FireWhat - Close Calls & Line of Duty Deaths

A collision between a car and an ambulance held up traffic in St. John's yesterday. The accident occurred around 2:00 near the intersection of Columbus Drive and Thorburn Road. A man was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The investigation into the cause of the collision is ongoing and anyone with information is being asked to contact the RNC.&nb... ...

We regret to advise you of the suicidal death of an on duty Atlanta (GA) Fire-Rescue Firefighter. AFR Chief of Department Kelvin Cochran issued a statement regarding the tragic death today of Katrina Sims, a Firefighter at Atlanta Fire-Rescue Station 35. FF Katrina Sims was a graduate of the AFR Cadet Program whose dream was to be a Firefighter. Police are treating her death as a suicide. As stated by Chief Cochran: "I know you all share my grief at the loss of such a promising young Firefighter. Please hug your children, your parents, your wife, your husband, all your loved ones, extra tightly tonight. And please keep Katrina's family and friends in your thoughts and prayers." Our condolences to all affected. RIP. For additional information related to FF Personal Survival, please visit: http://www.firefighterclosecalls.com/personal-survival.phpFire Fighter Suicide: A very real issue in our business.... PLEASE CHECK OUT THESE LINKS AND PASS'em ON: HERE: http://www.firefighterclosecalls.com/personal-survival.php (FFCC Personal Survival Section) HERE: http://blog.iaff.org/post/2010/11/05/No-Fire-Fighter-Stands-Alone.aspx (IAFF-No Firefighter Stands Alone) HERE: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMoodNews/firefighter-ptsd-suicide/story?id=14466320 (ABC News Article on Firefighter Suicide) HERE: http://firechief.com/health-safety/ar/firefighting_not_without_warning/ (Fire Chief Magazine Article) HERE: http://tinyurl.com/7bbz8ev (The Company Officers Role-article) HERE: http://sweeney-alliance.org/grievingbehindthebadge/?tag=national-fallen-firefighters-foundation (Grieving Behind The Badge) --HERE: http://tinyurl.com/7kxzfv9 (Nat'l Fire Service Summit On FF Suicide-NFFF) Courtesy www.FireFighterCloseCalls.com ... ...

Tired of your tactical worksheets getting rained on; Velcro falling off of your Command Board tags; losing pieces to your magnet board? Have you been searching for a real world solution to track personnel on your fire scenes? With all of the new technology out there, there must be a better solution. Fire Chief Bob Ruff (DBA Fire Seminars) has created an app that offers a practical solution to blending technology with tactics. Fire Accountability is now available for download on the App Store and Google Play. The Fire Accountability app is a single screen, fully customizable, user friendly program designed for practical use on the fireground. The app consists of a simple set up screen, where users can input their companies, select a benchmark alarm time, and add default email addresses for time-stamped logs to be delivered. Set up takes about two minutes, then the app is ready for use on emergency scenes. Upon arrival on an incident scene, the user simply selects the incident type. Types include: 6 different residential structures, strip mall, big box, wildfire and dive rescue. After selection, you will find a visual representation of the incident along with your pre-loaded companies, displayed as âdrag and dropâ icons on screen. As you direct crews to divisions, simply drag and drop their icon into that division on screen. Every move that you make during the incident is time-stamp logged behind the scenes. On the bottom of the screen, youâll find several tactical reminder/indicator buttons. As you complete tasks like contact utilities or assign a safety officer, just tap the buttons and a check mark will display indicating task completion. Sending a crew to the second floor for a primary search? Tap the primary search button. Youâll then be asked to select a floor, and a red slash will appear on that floor. When companies report an all clear on a floor, the IC taps the all clear button, selects the floor and a red âXâ will appear on that floor. All of these features are designed to allow ICâs to know where every firefighter is located on every fire scene all the time, every time. At a glance, locate all of your crews, and track tactical progress. Fire Accountability is also loaded with several alarms to keep you on track. On every incident scene, you will find a running on scene timer on the top of the screen. The app will sound benchmark alarms at the time intervals that you selected in set up. When crews are dropped inside of a building, the âunder roofâ timer is automatically activated. Once companies have been under roof for 20 minutes, their icons will flash blue and white. Teams âcamping outâ in rehab? After sitting in rehab for 30 minutes, icons will change to green. Forget to contact utilities? Five minutes after arriving on scene, the app will alarm to remind you to contact utilities. For you rescue divers, the satellite image based dive rescue screen comes equipped with under water timers, and green/yellow/red color change indicators for tracking air supply. These are just a few of the great timer features included in Fire Accountability. Whether you are a member of the smallest rural department or the largest metro department, Fire Accountability will prove to be a game changer for Fire Command. At half the cost of the other Command/Accountability apps on the market, it is worth checking out. For more information, visit www.fireaccountability.com... ...

