Skip to content


Best of the Rest – Alt Kilt, MN8 Contest, Boston Fire Gear, Random Tweet of the Week and Much More!

3 comments

New addition to “Best of the Rest” is the “Random Tweet of the Week”! Scroll down to see this one.

Willie and I are getting geared up for more traveling in 2012. We are looking forward to hanging out with the MN8 FoxFire team at FDIC. In September, Bob Gard is planning one helluva a good time in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. If you are anywhere in the vicinity you will want to be at this event. Willie and I will be speaking, and there will be plenty of other stuff going on as well! We will post more information soon.

In May, Dave Statter and I are presenting in Ohio at the Ohio Fire & Emergency Services Foundation’s 2012 Leadership Conference…Dave has been looking forward to this to some time. He gets to share the stage with his hero err idol (ME). Join us in Newark, Ohio for May 23 & 24.Click here to sign up

If you want to have Willie and I, or Dave and I, or all three of us speak at an event near you just let us know! FireCritic@FireCritic.com

Be sure to check out Fire Critic on Facebook and Click “LIKE”!

Voting for the 2012 Blog of the Year Contest, hosted by EMS1, FireRescue1 and FireCritic.com, and sponsored by the American Military University, will begin tomorrow (March 14th). There are some great blogs on the ballot in both Fire and EMS categories! There were almost 400 nominations for 55 blogs.

AltKilt.com

Shoutout – Alt.Kilt

Web Site: http://www.altkilt.com/

Facebook: Like them on Facebook: lt.Kilt

Twitter: @Alt_Kilt

Our purpose is to provide functional, stylish and well-made kilts that are individually designed and handmade custom for each client.

Alt.Kilt is making Willie Wines Jr. and I custom kilts. Hopefully, we will be wearing them at FDIC!

Quick Drills

You can view all of the weekly drills by FirefighterCloseCalls.com here. Try these two at the firehouse this week:

News and Opinion

Brotherhood Cuts – Willie Wines Jr. has an update from this past weekends inaugural “Brotherhood Cuts” fundraiser. The event raised around $2400 for local departments.

I visited the Shoals Volunteer Fire Department. I was there for the 1st ever Brotherhood Cuts Event.

Brotherhood Cuts” is a fund raising event specifically designed for the fire service. It raises money through the National Firefighters Endowment who in turn, provides much needed funds and equipment to Departments in need all across the Country. Read more here

BostonFireGear.com

MN8 FoxFire is looking for your designs…and you could win!: MN8 Foxfire, you know…the photoilluminscent company, wants your help designing their new shirt! The new shirt will feature the MN8 FoxFire logo on the front and your design on the back.  The winner will recieve a $100 MN8 FoxFire credit and a t-shirt. The winning design will be available at FDIC. Check out details of the contest.

There might be a FireCritic/IronFiremen/MN8FoxFire shirt in the near future!

Boston Fire Gear: I just got my St. Patrick’s Day long sleeve t-shirt today from Boston Fire Gear. I love Boston, St. Patrick’s day is one of my favorite days to drink holidays, and as a good friend of mine told me yesterday…that is where Irish people are from! NICE! Get your Boston Fire Gear here

STATter911.com: Dave “The Investigator and UL Tester” Statter is at it again with the vinyl siding. This time, two houses go up in Loudoun County…in broad daylight. Check out the pre-arrival video and Dave’s investigative reporting here.

4 Factor "Thin Red Line" Door Chock

4Factor: Matthew Ritter, one half of the now known writers at ELAFFHQ.com, has branched out. Welcome 4Factor to the mix. Right now they are offering hand painted “Thin Red Line” door chocks. Check out the site here. Like them on Facebook here. I haven’t got my hands on one yet…but I will soon. They retail for $4….however read below.

