SavingOurOwn.com

A five alarm fire at the Meridian Park Apartments, which started around midnight, forced up to 200 people from the burning building and two other buildings on the street.  Flames shot from the roof of the four-story apartment building at 3145 Mount Pleasant Street, NW, and spread to four adjacent buildings and the nearby Meridian Hill Baptist Church.  Crews first focused on evacuating the buildings, getting all of the residents out safely. Some people came out of the burning building on their own. Others climbed down ground ladders and some were carried out of the building by firefighters.  The calls for firefighters in distress came as crews made sure the last occupants were out of the building and defensive operations were about to begin. Only two of the mayday calls were actually for firefighters who became separated from their crews or became disoriented. The rest of the calls were for crew members who were missing from their companies, but turned out to be safe outside the building.  RIT crews and other companies were assigned immediately to the rescue efforts.  The first arriving firefighters were met with fire in the basement, second and third floors of the large, U-shaped apartment building.  As engine companies attempted to keep the fire in check, truck and rescue company crews helped those who needed assistance getting out of the building.  Two firefighters from Rescue 2 removed some of the last civilians trapped in the building.  Both firefighters returned to the fourth floor to finish checking the other apartments. Within minutes fire on the top floor cut them off from the stairwell. The lieutenant called a mayday.  There were some very tense moments as command conversed by radio with the two firefighters, guiding them to windows on the front of the structure. A tower ladder was in position and quickly moved the bucket to one of the windows as the lieutenant appeared. It is reported that another group of firefighters took refuge in a stairwell to get away from the rapidly advancing fire.  Command also communicated with the trapped firefighters to get ladders to the crews trapped on the upper floors. Five-alarms were needed for the apartment building fire. A second-alarm was used on the church fire, with a third-alarm in staging.  Mutual aid from Fairfax County, Montgomery County, and Prince George’s County were dispatched to the scene and to cover city fire stations.

-Keith

A Pueblo, Colorado firefighter issued a “Mayday” call at a wildfire in Pueblo County.  He was trapped by flames while battling the fire just west of the city.  He was rescued by fellow firefighters. He was slightly injured — he was treated at the scene by paramedics.  The fire was at a mobile home park on Red Creek Springs Road. It completely destroyed two homes and damaged a third.  Remember, you don’t have to actually inside a burning house to activate the RIT.

-Keith

At approximately 3:30 a.m. an FDNY firefighter rescued his fellow firefighter from a burning Richmond Hill house early Tuesday, and then jumped to safety from a second floor window just seconds before the bedroom was fully engulfed in flames.  Firefighter Robert Grover of Truck 143 became trapped on the second floor of the cluttered 114th St. house as he searched for residents he believed were still inside.  When he couldn’t escape the flames, Firefighter Anthony Romano climbed a ladder to the rear bedroom to go get him.  After entering through a window, he found Grover in the bedroom and helped him back to the window. The pair then jumped to the ground about 20 feet below.  “They tumbled off of the roof and then fell about 10 feet,” said Battalion Chief Ginty, ”they did a great job.”  Firefighters also rescued the 74-year-old homeowner  who was sleeping in the burning house.

-Keith

Another Quebec area volunteer firefighter was killed Sunday afternoon while fighting a house fire in the town of Val des Monts, 18 miles north of Ottawa.  Firefighter André Manseau, 18, died after debris from the burning house fell on him while conducting overhaul operations.  Initial reports say that four firefighters, two hours after the fire was out, were exiting the house after putting out hotspots when they started to hear cracking.  It took 45 minutes for other firefighters to remove the debris and pull him out of the building.  Manseau was the second Quebec volunteer firefighter to be killed in a house fire in a week.

-Keith

Lt. Nicholas Picozzi Jr., 36, a firefighter with the Lower Chichester Fire Department, died after he and three colleagues became trapped in a house fire in the 100 block of Mason Avenue that may have been sparked by downed power lines.  It is unsure at the time of this posting if the RIT was activated or the three other firefighters removed Lt. Picozzi.  It was reported that the crew was sent to the basement to remove the family dog.  Nicholas came from a long family line of firefighters, who at some point, were all on the scene of the fire.  Remember the old addage of risk vs. benefit?  Do we send firefighters into a burning structure specificly to rescue a pet?

-Keith 

A Quebec firefighter bacame trapped and killed in an intense house fire outside of Montreal early Tuesday.  Firefighter Mathieu Emond was one of three firefighters in the basement when the order to evacuate was given.  Two other firefighters managed to get out before the structure collapsed.  When firefighters arrived, they noticed that smoke appeared to be coming from the basement of the two-storey home. Emond and two other firefighters were sent to the basement to look for the source. At that point, the firefighters were dealing mostly with a smoke condition.  Other firefighters working on the first floor suddenly noticed a quick buildup of smoke and the officer in charge of the scene ordered everyone out.  The fire and smoke were so intense, it was eight hours before fellow firefighters located his body in the basement.  Firefighter Emond leaves behind a wife and a daughter who is less than a year old.  Does your department have a RIT dispatched/in place on every reported fire?

-Keith

A Pine Township firefighter, while searching the second floor of a Grove City duplex, was rescued by the Rapid Intervention Team after becoming trapped himself.  Another firefighter managed to make his way down the stairwell, after becoming seperated from his partner.  The 21 year old firefighter was flown to UPMC Mercy hospital, where he is listed in critical condition with burns over 75 percent of his body (at time of post).  A 40 year old female was later found deceased in the rubble.

-Keith