Two current and one former Eastern Kentucky firefighters are accused of allegedly creating more work for firefighters by setting blazes in Pike and Knox counties.
Christopher C. Little, 30, of Pike County, James Adam Yeager, 20, of Knox County and Walter D. Brown, 23, also of Knox, were arrested and charged with arson after they allegedly started fires in their home counties this week, the Kentucky Division of Forestry said Friday.
The fires could have benefited Little and Yeager financially by creating more work for them. The two were employed part-time by the state and paid on an hourly basis.
Both have been dismissed.
Brown was an emergency firefighter last year before his dismissal, according to a Kentucky State Police press release.
“We don’t know the reasons why people start arson fires,” said Leah MacSwords, spokeswoman for the Division of Forestry. “I have a hard time believing people start fires so they have to do the backbreaking work to put out the fire. That can’t be the only motivation.”
MacSwords said the state Division of Forestry, which employs about 400 firefighters a year, hires and trains part-timers primarily for the fire seasons: Feb. 15 through April 30 and Oct. 1 through Dec. 15, MacSwords said.
Little, who had worked for the state since October, was arrested early Friday after the Division of Forestry received several calls from residents in Hellier in Pike County who allegedly saw him setting the blaze, MacSwords said. Forestry officials immediately notified the Kentucky State Police post in Pikeville.
“We were able to get there and take care of it quickly,” she said.
This week’s arrests aren’t the first time firefighters have been charged with setting fires in Kentucky.
In August 2005, six volunteer firefighters in Lincoln County were charged with torching a historic, unused school building and two unoccupied houses. The county fire chief said the six may have been seeking a thrill or creating something to do.
Later that year, two seasonal firefighters with the state Division of Forestry were charged with setting wildfires in Bell County.
And in 2006 in Laurel County, police charged four men — one a volunteer firefighter and three former firefighters — with setting a series of blazes over two years that burned hay bales and structures.
There have been similar cases elsewhere. Officials in Pennsylvania are pushing for psychological screening for prospective firefighters as a way to identify those who might start fires.
Little was being held Friday in the Pike County jail. His bond had not yet been set and details about his arraignment were not available.
Yeager, who has worked for the state since February, was arrested late Thursday after forestry officials received a tip that a person was starting fires in Coldstone. It was later found that it was an emergency firefighter.
Yeager is charged with willfully setting fire to land he does not own, a Class D felony that carries a possible one- to five-year prison sentence. It is not clear how many acres were burned.
The arraignment for Yeager is set for Monday in Knox District Court.
Brown was arrested after a tipster reported seeing someone suspicious after a fire started in the Valentine Branch area of Knox County.
In Kentucky this year, 1,394 wildland fires have been reported by the state Division of Forestry, more than 60 percent of them attributed to arson. But it’s rare for firefighters to be accused of setting them, MacSwords said.
“We’ve never denied there’s a possibility that the … people who work for us have set fires,” MacSwords said. “But, I don’t want the actions of these … individuals to reflect on the dedication of all the other hundreds of firefighters that are out there. They are risking their lives …and breathing a lot of smoke to protect the people of Kentucky.”
A gas explosion at a W. Broad Street business yesterday afternoon sent a fireball into the sky, flattened cars in a lot next door and injured four veteran Columbus firefighters.
Three firefighters were blown out the front door after they walked into the Cherry Box adult bookstore about 2:45 p.m., Battalion Chief Doug Smith said. They had been called there after construction workers punctured a gas line along W. Broad.
Patrick Malone, who had been taken to Ohio State University Medical Center with second- and third-degree burns on his hands and face, was in fair condition last night, Smith said.
Barbara Capuana and Dan Whiteside suffered concussion-type injuries and “scrapes and bruises,” Smith said. They were taken to Mount Carmel West hospital, where Whiteside was in good condition. Capuana’s condition wasn’t available.
A fourth firefighter, Michael Warnimont, sprained his ankle, Smith said. A construction worker who complained of ringing in his ears was taken to Mount Carmel West as a precaution.
Smith said the construction workers were drilling under Broad Street to put in a water line. When firefighters arrived, they smelled the gas, went into the store and saw a major leak in the basement.
