Firefighters Rescue Workers Stuck in Elevator with Water Up to Their Necks

Amazing rescue scenario, as recounted by the New York TImes:

In his 34 years with the New York Fire Department, Capt. James Melvin has seen his share of stuck elevators. But he had never witnessed anything quite like what happened Sunday on Staten Island.

Two construction workers were stuck in an elevator that was filling with water, Captain Melvin explained, with a hint of amazement in his voice. By the time firefighters arrived, the water level had risen as high as the two trapped men’s necks.

“We’ve had plenty of elevator emergencies, but never one that’s down sinking in water,” said Captain Melvin, of Ladder Company 86 on Richmond Avenue. As for the two men, he added, “They were happy to see us.”

The men were working in the former Staten Island Hotel in Graniteville, which is being renovated into an assisted-living residence for older people.

About 9 a.m., the two workers were riding in the elevator and discovered that the door did not open. The men, identified as Edward Tyler and Windell Admaker, began to hit the buttons for various floors in the hope that the doors on one of them would work.

“They figured they’d try the basement level,” Captain Melvin said.

On another day, that would probably have been fine, but the rainfall on Sunday had led to severe flooding in the basement. And when the elevator neared the basement level, “it hit water and started sinking slowly, until it sank to the bottom of the shaft,” Captain Melvin said.

The two men were alone in the building, he added. There was no one inside to hear their shouts, and a security guard outside was unaware of the disaster unfolding inside, Captain Melvin said.

With a cellphone the men reached the Fire Department. While neither knew the precise address of the building, they said it was near the intersection of Richmond Avenue and Christopher Lane.

When firefighters finally found them, about an hour after their initial call, the two men were standing atop the plastic cart they had been using to transport supplies between floors. Even with the cart’s added height, the water was up to their necks, and about three feet from the elevator’s ceiling, Captain Melvin said.

Read it all HERE.

5 Firefighters Injured in Bridgeport (CT) Fire

From nbcconnecticut.com:

Five firefighters were injured in a fire at a multifamily home in Bridgeport early Friday morning.

One firefighter suffered a shoulder injury when the roof of 143 Coleman St. collapsed. Four other firefighters suffered heat exhaustion.

The fire broke out in the 19th century boarding house at 3:50 a.m. and it was escalated to two alarms.

...

Firefighters helped the residents who were not able to get out on their own.

“We had people in the windows. We were pulling them out, one after another,” Deputy Chief Bruce Porzett, of the Bridgeport Fire Department, said. “These guys were walking through walls of fire. They did a great job. Nobody died, which I'm really surprised (about).”

Fire officials said the building had half a dozen roofs on the building, but should not have had more than three.

TX Firefighters Rescue Man from Cell Phone Tower

From WFAA.com:

A cellphone tower worker is in stable condition after a long and harrowing rescue by Burleson firefighters, who climbed 760 feet of hot metal to bring him down.

Officials say the man became disoriented in the heat and took off his safety harness, collapsing on a ledge at the top of the tower late Wednesday evening.

Firefighter Dallas Fowler reached him first.

"I was cramping," he said. "I had to stop, but I had to keep pushing on through."

Two more firefighters joined him at the top. Their arms, hands and legs burned in pain while the wind blew their ropes sideways. Since they couldn't get to the stricken worker out onto the platform, they tossed him a bag of saline intended for an IV, which he drank.

"When we got to him, I didn't know we could get him down," Fowler said.

They started their climb at about 8 p.m. and the rescue lasted nearly seven hours.

CT Firefighters Rescue Woman Who Fell Over Waterfall

From the Hartford Courant:

Firefighters rescued a Manchester woman who slipped and plunged 15 feet over a waterfall Sunday night.

The 41-year-old woman was walking with her 14-year-old daughter across the top of the waterfall off a trail on Case Mountain when she slipped and fell, landing in rocks at the bottom of the falls, according to the fire department.

...

Upon arrival, firefighters found the woman injured and trapped in the rocks at the bottom of the falls. Using ropes, the department was lowered firefighters to the bottom of the falls, where they reached the woman at 8:45 p.m.

