Our department recently released our first in-house produced cable program for local cable. We’ve distributed via our local cable station as well as through our city web site. Take a look.
Has your department worked with video? What kinds of things do you find have worked best?
You may have noticed some silence from the FireEducator.com web site. While it was unintentional, I wanted to address it for all of our readers.
Many of you know that I was working on a Bachelor’s degree from Benedictine University and put a lot of the work on the site on hold. I’ve elected to continue working towards a Master’s in Public Administration @ Governor’s State University.
It was my goal to turn FireEducator.com into a magazine style blog that would unite safety educators worldwide. Unfortunately, the time involved in making that a successful effort just is not available right now. However, my passion for public education and desire to turn this site into a resource is not gone. In fact, it is renewed and moving forward.
The blog has a new look that makes it appear more like a blog rather than a magazine. I am hoping that it will become a more personal in nature as I share my efforts, successes, and failures in fire prevention. The move to a blog format over a magazine approach will allow for a less structured environment and hopefully, an easier way to update content more often.
If you’d like to be a guest contributer, please do not hesitate to let me know. I am happy to have as many contributors to site as possible.
Along with this move to a blog format, I do want to remind you of two great resources that exist for sharing ideas and getting help with your public education programs. EPARADE and NFLSE are active discussion lists that have a wealth of information available from other educators like you. If you have not joined these lists already, I highly encourage it.
To join EPARADE visit: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EPARADE/
To join NFLSE visit: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NFLSE/
As always, stay safe and I hope to continue sharing my experiences with you.
Follow me @
- John
An overnight house fire in Mattawa, Wash., has killed a woman and two children.
The fire, which occurred late Wednesday in the 200 block of East Fourth Street, is being investigated, according to the Grant County Department of Emergency Management.
Crews found the bodies of the three victims, believed to be a woman and her children who lived there, inside the home during firefighting efforts.
The family was living in a single-wide manufactured home that had been converted into a duplex at a mobile home park in Mattawa, according to Kyle Foreman, communications manager for the county’s emergency services department.
The coroner’s office will identify the victims and schedule autopsies.
Neighbors called 911 at 11:37 p.m., and a crew from Grant County Fire District 8 arrived at 11:54 p.m. to find the structure and two vehicles fully ablaze, Foreman said in a press release.
The Grant County fire marshal is investigating.
Coroner: 5th victim dies after Louisville fire
July 06, 2009 05:41 EDT
Happy Fourth of July Weekend from FireEducator.com!
We hope that you have a safe and wonderful holiday. Please remember to leave fireworks to the professionals.
Take a look at this excellent grill safety piece featuring Barry Brickey from the Kingsport FD.
I came across this post on the Business Pundit. Good for some Wednesday humor for those in a serious business. Check it out.
http://www.businesspundit.com/when-arsonists-meet-building-regulations/
BONHAM, Texas — A family of three — a mother and her two children — are dead after flames swept through an apartment complex in the Northeast Texas town of Bonham.
Witnesses to the late Sunday afternoon fire say the three victims apparently were trapped when fast-moving flames enveloped a stairwell that provided their only escape route.
Neighbors identified the dead mother as Brandy Chesser. Witnesses say they saw her beating on a window of her apartment, crying for help, until she lost consciousness.
The American Red Cross says 30 to 40 other people were left homeless by the fire at the Bonham Village Apartments.
Gregory Trotter • News-Leader • May 17, 2009
Five people -- two adults and three children -- were killed in an early Saturday morning mobile home fire in Shell Knob, said Central Crossing Fire District Chief Rusty Rickard.
The tragedy marked the first time in at least 20 years there has been a fire-related death in Shell Knob, Rickard said.
A seven-month-old baby, a 2-year-old, a 3-year-old, a 20-year-old woman and a 21-year-old man were already dead when firefighters responded to the fire in Turkey Mountain II Estates, a subdivision off Stone County YY, at 4:30 a.m., Rickard said.
No further information about the victims had been released by police or fire officials at press time.
Though some of the firefighters responded from less than a quarter-mile away, the single-wide trailer home on North Keystone Road was completely engulfed by the time firefighters responded, he said.
"We made entry into the structure and did everything we could to rescue them, but every person we found was already dead at that point," said Rickard, who has been with the fire district for nine years.
