Dedicated to providing Fire and Explosion Investigators with access to information and sources of technical assistance to reduce the potential for occupational injuries, illnesses, exposures and fatalities associated with the investigation of fires and explosions.
Sept. 06--ST. PAUL -- Firefighters in St. Paul had difficulty entering a house Sunday afternoon to fight a fire and search for occupants because of "hoarder-like" conditions, fire officials said.
Firefighters finally had to break through windows to make entry because of the amount of property that blocked the doors at 195 Goodrich Ave., Fire Marshal Steve Zaccar said.
Agencies put out a large fire that burned for about 10 hours Monday in the southern area of Williamson County.
Several hundred rolls of black plastic used to prevent erosion caught fire at about 2 a.m. along Pope’s Chapel Road in the Burwood community, according to the Williamson County Tennessee Emergency Management Agency. Crews are working on the Interstate 840 extension at this location.
Sept. 06--In what the state's leading volunteer firefighters' group is hailing as a boon for rescuer safety, fire departments statewide can now put blue flashing lights on their emergency response vehicles so they can be seen from the rear, under just-signed state legislation.
Backers of the law, which takes effect immediately, say the lights will protect rescuers at emergency scenes where they are especially vulnerable to being hit by passing motorists.
Sept. 04--An East Farmingdale firefighter was hospitalized Saturday after the roof of a burning building in Lindenhurst collapsed, burying the firefighter underneath, the department's fire chief said.
Eight fire departments responded to the fire at about 2 a.m. inside a commercial building on Gear Avenue, off Wellwood Avenue, in Lindenhurst, East Farmingdale fire chief James Yearsley said. As firefighters tried to enter the building, the roof and front wall of the building collapsed, he said.
A story that came across the wires the other day caught my eye.
It seems that a relatively routine auto fire in Friday Harbor, WA turned into a major event in which the chief of the department was suspended after some of the department's members sent a letter of no confidence to the town administrators, and then abruptly resigned. The primary reason? The chief allowed safety shortcuts to exist in the department.
Sept. 01--BELFAIR -- Backed by the Mason County Fire Marshal, firefighters in Belfair are currently removing about 50 locks from fire hydrants.
The locks were installed about a month ago by the Belfair Water District as a way to curb water theft. But crews with Belfair-based Mason County Fire District 2 -- who've had to cut the locks in responding to recent fire -- felt that they were a serious safety hazard.
