According to a report from Grasslands News, a fire truck from the Davidson (Saskatchewan, Canada) Volunteer Fire Department (DVFD) rolled over on the way to a report of a major motor vehicle accident on Highway #11 between the towns of Girvin and Davidson at around 3:15 a.m. Thursday.

The drivers of three semitrucks suffered minor injuries when one of the trucks collided with a second truck that was stopped. Then, a third semi collided with both. The semis then caught fire. At about the same time, approximately five kilometers south of this, another semi collided with a second parked semi that was also stopped on the road. One driver was hospitalized with injuries described as “non-life-threatening,” and the second driver was not injured.

While responding to this incident, a DVFD truck rolled over with two firefighters inside. One member was transported to a local hospital with what are being called “non-life-threatening injuries”; the other was reported as being unharmed.

Craik RCMP Sgt. Robb Karaim said that icy road conditions that may have caused these accidents are improving. Despite this, he is asking motorists to drive with caution while emergency crews perform clean-up from these accidents and collisions.

The rollover of the DVFD truck is the second time in less than a week a fire department was involved in an accident while responding. On February 4, firefighter Castor (Alberta) Fire Department (CFD) Firefighter Stephen Rayfield died when his fire truck rolled over while responding to an accident. CFD Chief Patrick Kelly was also injured in the accident and taken to hospital.

A downtown Olympia homeless encampment that spurred a legal standoff between the city and Stonewall Youth, a nonprofit serving LGBTQ youth, appears the be largely abandoned following a Feb. 2 fire. Several men were packing up belongings at the camp on Tuesday, although one man who spoke to The Olympian said he was only there to help out.
- PUB DATE: 2/11/2022 10:08:24 AM - SOURCE: Olympian

According to a report from The Ellsworth American, the people of Orland, Maine, voted 27-4 during a special town meeting February 3 to purchase a new fire apparatus to replace its primary engine, with a cost of about $322,000.

The Orland Fire Department’s (OFD’s) main truck had been losing parts and can no longer be inspected because of rust, among other issues, said OFD Chief Bob Conary.

The new truck will arrive to the department in three to four months.

Conary said that the new truck will be a stock unit. Adding customizations would have added an additional $100,000. The town is paying cash for the truck from a capital reserve fund.

Conary also said their double-frame International fire truck had corrosion which began to separate the two frames. Parts were also falling off of the frame, so it was time for a change.

As anyone who’s had to replace a vehicle in recent months has discovered, it’s not an ideal time to do so with the chip shortage, among other issues.

Conary said the price for the vehicle went up $5,000 a few days ago because quotes only last about 30 days.

The fate of the old engine is yet to be determined. Conary said that it has no trade-in value because it’s “non-inspectable.” He also stated that the new truck will help with insurance ratings for Orland’s property owners.

The ratings are determined by the amount of water fire departments can bring on their initial response. Thus, mutual aid is crucial in rural Maine, but it doesn’t affect those particular ratings.

Amid a national EMS staffing crisis, Washtenaw County (MI) fire departments are taking matters into their own hands, reports mlive.com.

On Tuesday, Scio Township became the second recent Ann Arbor-area community to buy its own emergency apparatus. It will allocate $260,000 of the township’s $1.88 million in federal COVID relief to buy and equip it, the report says.

The purchase comes during a historic EMT and paramedic shortage at Huron Valley Ambulance (HVA), the 40-year-old nonprofit ambulance service that handles all the county’s patient transport. The Chelsea Area Fire Authority last year also bought one, partly due to concerns over HVA response delays.

The ambulance service admits its staffing strain, saying about one in four positions is vacant.

According to a report from NBC6, Lauderhill (FL) Fire Rescue (LFR) firefighters from Rescue 30 were captured on camera preventing a man from carjacking their rescue truck Tuesday night at the Lauderhill Fire Station.

The members were returning from a previous emergency call when they saw Freddie Joseph Ross, 31, run toward the station and scale the gate to the parking lot, the LFR said in a news release Thursday.

As the firefighters confronted Ross, he became aggressive and tried entering the driver’s side of the truck, which he did through the window.

Ross activated the emergency lights and placed the truck in reverse. The firefighters managed to safely stop the vehicle before it was driven to a roadway.

Ross was taken into custody and has been hospitalized since Tuesday night.

The pending charges against Ross have not yet been released.