Big Tree Volunteer Fire Company Firefighter Jarrett Eleam passed away Wednesday. He fell ill during training with his fire company on Monday night. Eleam, who graduated from Erie County’s Firefighter I Boot Camp class this past summer, died at Mercy hospital in Buffalo. His arrangements are being planned.

The Black Diamond Fire & EMS Blog of the Year 2010-2011 Contest has had 17 nominations so far. The nominations have come via email, contact form, twitter (using #bootblog), and facebook. Five Fire Blogs and 12 EMS blogs have been nominated. Nominate your favorite Blog Today! Nominations end on January 19th, voting will begin on the 24th!

Fire destroyed a two-story home Wednesday, displacing a family of four. The fire was reported at about noon on the 200 block of Calhoun Avenue, a rural dead-end street off Washington Avenue. A borough Public Works employee noticed the smoke and alerted the Fire Department, Woodbine Fire Chief Clarence Ryan said. But when firefighters arrived, they found the home owned by Roger and Anne Geene engulfed in flames.

The title of this video is "Roof Ventilation Fail". I think that is kinda harsh. The only issue I see here is that no handtools were brought up on the roof. There are two main reasons why we take tools up on the roof to ventilate: 1. In case the saw stops working. 2. To open up the hole once it has been cut. Another reason might be to make a purchase point for which to place your foot on that isn't on the ladder.

Townhouse Fire in Barrie, Ontario, Canada The video shows the fire before firefighters got to it. You might want to mute it…on second thought, it is kind of amusing to hear what the children have to say during the fire. ...

This years Blog of the Year contest has begun. This years contest is "Black Diamond Fire and EMS Blog of the Year 2010-2011". Nominations will continue until midnight on January 19th (EST). This year, we will be awarding the Fire Blog of the Year as well as the EMS Blog of the Year.

Before dying of cancer at just 45 a week and a half ago, Matt Durham helped plan his own formal line-of-duty memorial service, according to one of his fellow Woodinville Fire and Rescue firefighters speaking at that service today. “I want to do it for the boys,” Battalion Chief Greg Ahearn quoted Matt as saying – so that his young sons would see the support and the love showed by their father’s firefighter family, as well as that of their own relatives and friends.

Which is better? That all depends on what you are looking for. The mainstream fire service media will probably be more verified, but that comes at a cost of being hours later than the blogs. The blogs typically have the stories from multiple angles. Another huge aspect of blogging is that their aren't any borders. The mainstream fire news media will likely post a majority on the U.S., whereas bloggers might post a story from wherever as long as they feel their is a need to tell the story.

Firefighter Close Calls has the story on Roy Chelsen. He is a September 11th hero who risked his life to make it back to the North Tower amid bodies falling from the upper floors to warn other firefighters of the towers imminent collapse.

Can Philadelphia afford to continue cutbacks in the fire department? Yeah, Philly doesn't need firefighters. Hell, the City might as well continue to cut positions, brownout, and close stations. I don't see any need in them....then again, check out these two 5 alarm fires within 24 hours of each other and ask yourself that question again. There were around 150 firefighters on scene of each of these fires... I doubt even this could open some of the council member's eyes!