Best of the Rest – Firehouse Expo 2013, FDNY Probie Manual, Flame Fest, People Worth Dying For…and MUCH MORE!

Firehouse Expo is right around the corner. I have been busy and haven’t scheduled anything yet.

Captain Wines and I are planning a meet-up “Party” on Friday night. We haven’t nailed down the venue, but it will be a place where everyone can hang out and mingle. We are talking to Uno Chicago Grill and Hard Rock Cafe. After that, we will probably head to the PBR bar.

Any and all companies who wish to sponsor the event or offer stuff to give-away please contact me at firecritic@firecritic.com. Our meet-up in Indianapolis was very well attended. We plan on having a great time in Baltimore as well.

Captain Wines will be there assisting with MN8 FoxFire and I will be in and out of the booth. We WILL be at the FOOLS Bash on Thursday night!

Luckily, by the time Firehouse Expo gets here, I will be done with my competition. That event is on July 20th. If you are in the Roanoke area or would like to come and see my wife and I compete, check out the Facebook Event page here. The event is the 2013 Blue Ridge Fitness Festival & ANBF VA Natural Pro/Am. We are looking forward to being able to eat normal food again!

After the competition we will be at Buffalo Wild Wings near Tanglewood Mall.

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Procession Brings Home Fallen Arizona Firefighters. 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots killed in blaze returned to Prescott

Nineteen firefighters killed in a wildfire a week ago went home for the last time, their bodies traveling in individual white hearses in a somber caravan for 125 miles through Arizona cities and towns.

The nearly five-hour-long procession Sunday began near the state Capitol in Phoenix, went through the town where the Granite Mountain Hotshots were killed and ended in the mountain community of Prescott, where they lived and will be laid to rest this week.

Funeral services planned for 19 fallen firefighters

The first official funeral service to remember the 19 firefighters who lost their lives in the Yarnell Hill Fire will take place on Tuesday in Prescott Valley.

The ceremony is expected to begin at 11 a.m. at Tim’s Toyota Center in Prescott Valley.

Artist Jodi Monroe has created a print in memorial of the 19 Firefighters who died in Prescott, AZ

“In Loving Memory” by Jodi Monroe

She writes: In honor of the 19 fallen Granite Mountain Hotshots, here is my tribute to them titled “In Loving Memory.”

Please continue to keep the families and friends of our fallen heroes in your thoughts and prayers!

Blessings to each of you,

Jodi

Check out her work on her web site and on Facebook

Service Set For Firefighter Who Died While Responding To Sissonville Blaze

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has ordered all flags at state-owned facilities in Kanawha County lowered to half-staff this Friday to honor a Malden Volunteer Fire Department member and chaplain who died after collapsing during a fire in Sissonville on Monday.

Visitation for John Appleton was set for Thursday evening at Kanawha Saline’s Presbyterian Church in Malden, where he served as pastor. A semi-private service for the family, church members and Malden VFD is set for Friday morning, followed by a procession of fire equipment from Malden to Riverside High School for a public service.

Meanwhile, a fund has been set up to assist the family, a grandmother and two children, ages 8 and 16, who lived in that Sissonville home destroyed by the fire. Donations can be made at any Poca Valley Bank in the name of the Happy Hollow Road Fire Fund.

Cal Fire mourns the death of firefighter killed in accident

A Cal Fire firefighter, who died Friday after being struck by a pickup truck along the eastbound I-10 on-ramp, has been identified as 41-year old Christopher Douglas.

Douglas, an eight year veteran of Cal Fire, was stationed in Thousand Palms but lived in Temecula, says Cal Fire.  He is survived by his wife, who is pregnant, and a 2 year old son.

Miss. Fire Chief Killed in Wreck With Deputy Sheriff

The chief of the Greenfield (Miss.) Volunteer Fire Department was killed when the pickup truck he was driving enroute to a wreck in Newton County struck a sheriff’s deputy’s vehicle and overturned.

According to the television station WTOK 11, Chief Mickey Yates was ejected from his 2001 Chevrolet pickup truck when he collided with the deputy’s vehicle at about 8:45 p.m. Saturday night.

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Return the critical but lost funding for wildland fire management to honor and support the 19 “Hotshots” killed in AZ.

“Sequestration cuts of $132 million in the Forest Service’s wildland fire management budget put that budget $42 million below the average cost of just battling wildfires, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack wrote to the Senate Committee on Appropriations Feb. 5. The budget is also used to hire seasonal firefighters and conduct forest treatments to reduce wildfire danger.” – The Daily Courier

Stop the nonsense, we need to support these men and women that are risking their lives to protect us!

