This month, in my opinion, is Hell's Month...jesus rest in peace brothers, you guys are heroes.

FIRE CHIEF KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY WHILE OPERATING AT WILDLAND FIRE

Sunday, July 27, 2008

It is with the deepest sorrow and regret that we inform you that Chief Dan Packer, Fire Chief of East Pierce (Washington State) Fire & Rescue and Immediate Past President of the Washington Fire Chiefs, died in the Line of Duty in that California Wildfire yesterday,
Saturday, July 27, 2008.
Chief Packer was deployed on Friday and was serving as Division Supervisor in the Siskiyou mountains in Northern California. Tragically, while operating, he was over run and trapped by the fire when the wind shifted unexpectedly. As always, our thoughts and prayers are with his family, EPFR and his beloved fire service locally, state wide and nationally.
This is the 2nd Firefighter fatality from Washington State on this fire. As previously sent out, on Friday, July 25, 2008, Firefighter Andrew Palmer with the Olympic National Park died after being struck by a tree.
More information will be released as soon as it becomes available as per Chief Mike Brown, E.D. of the Washington Chiefs.

2nd WILDLAND FIREFIGHTER DIES IN THE LINE OF DUTY

Sunday, July 27, 2008

A second firefighter has died battling the Californias wildfires, Klamath National Forest officials announced Saturday. The unidentified firefighter died Saturday while working on the Panther Fire south of Happy Camp in Siskiyou County. The firefighter's name will be released by the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Department once family members have been notified. A Forest Service investigation team is due to arrive on the Klamath National Forest by Monday, officials said.

The 250-acre Panther Fire was started by a lightning strike Monday night about 15 miles south of Happy Camp and has since burned toward Ukonom Creek and the Klamath River.

The death of the firefighter in Siskiyou County follows Friday's death of an 18-year-old National Park Service firefighter in Trinity County.

The chief of the U.S. Forest Service, Abigail Kimbell, on a visit to Redding on Saturday was visibly shaken by the death of Andrew Jackson Palmer. She praised his courage and that of other firefighters battling California's unprecedented wildland fires.

As a U.S. flag hung limp at half-staff outside Shasta-Trinity National Forest headquarters in Redding, Kimbell said Palmer's death was being felt deeply by those fighting the fires in the north state and elsewhere.

Those firefighters, she said, are like a family and the death of one of their own is difficult for all of them.

"The wildland fire community is a very large organization, but in many ways it resembles a family," she said. "The loss of any member of the firefighting family has a dramatic effect on all of those who fight fire, who are involved in fire management and who work for the agency. The commitment to society demonstrated by Andrew Palmer -- through his dedication and courage -- will live on in the hearts and minds of his colleagues all throughout the fire community."

Although little information has been released as Palmer's death is investigated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and U.S. Forest Service officials, Kimbell said that Palmer, a Port Townsend, Wash., resident, was part of a mop-up and advance crew felling hazardous trees while working on the southwest flank of the Eagle Fire near Junction City.

He was a firefighter with the Olympic National Park based in Port Angeles and was assigned to the Iron Complex of fires in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.

Palmer died about 5:10 p.m. Friday while being flown by a U.S. Coast Guard medivac helicopter to Mercy Medical Center in Redding after he was struck by a tree.

Described as a dedicated and energetic firefighter who loved his job, Kimbell said firefighters will be asked to wear black ribbons on their service badges in honor of Palmer and that flags outside Forest Service offices will be flown at half-staff. Flags in all National Park Service areas throughout the six-state Pacific West Region also will fly at half-staff until further notice.

"My heart goes out to his family," Kimbell said.

Barb Maynes, a spokeswoman with the Olympic National Forest, said Saturday that Palmer, a 2008 graduate of Port Townsend High School, was hired in June as a wildland firefighter and was assigned to an engine crew stationed in Port Angeles.

She said that Palmer's four-person engine crew was dispatched Tuesday to the Eagle Fire and that Friday was their first day on the fire line.

The rest of Palmer's crew returned to Olympic National Park earlier Saturday and a critical incident stress management team is scheduled to arrive in the park today to provide support and assistance to the park's fire crew and staff.

The Trinity County coroner's office will determine the cause of death, but a spokesman there could not be reached Saturday.

Kimbell, who spoke only briefly with the media Saturday, arrived in Shasta County earlier in the day after being briefed on the wildfire situation by Pacific Southwest Regional Forester Randy Moore and Shasta-Trinity Supervisor Sharon Heywood and praised firefighters for their work,

"In spite of the extremely difficult terrain, in this part of the world, crews on these fires have done an extraordinary job," Kimbell said. "The terrain is difficult and unforgiving, which is evident in the tragic loss of Andrew.

"We have made great progress, but much more needs to be done," she said, noting that there are still 12,000 firefighters continuing to work to suppress fires in California.

Kimbell, as well as U.S. Forest Service spokesman Mike Odle, also addressed criticisms of so-called "burnout" operations to help battle wild land fires.

