The garbage man doesn’t get excited when he turns the corner
and sees trash,
Because he’s expecting it
Likewise, you should be expecting fire on every run. —
(The Late) Lieutenant Andy Fredericks
Do Not Become Complacent!
Come on people wear all your PPE you have it for a reason
Forest Fire in April
Apparatus in staging from Roanoke and Bedford
Wednesday, May 30, 2012 The Fire Brigades Union has hit out at police and prosecutors after the two remaining firefighters charged with gross negligence manslaughter were cleared by a jury at Stafford Crown Court. The union said it was absurd that the arsonists who started the fire have never faced trial, while those who struggled to put it out were relentlessly pursued by police and prosecutors.
The union said the entire fire service sympathised with those who had lost family members, friends and colleagues. The union would continue to support the families which had suffered loss at this tragic incident.
The union said a host of factors played a key role at the incident. It said significant questions remain to be answered by the planning authority and the owners of the building.
These include:
A lack of planning approval for the £6 million extension - the seat of the fire was on the first floor of the extension- or checks by the planning authority of the building;
The extension had a sprinkler system fitted but it was not linked to a water supply;
The extension had fire doors delivered, but these were not installed;
The first floor extension had no external fire exits which could have been used by firefighters.
The result of the lack of information to the fire authority from the planning authority or the owners resulted in:
There had been no familiarisation visits as the fire service had not been notified of changes to the building by the planning authority or the owners;
Fire crews who attended did not know how the building was constructed, nor did they have a floor plan.
FBU assistant general secretary Andy Dark said: “This was the first time firefighters at an incident were accused of the manslaughter of their colleagues. This prosecution cast a shadow across the whole fire service and caused anger and concern.
“We are relieved at the not guilty verdicts but firefighters are furious at the police and prosecutors. The criminals who started the fire are still free, but those who tried to put the fire out were arrested, charged and brought to trial.
“The real criminals remain at large while innocent firefighters faced charges of killing their own colleagues. Police and prosecutors took the worse tragedy in the fire service for over forty years and turned it into a farce.
“There is still no justice for the families of the firefighters who died because the criminals who started the fire are still free. Many questions central to the safety of all firefighters remain unanswered.
“Every firefighter and officer at an incident does the best they can with the training, knowledge, equipment and personnel at the scene. Faced with an inferno they all do what they can, some of which is courageous and brave.
“This was a major employer with hundreds of employees and a major supplier of fresh fruit and vegetables to large numbers of supermarkets feeding millions of people. Firefighters are here to save property, jobs and businesses, not only to save lives and it was right to try and put the fire out.”
The union warned that the de-regulation of fire services had coincided with a rise in firefighters deaths in the line of duty. The end of national standards had brought a free for all in fire service provision, training and equipment.
The union said key documents which identified major new risks to firefighters as a result of this fire were seized by police and held for over three years. As a result, the distribution of safety critical information important to firefighters across the UK was delayed.
FBU executive council member Rose Jones said: “Firefighters and officers across the West Midlands have breathed a sigh of relief at the not guilty verdicts. No firefighter has ever been charged with the manslaughter of colleagues and we were all watching the trial with a great deal of concern.
“If the verdict had gone the other way then firefighters and officers would have been put in very vulnerable positions at emergency incidents. There is enough pressure to make good decisions rapidly without worrying if you are going to be arrested.”
Marcus Giles, FBU Warwickshire brigade secretary said: “Over £5 million of Warwickshire taxpayers’ money has been spent trying to jail firefighters for this tragedy. That money could have been invested in the service to deal with some of the lessons learned so that such a tragedy does not happen again.
“We are now working closely with the new management team in Warwickshire Fire Service to learn the lessons and improve safety for firefighters and the public. But there is no question some of our work has been delayed and hampered by the decision to prosecute those who tried their best to put the fire out.”