IronFiremen.com – FDNY, 9/11, and the 343. Some Good News, But More Pain and Disgust AFter All These Years

It’s been almost 12 years now since 2,750 people, including 343 of our Brothers; were murdered at the World Trade Center during the September 11, 2001 attacks.

That in itself is hard for me to believe because it’s still so fresh in my mind.

It’s also hard for me to believe that they are still identifying remains but this past Friday, they did just that.

Model City Firefighter – It’s Contagious 

It’s good to get to travel to other stations and catch up with brothers that I typically don’t work with closely on a daily basis. This series I’ve been working out of headquarters at our Station 1 in the downtown area. Out of this station, we run one engine, one ladder, a fire/rescue engine, and our deputy chief. The first two shifts were busy with med calls and fire alarms, but we were able to get more than just that accomplished.

IronFiremen.com – People Worth Dying For…

If you’re on the job, have you ever thought about it that way? It’s a powerful statement.

What exactly IS worth dying for? A building? If so, at what value does it become “worth it”? How about the people in your 1st due? Are THEY worth dying for? Do you even know them? Do you know their morals… their ethics? Do they share the same views and beliefs as you or your family?  How about the folks over in the “lower income” section of town … are they worth dying for?

Poquonnock fire chief: Budget is threat to public safety

Groton – Poquonnock Bridge Fire Chief Todd Paige said Tuesday that he cannot run the department on a $3.5 million budget, that the budget would “decimate public safety,” and that closing the Fort Hill Station would increase response times by 3 to 4 minutes.

Paige, who has been chief for 12 years, said the fire district board has not met with him since May 9 and he’s still waiting for guidance. He said he looked at potential cuts and found that even if he laid off firefighters, the department would not save money because he’d have to pay others overtime to meet minimum staffing requirements.

Larger crews more effective battling high rise fires

At a time when municipalities are struggling with shrinking budgets and cutbacks, new research shows the need for an increase if firefighter staffing especially when it comes to fighting hi-rise fires.   NBC’s Tom Costello reports.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

FDNY Probational Firefighters Manual available online

Here is a unique find shared on Facebook with me…

Congratulations on your appointment to the Fire Department of New York City On behalf of the Fire Commissioner and the Chief of Department, welcome to the New York City fire Academy. Each of you have passed the written and physical examinations and further being qualified both mentally and medically, have demonstrated a fine potential for service to the city of New York and to the people who live and work here.

The FDNY is a semi-military organization. Rules and regulations govern the conduct and actions of all members of the department.

Firefighter Wife “Flame Fest” in Atlanta. Registration closes July 10th

For all of the information, visit FirefighterWife.com or check them out on Facebook!

FirefighterWife.com is hosting the first ever national gathering for wives of firefighters in Atlanta, Georgia, July 25-26, 2013. This event is designed for fellowship and encouragement for fire wives who face significant stresses and challenges supporting their husbands through the challenges of a firefighting career.

The divorce rate is exceptionally high in the fire service. Some indicate as high as 75%. And judging by the marital challenges and second marriages in the online private wives community, known as the Fire Wife Sisterhood, 75% seems rather accurate.

Many traditional support channels for women do not fit the schedules and lifestyle of a fire family. Feeling these challenges as a fire wife herself, Lori Mercer began blogging at FirefighterWife.com and quickly discovered she was not alone.

She started the Fire Wife Sisterhood began last summer by first launching a private Facebook group for FirefighterWife.com. 40 women joined in 1 hour. 100 joined in the first day. And the community now stands at 1200 members. Immediately these women connected and bonded and the next natural step was to plan an event for everyone to meet in person.

Raleigh, NC Retirees Luncheon

Every department should do this! In Roanoke, we have a Retirees Breakfast…we just don’t have the video by Mike as you see below!

Video by: legeros. Video info: Introductions and remarks from Raleigh Fire Department retirees at a retiree luncheon at the training center on May 1, 2013. See still photos at http://legeros.com/ralwake/photos/201…. Mike Legeros video.

SFO Plane Crash Victim May Have Been Run Over By Rescue Vehicle

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) — Investigators were looking into whether one of two young girls who died in Saturday’s plane crash at San Francisco International Airport was run over by an emergency response vehicle.

Authorities said Sunday that the girl, found near the west wing of the aircraft, suffered injuries consistent with being run over by a vehicle. She also did not suffer extensive burns.