"Crews are using burnouts and other indirect firefighting techniques because of the inaccessible, rugged terrain and other hazards keeping them from the fire edge," she said.

Although firefighters would prefer to fight fires directly, Kimbell said, "we must consider firefighter safety in all of our tactical decisions."

Odle agreed, saying fighting fires in such rugged terrain is dangerous work and that back burns are a necessary tool.

"It's plain and simple not safe for us" without them, Odle said.

This was Kimbell's second visit to Northern California and she had planned to take an aerial tour of the fire area to survey the damage.

Her tour, however, was grounded because of smoke from the fires.

18 YEAR OLD CALIFORNIA FIRE FIGHTER DIES IN THE LINE OF DUTY AFTER BEING STRUCK BY TREE

Saturday, July 26, 2008

We regret to advise you that Olympic National Park Firefighter Andrew Palmer was killed fighting a fire in northern California Friday around 1700 hours yesterday (Friday). Eighteen year old Palmer, a National Park Service Firefighter, was assigned to the Eagle Fire on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. The investigation into what happened continues but it appears he was struck by a tree. FF Palmer was being transported by a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter to a hospital in Redding, California to be treated for multiple injuries but tragically was pronounced dead while enroute to the hospital 50 miles away. The Eagle Fire at Iron Complex started on June 21st, according to the Shasta-Trinity National Forest website. It was one of many fires started during a lightning storm.
Our sincere condolences to all affected by the loss of FF Palmer.

FDNY FIREFIGHTER DIES WHILE ATTEMPTING TO ASSIST HIS CHILD OFF DUTY

Friday, July 25, 2008

An FDNY Firefighters from Ladder 111 in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn died while saving his 10-year-old son who from drowning on Monday. Firefighter Martin Simmons was vacationing in Lake Tahoe with his family when his son "developed a leg cramp while swimming" in the 50-degree water. Simmons "had a hard time staying above water" and his death was ruled an accidental drowning. His body arrived at JFK Airport yesterday, and an FDNY honor guard escorted the body back to Long Island. Police arrested a man who was trying to speed past the procession; the driver claimed he was going to the funeral but didn't know who it was for when asked.

WI Fire Chief LODD - Backed Over By Apparatus

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

It is with deep regret that we advise you that Fire Chief Frank
Wichlacz of the Pulaski Tri-County Fire Dept. in Pulaski, WI was
killed in the Line of Duty around 0700hrs this morning. Chief
Wichlacz was in the fire station when apparatus was backing in and
was pinned between two vehicles. The apparatus was returning from a
Mutual Aid call. Our sincere condolences to all affected. While all
the facts of this incident are not out yet, this reiterates the need for
a CRITICAL REMINDER to all personnel for strict backing procedures and
guidelines.

ILLINOIS FIREFIGHTER LODD IN HOUSE FIRE/FLOOR COLLAPSE

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

A Fairbury Firefighter was killed in the Line of Duty and another injured while operating at a house fire last night (Tuesday) that heavily damaged a home in Forrest, the Fairbury fire chief said early this morning. The Firefighter, whose name was not released early today, died at OSF Saint James-John W. Albrecht Medical Center, Pontiac, Chief Leroy McPherson said. The other firefighter suffered relatively minor injuries, he said.

Fire broke out about 7:45 p.m. at the home of Todd and Judy Somers, 316 W. Watson St. At first bystanders saw just smoke coming out of the house, but then there was a loud sound and flames erupted from the building. “There was a big whooshing sound. It sounded like a floor collapsing to me,” neighbor Eric Eisenman said. Firefighters then began pouring out of the house.

Eric and Rita Eisenman soon saw emergency medical technicians performing CPR on a firefighter at the scene. They also saw firefighters crying. The fire was reported by residents Todd and Judy Somers. She was inside the house with the three children when she smelled smoke. “At first I thought it was the dryer so I went and turned it off,” Somers said. “The smoke persisted, so I began to investigate the rest of the house and opened the basement door and smoke just started rolling out.”

Somers got her children out of the house and called to her husband, who was outside. The family called 911.
Forrest firefighters arrived quickly. They soon were joined by firefighters from Fairbury, Chatsworth, Pontiac, Gibson City, Cullom and Strawn fire departments. Fire swept through the two-story, stucco wood-frame home. Somers said it took about two hours to get the fire under control.

Saunemin Fire chief Gary Swartz said the state fire marshal’s office was called to send an investigator.
A Country Financial insurance representative was at the scene, Somers said. Police blocked the street at both ends of the block, and about 15 bystanders watched at the scene.

Eisenman said he walked by the Somers house about 10 minutes before the fire. He said he saw Todd Somers blowing leaves off the sidewalk. A short time later he heard the commotion, he and his wife, Rita, headed to the scene. After 11 p.m., the Eisenmans sat in the bed of their pickup truck just up the street while firefighters worked to clean up and investigate the scene.

“It’s a small town, close-knit,” Rita Eisenman said. “It’s so very sad to see something like this happen.”