Houston firefighters mark a year since hotel fire - KFDA - NewsChannel 10 / Amarillo News, Weather, Sports

Houston firefighters mark a year since hotel fire - KFDA - NewsChannel 10 / Amarillo News, Weather, Sports

FOTRUST PODCAST: Deputy Chief Chris Pepler

Deputy Chief Chris Pepler has been on the lecture and training circuit for some time now.  He holds the rank of Deputy Chief and is a 15 year veteran of the Torrington Fire Department in Connecticut.  My first encounter with him was when he brought the first NFPA Certified Electric Car Train-the-Trainer course to us in New Jersey.  His delivery was crisp and informing.  I have been impressed with him, since.

Having followed his career has given me a great appreciation for the Instructor and Fire Officer he has become.  Check out the short interview I was able to grab, during our time @FDIC.



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An Officer and a Gentleman: Captain Mark Lee (Deceased)

Gone but not forgotten... Captain "Markie" Lee will be missed:
 
The following is a clip from his local news outlet; followed by a short article I wrote.  Captain Mark Lee was one of the reasons I started writing th Fire Officer Trust Blog.  I wanted fire fighters and other fire officers to know the caliber and character of Great Fire Officers.  I can say, with out fear of contradiction, that he was one of the best and finest, I have ever had the honor to serve with or encounter.  He was one of a kind and in a class all by himself.

A Jersey City firefighter from Toms River who was called a hero for his efforts at Ground Zero on Sept. 11, 2001 died last Friday.

Capt. Mark Lee, 53, died at Community Medical Center, having succumbed to respiratory failure, his relatives told News12, in a report.

Lee, who helped remove rubble from the World Trade Center site after the terrorist attack in a search for survivors, had to leave active duty with the fire department by Christmas 2013, News12 reported, but organized one last Christmas toy drive before he did.

His family, the television station reported, believes that, like many first responders, their loved one fell ill due to toxins in the air after the attack.

"These guys went over there and did everything they could, and in the process it might have gotten them sick," Mark Lee, Jr., who is also now a firefighter in Jersey City, told the television station.

According to an obituary, Lee was born in Jersey City but had lived in Toms River for several years.

He received numerous awards as a firefighter and volunteer for organizations such as the Special Olympics Torch Run and Fireman's Picnic and was a Board Member of the FDJC Distress Fund. For the past 27 years, Mark led the FDJC Christmas Drive. He was named Irish Firefighter of the year in 2011.

Lee leaves behind his wife, Cheryl, and children, Jennifer Bimbo and her husband, Richie, Christina and Mark Jr., and a grandson, plus siblings.

Visitation will be Monday, May 12 and Tuesday, May 13, from  4-8 p.m. at Greenville Memorial Home, Jersey City. Everyone will meet on Wednesday May 14 at St. Paul the Apostle Church for a 10:30 a.m. Funeral Mass. Burial will follow at  St. Joseph's Cemetery, Toms River.


My Original Article from 2012 Follows:

Before we experienced Hurricane Sandy, I was writing a short article about a great Fire Officer.  Over the last few weeks, we have been busy, here on the East Coast; responding and recovering from the emergencies created by that storm.  We're back on track, now. 

Congratulations to Mark and Cheryl Lee.  Captain Mark Lee, was named Fire Officer of the Year, by the Jersey City Fire Department.  Mark is a tremendous Fire Officer and gentleman.  He is well respected throughout the city and department.  I have had the pleasure to work with Mark as firefighters, company officers and now as a captain in my battalion.

Whether at a fire, medical call, school drill, working with firefighters or being Santa Claus to so many Jersey City children, he is kind, compassionate and knowledgeable.  Mark possess all of the qualities, expertise and professionalism that a Fire Officer should have.  We have come to count on him and his crew on the scene of emergencies.  He constantly trains his crew and is proactive at incidents.

If we didn't have him, we'd have to invent him.  Congratulations to you, Cheryl, because I know that none of us are who we are by ourselves.

After all that has happened, Mark is right back to his old tricks:  making sure the children in the area have a great Christmas; that's after working the entire storm.

Well deserved and well done.

Know Your Smoke!

I was recently out at #FDIC2014 and had the chance to run into a good friend, Battalion Chief Wayne Smith, of the Indianapolis Fire Department. 

We had "the talk" about this subject and he informed me of their departments "Mandatory Mask Policy".  I told him, "Most if not all fire departments have the policy and hardly anyone enforces it or assigns penalties when the policy is violated.".

Listen in on our conversation: 



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CBS4 Investigates Silent Killer Putting Lives Of Firefighters In Danger « CBS Miami

CBS4 Investigates Silent Killer Putting Lives Of Firefighters In Danger « CBS Miami

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – They are men and women willing to risk their lives to save ours, but as our CBS4 News investigation found, a silent killer has been wreaking havoc in their lives, their careers, their dreams and destiny.  First triggered more than three years ago by the courageous fight against cancer by Miami Dade Fire Rescue Captain Raphael Herrer, CBS4 Chief Investigative Reporter Michele Gillen has been following and reviewing heartbreaking cases across our community and country.  Gillen reports on the human tragedy but also on efforts to collect data on the local and national level. The firefighters in Gillen’s story are just a few of the many who are in the fight of their lives and who graciously agreed to share their stories in the hope of finding answers.  Also, as a way of honoring those who have lost their lives and who will not be forgotten.

 

It’s a chilling realization for Miami Dade Fire Captain Bob Carpenter who shared the culprit behind so many of the deaths of his colleagues – cancer.  “There’s a lot of attention for line of duty deaths. Firefighters who die in a burning building, in a collapse – the funerals are on television. The truth is the number of us dying with our boots off is far greater,” said Carpenter.

For Miami Dade Firefighter Leslie Carter, tears flow and words fall with painful reflection.

