Firefighters refuse to battle blaze, but watch

Tribune Chronicle ^ | 1/16/04 | JOHN GRANT EMEIGH

[mylife]

Firefighters refuse to battle blaze, but watch

By JOHN GRANT EMEIGH

Tribune Chronicle

McKINLEY HEIGHTS - Firefighters from Niles watched a Weathersfield house burn for about 20 minutes Thursday afternoon without attempting to put it out because the fire occurred outside the city limits. Jason Radcliff said most of the items in his home at 2782 Robbins Ave. may have been saved if the Niles firefighters had acted immediately.

Instead, the Niles crew waited for the Weathersfield Fire Department to come and put out the blaze. Radcliff said Niles firefighters had three firetrucks at the scene and could have easily put out the fire.

''You don't just sit there and watch someone's livelihood burn,'' Radcliff said.

Capt. Randy Ciminero of the Niles Fire Department confirmed his firefighters mistakenly were dispatched to the scene because the fire originally was thought to have been in Niles.

Since the fire was not in the city's jurisdiction, Ciminero said his firefighters just waited to make sure no one was injured.

Radcliff, whose house was no more than 200 yards from Niles city limits, was angry the Niles firefighters didn't help.

''Don't call yourself a firefighter if you do something like that,'' he said.

The Niles firefighters said they would have done something if there was someone trapped in the house, but Ciminero said his department was not obligated to fight the fire.

Ciminero said he didn't want his firefighters tied up with this fire when they could have been called out to a fire in Niles.

''I'm paid by the city of Niles. I'm paid to protect the property of the people of Niles,'' he said.

Radcliff, who has rented the house for the past five years, said the fire was contained to one room when Niles firefighters arrived. However, the fire spread by the time firefighters from the Weathersfield station arrived.

It takes Weathersfield firefighters longer to respond to fires because it only has part-time firefighters who usually are not at the station when called.

The Niles department was dispatched to the fire because the 911 call was made from a cell phone, and all cell phone calls go to the Ohio State Highway Patrol in Southington. The patrol dispatcher mistakenly notified the Niles department about the fire because Robbins Avenue also runs through Niles.

Firefighters from Weathersfield's Station No. 40, who were eventually called about 1:10 p.m., put out the fire. An official from the Weathersfield department said the fire was contained to a room and part of the attic.

The cause of the fire was undetermined, the Fire Department reported.

One Weathersfield firefighter was taken to a local hospital after suffering breathing problems and was treated and released that day.

Weathersfield Fire Chief Randall Pugh was not available for comment.

Radcliff said he and his fiancee and their three children will have to stay in a hotel.

jemeigh@tribune-chronicle.com

[Cultural Jihad]

Perhaps, but it doesn't take two years for a fire truck to arrive, and no one is barred from starting their own FireBusters franchise, eh?

[Cultural Jihad]

A classic case of, "you get what you pay for".

A self-governance BTTT.

[TheOtherOne]

Also in the fire news today:

Firefighters in California Town Resign to Protest Colleague's Porn Career
The Associated Press
Published: Jan 16, 2004

KEYES, Calif. (AP) - Seventeen firefighters in a small volunteer department resigned this week to protest the pornography career of a colleague who allegedly discussed her work at the firehouse.

Firefighters in Keyes, a town of 4,500 south of Modesto, walked off the job to protest Alexa Jones' pornography career, which they said she discussed while on the job with her husband, Assistant Fire Chief Roger Jones.

"We feel pretty strongly that there needs to be a separation between the pornography and the fire service," said Capt. Herb Collier, who was among those who resigned.

Alexa Jones has a Web site that promotes her pornographic material but does not mention her job as a firefighter. She stars in videos under a pseudonym.

"If they're going to be out there, I might as well be making money off them," she said. Her husband added: "It's called freedom of expression, and speech also. It's not illegal."

The resignations leave Keyes with eight firefighters. Nearby stations have pledged to help the department respond to emergencies.

AP-ES-01-16-04 1920EST

Copyright 2003 Associated Press

[LisaMalia]

Just dont make much sense "When you are dealing with people, you will find that it is a whole lot better to go..not so much by the book.......but by the heart" Sheriff Andy Taylor

Amen, my friend. Thanks for posting.

[joesnuffy]

"When you are dealing with people, you will find that it is a whole lot better to go..not so much by the book.......but by the heart"

Sheriff Andy Taylor

"Hey sheriff maybe that isn't always such a good idea"...Mayberry's City Attorney

:)

[RightWhale]

they could of forwarded the call to the proper fire department

This is probably done all the time.

