A minvan ran into Engine 54 on Grand River near Biltmore while the fire truck was headed to a suspicious fire just a few blocks away. It had its lights and sirens when it was hit.

The crews involved in the crash were responding to a fire at a home on Rutherford Street. It's one of six abandoned properties, all near Grand River and Greenfield, that investigators believe had been purposely set on fire all between 6 and 8 a.m. Monday.

The measure was ordered by Six Nations fire chief Matthew Miller as part of heart month in February. The units were paid for by a grant from the Six Nations Community Trust.

Miller noted that, according to statistics provided by the National Fire Protection Association, cardiac arrest continues to be the leading cause of death for on duty firefighters in North America.

The association says 56 per cent of line of duty deaths in 2014 were the result of cardiac arrest.

Due to this "staggering" number, the Six Nations department has placed defibrillators on every fire truck in the fleet, Miller said.

"When the unthinkable happens, and a firefighter collapses on an emergency scene, we need to be prepared to provide the highest level of care possible."

He noted that the department also has introduced its firefighters to a livesaving technique known as firefighter down CPR.

Prior to the change, ambulance operators could drive at a speed of 25 per cent over the posted limit, while operating with lights and sirens.

The Calgary Police Service and the Edmonton Police Service don't have a specific number for what speeds police vehicles can drive at, but officers are expected to drive to an emergency event at a speed that is safe and reasonable.

Unlike Calgary, Edmonton officers mustn't exceed the limit by more than 50 km/h.

As for the Calgary Fire Department, crews can go as fast as they deem necessary, as long as its safe.

"Safety is the number one factor our drivers take into consideration," said Calgary Fire Department spokeswoman Carol Henke. "I don't think that they need to be looking down at the speedometer to know whether they're being safe or not -- they know intuitively and through experience."

Last updated: Monday, February 22, 2016, 11:26 AM Young firefighters, fresh out of the academy, used to ask Lenny Worthy about the plaque on the wall of his North Philadelphia firehouse. The one with the photos of the Center City skyscraper, consumed in flames.

On a crisp February night 25 years ago, a bucket of linseed oil-soaked cleaning rags burst into flames on the 22nd floor of One Meridian Plaza, a high-rise office building on 15th Street, across the street from City Hall.

It should have been easy to reach and easy to put out. But most of the building had no sprinklers. And the fire burned so hot that it fried the building's electrical grid, stalling the elevators.

As firefighters lugged hoses up dozens of flights of stairs, through darkness and smoke, into flames that burned deep orange and bright blue, the fire raged out of control.

In the chaos, Capt. David Holcombe, 52, firefighter Phyllis McAllister, 43, and firefighter James Chappell 29, sent out a call over the radio. They were lost, somewhere on the upper floors of the building. They wanted permission to break a window to get some air.

It was the last any of the firefighters below heard from them.

 

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Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20160223_The_Meridian_fire_25_years_later___You_don_t_forget_defeats_.html#UpUYFyyeZryfhKXI.99