The woman, who remained conscious throughout the ordeal, was freed from the rocks and pulled to safety with a rescue basket, according to the department. She was transported to the hospital, where she was treated for non-life threatening injuries.

Firefighters said that the rescue, done in the dark, was a difficult maneuver because of the combination of poor visibility, accessibility issues, the water and the heat.

For more info on such rescue situations, read "Establishing the Rope Rescue Anchor System", "Patient Packaging for Rope Rescue Operations", and "Rope Rescue Saves Stranded Hikers".

Firefighter Rescues 3 from Wreck in LA

From thenewsstar.com:

Jeff Tarver is a professional firefighter, but he received some commendable assistance from four untrained helpers — his wife, his teenage son and two of his son's friends — during a dramatic rescue.

Tarver said the helpers came through with flying colors, assisting in the rescue of three badly injured victims of a traffic accident in which a vehicle hit a tree and caught fire on La. Highway 457 in the Poland community of Rapides Parish.

Jeff Tarver and his wife, Terri, their son, Payten, and Payten's friends, Mason Guillory and Tyler Hyde, all of the Poland community, helped save a man, a woman and 5-year-old child from the burning vehicle in late May.

The man saved from the accident was Poland resident David Barrios, according to Jeff Tarver. Barrios could not be contacted by The Town Talk.

Firefighters Rescue Couple from Brooklyn (NY) Apartment Fire

From the NY Post:

Firefighters rescued two elderly people from a Brooklyn fire early this morning, including an unconscious 200-pound man.

The 71-year-old man was in critical condition from burns and smoke inhalation, and a 69-year-old woman was discovered in cardiac arrest from smoke inhalation.

Firetruck chauffeur Francis Valerio, 40, climbed up a ladder to the fifth-floor apartment where he broke open the bedroom window and discovered the victims inside by crawling on the floor through the black smoke. Another firefighter climbed in through the fire escape to assist in the search.

Several firefighters struggled to pull the unconscious man out, who sources said weighed about 200 pounds, and managed to get both victims out while other firefighters coming up from downstairs extinguished the flames. The woman was unconscious but firefighters were also able to pull her out alive.

Read it all HERE.

Off-Duty Firefighter Who Saved Child at CO Pool Credits Training

From denverpost.com:

An off-duty firefighter found himself in the right place at the right time last night in Fort Collins.

Michael Dairon, a Poudre Fire Authority firefighter, performed CPR on a 5-year-old boy who was pulled from a community pool.

The boy was found face-down about four feet from the edge of the pool when his father pulled him out. The boy had no heartbeat, and Dairon immediately started trying to revive the boy.

"At that point my firefighting and EMT skills just took over," said Dairon, who has been a firefighter for six years, all with PFA.

Read more HERE.

Report: Contrary to What Alameda (CA) Chief Said, Rescue Swimmers Were Funded

This report from the Contra Costa Times seems to have disappeared from our feed, but here it is, reprinted in full:

By Matthias Gafni Contra Costa Times © Copyright 2011, Bay Area News Group
Contra Costa Times (California)
June 9, 2011

Contrary to what the interim fire chief told the Alameda City Council, his department had funding for water rescue training but apparently never used it, leaving a suicidal Alameda man to fend for himself and die May 30 in the shallow waters off the island, according to an internal Fire Department memo.

"We have been approved funding to recertify instructors and train new swimmers," Division Chief Dale Vogelsang wrote in the March 19, 2009, memo. "However, until this training is completed, per OSHA requirements, no members may be used as rescue swimmers."

A rescue swimmer needs 24 hours a year of training to remain certified.

"We anticipate training to commence within the next 30 to 45 days," Vogelsang wrote.

Fire officials declined to answer questions about why the training apparently never happened during the past two years, pending a citywide review. A call to the Alameda fire union president was not returned.

The day after Raymond Zack died off the Alameda shoreline, Mike D'Orazi, interim fire chief, told the Alameda City Council that budget constraints led to the loss of the department's water rescue ability: "We just did not have the money available to do what we would like to do."

But the 2009 memo indicates money was available -- and, in fact, $20,000 from the current budget is being used to do the training.