Firefighters told the West Side bookstore owner to leave the building. They were about to open windows and ventilate the building with fans when something ignited the gas, Smith said.
The explosion blew off the roof, shattered windows across the street and tossed pieces of the bookstore into the air. The building, at 2326 W. Broad St., burned for hours after the explosion because Columbia Gas couldn’t quickly turn off the gas.
Ken Stammen, Columbia Gas spokesman, said last night that workers had inserted an inflatable barrier into the steel gas line to stop the leak about 7 p.m. He said they were able to work on the line without turning off gas to about 2,100 nearby customers.
Travis Houghton, manager of King of the Hill Automotive next door, and mechanic Billy Brooks had just left their building when the Cherry Box blew up.
“I was ducking and dodging and running at the same time,” Houghton said. “A whole window frame came down next to us.”
He said three cars in the lot were smashed and other cars and a building were damaged.
Joyce Ratliff, who was driving east on W. Broad Street, said the blast “looked like a mushroom cloud.” Her car wasn’t damaged.
Smith said a pilot light on a furnace or water heater might have ignited the gas.
It is the five year anniversary of the Grand Prix Fire, Cedar Fire and the Old Fire. Those that assisted in these major wildland and urban conflagration fires will remember them as defining moments in their career. The long hours of firefighting and utter devastation is burned deeply into all of our minds.
It was a terrible month for Southern California. Thousands of homes were lost and several lives. Our hearts go out to Brother Firefighter Steve Rucker who lost his life that October 5 years ago while battling fires near San Diego.
I am assured that the loss of lives and property that fire season has not gone in vain. Many of us were able to take something away from these incidents and help build our slide carousel of experiences for future references of lessons learned.
Metropolitan Medical Response System (MMRS) Coordinator Chris Sproule, of Las Vegas Fire & Rescue, recently received the professional designation of Chief Fire Officer (CFO) from the Center for Public Safety Excellence and Certified Emergency Manager from the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM). He is the third member of Las Vegas Fire & Rescue to receive the CFO and is one of only 609 CFO’s worldwide. As a Certified Emergency Manager, he becomes one of only 14 in the State if Nevada and 1,258 internationally.
The Chief Fire Officer designation is a voluntary program designed to recognize individuals who demonstrate their excellence in areas including experience, education, professional development, professional contributions, association membership, community involvement, and technical competencies.
A board of review consisting of members of the fire and emergency services profession, academia and municipal agencies review each application and recommends successful candidates for designation to the
commission.
Sproule received his designation after the commission met on October 1, 2008, and approved his certification.
The Certified Emergency Manager designation is the highest honor of professional achievement available from the IAEM, which represents more than 4,500 emergency managers in local, state and federal government, private industry and military emergency managers. There are only 1,258 Certified Emergency Managers throughout the world.
CEM candidates complete a management essay, a written examination, and are graded on experience, references, education, training and contributions to the profession. CEM professionals maintain their certification through ongoing education, instruction, participation, service and leadership.
Sproule received his designation after the commission met on October 1st and approved his certification.
Written by
TIMOTHY R. SZYMANSKI PIO1
LAS VEGAS FIRE & RESCUE
I.S.O. Class One / CFAI Accredited Agency
Office of Public Information & Education
500 N. Casino Center Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89101
Several times every day, St. Louis Fire Department dispatchers broadcast a radio reminder that, “All persons riding on Fire Department apparatus shall wear seat belts at all times.”
The reason was made dramatically clear about noon Friday when two firetrucks converging on the scene of a house blaze collided at Martin Luther King Drive and Taylor Avenue, tipping one of the big rigs onto its left side.
Seven of the eight firefighters aboard were expected to be released from the hospital Friday night after treatment for cuts, scrapes and bruises. The eighth was to be held overnight at Barnes-Jewish Hospital for observation after suffering a concussion.
A relieved Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson said it looked worse when he arrived. “It was just bad, it didn’t look good. I was really worried for them all.”
But, he said, “If there is one saving grace in this whole incident, it’s the fact that the firefighters were still in their seats and belted in place, which, if you really look at it, probably saved their lives.”