Momin Qureshi, News staff, and The Canadian PressTORONTO â The hall at the Toronto Police College was packed, Tuesday, as hundreds turned out to honour and pay tribute to four men killed in an Ornge helicopter crash on May 31.Capt. Don Filliter, First Officer Jacques Dupuy, and fight paramedics Dustin Dagenais and Chris Snowball were killed when an Ornge helicopter crashed after takeoff from Moosonee, Ont.The hall full of family, friends and colleagues sat in front of a stage which had four large photos of each of the men, smiling.âOntarians and Canadians stand with you through this nightmare, and we will grieve this loss profoundly,â Premier Kathleen Wynne told the crowd in attendance.The Premier became emotional at times when she spoke about the mensâ lives.âAs fathers, as husbands, as sons and friends, as volunteer firefighters, hockey players, outdoorsmen, as expert pilots and experienced engineers, they were each motivated by their desire to help people, to save people.ââAll of these men were fathers. It will be their most lasting legacy, and I will do my part to ensure that their children grow up in a province where their fathersâ kindness and generosity are celebrated,â she added.âWe are humbled and we are grateful. Thank you.âThe service began with the playing of bagpipes. Later, a friend of one of the men killed performed a cover of the Foo Fightersâ song âMy Heroâ on guitar, while Capt. Don Filliterâs nephew Joel Lapointe performed a cover of Neil Youngâs âLong May You Runâ.It ended with everyone standing outside as an Ornge air helicopter did a fly-by.The helicopter had just left its base at the Moosonee airport to pick up a patient in the remote Attawapiskat First Nation when it crashed early on May 31.Ornge took its five remaining Sikorsky S76 helicopters out of service for several days as a precaution.Transportation Safety Board officers investigating the crash have said mechanical failure did not appear to be the cause. ... ...

HOUSTON â- A man was taken into custody on suspicion of driving while intoxicated following a crash that left a Houston Fire Department ambulance on its side, police said.The crash happened on Bellaire at Cook around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, according to the Houston Police Department.Police said a Chevrolet Suburban was traveling southbound when its driver ran a red light and broadsided an ambulance. The ambulance flipped onto its side, and the two paramedics inside were sent to the hospital in stable condition.A six-month-old baby in the Suburban was in a child seat and did not appear to suffer any serious injuries, but he or she was sent to the hospital to get checked out.The SUVâs driver was arrested at the scene, police said.âItâs a felony DWI because thereâs a child inside the vehicle, but because of the possible injuries it could also be upgraded,â said Sgt. S. Sorge with HPD.&nb... ...

By Dale LezonA suspected drunken driver slammed into an ambulance early Tuesday morning in southwest Houston, injuring two paramedics.The collision occurred about 12:40 a.m. in the 12300 block of Bellaire near Cook, according to the Houston Police Department.Police said the driver of a Chevrolet Suburban was traveling westbound on Bellaire when he ran a red light and smashed into a Houston Fire Department ambulance that was traveling southbound on Cook. The ambulance toppled over onto its side.Two firefighters were taken to Memorial Hermann hospital. Details of their injuries and conditions were not released, but police said the injuries were minor.Police said a 6-month-old girl was in the SUV. She was taken to a nearby hospital, but was not seriously hurt.The SUV driver, police said, was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. It was not known if he had been injured.Police did not release information about where the ambulance was on a emergency call at the time of the crash.&nb... ...

A 33-year-old Maili man was arrested Monday night after he allegedly attacked a paramedic at a copy center in Moiliili.Police and city paramedics responded to a report of an unconscious man in the South King Street copy center at 6:50 p.m. When the suspect was revived he allegedly became combative and struck the American Medical Response paramedic in the face causing minor injuries.He was arrested on suspicion of second-degree assault.&nb... ...

