On a sizzling August morning, as flames burned unchecked down the road, fire crews milled about at an Angeles Crest Highway ranger station. Others were parked along the pavement — a critical line of defense — their engines quiet and hoses slack.
It was more than an hour after first light, and some six hours after U.S. Forest Service commanders had determined that the fire required a more aggressive air attack. But the skies remained empty of water-dropping helicopters — tankers that were readily available.
What was happening?
In a story to be published in the Sunday edition of the Los Angeles Times, Paul Pringle reports on the mounting quest for answers regarding the response to what turned out to be the largest fire in LA County history. The Station Fire eventually killed two Los Angeles County firefighters, destroyed about 90 dwellings and devastated one of America’s most-visited national forests.
It had been previously reported that the Forest Service issued a memorandum to Southern California Managers three weeks prior to the Station Fire. It had directed its Southern California managers to trim expenses by reducing the use of reinforcements from municipal departments and the state.
Many have charged that the initial response to the fire was inadequate, and assets that were ready and available were not used soon enough, resulting in a conflagration that should never have occurred.
County Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman said he has ordered an executive review of his department’s response during the first five days of the fire. It is due out November 17.
“Catastrophes Don’t Take Holidays” –Local 2
So the boys were shopping and had finished grabbing the food items for the day. With a heavy day of training ahead, we were looking for something quick and easy. We found ourselves a pot roast to throw into the crock part with a big jar giardiniera peppers (set it and forget it and it makes the best Italian beef sandwiches).
Candy corn- ahh, the ‘Fruitcake of Halloween.’ First, we used to nibble off the white tip, then decap the yellow part before finishing off the orange section. Then we used to just scarf down handfuls of them. Then we headed straight into the bathroom….
Raisins- First, we tossed the wrinkles nuggets, then used the box as an improvised kazoo!
Pennies- my kids won’t even stop to pick a penny up off the street!
Chuckles- many of you might not remember those sugar-coated jelly wedges that looked like slices of lemon, lime, or orange. After tasting one, you would never forget it.
For 17 years, Greg LaRue was a proud Fort Worth, TX firefighter. “I had my dream job,” he said. But his life unraveled about two years ago. Instead of a firehouse, he found himself waiting in line at shelters, living off free meals, without a penny to his name.
According to 
The pandemic sweeping across the country and the world brought at least one interesting question to mind that had previously not been considered:
“The CDC acknowledged that New York would only receive approximately 23 percent of its anticipated vaccine supply,” Paterson said. “As a result, we need to be as resourceful as we can with the limited supplies of vaccine currently coming into the state.”
Mandating Among Volunteers
Close-Knit Roanoke Loses a Brother 
Update 10/28/09- 
Karen Torrie of the Upper Mountain Volunteer Fire Department in Lewiston, NY submitted what ended up being the October story of the month on the web site of Frito Lay’s 
Boise firefighter Lance Sellars has climbed has hit the roof as he joins a Boise “Cop On Top Of A Doughnut Shop” and a local DJ in raising awareness and funds for special Olympics this weekend. First one to raise $5,000 before Sunday comes down. Way to go, Lance!
Both firefighters face up to 20 years in jail and $25,000 for each count of mail fraud (Famolare is charged with six). A former civilian clerk for the Boston Fire Department, Erika Boylan, 31, has also been charged with perjury and obstruction of justice.
In the lawsuit, the description of the scene that greeted the emergency workers was horrific: “babies were burned and charred;” family members “suffered burns so severe they were unrecognizable,” and “one family member asked to be shot.” The blast created a 20-foot deep crater nearly 100 feet long.
My department has a disproportionate amount of crashes which involve expensive luxury vehicles (do you have any Grey Poupon?). When these new-fangled wiz-bang auto machines with their “pre-tensioned this” and “airbag that” first came out, it took a little bit of time for us to realize that vehicle extrication would never be the same. New hazards became part of our crash scenes year after year. Sadly, many our brothers and sisters across the nation were injured or worse at what we used to call a “typical” extrication.
So what’s a jake to do?
Work as a team, constantly communicating with each other, constantly offering suggestions. The guy doing the cutting may not see what the guy inside sees. Remember, with each step in the rescue process new challenges may crop up. Talk constantly.
We’ve lost another.
In my weekly 360 Burn, I usually try to find interesting posts that may not normally pop up on your radar. That’ll have to wait until next time, because with all the talk about Balloon Boy and the suspended firefighter in Pennsylvania, my partners at FireEMSblogs.com have really stepped up and given us some must-reads.
“Treating everyone with a broad brush when it is not indicated is never a good idea. But failing to comply with an order from the leadership who is trying do their job by creating some uniform and objective rules isn’t a good idea either.” So says Mick Mayers in 
If you haven’t heard about his newest giveaway, FireCritic is offering up the new Monopoly Firefighter Edition game with a winner being chosen just in time for the holidays. I’m already getting one for each of our stations for when the guys get sick of the Wii. It’s easy to enter, see 
As I’m hanging there upside down like a piñata, the station draws a call for an explosion and fire. Clowns turn to Olympic sprinters as everyone wigs out and bolts for their spot on the equipment leaving only me and the instructor on the safety line up top.
We’ve all seen it before- it’s a managerial shortcut to a solution for a relatively benign molehill involving one or two guys, but everyone gets a taste of the punishment. It’s a path that leaves the door open for numerous other issues to take root. And it left the administration locked into a position that offered no flexibility, and flexibility would have worked marvelously here.
We’ve become so used to having the spin-meisters do the thinking for us. It’s so much easier to be told what to think and to follow the herd than it is to develop our own views and stand up for them. Stoking the fire with patriotic gasoline, we’re being told this is all about a fire chief denouncing the patriotism of a firefighter.
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