The names of the firefighters were not released. The collision was between Engine Co. 10, based at Kennerly Avenue and Whittier Street, and a spare truck being used by Engine Co. 28, based at Enright and Bayard avenues. Each carried a usual crew of four. No other vehicles were involved.
“We don’t know the exact extent of who did what or which truck hit which truck first,” Jenkerson said at the scene. He declined to elaborate later but said it would be the subject of an accident reconstruction and interviews of all the firefighters.
Buildings at the intersection, which has electric signals, make it difficult to see around the corners. Police said one truck was headed north on Taylor and the other east on King.
Officials say it is always hard for the driver of an emergency vehicle at a blind corner to hear another’s siren and air horns over the sound of his own.
Jenkerson said the department policy is to drive cautiously. “We do not ‘run’ intersections,” he said. “If there’s a red light, we stop and look both ways and make sure you have a clear intersection to proceed through.”
He acknowledged that there is urgency to reach a confirmed fire. “They were trying to get there. You don’t know who’s in these buildings,” he said.
The chief thanked construction workers nearby who heard the impact and rushed to help. He said a department ambulance was already at the fire, about a block away, at Aldine and Newstead avenues.
“I can’t say enough, or give enough thanks or praise to our emergency medics. They did a tremendous job,” Jenkerson said.
The trucks, both heavily damaged, were “quints,” the fire service term for pumpers that double as ladder trucks. The last new ones bought, in 1999, cost about $410,000 each. The department keeps reserve trucks as emergency replacements.
The fire the trucks were headed to was extinguished by other crews. The house had extensive damage.
A Sacramento fire captain today is facing the possibility that he must have surgery for burns he suffered fighting a Natomas house fire Tuesday.
Capt. Jeffery Helvin, 39, is in serious but stable condition at UC Davis Medical Center’s burn unit this morning. He suffered serious burns to one hand and burns to his neck and face, said Capt. Jim Doucette.
“It’ll just take some rehabilitation and surgery,” Doucette said.
Three other firefighters were injured in the blaze. Bruce Gee, 26, Christopher Berquist, 30, and Eric Ely, 24, all suffered superficial burns. They were treated at the hospital Tuesday and sent home the same day, Doucette said.
“One of them even wanted to come back to work yesterday,” he said.
The four firefighters were hurt while battling a two-alarm blaze at about 9:30 a.m. at a home on Stilt Court. They had gone upstairs to quell the spreading fire when the flames quickly intensified, Doucette said.
“It sounds like they got caught in some kind of ‘flashover,’ ” he said, referring to the term for an explosive ignition of a room’s contents — carpet, paint on the walls and furniture, for example.
“At least one or two of (the firefighters) jumped out of the windows, and the others made it down the stairway,” Doucette said.
Doucette said cause of the fire is undetermined, though it is thought to have started in the kitchen. No one was home when the fire began.
Damage to the house is estimated to be at least $150,000, he said.
Doucette said the fire department is investigating why the fire intensified to quickly, in hopes of preventing firefighter injuries.
“We could have lost four guys instantly yesterday,” he said.
Cards and well-wishes for the Helvin and the other firefighters can be sent to: Capt. Jeff Helvin, Sacramento Fire Department, 5770 Freeport Blvd., Suite 200, Sacramento, 95822.
Well, I went back and forth about posting my own rendition of the Star Spangled Banner on WestCoast911.com. But today at the station I was approached by a colleague that convinced me go ahead and put it up…
So here I am, your meek web editor, all decked out in my dress uniform at the route 66 rendezvous car show in San Bernardino. I had the gracious honor of commencing the ceremonies at our annual firefighters’ muster.
By the way, if any other firefighters in California have a team that would like to join us next year in the competition, just drop me a line and I’ll point your hose stream in the right direction. You can usually find me floating around somewhere in the dangerous waters of our West Coast 911 Firefighter forums.
The International Association of Firefighters has recently put out an article regarding their stance on the number two killer of firefighters - Vehicle accidents.
The primary emphasis is once again; seat belts. Buckle up out there guys. Stay safe.
