Early on the morning of Sept. 13, Patrick McKeegan and 13 other Stockton firefighters staying at Houston’s Reliant Stadium were roused from their slumber and told they had five minutes to prepare before leaving for Galveston Island, Texas.
“It kind of hit us very fast,” said McKeegan, 28, with Stockton Fire Department Engine No. 6.
The team was deployed as California Swiftwater Rescue Boat Team 13, a designation it was awarded late last year and which requires it to respond to disasters well outside Stockton and even California. Their first deployment was ordered as Hurricane Gustav rolled toward the Louisiana coastline. They were diverted to Texas to respond to Hurricane Ike during their trip home.
Photo By Craig Sanders / PM FF McKeegan from Stockton FD performs maintenance on an OES rig
The firefighters languished somewhat in Louisiana - Gustav was less temperamental than expected - but it was an opportunity to break in their equipment, which they had received just days before deployment.
“We were literally taking the tags off the equipment when we got there,” Capt. Brian Swanson said.
The trip from Reliant Stadium to Galveston, shared by a team of firefighters from Sacramento and 16 rescuers from Texas Task Force 1, was difficult. The roads were choked with debris. At the Galveston Causeway, the crossing from mainland Texas to Galveston Island, they had to wait for a bulldozer to clear the way.
“There were yachts and boats stacked up on the freeway,” Battalion Chief Mike Lilienthal said in a phone call from Houston two weeks ago. “Houses and rooftops and Jet Skis and personal belongings. Picnic tables and ice chests. The Causeway was full.”
Eventually, they pushed over the causeway.
They were the first rescuers on Galveston Island, Texas Task Force 1 Operations Chief Jeff Saunders said.
Over three days, the rescuers trudged through water sometimes waist-deep, searched 1,300 homes and buildings, and rescued the stranded, hungry and tired people who had braved the storm, Capt. Tony Moudakis said. “They all looked pretty tired,” Moudakis said. “They looked kind of lost.”
Capt. Gene Teves and McKeegan said Galveston residents were at first surprised that reprieve had come all the way from California, and then they were very thankful.
“I still get goose bumps from the amount of gratitude people showed,” Teves said.
Firefighters rescued a man from an apartment fire this morning, one of three blazes that burned residences in the immediate Sacramento area.
Fire officials are investigating the cause of the fires that damaged two houses and an apartment in three different parts of Sacramento County early this morning.
The rescue happened after Sacramento Fire Department personnel responded to a fire north of the city limits that began about 1:24 a.m. at an apartment at 2732 Rio Linda Boulevard, Capt. Jim Doucette said.
The single-alarm fire started in the kitchen, he said.
Firefighters rescued a man who was in a bedroom from the blaze, Doucette said. He suffered radiation-type burns from the heat and smoke inhalation and was taken to a local hospital, where he is in critical condition, he said.
The house had fire alarms, but it is unknown whether they were working.
“We have no idea yet how it started,” Doucette said.
In the southern part of the county, Wilton firefighters were called when a single-alarm fire began at 2:47 a.m. at a home in the 8700 block of Early Times Lane.
Firefighters remain on scene, the dispatcher said.
Sacramento firefighters also quickly extinguished a small kitchen fire that began about 5:13 a.m. at a home near the intersection of Highbridge and Rosehall ways in the Meadowview area of south Sacramento, Doucette said.
At 1:33 P.M. on September 29, 2008 fire dispatchers received a call from an alarm company reporting a fire pull station had been activated at a multi-unit apartment complex located on the corner of 13th Street and Acacia in the City of San Bernardino. The first fire unit was on scene at 1:38 P.M. and reported to incoming units there was heavy fire blowing out of a second story window. Firefighters quickly deployed hose lines to the second floor to extinguish the fire while simultaneously going door to door through the complex to ensure all occupants were out of harms way.
Due to the amount of fire involvement a second alarm was called to assist in the suppression of the fire and the evacuation. The fire was under control with in thirty minutes of the first call. A 20-year-old male who was an occupant of the complex was transported to a local area hospital with minor smoke inhalation he sustained while he was self-evacuating.
