Yakima County fire investigators are blaming sparks from a welding job for a diesel tank fire near Granger Thursday morning. It happened at Yakima Valley Highway and Nelson Road. Investigators say while the welder was working, sparks ignited the fuel in the nearby tank. It took firefighters about an hour to put out the fire because some logs also caught fire.
- PUB DATE: 1/28/2016 5:35:35 PM - SOURCE: KIMA-TV CBS 29 Yakima

The dangers of the job don't necessarily end with the fire. A Hillsborough County firefighter was reminded of this on Wednesday night, as he helped his colleagues clean up, reports abcactionnews.com.

While helping a fire truck back up, a firefighter got tangled up in a fire hose, was dragged to the ground, and then dragged by the moving truck. The firefighter yelled "stop" several times, clearly in pain, and then yelled to the truck to move forward so he could escape.

The firefighter was conscious and alert after the incident, but was but on a stretcher and then taken to the hospital for his injuries, which appeared to be to his legs. It was not immediately clear what the extent of his injuries were.

Meanwhile, the house on Howell Road was deemed a "total loss" by firefighters with the Hillsborough County Fire Rescue unit. Neighbors tell ABC Action News that an elderly man lived in the home, although it wasn't clear if he was home at the time of the fire. The cause of the fire was not yet announced either.

Read more of the story here http://tinyurl.com/zvfzyke

North Ridgeville's City Council's Safety Committee voted Wednesday to recommend a Columbus architectural firm to design and oversee construction of the city’s $8.1 million central fire station.

City Council may vote next week to employ Mull & Weithman Architects Inc. to design a state-of-the-art 22,594-square-foot facility that will include four vehicle bays, specialized rooms for decontamination and sterilizing of used firefighting equipment and life-saving apparatus as well as modern dormitory-style rooms on a second floor for on-duty firefighters.

Legislation authorizing a nearly $800,000 contract with the architects is before Council.

Bradley J. Mull and Joe Weithman, co-owners of the architectural firm, made a presentation to the three-person committee as well as other officials, including Fire Chief John Reese and Safety-Service Director Jeffry Armbruster.

With a number of major completed and pending fire station projects, most in central Ohio, the 18-year-old firm has completed an assessment of needs for the city’s existing two fire stations as well as a potential third satellite station that could be built in the future.

"Design is all about response time," Weithman told the committee. "That is a key in design."

Plans for the new station, which will replace the aging, cramped main station built in the 1950s on Avon Belden Road, call for it to be constructed south of Center Ridge Road and accessed by a planned extension of Jaycox Road running from Center Ridge to the site of the city’s new middle school next to the high school off Bainbridge Road.

Reese has long said the station’s proposed location would lead to quicker response times in the eastern part of the city.

Talks are underway with a local family to purchase two to three acres of land for the new station.

The architects presented photos and artist renderings to show specific features of the new station including treatment rooms for people transported from fire scenes. Those rooms are now planned for an area off the main entrance as is a training room that could be opened to community use.

For more information, view chronicle.northcoastnow.com

 

 

The Branson Fire Department has received a donation from the Dr. Joy Watson and Lazarus Foundation for $1,000 to purchase new Swift Water Rescue Suits.

These suits are used to keep fire rescue personnel dry and provide protection from storm water runoff, especially during flood related emergencies.

Last year, Dr. Watson's financial support allowed Branson Fire to purchase a SKEDCO Rescue Tripod.

As federal investigators continue their probe of the Mahopac Volunteer Fire Department's losses of up to $5 million, financial statements show a $1.4 million spending spree on new equipment from 2012-14 that a top fire official says may not have all gone for purchases.

The department's 2014 financial statement indicates it spent $614,000 on new equipment and apparatus that year. But department Vice Chairman Edward Scott recalled that the biggest purchase in 2014 was a $175,000 ambulance.

In 2013, the department spent $273,000 on equipment. Scott said he believed it bought a new Chevrolet Suburban for the chief, at a cost of about $50,000.

He said records of the purchases were in the hands of state and federal investigators, so details were not available.

"It appears we might not have accurate figures there," Scott said. "That's one of the things being looked at in the investigation."

As the fire department probe proceeds, increasing attention has focused on fire services in Carmel, Putnam County's largest town, with 34,000 residents. The municipality has four volunteer fire departments in four taxing districts that provide fire service over 40 square miles. The other departments are Carmel, Mahopac Falls and Croton Falls. Carmel taxpayers will pay $3.5 million to the volunteer companies in 2016.

Revelations about Mahopac fire finances come as federal investigators pore over financial records of the MVFD and the Patterson Fire Department to determine who was responsible for what town officials have said are financial irregularities that have led to millions of dollars in losses.

The investigation of the MVPD began in September, three months after the department submitted its 2014 annual financial statement to the Carmel Town Board.

Since then, the department’s treasurer, Michael Klein, has resigned. Klein’s business, Buckshollow Emergency Equipment Corp., also sold gear to the department for several years. But the department has declined to release invoices from Buckshollow, saying they were turned over to state and federal investigators.

For more information, view lohud.com