By Tim GurristerStandard-Examiner staffOGDEN â The ambulance driver police say caused a fatal multicar crash last summer has been ordered advanced to trial on a charge of negligent homicide.Sean Reed Stephens-Applonie, 28, pleaded not guilty to the class A misdemeanor charge after a preliminary hearing Monday in 2nd District Court, where a judge ruled enough evidence existed to advance the case. A pretrial conference was set for July 17.Applonie was driving a North Davis Fire District ambulance west on U.S. 89 with its lights and siren operating when a white Buick heading south on Sunset Drive entered the intersection on a green light and was struck by the ambulance, South Ogden police said. After hitting the Buick, the ambulance then struck both a Toyota Corolla and a Toyota Camry.Six people were injured, and Arline H. Logan, 88, a passenger in the Buick, was killed in the July 6, 2012, crash at the intersection just east of Ogden Regional Medical Center.Two of Stephensâ fellow emergency responders and his passenger were among the injured, police said.North Davis Fire District Chief Mark Becraft said Stephens-Applonie remains employed at his agency as well as the West Jordan Fire Department, where he also works as a firefighter-paramedic. He is not allowed to drive an ambulance, he said, pending the outcome of his criminal case.Becraft said a number of Stephens-Applonieâs fellow firefighters attended his preliminary hearing Monday morning in court.âThey asked, and I told my guys they could go support their brother,â he said. âItâs not a statement of wrong or right, just supporting a fellow firefighter at a difficult time.âBecause of the complexity of the case, the formal charge was not filed against Stephens-Applonie until Jan. 23 of this year.&nb... ...

By Jessica miller| The Salt Lake TribuneAn ambulance driver involved in a fatal accident last July in South Ogden has been ordered to stand trial on a charge of negligent homicide.Sean Reed Stephens-Applonie, 28, pleaded not guilty Monday to negligent homicide, a class A misdemeanor.After hearing testimony about the July 7 accident on Monday, 2nd District Judge Brent West determined there was enough evidence for Stephens-Applonie to stand trial on the misdemeanor charge.The July accident killed 88-year-old Arline H. Logan, who was riding in a Buick going south from a side street through a green light onto U.S. 89, police have said.Stephens-Applonie was driving the ambulance westbound with lights and sirens on, and a critically injured car-crash patient onboard, when it hit the Buick, South Ogden police Officer Marci Edwards said last year.The ambulance then crashed into two stopped cars in the eastbound lanes carrying four people.Logan was taken to Ogden Regional Medical Center, where she died.Stephens-Applonie wasnât hurt, but three other emergency medical responders were treated at McKay-Dee Hospital Center and Ogden Regional and released.Three people in the stopped cars also were treated at McKay-Dee and released, Edwards said.Stephens-Applonie will appear in court again on July 17 for a pretrial conference. ... ...

A Montgomery County prisoner is charged with assaulting a paramedic late Monday afternoon.The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office says Red Oak Rescue was called to the county jail at around 5:10 p.m. for an inmate's possible medical emergency. After evaluating the emergency, paramedics began exiting the jail's holding area when the assault occurred. County sheriff's deputies and Red Oak Police took the unidentified prisoner into custody. The inmate is now charged with assaulting a firefighter/paramedic, and is being held in the county jail on $1,000 bond, in addition to his previous charges. The paramedic's name was not released.&nb... ...

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Line of Duty Deaths and Close Calls
Provided by The Secret List

Ambulance in Accident at Major Intersection - Canada

Firefighter Found Dead In Quarters-Suicide

Fire Accountability App Is A Game Changer

Memorial service held for crew that died in Ornge air ambulance crash - Canada

Suspected Drunken Driver Crashes Into HFD Ambulance - Houston

Suspected SUV drunken driver crashes into HFD ambulance - Houston

Maili man arrested after alleged assault on paramedic who revived him - Hawaii

Ambulance driver to be tried in fatal South Ogden accident - Utah

Utah ambulance driver to stand trial on negligent homicide charge

Jail inmate assaults paramedic - Iowa