[FreedomCalls]

There's more to it than that. This same type of incident happened here and the city firemen could not help even if they wanted to. The city fire trucks don't carry water. They are expected to hook up to a nearby city fire hydrant to get water. That is all the equipment they have. The county fire trucks on the other hand have large tanks and carry pumps to get water out of swimming pools and rivers. The city trucks don't have that capability. Where would the city trucks get water from when there are no hydrants around and they have no pumps?

[Focault's Pendulum]

Where would the city trucks get water from when there are no hydrants around and they have no pumps

Class "A" pumpers carry 750 gallons of water. While not enough for a fully involved structural....it is oftentimes enough to make a concerted stop using 1 1/4 inch or 1 1/2 inch lines.

Secondly...all pumpers carry hard suction, which allows them to draft from a nearby water supply such as a stream, pond or swimming pool. If the water source is distant, than two or more pumpers set up a relay, called a water shuttle through 2 1/2 inch 3 inch or even 5 inch lines.

[RightWhale]

dispatcher

Not easy all the time. I am peripherally involved with this sometimes, so I have some idea. Wouldn't want the job, but might take it ahead of air traffic controller.

[Ben Chad]

A Dallas area firefighter died fighting a fire outside his jurisdiction. His city refused to pay death benefits to his family. That being the case I don't blame these guys.

[Jeff Gordon]

Well, that is one way to get the dead wood out of firehouse. LOL

[coloradan]

He decided to live where they have a volunteer fire department. And I'm sure he was happy to pay less in taxes for it. Well he got what he paid for.

He pays taxes for people to misdirect his call, send the wrong people, and have them wait there and do nothing for a while before calling the right people?

[theelephantway]

In the Baltimore Metro area this would not happen. Baltimore City and the 5 surrounding counties all have mutual aid agreements. Ambulance and Fire units cross political boundries daily. There are numerous times when district "A" ambo is in district "B"s territory more than district "B"s ambo is. This is the case in many, many parts of the country also.

There are problems with it, however. Larger cities continue to make cuts to their emergency services. The counties that surround the larger cities are often providing emergency services to the larger cities with very little return. Not that the big cities refuse, it is that they do not have the available units. Oftentimes the county's $$$$ for emergency services is being spent in the big cities.

I could not imagine this happening where I live - I am a firefighter in the Baltimore area. The vollys help the career services and the career services help the vollys. It happens all day long, everyday.

[coloradan]

Perhaps, but it doesn't take two years for a fire truck to arrive, and no one is barred from starting their own FireBusters franchise, eh?

It takes more like 10 years and hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars - and the luck of the draw - to get your case heard by SCOTUS, and this for something that is "free" and "a right," namely, justice. Compare that with the worst private service, like a phone company.

And no, there are no laws prohibiting people from starting a FireBusters franchise, but there are unquestionable market obstacles to entering a business already occupied by a mandated government monopoly that everyone thinks is "free". Then again, UPS and FedEx realized that even with the USPS being said government monopoly for mail services, there was still room for competition and had a go at it. And now the USPS is responding by cutting services and raising rates. And it is acknowledged that the USPS hires one of those companies to transport First Class mail - because it's faster and cheaper.

I didn't know you had so much antagonism to free markets as well as to personal freedoms.

[BlessedBeGod]

Firefighters have to risk their lives for some guy's property? I can understand if lives were at risk, but the guy should have insurance, but when a firefighter dies he's dead forever.

So, unless a building has people in it firemen should just ignore a fire?

Just wait until you lose your home to a fire, and see how you feel about how it being all okey dokey because you had insurance.

[Gigantor]

"If you are going to take a risk like that, you might as well take it for people who actually pay you. Firefighters have to risk their lives for some guy's property? I can understand if lives were at risk, but the guy should have insurance, but when a firefighter dies he's dead forever."

This is the most idiotic statement I've read so far this year. Congrats!

[oyez]

A man died in a local pool club because the city paramedics couldn't decide where the address actually was while a fire station in the next city had a fire station three blocks away and wouldn't respond to the other city's call.

[Pearls Before Swine]

The city firefighters are not allowed to fight fires outside their district unless so directed since they must be ready to respond to an emergency within their district.

Well, that might explain them not showing up, but it doesn't explain their standing around and watching the fire once they arrive. They're not helping city fire readiness by rubbernecking at someone else's fire. Besides, they most likely knew the house was outside the city limits before they got in the trucks.