. "This couldn't happen at a better time, and proved their theory," Shaffer said. As he worked to account for every firefighter, each unit and its actions at the scene, Mount Savage firefighter Bob Snyder said he was headed down the mountain, on his way home, when he saw the smoke. "I thought it was a wood burner. There was a lot of smoke," Snyder said. Because Mount Savage historically has water shortage problems, several tankers carried water to the site of the blaze. "The water system here isn't too good," Joe Clark, second assistant chief with Wellersburg (Pa.) Volunteer Fire Department said. Fire crews responding to Tuesday's fire include Mount Savage, Frostburg, Ellerslie, Clarysville, Corriganville, Shaft, Midland, LaVale and Wellersburg volunteer fire departments, along with Frostburg Area Ambulance. Allegheny Power was also called, as were officials with Allegany County Sheriff's Office and the Fire Police, which handled traffic control during the blaze. Deputy State Fire Marshal Ryan Chapman is in charge of the investigation. According to Ewing, arrests are pending. He placed damage to the home at an estimated $70,000 for both the structure and contents. Contact Daleen Berry at dberry@times-news.com. http://www.iacoj.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=65 Dixon accepts resignation of fire chief Goodwin plans to retire in late December, mayor's office says By a Sun reporter 5:21 PM EST, November 13, 2007 Baltimore City Fire Chief William J. Goodwin Jr. resigned this afternoon in a meeting with the mayor. He plans to retire in late December, according to a news release from Mayor Sheila Dixon's office. Goodwin became chief in 2002 and has been with the city department for 32 years. Related links William J. Goodwin Jr. Photo Sun coverage: City fire recruit dies Goodwin came under scrutiny this year after an independent investigation concluded that a recruit who was killed in a training exercise had been poorly trained and outfitted. Dixon said in August that her "confidence level" in the chief's leadership "is very questionable." A Feb. 9 fire in a vacant rowhouse on South Calverton Road killed cadet Racheal M. Wilson, and several top fire department officials were fired. Goodwin escaped criticism in an independent report of the incident. He said he felt it was "thorough" but he disagreed with the finding that Wilson wasn't properly prepared to fight a live fire. In May, 95 percent of the city firefighters who participated in a no-confidence vote on Baltimore's fire chief disapproved of his leadership, u_nion officials said. At the time, the chief distanced himself from decisions made by firefighters during back-to-back training exercises Feb. 8 and 9 -- which the report criticized for violating national safety standards -- saying they do not represent the department he has run for the past five years. The report said 50 safety standards were violated, including setting multiple fires when only one is allowed, failing to have adequate backup and failing to equip some of the recruits and instructors with radios. "Chief Goodwin has served the City of Baltimore and the Fire Department with distinction. ... I want to thank him for his years of sacrifice and commitment over an extraordinarily long and successful career," Dixon said this afternoon in a news release. "The last year has been difficult for the department and Chief Goodwin has provided the steady and consistent hand that was needed." Previously published information from Sun reporter Annie Linskey is included in this article http://www.iacoj.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=64 Erma Volunteer Fire , Cape May County NJ Nov-17th will hold the following class 1300hrs-1800hrs $40.00 Contact: vesrescue@yahoo.com Mayday Management for Incident Command - "Strategic Considerations” The mere broadcast of the term "Mayday" has changed the lives of many good fire ground commanders forever! Have you prepared your Incident Commanders for battle or are they going to shoot from the hip? This multi-media seminar will shed some dramatic light on the complexity of "Managing a Mayday". This class will review the leading causes of a Mayday, RIC Operations, estimated timetable and statistics, discuss fire ground discipline, Risk vs. Gain, Radio Communications - Analyze Audio-Video from past missed Mayday Calls, Command and Operational Templates for better Mayday Management. We will look at the manpower needed for a full Mayday response and discuss how to front load your RIC Alarm Assignment and Command Team using "CRM" (Crew Resource Management) for a more powerful and progressive fireground management! About the Instructor: William Greenwood, is the owner and founder of Fire Emergency Training Consultation Services located in New Hampshire. FETC Services delivers advanced-level firefighter training, command and leadership seminars. Pro-Board Certified NFPA 1041 Fire Instructor- III, NFPA 1021 Fire Officer-II, NH Certified Firefighter-III, Rapid Intervention / Safety Survival Instructor, NFPA 1003 and FAA 139 Airport Rescue Firefighter Instructor, ISSA Certified Fitness Trainer, NREMT- Intermediate and EMT-Instructor/Coordinator. William has 15 years experience in various volunteer, paid-call, and career fire department's throughout the State of New Hampshire . He is currently the Assistant Fire Chief of Training and Development for the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport Fire Department and also a full-time Lieutenant with the City of Keene , New Hampshire Fire Department. William is also Staff Instructor for the New Hampshire State Fire Academy ; a director for the Fire Instructors and Officers Association of New Hampshire and contributing author to the Fire Engineering Magazine. http://www.iacoj.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=63 On September 11, 2007 an early morning fire destroyed the costume shop and a couple of storage buildings at the Lost Colony outdoor theater on Roanoke Island. Over 1,500 costumes were destroyed, along with many historical items and props used in the production. Eight fire departments joined in the effort to contain the blaze at the longest-running outdoor symphonic drama in the nation. The Lost Colony just finished it's 70th season. It tells the story of 117 men, women and children who sailed in 1587 from England to Roanoke Island to establish the first English colony in the New World. They were last seen in August 1587, when their governor left for England for supplies. Interrupted by war, he finally returned in 1590. No trace was found of the colony, and their fate still baffles historians. http://www.iacoj.