**Current donations, for EACH wedge purchased , are going to Team ELAFFHQ.com bucket brigade for the National Firefighters Endowment! What this means to you is as follows: For EACH wedge you purchase, we make a donation to the bucket brigade in YOUR name. Each donation in YOUR name enters you into a DRAWING for a Phenix TL-2 Leather Fire Helmet! The more wedges you purchase, the better your odds in winning that helmet! Good luck Brother and Sister Firefighters!

FDNY Supports World Record Attempt: A SCARBOROUGH firefighter’s plans to enter the world record books are gathering pace as his fundraising challenge gets the green light in New York. Justin Rowe, who lives in Scarborough and is watch manager at Malton Fire Station, is planning to run to every fire house in New York in seven days. He will be joined in the challenge by Ryedale station manager Andrew Blades, Whitby station manager Mark Naylor and York firefighter Terrence Gregg. Read more here

FireRescue1.com: Are cellphones that important? Worth your life? FireRescue1.com has the story of a woman rescued from a trash compactor after trying to retrieve here cellphone she accidentally threw away. Read about it here

Magnesium Fire in Bellevue, Ohio

Magnesium Fire in Bellevue, Ohio: FireGeezer.com has this story which hits close to home for The Fire Critic. My Mother’s side of the family lives in Bellevue including my Grandparents. I was just up there for a short visit not too long ago. Paul Hasenmeier shared this photo to the right from miles away.

A MAGNESIUM FIRE PRESENTED THE BELLEVUE, OHIO, firefighters with an unusual challenge Tuesday morning when they responded to the MagReTech factory across the road from the Bellevue Hospital. Read more here

Random Tweet of the Week

Follow @FireCritic on twitter for more news 24/7!


Green Maltese – Monday Morning Shoutout

1 comment

This weeks Monday Morning Shoutout goes to the Green Maltese blog. The blog is run by John Shafer and he states  ”My goal is that Green Maltese becomes the place where fire service leaders can gain and share knowledge about the Green Movement and anything  about Green (Sustainable) Building Construction.”

A little about John:
John Shafer is a 16 year veteran of the fire service, and is currently a Lieutenant and the Training Officer for the Greencastle Fire Department. An Indiana regionally recognized instructor on building construction, fireground search and command management, he has traveled throughout the State of Indiana delivering specialized training programs on building construction, fireground search and firefighter safety.

One very interesting part of his blog is that he has created a unique and easy to use submission form for readers to submit information and photos of their “Green” firehouse. If your station is “Green”, LEED Certified, or any of that other good stuff you should submit it here. He will post articles about your station and feature them on his blog!

I plan on submitting mine soon! I have the pictures taken, I am just waiting on word about any certifications or awards my station might have received in the past.

Check out the Green Maltese

Building Construction Questioned in Deadly Flat Fire

1 comment
The building was designed so that fire did not spread quickly between floors. Picture from BBC News

The building was designed so that fire did not spread quickly between floors. Picture from BBC News

Officials are questioning the design of a 12 story flat in England. The building sustained a fire recently that killed 6 people. In all, 30 people were rescued and 120 others were evacuated. It is unclear on how many units there are in the building, but it is clear that they all share 1 staircase.

The first thing that comes to mind is Billy Goldfeder’s favorit saying “WTF”. However, I am sure that there are many buildings across the globe that have similar building design. That does NOT make it ok though. The people who died had little chance for survival.

I guess we can hope that lessons are learned and that EXPERIENCE will provide stricter building codes to keep this tragedy from happening again.

The report and photo (right) are from a BBC News Article: Safety questions after flat fire.

There is video available at the link above during the fire.

More than 100 firefighters tackled the incident, some of who suffered from heat exhaustion, he added.

Resident Carol Cooper, 38, who lives on the seventh floor, described “seeing people and children waving for help”.

She added that the tenants had called for the block to be demolished two or three years ago – but had been told it was a listed building, and had to be preserved.

Southwark council’s executive member for housing, Kim Humphries, said the tower block had undergone a £3m refurbishment programme two years ago.

This is understood to have included fitting new windows and electrical cabling.