Here is the article:
Firefighter Vehicle Accidents and Seat Belts - vehicledeaths
A six-man, six-woman jury is set to begin deliberations Wednesday in a lawsuit brought by four San Diego firefighters who allege they were subjected to sexual harassment when they were ordered to participate in the 2007 gay pride parade.
In closing arguments Tuesday, the firefighters’ attorney asked the jury to order the city to pay each firefighter $500,000 to $1 million for the damage they suffered from being taunted by spectators.
But the attorney for the city said the four deserve nothing, that being ordered to drive a firetruck in the parade is no different than being ordered to fight a fire, and that dozens of city employees and officials participated in the parade without claiming any ill effects.
Charles LiMandri, the firefighters’ attorney, said the city violated its own anti-sexual harassment policy by ordering the four into the parade even though they objected and other firefighters had complained about slurs and crude gestures from crowds at previous parades.
The city would never put female employees in a situation where “hand and tongue gestures of a sexual nature” could be anticipated, he told jurors.
“Can you imagine if a woman is working in an office and there’s pornography on the computer next to her, and a supervisor says, ‘Just avert your eyes,’ ” LiMandri said.
Chief Deputy City Atty. Maria Severson scoffed at the firefighters’ complaints. While there were some “juvenile comments,” the vast majority of the estimated 150,000 parade watchers applauded the firefighters and “treated them like rock stars,” she said.
“Four million dollars for being in a parade for an hour and a half?” Severson said incredulously.
During the two-week trial, firefighters John Ghiotto, Chad Allison, Jason Hewitt and Alexander Kane testified that their treatment during the parade left them feeling powerless and violated. The four said they filed a lawsuit when Fire Chief Tracy Jarman refused to apologize for a policy that required firefighters to participate in parades when ordered.
During her testimony, Jarman, who marched ahead of the truck, said the Fire Department has changed its policy to make participation in parades voluntary.
LiMandri noted that the city prides itself on having a “100% response” when employees sense they are being sexually harassed. “Our city, which we love, failed them,” LiMandri said of his clients.
Severson said the firefighters, even if they felt offended by the comments, were sitting in a firetruck that protected them from the crowd.
“We’re not talking about walking or holding a sign,” she said. “We’re talking about sitting six feet off the ground with tons of metal around you.”
Illinois 121 near the Kenney Blacktop between Warrensburg and Latham was closed in both directions for several hours Thursday as emergency personnel worked to clean up after an anhydrous ammonia leak at a local fertilizer plant.
Macon County Emergency Management Agency Director Phil Anello said the road was closed from about 8:50 to 11:45 a.m. because of an ammonia leak at the Van Horn Fertilizer plant near unincorporated Heman.
Anello said no injuries or hospitalizations were reported in the incident, and foul play is not believed to be involved. Anello said it was an accident with a faulty valve that caused a large ammonia cloud to form.
The leak triggered a “multiagency, multijurisdictional response,” Anello said.
Warrensburg Fire Chief Keith Hackl, whose department was the lead agency in handling the leak, said 12 to 15 homes downwind from the leak temporarily were evacuated, but the communities of Warrensburg and Latham were not directly affected.
Hackl said Warrensburg firefighters received assistance from many fire departments, including Harristown, Latham, Kenney, Maroa, Hickory Point Township and South Wheatland Township.
The Decatur Fire Department also sent 10 technicians from its hazardous materials unit to help control and clean up the leak, Battalion Chief Michael McGeehon said.
Anello said that while the accident was unfortunate, emergency personnel are often required to respond to similar incidents in the fall, as many farmers look to fertilize their fields with anhydrous ammonia.
“These things happen sometimes, and (farmers and fertilizer sales people) use extreme caution when handling this product,” he said.
He credited the Macon County Sheriff’s Office and Macon County Highway Department with working quickly to secure the scene so emergency personnel could contain the leak without interference from passing traffic.
West Coast 911 firefighting news source - Herald and Review - Illinois
Safety Excellence and Certified Emergency Manager from the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM). He is the third member of Las Vegas Fire & Rescue to receive the CFO and is one of only 609 CFO’s worldwide. As a Certified Emergency Manager, he becomes one of only 14 in the State if Nevada and 1,258 internationally.