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=62 The Crockery Township Fire Departmetn is pleased to announce we have been selected to recieve a Bullard Thermal Imaging Camera through the Fireman's Fund Heritage programs partnership with the 500 for life foundation. The camera was presented to the chief (yours truely) at Fire Rescue International in Atlanta, Ga. Despite the cool temperature of 100 degrees fill class A uniform was worn fo rthe press conference. Please check out the organization I have met the founer of the foundation and he is dedicated to 100% of donations going to thermal imaging cameras. It is my understanding that a donor can select a department they wish to aid in the funding for. http://www.iacoj.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=61 Due to a series of unfortunate events, the 1st Annual Convention has been postponed until a later date (possible next year). Let's all try and get on board with a time and place that will work for us all. A huge thanks to the Convention Committee for their Yeomen's work in putting it together. http://www.iacoj.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=60 4-Alarm Fire Destroys Baltimore Warehouse SLIDESHOW: Fire Destroys Baltimore Warehouse Derek Valcourt Reporting (WJZ) BALTIMORE WJZ.COM has learned of a massive four-alarm warehouse fire that broke out in Southwest Baltimore around 12:30 Tuesday afternoon. Dozens of Baltimore City Firefighters were on the scene at 2147 Wicomico Street trying to keep the fire from spreading to neaby occupied buildings. The fire started as a one-alarm fire, but when firefighters arrived at the abandoned warehouse they quickly had to elevate it to a three and later four-alarm fire. For 30 minutes, firefighters struggled to keep an adjoining single story warehouse from catching fire; however, they were unsuccessful. Because the fire is in a remote location in the industrial section of Southwest Baltimore, firefighters had been unable to use all of the tools usually at their disposal such as aerial ladder pipes. Baltimore City firefighters changed tactics to a defensive operation sometime after 1 p.m. Everyone in the area was evacuated, and traffic was closed on the streets around the structure. With flames reaching 40 to 50 feet in the air, smoke from the fire could be seen from Interstate-95. So far, there is no word on the cause of the fire or whether the warehouse was in use at the time. Three firefighters were rushed to the hospital. Stay with WJZ.COM for more on this developing story. (© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.) http://www.iacoj.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=59 Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department units responded to a townhouse fire at approximately 3:20 p.m., Sunday, May 27, 2007, in the Franconia area of Fairfax County. The townhouse is located at 6058 Estates Drive. First arriving firefighters reported heavy fire and smoke to the rear of two townhouses, and was quickly spreading to other units upon their arrival. A second and third-alarm was requested, bringing over 90 emergency personnel to the scene. It took firefighters approximately 50 minutes to bring the fire under control. While firefighters were performing a primary search for victims, a mayday was sounded for two firefighters, whose egress was cut off by rapid fire spread. A rapid intervention team (RIT) quickly went to work and rescued two trapped firefighters assigned to the rescue company from inside the structure; one firefighter was rescued from a third-story window, and the other was removed by the RIT, and escaped via the first floor stairs. A total of four firefighters were transported to the Washington Burn Center for non-life threatening injuries. One firefighter was hospitalized; three firefighters were released the same day, one returning to full-duty. Thirteen adults and two adolescents have been displaced. The Red Cross is assisting the displaced residents. Damage is estimated at $1.5 million. Damage occurred at six townhomes: 6050, 6052, 6054, 6056, 6058, and 6060 Estates Drive. According to fire investigators, the fire was accidental. Improperly discarded smoking materials in a planter on the rear deck caused the fire. http://www.iacoj.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=58 Massive 6-Alarm Fire Destroys Balt. Co. Warehouse Mike Schuh Reporting (WJZ/AP) VIOLETVILLE, Md. Baltimore County firefighters were still contending with hot spots Monday morning at the scene of a huge fire that ruined a one-story warehouse in Violetville. As Mike Schuh reports, Baltimore County Fire Chief Jim Korn has confirmed the blaze was under control and not expected to spread to other buildings. Fire officials also told Eyewitness News that two firefighters were transported to the hospital with minor injuries. The fire was reported shortly before 8 p.m. Sunday night at the the Wollen Webers Warehouse in the 1400 block of Rome Road. The fire went to six alarms and about 160 firefighters responded to the scene. One worker said, "We've lost everything." Korn said the fire started in a small building, was fanned by strong winds and spread to the much-larger warehouse. The smoke was so thick at times that drivers along the Beltway contacted Eyewitness News saying they couldn't see anything on the road. A small brush fire was also started by embers from the flames before firefighters extinguished it. There were also explosions that firefighters could not explain. The good news is that no nearby homes were damaged. Firefighters said they expected it to take until late Monday afternoon to get the fire completely put out. The burned buildings are owned by the same company. The larger building housed a trucking and warehousing company and the offices of a foundation that supports critically ill children. Stay with WJZ.COM for updates on this developing story. For addtional information, follow this link. http://wjz.com/topstories/local_story_154210519.html