Capt. Richard Waggener, identified as the water operations manager in charge of restarting the program two years ago, was on the beach May 30 when Zack waded into the shallow waters off Crown Memorial State Beach. Eight other firefighters, a handful of police and onlookers also watched the mentally ill man stand in the chilly water a few hundred feet offshore and slowly lose his life.

Almost an hour after Zack waded into the water, glancing periodically back to shore, a young woman went in after him and pulled his body to shore, where firefighters attempted to resuscitate him, to no avail. An autopsy is pending.

Police released 911 and dispatch audio, as well as logs and a timeline of the event Wednesday, and the Fire Department released its audio, along with policy documents and its incident report Thursday after a Bay Area News Group public records request.

Although fire audio recordings are bare, the Alameda fire incident commander's report released Thursday describes the decision to stay dry:

"I was told by the Engine 1 captain that his crews were triangulating the subject's position and that he (Waggener) had informed the APD (police) commander that our crews were not able to enter the water," wrote division chief Ricci Zombeck in the June 6 incident report. "I was asked by the APD commander if we would enter the water and I confirmed that we would not."

Zombeck was asked by a television reporter hours after the incident if he would enter the water to save a drowning child.

"Well, if I was off duty I would know what I would do, but I think you're asking me my on-duty response and I would have to stay within our policies and procedures because that's what's required by our department to do," he said at the time.

Their procedures are guided by a 2003 water rescue policy, drafted by the island agency's fire labor management team. Among other restrictions, only certified rescue swimmers could enter the water for a rescue, no matter how deep in the ocean. Each fire engine would have a rescue swimmer on board ready for deployment.

It's unclear why funding for rescue swimmers ceased, but Councilwoman Beverly Johnson said any cuts made were done at the discretion of the Fire Department based on internal decisions.

"I don't know anyone in the city who knew this protocol existed. I know no one on the City Council did," she said.

Johnson said former Chief Dave Kapler -- D'Orazi only started his job a few weeks before Zack's death -- should not have let the swimming certification lapse.

"Alameda is an island city and it just seems like a major shortfall and the chief may not have been paying close enough attention to what was happening," she said.

Sixteen firefighters will soon start swim certification training at a cost of $20,000, the interim chief has said. D'Orazi also made an immediate policy change that would allow a senior firefighter the discretion on how best to respond to a water emergency.

Since the suicide, Alameda police have said they did not enter the water because the 6-foot-3, 300-pound Zack was suicidal and possibly armed or dangerous.

According to the Fire Department incident report, however: "The (Alameda Police Department) commander stated that her crews were not trained to go in the water and that they would not pursue the subject."

A call to the police spokesman Thursday was not returned.

The city's Multi-Hazard Functional Plan for Emergency Operations identifies the Fire Department as the primary surface water rescuer.

The 2009 memo, however, warned, due to the certification lapse: "Under no circumstances shall any member enter the water to initiate a rescue or search."

In the two years since the city's water rescue program ceased, the memo instructed incident commanders to contact the Coast Guard and other surrounding agencies in the event of a water rescue.

Contact Matthias Gafni

at 925-952-5026.A Changing storyFirefighters from the Alameda department did not enter San Francisco Bay to help rescue a man attempting suicide May 30.What happened: Raymond Zack waded for 60 minutes in waist- to neck-deep water off an Alameda beach and later died. Police and firefighters did not enter the water.What was said last week: Budget constraints led to the loss of the Fire Department's ability to train for water rescues.What was revealed: The department had funding since 2009 to "recertify instructors and train new swimmers," according to an internal memo. It was never done.What fire officials said Thursday: No comment.

FDNY Firefighters From Soon-to-be-Closed Station Rescue Man

From the Daily News:

Firefighters from a Brooklyn ladder company slated to close due to budget cuts rescued a man from his burning home Wednesday, officials said.

The 23-year-old man was trapped in a back room of the Bayview Ave. building in Coney Island when firefighters from Ladder 161 arrived about 6:30 a.m., officials said.

Lt. Edward Gonzalez and Firefighter Sean Connolly crawled through the flames to get to the 6-foot-2, 260-pound man.

