Today the DCFD lost a much loved and respected Lt Kevin McRea of Eng Co 6 . According to reports Eng Co 6 responded first due on the Box Alarm for fire on the 9th floor. Eng Co 6 arrived with fire showing. Lt McRea and crew entered the building and attacked the fire . Upon Lt McCrea's exit from the building he collapsed . CPR was immediately started and he was transported to the hospital where he succumbed .

Lt McRea was a friend of mine and I'm proud to say I worked with him when I was on the Job. May He Rest In Peace.

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Hearing that Chciago has tagged onto the Houston-Galveston contract for 3 Platforms on Cyclone 4 Doors with aluminum ladder/platform.

 

http://rescuevehiclenews.com/chicago-ord...platforms/

The Apple Blossom Festival is an annual event taking place in Winchester, VA, it marks the beginning of Spring and includes one of the largest firefighter parades in the US.  The day starts at a local high school for apparatus judging and the ODHFS (Old Dominion Historical Fire Society) has a strong showing.  Apparatus moves down-town in the afternoon for the line-up and the parade takes place in the evening. Definitely a fun day.  

 

I'm posting a sampling of the apparatus that attended for those that couldn't make it out this year.  Not always a great place for pictures, clouds throughout the day didn't help.  If anyone else has photos to post, feel free.

 

First up is this beast from Chester Gap, VA (Rappahannock County).  Tanker 1409 is brand-new and won several awards.

 

   

 

Brush 1404 from near-by Flint Hill, VA 

 

   

At approximately 3pm fire dispatch reported a fire at the Golden Poles Chalet at Government Camp this is approximately 40 miles from Gresham.

The original dispatch included Gresham units T71, and C7.

 

It was upgraded to second alarm right after the first engine arrived from Hoodland Fire and Gresham E71 was added.

 

I arrived about two and a half hours after the original dispatch and spent about 4 hours on scene shooting.

 

The fire was still going the next morning. They used all the water in the towns supply approximately 750,000 gallons  and reportedly used about 1.5 million gallons by the end hauling the rest in with water tenders.

 

Responding departments included Hoodland Fire, Sandy Fire, Clackamas Fire, Gladstone Fire, TVF&R, Estacada Fire and many others.

 



 



 



 



 

 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 

 

 

At approximately 11:30pm Gresham Fire received a report of a roll over accident on SE 350th and SE Lusted Rd. they dispatched E76, E72, T71 and C7. Life Flight was also put on standby.

 

I started rolling towards the accident, when I got about a mile from the house they dispatched a second roll over with reported pin-in at SE 199th and SE Stark Street. The origional dispatch was for E74, E71, C3 and Heavy Rescue 71. When E74 arrived they requested a second truck (T2).

 

E76 arrived on scene of the first rollover and reported no one in the vehicle. I immediately turned around along with C7 and T71 and headed towards the second incident and arrived in time for part of the extrication. They also ended up activating Life Flight on this incident as well and adding E31 to setup the LZ.

 

I rolled up as they were taking the roof off the car.

 



 

 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 

At approximately 6am fire dispatch reported a house fire in Gresham I took a minute to roll out of bed and punch the address in my phone and saw it was only about 4 minutes away, I walked out the door to get in the car and there was a large header showing. E72 the first due engine went through the one traffic light in front of me, I rolled up on scene less than a minute behind them. They reported heavy fire from the garage and two heavily involved vehicles in front of the structure.

 

 

Just rolling us as they prepare to get water on the fire.

 



 



 



 

 

Ghost firefighter

 



 

 



 



 

Greetings...I'm sure that it has been somewhere on firepics before, but I haven't been able to locate it.  When did Spartan stop producing the Furion? does anyone know why?  

 

The reason I am asking....it seems that more and more departments are looking at "smaller" pumpers that still *meet* NFPA Spec for Class A pumpers but are smaller in size on Ford F550 chassis.  From a Chief's perspective, I'm sure the smaller apparatus shows more fiscal responsibility and aligns with a higher EMS call load while still having firefighting capability....from a Firefighter's perspective, they want the big rig with everything on it, the visibility, etc. etc. etc.

 

While I, too, would prefer the big truck....some of them have become ridiculously large.  It made me wonder if someone (besides HME) was filling a "niche" in the mid-sized market....I thought this was somewhat covered by the Furion a few years ago, but saw that they are no longer in production.

 

It seems to me that the timing would be right for a "Chevy Colorado" (IE mid-sized) Fire Apparatus that could fill both roles...I thought Tempe and some others had experimented with them.

 

I apologize if this question seems a little disorganized....I would like to hear your thoughts!

Call came in at 10:30 at mile marker 55 southbound I-95, Colonial Heights police reported heavy fire showing , Chesterfield truck 21 was first on scene and quickly had the car extinguished !!  No injuries reported

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On Wednesday morning Littleton Firefighters were dispatched to a rollover accident on westbound C-470 near Colorado Blvd.  Multiple 911 callers reported the incident in several wrong locations initially which created access problems for responders.  Upon arrival a single vehilce was found on its side and bysanders were performing CPR.  The crew from LFR 17 crossed over the highway cable barrier and westbound lanes and began patient care.

   

Starting on April 27th at around 3:00 PM Baltimore would be hit with civil unrest that would last until daybreak the following day. It started near the quarters of Engine 52 and spread to the surrounding areas with confrontations with the police. Several Police were beaten badly with 2 were taken unconscious to the hospital. Engine 52 had to leave their house and relocate. It started with taunting Police, fighting and then rocks, bricks and everything else were being thrown. Medics and Suppression units were instructed to stage outside the troubled scene and be escorted into the scene. It later escalated  when 2 MTA Police vehicles were set ablaze and gangs of youths began breaking into a CVS store looting it and later setting it on fire. After the sun went down it went down hill from there. About 20 significant fires were set around the City in buildings. Many vehicles were set on fire everywhere. Companies bypassed these unless there were any exposure problems. The last time Baltimore witnessed something like this was in 1968 when Martin Luther King was assassinated.

 

Here is a shot of the first major blaze.It happened about 8:45 PM. It turned out to be 3 alarms. A warehouse and several other buildings. I grabbed a shot as we pulled up, then had to go to work on it. We didn't clear until 2:30 AM and missed several other fires around. Some companies went from fire to fire through the whole night. There were plenty of mutual aid units from all of the surrounding jurisdictions. They all got there fair share of action.

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