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Best of the Rest – Quick Drills, Shoutouts, FDNY Rescue 2 MAYDAY Fund, Jay Bettencourt, and much more

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Best of the Rest is a weekly column aired every Tuesday. If you have something to share, let me know! Our shoutouts (formerly the Monday Morning Shoutout) is now in this column and includes a Facebook fan page, blog or web site, and a Twitter user.

Shoutouts:

Facebook fan page of the week: The Fire Service Warrior – it is about being combat ready in the fire service. Need I say more?

Blog/ web site of the week: S.A.F.E. Firefighter Blog – S.A.F.E. stands for Smart, Aggressive, Fundamental, Efficient.

Twitter user of the week: Greg Friese has been a long time friend of mine who I met through various circles. He stays connected using social media. If you are into social media, EMS, or Education you should follow him. @GFriese

Quick Drills:

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

News:

FDNY Rescue 2 MAYDAY Fund – The Fire Critic, IronFiremen.com, and MN8 FoxFire have teamed up to raise money for the Rescue 2 MAYDAY Fund. Read more about it here, here, here, and here. Go Directly to MN8 FoxFire web site to donate/purchase. 50% of purchases go to the fund. 100% of donations go to the fund.

Captain Jeff Bowen

STATter911.com – Dave Statter is out first with this story about what Jay Bettencourt went through in the futile rescue of Jeff Bowen. We are turning STATter911.com over this morning and tomorrow to Firefighter Jay Bettencourt of North Carolina’s Asheville Fire Department. You may recognize Jay’s name from our coverage of the fire on July 28, 2011 at a medical office building at 445 Biltmore Avenue that took the life of Jay’s friend, mentor and captain, Jeff Bowen. Jay was seriously injured in the fire. This is a must read story!

The Fire Service WarriorQuit Telling Me To Change My Culture. Although this was written a year ago, the post has found some new life being passed around facebook. It is short, sweet, and to the point! Check it out.

Police Officer Saves a Dog Stuck in a Fence – The End Will Blow You Away - You will NOT believe the end of this video! It’s hilarious and amazing all at the same time. After the police officer frees a dog stuck in a fence, the dog shows his appreciation in the cutest way ever.

Fire Truck Blog - Many of you have been asking for an update on 11-year-old Kyle McGetrick, the Barnegat, New Jersey boy who has been battling cancer for seven years. Jim Duffy, who read about Kyle here on FireTruckBlog.com in December, will have Kyle as a guest tonight on the Internet radio showFireground Strategies & Other Stuff From the Street that Jim does with Deputy Chief Anthony Avillo on Fire Engineering Talk Radio. It starts at 7:30 PM Eastern Time. Here’s the link 

Hybrid MedicWhy it’s important to be nice - You as a provider have a fiduciary responsibility, that is, having the characteristics of trust. If you display behavior that is not consistent of being worthy of trust, then the patients will not trust you to deliver the best care and certainly not for their family. This is important in all cases, but even more so in cases that involve poor outcomes, because poor outcomes could equal lawsuits even if you delivered stellar care, simply on the assumption that because you acted poorly that you performed equally as poor.

FireGeezerSemi wipes out ambulance at accident scene - A TOLEDO, OHIO, AMBULANCE WAS HEAVILY DAMAGED Saturday morning after a tractor-trailer jacknifed and crashed into the unit that was stopped at an accident scene.

FireRescue1Zoe Saldana plays real-life hero after Calif. car crash. CULVER CITY, Calif. — A new celebrity hero has joined the ranks of real-life do-gooders. Zoe Saldana jumped to the rescue of an injured elderly woman this week in Culver City, Calif., after witnessing a car accident that left the driver with a scratched and bloodied face.

Surround and drowned in Detroit

This house fire happened on Hawkins Rd. off Hammond Lane in Centreach. No injuries. Great job by Centereach FD with a little help from Selden FD

Fire Video: 3 Alarm Fire in Uxbridge, MA injures 4 Firefighters

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A ruptured (and burning) gas line hampered firefighters while battling a 3 alarm fire in Uxbridge, Massachusetts. The fire would end up injuring 4 firefighters. One of the tenants in the house is a local paid on call firefighter. The fire was at 12 Hazel St. in Uxbridge.

WCVB-TV, Ch. 5 Multiple towns responded to a fire at 12 Hazel St. in Uxbridge which injured several firefighters.

The news links are below followed by a decent video of the blaze from ProvidenceFireVideos.com.

WHDH.com
WPRI.com
MilfordDailyNews.com

Plenty of Fire to go Around…Check out these recent videos of Fires around the US including New York City, Prince George’s County, Boston, West Virginia, California

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Here are a pile of great videos from the past several days. The fires span the US from New York, Pennsylvania, California, West Virginia, Maryland, and Massachusetts.

