bigfitz2004

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  3. Posted

    http://cms.firehouse.com/web/online/News/F...e/46$56462

    Flashover Photo Gives Insight into Deadly Boston Fire

    A new digital photo showing the terrible power of a fireball that killed two Boston firefighters is helping investigators understand more about what happened at the Tai Ho Restaurant in West Roxbury.

    The image also helps to understand even more clearly the risks that come with fighting any fire, even ones that look routine.

    The photo was taken by someone at the scene with a cell phone camera.

    Firefighters said the picture makes even the most seasoned among them wince, not because it shows flames, but because it shows an explosion.

    What it may also show is clues about what killed firefighters Paul Cahill and Warren Payne.

    "I've never seen such a violent sudden flashover, if that is what we're looking at," said Boston Firefighters Union President Edward Kelly.

    The picture has been circulated throughout the entire firefighting community and scrutinized by investigators.

    "What I think we're seeing is possibly a backdraft condition or a violent, sudden flashover," Kelly said.

    Kelly said those are the two possible scenarios investigators are now looking at.

    Most people know the backdraft phenomenon from Hollywood. It's when an oxygen-deprived space meets a waft of fresh air, causing an explosion.

    "The backdraft phenomenon is a very rare occurrence," Kelly said.

    The flashover is much more common.

    "(A flashover is) the products of combustion, superheated gases, which overwhelm that space and eventually flash over very suddenly," Kelly said. "It could be the products of the cockloft burning for an extended period of time. These are some of the things that our board of inquiry is looking into."

    In fact, the fire chief has said the fire smoldered for more than an hour undetected inside a drop ceiling where kitchen grease had accumulated. Then to further fuel the fire, a three-ton air conditioner fell through, sending a burst of air through the hole.

    There is a 10-person board of inquiry looking at the picture and at all other evidence from the fire. It is unknown when a final report will be submitted, but investigators said they will spend as much time as it takes.

    Republished with permission of WBZ-TV.

  4. Posted · Edited by Truck4

    Death toll from Greek fires reaches 44

    By PETROS GIANAKOURIS, Associated Press Writer

    ZAHARO, Greece - Forest fires sweeping uncontrolled across southern Greece have killed 44 people, some found Saturday in the charred homes of mountain villages reached too late by rescue crews hampered by powerful winds. New blazes erupted across the country, including a fire on the fringes of Athens.

    The deadliest fire was in the western Peloponnese region of southern Greece, where at least 38 people were killed in mountain villages near the town Zaharo, the fire department said. A massive fire whipped by strong winds continued to burn out of control.

    Firefighters searching through charred houses after daybreak found 10 bodies in the village of Makistos, the department said. They were believed to include a mother and her four children reported missing during the night.

    Nine of those killed near Zaharo — including three firefighters — died after a car crashed into a fire truck and led to a pile up as people tried to flee the area, the fire department said. The smoldering remains of the fire truck lay overturned in a gully, and the charred wreckage of cars and a motorbike were strewn across the road.

    "This is a day of national mourning," said Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, who visited the afflicted areas and chaired an emergency Cabinet meeting. "We are fighting against heavy odds, on many fronts and under particularly tough conditions."

    Hot, dry winds gusting to gale force were expected to continue Saturday before abating in the evening. The winds frequently prevented firefighting planes from taking off, leaving mainly ground forces to fight the flames in the southern Peloponnese, occasionally helped by helicopters.

    Since Friday morning, more than 170 blazes have raged from the western Ionian islands to Ioannina in northwest Greece, and down to the south. A recent three-day heat wave, in which temperatures have touched 104 Fahrenheit, has left forests and shrubland parched.

    New fires broke out Saturday, and fears grew that the death toll could rise as rescue crews reached villages that had been surrounded by walls of flames during the night. The military was sending 500 soldiers and several helicopters to join the firefighting.

    Desperate villagers and local mayors called television and radio stations to plead for help.

    Authorities evacuated nuns from a convent and closed off a major highway on Mount Ymittos near Athens as flames approached the capital's eastern outskirts, damaging buildings in the Papagou suburb, the fire department said. Firemen assisted by water-dropping aircraft and hundreds of volunteers brought the blaze under partial control. No injuries were reported.

    Arson was suspected in the blaze, said fire department spokesman Nikos Diamandis.

    Five of the dead were found to the southeast, near a hotel on the outskirts of the town of Areohoro, while a sixth — a firefighter — died of a heart attack while trying to battle the blaze.

    A fire on the island of Evia north of the capital grew through the night, and the authorities declared a state of emergency in the area, said Sofia Moutsou, the mayor of the town of Styra. At least three villages were evacuated, the fire department's Diamandis said.

    "If we don't stop this now there will be nothing left," Moutsou said early Saturday. She was hoping ferries could transport fire trucks to the island to help tackle the blaze.

    Greece appealed for help from European Union countries. France, Germany, Spain and non EU-member Norway were sending firefighting aircraft, and Cyprus offered firefighters and trucks.

    EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said he was "saddened by the tragic loss of human lives" and voiced hope that member states would send assistance.

    Greece has suffered its worst summer for forest fires this year, with hundreds of blazes burning thousands of hectares of forest and brushland.

    With early elections just three weeks away, the devastating fires are certain to become a political issue. The government has come under criticism for its response to previous fires, which killed 10 people.

    ____

    Associated Press writers Elena Becatoros and Nicholas Paphitis in Athens contributed to this report.

  8. Posted · Edited by DOC22
    improper spelling and grammer

    Does anyone know of any place to get information about Illegal Housing and the fire service dealing with the rise of illegal housing? Fire services training on the understanding of illegal housing and Status of illegal housing in this county. Illegal housing has always been a problem with the fire services. I'm having a hard time finding information because this problem is in every town, village, and city in this county. I do not see enough information to prepare firefighters.

    thanks

  9. Posted

    Dear Lord, be with me on my beat

    This day and every day.

    Grant that each weary block I walk

    May ease a brother's way.

    Let me be kindly to the old

    And to the young be strong,

    But let me triumph over those

    Whose acts are cruel and wrong.

    And when my own last summons comes

    And I stand in Your Court,

    Lord, may my rest with You be long,

    My punishment be short.

    RIP

  15. Posted · Edited by bigfitz2004

    This video is a tribute to 9 great Firefighters that lost there lives in South Carolina. God bless ours brother in South Carolina. We will Never Forget 9 great heroes that lay down there lives to save other.

    I made is video with all the different pictures out there on-line. I feel like I had to do something small to pay tribute to 9 great men.

  16. Posted · Edited by bigfitz2004

    Date:6/27/07

    Time:00:05

    Location:Cherry St.

    Frequency:

    Units Operating:

    Description Of Incident:

    00:05 possibly structure fire

    00:11Bedford Hills ladder Mt Kisco Fast Team

    0014 Battalion 16 Responding

    00:17 Battalion 16 on scene

    Writer:

  22. Posted

    I ask this question in February.Why Did You Join? I join become I’m grandfather was a career firefighter for 35 years my grandfather received Meritorious Action Award for save the lives of a woman and her child. My uncle has been a career firefighter of 17 years. I was five when he graduation from the Fire Academy. I still remember seeing probationary class showing of what they have learned off to family and friends. I enjoy hear the story my uncle told me. I join become I NEED to know if I can be great firefighter like my uncle and grandfather. I can not wait for June 2 to take the County Fire Exam.