City fire investigators were called to the scene to conduct a through investigation as to what started this blaze. After interviewing the occupants of the involved apartment it was determined that two small children playing with a lighter under a bed started the fire.
**The fire department would like to remind parents and child care givers that lighters and matches should be kept out of reach of children at all times and when using such devices around children they should be educated on the potential hazards these devices can cause.
Written and submitted by Steve Tracy, PIO-San Bernardino City Fire
A procession of bagpipers and drummers in traditional Highland dress marched across the lawn of the Ventura County Government Center to open the fourth annual fallen firefighters memorial ceremony Saturday morning.
The ensemble, members of the Pipes and Drums of California Professional Firefighters, accompanied the presentation of colors at the event, which dedicated a monument in honor of the 39 firefighters who have made the ultimate sacrifice while assigned in Ventura County.
Photo by Jeff Ball - Members of the Ventura County Fire Department unveil a monument to honor the 39 firefighters who died in the line of duty while assigned to work in Ventura County.
Three firefighters hoisted the national and state flags along with a red memorial flag embroidered with the phrase “All gave some. Some gave all.”
Ventura County Fire Department Chief Bob Roper addressed a crowd of more than 800 people and said he hopes the memorial will be a place where family, friends, fellow firefighters and residents can come to remember the dead.
The crowd, including 200 firefighters standing at attention, witnessed the unveiling of the statue, which gleamed in the sun, while the bagpipes played “Amazing Grace.”
The 7-foot statue, cast in solid bronze, depicts a firefighter in turnout gear cradling an infant wrapped in a blanket. It stands atop a 7,000-pound granite pedestal, engraved with the 39 names and the firefighter’s prayer.
A student choir and string quartet from Westlake High School performed throughout the ceremony, and Fillmore Fire Capt. Bob Thompson played taps.
Finally, a bell was rung to honor the fallen firefighters. Three rings of a bell would traditionally signal the end of an emergency response when a fire was put out. The bell ceremony symbolizes the completion of their tours of duty.
“It’s quite an honor and a very beautiful memorial,” said Joseph Luna, of Oxnard, a firefighter with the Los Angeles City Fire Department whose father, Joe L. Luna, is memorialized on the statue’s pedestal.
A member of the Ventura County Fire department, the elder Luna died of a job-related illness in 2007 at the age of 60.
“I saw the pride that my dad had every morning getting ready for work, putting on the badge, and serving the community. Doing what my dad did is an honor in itself,” Joseph Luna said.
The pedestal is situated on a large Maltese cross design in the center of a circular stone platform with five granite benches around its edge. It stands just yards away from the county’s law enforcement memorial.
West Coast 911 firefighter news - Story by Ventura County Star
A two-story home was reduced to rubble as a fast-moving fire gutted the building early Friday morning, officials said.
Apple Valley Fire Protection District personnel responded to the blaze in the 20600 block Crazy Horse Court, near Bear Valley and Kiowa roads, at about 5:25 a.m., according to Fire Investigator Brian Pachman.
When firefighters arrived, the home was completely engulfed, according to authoriites. It took fire personnel about 30 minutes to get the blaze under control, but the home was a complete loss, officials said.
The family who lived in the home were not in the house at the time the fire broke out and there were no injuries, official said.
AVFP officials along with help from the San Bernardino County Arson and Bomb squad are currently investigating the cause of the fire.
West Coast 911 news source - story by VV Daily Press
The city has decided to settle a class action lawsuit filed by the former Victorville Professional Firefighters, according to attorneys for the union.
“We were able to vindicate the rights of the firefighters,” said Sanjay Bansal, an attorney with Lackie, Dammeier & McGill.
There were 47 Victorville firefighters as plaintiffs in the class action suit, filed against the city and the Victorville Fire Department in November. The firefighters claimed Victorville was violating the federal Fair Labor Standards Act regarding employee wages and overtime.
After 10 months of negotiations with the city and litigation in federal court, Bansal said the city has started to pay.
“The city went ahead and agreed to pay them overtime and training costs,” Bansal said. “The firefighters just started to receive checks for the owed pay.”