Follow the links to the articles

Photo by Paul Martinka

FDNY Firefighters Battle Fire in Brooklyn at Associated Supermarket. The massive three-alarm blaze broke out inside a building on Fifth Avenue near 17th Street about 12:15 a.m. today and quickly spread throughout the three story structure, tearing through the Associated Supermarket, in the ground floor and gutting 10 residential apartments above, said officials.

Video: Firefighters Battle AC Transit Bus Fire in Berkeley California. According to Sabina Imrie, assistant fire chief for special operations at the department, the first call reporting the blaze came at around 12:35 p.m. She said the back portion of the bus was on fire when firefighters from the department arrived.

Stubborn Three Decker Fire in Boston Works its Way from the Basement through the Roof in this 4 Alarm Fire on Chester Street. This stubborn fire in a large three-decker residential structure in the Allston section of Boston. Eight residents were displaced, 125 firefighters were on the job, 20+ apparatus on scene, 1 firefighter injury.

Video Shows Rankin Borough Rowhouse Burning in Allegheny County Outside Pittsburgh. Two Firefighters Injured. Lonell Horton, Anthony Carter and several of their neighbors lost everything they own Wednesday when a quick-moving fire swept through a rowhouse in Rankin, sending billowing smoke so high into the air that it could be seen in several Mon Valley communities.

Early video: Prince George’s County house fire. Five firefighters hurt on Anaio Court in Clinton, Maryland. This is video from Morningside VFD  of Wednesday’s house fire at 8200 Anaio Court in Clinton, Maryland. You can also hear a little of the radio traffic in the background. The fire left five firefighters with minor injuries.

Granville Firefighters Battle Well Involved House Fire in Maidsville. Well involved, decent video. This is a perfect example of the need for use of 2 1/2″ hose instead of 1 3/4″. Although the report says they had early water supply issues so it might not have been a feasible option.

Video: Is this a Box Alarm? St. Luke’s Roosevelt Ambulance Catches Fire outside New York City Hospital. Who Said EMS Doesn’t need the Fire Service? Updated with another video at the bottom (hat tip STATter911.com) Who says Emergency Medical Services doesn’t need the Fire Service? It looks as though these guys needed firefighters!

Video Shows Rankin Borough Rowhouse Burning in Allegheny County Outside Pittsburgh. Two Firefighters Injured.

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Check out this video of a rowhouse fire in Rankin Borough, Allegheny County, PA.

Don’t worry, the videographer realizes that the video is sideways and corrects it!

Pittsburglive.com:

Lonell Horton, Anthony Carter and several of their neighbors lost everything they own Wednesday when a quick-moving fire swept through a rowhouse in Rankin, sending billowing smoke so high into the air that it could be seen in several Mon Valley communities.

Two firefighters were taken to UPMC Mercy Hospital, Uptown, for treatment of cuts and burns suffered while trying to douse the flames, which heavily damaged the rowhouse at the corner of Mound Street and Fourth Avenue, a block from the fire station.

Huntington Hotel Fire in Detroit. 2 Dead and 2 Firefighters injured

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A fire guts the five-story Huntington Hotel in Midtown Detroit on Thursday. Fire officials said three people were critically injured. (Ricardo Thomas / The Detroit News)

A fire guts the five-story Huntington Hotel in Midtown Detroit on Thursday. Fire officials said three people were critically injured. (Ricardo Thomas / The Detroit News)

2 people have died and 2 firefighters have been injured in a large fire that extended into the New Year. The fire in Midtown Detroit consumed the Huntington Hotel and kept firefighters busy with numerous rescues. There are reports of many other people who were injured. The hotel was home to many who are disabled or on oxygen treatments.

From WXYZ.com: Fire officials said three people were critically injured and two firefighters suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Fire officials also said that a woman, whom Walker identified as his girlfriend, was missing.

A fire chief said that a ceiling in the building collapsed on the third floor, falling on several firefighters. The fire is thought to have begun in that area, authorities said.

Fire officials, who would not give their names, said oxygen tanks in the building exploded but likely did not spark the fire, which started around 9 p.m. continue reading

More coverage:

2 Killed, 6 Injured in Midtown Apartment Fire

Deadly blaze destroys Detroit hotel

Four-Alarm Brooklyn Fire Injures 14, Including 12 Firefighters

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Thanks to @RES911CUE via twitter for the heads up on this story. Twitter it folks! Keep me in the loop and follow @FireCritic!

Story and video link

BAY RIDGE (WPIX) – A four-alarm fire erupted in Brooklyn late Wednesday night, injuring 12 firefighters and two residents.

At about 11:45pm, firefighters responded to blaze at 6805 Third Avenue in Bay Ridge. There was soon heavy fire on each of floor of the four-story mixed occupancy apartment building and conditions quickly escalated to four-alarms.

All occupants either self-evacuated or assisted out of the building via fire escapes, according to FDNY Deputy Chief James Leonard.

“I thought it was something small, that we were going to leave and we were going to come right back. I didn’t think it was this [serious],” said evacuated resident Rebecca Rivera.