Charles City County Fire Department Volunteer Fire Captain Mike Buchanan, 51, was air lifted to MCV (VCU Medical Center) after a single vehicle wreck. Captain Buchanan is in critical condition with serious life-threatening injuries. The apparatus he was driving was a tanker and he was the lone occupant of the vehicle at the time of the accident. The accident occured this morning around 5am in the 7100 block of Old Union Road just off of route 106. Captain Buchanan was responding to a structure fire with other apparatus in the 400 block of Old Union Road.
The tanker is a 1991 model GMC with 3000 gallons of water
Remember its their emergency not ours it doesn’t matter how fast you try to get to the scene if you don’t make it there yourself. There is no need to put a firefighters life or the public’s life in danger while in an emergency vehicle, absolutely no excuse for it. Lets all take note and learn from inccidents like this so they quit happening, things like this folks are what is killing firefighters senselessly.
Keeping Captain Buchanan in my thoughts and prayers.
For further updates go to the links below.
http://www.vafirenews.com/2012/05/charles-city-county-firefighter-injured-after-apparatus-rollover/
http://www.firefighterclosecalls.com/news/fullstory/newsid/163156
One more Fire Officer 1 class, and a state test and I’m done with class.. Now comes the problem of figuring out what to take next. I’m starting to get to the point where I am going to have to go outside my area for classes.. hmmm..
What is a firefighter worth?
There has been so much talk recently about things like containing costs, lowering taxes, and those who work in public safety being overpaid - particularly firefighters - that it could make your head spin. We’ve all done the “simple math,” crunched the numbers, and it all seems to boil down to a simple question. What are firefighters worth?
I guess that depends. We live in a country that seems to have forgotten what our priorities are. A man can be a skilled athlete who happens to throw and catch a football well, and make millions and millions of dollars to do so. And we as a society are not only OK with that, but we gather in front of our televisions and cheer that man on. Meanwhile, a firefighter kisses his children goodbye before every shift knowing the harsh reality that it very well could be the last time he will see them, and he is fighting tooth and nail for decent health coverage and substantial pay to support those children.
He is the man that you call when your elderly father has a stroke. He is the person that will extract your 16-year-old son from a mangled vehicle on the highway in the middle of the night. He is the person that will be there in a heartbeat when your newborn infant stops breathing. He is the person who is exposed to countless dangerous scenarios and has seen horrific things during his career that would psychologically haunt most of us for the rest of our lives. We trust him to save our homes and belongings in the event of a disastrous fire, and we trust him to keep us breathing and our hearts beating when we face our most critical moments. What is he worth to you?
He sometimes will go days without sleep, and make life altering decisions on every call he shows up to. He has missed family meals, bedtime stories, Christmas mornings, school plays, anniversaries, Thanksgiving dinners, and his own children’s birthdays. We all know that life is so very short, and firefighters sacrifice precious time with the most important people in their lives to save the lives of the most important people in yours. And now they have to defend and protect their pensions, well deserved health benefits, and their paychecks. It has been proposed by some that they lose many of their benefits, and work extra shifts that they will not be compensated for. There seems to be a serious misconception that firefighters are in it for the monetary gain, and more and more often have been portrayed in a negative light for actually expecting to be compensated for the sacrifices that they make to do their job. For an individual that has chosen this selfless career, it begs the question: Is it worth it?
Most of us are willing to pay a little extra for something if it is important to us,Šwhether it be the shoes we wear, the doctor we choose to treat us, or even the cup of coffee we drink. It is something that we value, therefore it is worth the cost. Most would agree that our safety and protection is of unmeasurable value. Those of us that are skilled in math may look at the numbers and think that stripping those who serve our public of their way to earn a decent living is an answer to a financial equation. But firefighters and their families are not numbers on a piece of paper. They are human beings that are doing their jobs every day to the best of their ability, and possibly sacrificing their own lives for the life of a stranger. Not many of us in our right mind would do that for free, and no one should have to.
So before making our minds up that firefighters are the financial problem, sit down with a local firefighter and ask him about his job. Ask him about his wife and his sons or daughters, what kind of house he lives in, and what type of car he drives. And then ask yourself, if you were to take on such a career, what would you expect in return?
Tina Clarke
Proud wife of a Cumberland firefighter
(Source: valleybreeze.com)