“Four of us were diagnosed the week I was diagnosed with mine, four of us.”

The diagnosis was cancer, in the case of the 45-year-old it was thyroid.

“Three were thyroid, one was colon, in on week,” said Carter.

 

Now on the frontline of a different life-or-death battle, Miami-Dade firefighters shared their nightmare with Gillen of cancer diagnosis which seems to haunt firehouse after firehouse.

 

Miami-Dade Firefighter Paul Hoar, 42, a hero in his ranks, is recognized for his charity work and for his appearance in the Firefighter calendar, was stunned when he got the call from his doctor. “She says you are at stage three colon cancer and it’s in your lymph nodes and we are going to need to set you up with an oncologist and start chemotherapy,’ said Hoar. “And that just devastated me.”  Surgery removed a tumor and two feet of his colon. He is in his second round of receiving eight months of chemotherapy.

“I ate clean, I exercised, I don’t smoke, I’m active daily so never in a million years did I think that was going to happen to me,” Hoar said.

 

He’s not alone. Grief has settled across Miami-Dade given seemingly unsettling numbers of firefighters getting diagnosed with cancer and losing the battle.  Keith Tyson is a retired Miami-Dade Firefighter and head of the Firefighter Cancer Support Network for Florida. He spent hours with Gillen reviewing data, collections of cases of the diagnosis of cancer. Tyson knows the nightmare; he’s lived it, diagnosed with prostate and skin cancers.  Now Tyson’s life is about documenting the cases, studying data and death certificates.  “We reached out to United HealthCare, the numbers looking back were staggering. Between the years of 2008 and 2009 and 2010, out of the approximately 2000 members insured by United HealthCare, 32-percent of us had already been diagnosed with some form of cancer,” said Tyson.

“And these are young members for the most part. Cancers in the fire service that are developing are coming earlier for us. And far more aggressive,” said Tyson.

 

Go to FCSN.net for studies on Florida firefighters diagnosed with cancer.

It is chilling data, and it appears to be emerging nationally.

In one of the most comprehensive federal studies of its kind, that tracked 30,000 firefighters from San Francisco, Chicago and Philadelphia, the findings are considered daunting. There is evidence of a relation between firefighting and cancer.  The research speaks to the high incidence of solid cancers, such as brain, lung and colon among otherwise very fit firefighters.  Miami-Dade Fire Captain and cancer survivor Bob Carpenter says he sees it day after day.

“In 2013 in the month of December, six members were diagnosed with cancer within that month,” said Carpenter.  Now focus turns to the potential why the toxic soup firefighters are working in may be more toxic than ever.  “The fires that we are fighting today are not the fires of 40 years ago, most of the products in our houses and homes are made up of more than 50-percent of petroleum products. We know that petroleum products are just laced with carcinogens,” said Carpenter.  But it’s not just exposure to chemicals in the field that may be of concern.  The set up for fire houses is also a cause of concern; the bed bunks where the firefighters sleep were often right next to the vehicle bays where diesel fuel regularly filled the air.

Also, lifesaving gear is most often stored right next to the fire trucks and each firefighter only has one set, so even when laden with toxic aftermath of fires and smoke, firefighters often have to turn right around and put them right back on.  Many states have taken action, passing laws to help firefighters struck with cancer–presumed to be linked to their jobs–medical care costs covered by those states.

“There are 33 states across the country right now that have a cancer presumption law. The state of Florida does not,” said Tyson.

 

Carpenter is hopeful that will change, “Presumptive legislation that cancer diagnoses are job-connected is what I see in the short-term, by short-term I know we are not talking days but we should not talk about decades either,” said Carpenter.

In the latest fight for those in the trenches saving others, decades are not guaranteed for anyone.

“Firefighting is easy compared to this. You can say this is the fight of my life,” said Hoar.

For more information and support, check out firefightercancersupport.org.

Illegally Parked BMW Smashed By Boston Firefighters Was Brand New « CBS Boston

Illegally Parked BMW Smashed By Boston Firefighters Was Brand New « CBS Boston

EAST BOSTON (CBS) – A man who ignored a fire hydrant put Boston firefighters at risk Wednesday night. The man who parked his new BMW in front of a fire hydrant slowed the battle to save East Boston homes.

Firefighters were forced to smash the windows and thread the fire hose through the car.

 

The fire on Lexington Street grew to eight alarms before crews were able to get control. No one was hurt, but nearly three dozen people have to find a new place to live.

The man had just bought the BMW and the registration was just two days old. He also got a $100 fine.

“He was mad,” Rafael Henriquez said. Henriquez is friends with the car’s owner. He watched as firefighters busted through the windows to hook their hose onto the hydrant. “I wanted to cry for him,” Henriquez said. “Of course he brought that on himself.”

In fact, Boston firefighters say the only thing on their minds was getting water as quickly as possible to the burning homes which were at that point fully engulfed. Since it had gone to eight alarms, all the closer hydrants were taken. The one blocked by the BMW was a street away.

“You don’t want to lose the full force of the water you’re getting from the hydrant,” Steve MacDonald of Boston Fire said. “It’s important to be as straight as possible.”

The hose still had a kink even after they got it hooked up, so bystanders pitched in and helped firefighters lift and bounce the car away from the curb.

 

“You can move the car a short distance which is what they did to get the kink out,” MacDonald said. “Again this is all effort that should be concentrated on putting the fire out.”

Back at the scene, firefighters traced the source of the flames to the engine of a Toyota parked in an alley, spreading fire to three nearby buildings, leaving residents like Jaime Hernandez homeless.

“We’re trying to figure out where we’re going to stay and for now my friend offered me shelter at her house,” Hernandez said.

 

Residents say the owner of the BMW drove it away with two broken windows and a big dent on the side.