Though he doesn’t have a definitive amount of backpay the firefighters are owed, Bansal said it’s at least a couple thousand dollars. The firm is now in the process of recouping attorney fees for the firefighters as well.
“The city could’ve saved themselves some money if they just went ahead and paid the firefighters what they were owed in the beginning,” Bansal said.
Andre de Bortnowsky, attorney for the City of Victorville, could not comment on active litigation, according to spokeswoman Yvonne Hester.
Marty Brown, president of the former union and one of the plaintiffs in the case, said the decision has a potential impact for all city employees.
“This law applies to all employees who have worked for the city or are currently working for the city and could be owed retro-actively to all city employees, not just the firefighters,” he said.
A federal judge also found in favor of the union in March 2007, ruling that a 31-year-old ordinance that prevented firefighters from talking to councilmembers was unconstitutional.
West Coast 911 firefighter news source - story by VV Daily Press
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation Thursday that requires California’s 70,000 emergency medical technicians to undergo mandatory criminal background checks.
In 2007, he zapped a similar bill after expressing disapproval about last-minute changes that would have kept secret some details about rescuer misconduct.
This time, Schwarzenegger signed an Assembly bill that will modernize a patchwork licensing and certification system in California’s emergency medical services world. Extensive problems with the system were exposed in a 2007 Bee investigation.
“EMTs provide vital services that help Californians in their time of need, and because of the critical role they play, it is important that we have a universal statewide standard that will prevent those who are unqualified or have a past criminal history from becoming EMTs,” Schwarzenegger said in a statement issued by his office.
“By signing these bills into law, we are increasing safety and accountability within the emergency medical services field and ensuring that Californians have the best EMTs available at any given moment,” the governor added.
Schwarzenegger signed Assembly Bill 2917, which was introduced by Assemblyman Alberto Torrico, D-Newark. It also requires that EMTs be certified in the county in which they work and calls for the creation of a state-run central EMT registry.
The local certification requirement aims to stop rescuers with spotty employment or criminal records from shopping for certification in counties with no background checks – a problem The Bee also uncovered.
The registry would allow officials to track EMTs statewide and, after a disaster, to identify rescuers in areas where help is needed. EMT fees will be raised to pay for it.
Torrico said that with a statewide registry, the state will be able to develop a single set of standards for certification, disciplinary orders and conditions of probation for EMTs. Employers will also be able to check if an EMT recruit has had a background check or past action against his or her certification or license.
A fire truck donated by the county brings the number of vehicles available to respond to fires in Yermo up to three.
The Yermo/Calico Fire District, formerly known as the Yermo Fire Department, picked up a 1980 GMC 500-gallon water tank capacity truck Monday.
The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors agreed to donate the truck, which was retired from the county fire department’s Morongo Valley station, at its meeting Sept. 16.
With the new truck, the Yermo/Calico district now has one rescue rig and two fire trucks available to respond to fires, car crashes and medical emergencies in Yermo station, said Assistant Fire Chief Bob Smith. Another truck will soon be moved to the district’s station in Calico, he said.
“The biggest thing is being able to have a second-roll fire apparatus, to where if we have two events simultaneously, we have the appropriate apparatus to roll in two different directions,” he said.
West Coast 911 firefighter news source - Story by Desert Dispatch
An electrical fire destroyed a downtown Novato bar early Thursday morning.
Thick, dark smoke was pouring out of the front doors of DeSilva’s Bar and Grille at 1535 S. Novato Blvd. when firefighters arrived at 12:56 a.m. Thursday, according to Mark Heine, fire battalion chief. The two-alarm fire was contained at 1:21 a.m.
An electrical fire destroyed DeSilva s Bar and Grille at 1535 S. Novato Blvd. in Novato early Thursday morning. (IJ photo/Robert Tong)
The business was closed at the time and no injuries were reported. A passing driver reported the fire after spotting smoke.
“It gutted the entire business,” Heine said, estimating damage at $250,000.
He said the fire may have started in electrical equipment.
West Coast 911 firefighter news - story by Marin Independent Journal