Though the official cause of death is undetermined, it appeared the five victims died in the fire while sleeping, he said.
Firefighters worked for hours containing the blaze, preventing it from spreading to nearby homes.
The Central Crossing Fire District covers 130 square miles but is based in Shell Knob, he said.
Detectives from the Stone County Sheriff's Department and investigators from the Office of the State Fire Marshal were called to the scene because of the fatalities, he said.
But it would be difficult to determine the nature of the blaze because of the fire's total devastation of the home.
"Those old trailer homes go up fast," Rickard said. "Because of the massive amount of damage, it's going to be difficult to put all the pieces together."
The investigation is ongoing, said Deputy Chief State Fire Marshall Bill Zieres.
"That's the problem with these mobile homes, when they become so consumed with fire, it's near impossible to determine the cause," Zieres said.
State Fire Marshal Randy Cole said the investigators would wait for the toxicology reports and X-rays of the victims before determining official causes of death.
About six months ago, Shell Knob firefighters responded to the same mobile home and contained a minor electrical fire, Rickard said.
"I don't have the report right here in front of me but I believe it was the same family," he said.FLORA, Ind. - A distraught man drove through his garage door to summon help as a fire raced through his rural home, killing his wife and two young children, authorities said Saturday.
The fire outside Flora killed Leah Wagoner, 40, and the couple's children, 4-year-old Sophia and 7-year-old Harrison, the Carroll County Sheriff's Department said.
The father, Brian Wagoner, awoke to his home filling with smoke shortly before midnight Friday. After finding the front door blocked, he ran to the garage, where the garage door opener wouldn't work, so he drove through the lowered door. He went to a neighbor's house to call for help, deputies said.
Cody Harter, who lives next door, said he heard a loud crack and found Brian Wagoner at his door a few minutes later.
The Monticello Police Department has identified the victims in Wednesday's fatal house fire on Pearl Street.
The dead were identified as Sara Lisa McCarty, 24; her son, Nathan McCarty, 3; and her daughter Katheryn McCarty, 17 months old. They all died of smoke inhalation, according to Police Chief Fred Mosley.
"Any time that there is a death within any community, it is a major tragedy," Mosley said.
McCarty was pregnant at the time of her death, Mosley said. Her husband, Mark McCarty, and son, Ashton, 4, survived the fire. The father was airlifted to Shands Hospital in Gainesville and admitted to the burn unit. His son was taken to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital with minor burns and released to the custody of relatives.
The fire originated at the electrical service located on the south side of the residence, according to the State Fire Marshal's Office. There was no evidence of foul play.
Kids Inc. has set up an account to assist the family and to help defray funeral expenses. Checks can be made payable to Kids Inc. with "McCarty" in the memo section. The checks can be sent to Kids Inc. 2326 Centerville Road, Tallahassee, 32308; or dropped off at any Capital City Bank.
The Monticello Police Department has identified the victims in Wednesday's fatal house fire.
Sara Lisa McCarty, 24, her son, Nathan McCarty, 3, and her daughter Katheryn McCarty, 17 months old, died of smoke inhalation, according to Monticello Police Chief Fred Mosley.
Check back with Tallahassee.com for more on this story.
Monticello Police Chief Fred Mosley said Thursday that a house fire at 1045 E. Pearl St. that left three people dead Wednesday originated at the electrical service located on the south side of the residence, according to the State Fire Marshal's Office.
There was no evidence of foul play.
The identities of the three victims have not been released, but Mosley said autopsies revealed that all three died of smoke inhalation. Positive identification of the victims is still pending, he said.Associated Press - May 4, 2009 5:53 PM ET
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) - The mother of 3 young children killed last month in a southwestern Michigan house fire has become its fifth victim.
Sheriff's Detective Sgt. Jim VanDyken says 22-year-old Daniela Adams died early Monday at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo. She had been listed in critical condition since the April 25 fire in Kalamazoo County's Texas Township.
An updated condition was not available from the hospital for a 5-year-old boy injured in the fire.
Funerals were held Monday for Adams' three children - ages 6, 4 and 3 - and the children's 4-year-old cousin, who also died in the fire.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Investigators say they have found nothing suspicious about its origin.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed
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