Read the rest HERE.

Off-Duty LA Firefighters Rescue Children from Lake

From thetowntalk.com, a story about a Mother's Day resuce in Pollock, Louisiana:

Ryan Davies heard a call for help and jumped into Stuart Lake to rescue a child.

To his surprise, the Alexandria firefighter found there were two other children in the water who needed help as well.

Davies, Ball Assistant Fire Chief Lee Hickman and Ball firefighter Don Kerry -- all off-duty while visiting the lake near Pollock on Mother's Day -- teamed up to save three "special-needs" boys from drowning.

The three boys were from Evergreen Presbyterian Ministries Inc., Pineville. One child was 6, and another was 14. The firefighters didn't know the age of the third child.

Read more HERE.

Two Children Saved from IL Apartment Fire

From the Naperville Sun:

Two pre-teenage girls escaped injury Thursday morning after being rescued from a bedroom of their burning apartment in Woodridge.

Two fire medics from the Lisle-Woodridge Fire District picked up the children and carried them to safety during the blaze at the three-story Lincoln at Seven Bridges apartment complex at 6685 Double Eagle Drive, according to Bureau Chief Jim French.

Neither the girls – both under the age of 10 – nor the fire medics were injured during the blaze, although a male firefighter-paramedic suffered a minor cut, French said. The firefighter-paramedic was treated at the scene, he said.

Read more HERE.

Off-Duty IN Firefighter Saves Dog from Fire

From WLFI.com, a report from Monticell, Indiana:

The Seabolt family said the house fire could have been worse, but fortunately an off-duty firefighter in a nearby fishing boat saw the flames begin to spread.

"I went up to the residence and asked the homeowner if anyone was still inside. He said 'Yes,'" said Monticello Firefighter Brooks Ingle, who was first on the scene.

Ingle called 911 for assistance, then went in the house for the first time. That first trip he didn't find anyone, but when homeowner Diana Mead-Seabolt went back inside he followed behind. The second time he went in he saved the family dog.

The youngest members of the Seabolt family spotted the fire first. They went back inside to tell the others and their quick thinking mother showed the family out the back stairs.

Read the account of the entire incident HERE.

OR Woman Saved from Fire

From The Columbian, fortunate intervention by a passerby saves a woman's life in Sherwood:

The black plume of smoke Laurie Sharpe spotted during her morning walk Monday looked like it could be billowing from a backyard burn. It was what she noticed next — thick orange flames reaching into the sky above a home at 10813 N.E. 38th Ave. — that sent her rushing to see if anyone at a threatened ranch-style house needed help.

There was no one outside, but Sharpe could see a walker on the front porch.

It took four rounds of knocks before Donna R. Davis unlocked the door. Sharpe said the 86-year-old woman was reluctant to leave, wanting instead to stay and protect the home against flames that could be seen advancing. Davis planned to push back a fire engulfing a fifth-wheel type trailer with a garden hose.
...

A pastor at an area church, Sharpe said she navigated heavy black smoke to haul from the home a crate holding a black cocker spaniel. She said she then had to push Davis outside.
...

Davis was unharmed but shaken, said Dawn Johnson, a spokeswoman for Clark County Fire District 6. As crews worked to put out the blaze, Davis went across the street to a neighbor’s home.

Read the rest HERE.

Reno (NV) Firefighter Saves Man from Motel Room Fire

From foxreno.com:

A man is recovering from injuries sustained in a motel room fire that happened over the weekend.

Saturday morning, Reno firefighters responded to an activated fire alarm at the Lakemill Lodge located at 200 Mill Street.

"During investigation, the crew from Engine 1 located a small room and contents fire that was heavily charged with smoke and flames present,” advised Battalion Chief Tim Spencer. “After immediately making entry, Captain Lenon of Engine 1 found an elderly male occupant on the floor of the room and quickly pulled the man to safety.”

As a result of the fire, the elderly male received third degree burns and was transported to a local hospital. His condition at this time is unknown.

Read more HERE.

Firefighter Rescues Teens from CA Duplex Fire

From www.dailynews.com:

A fire damaged a duplex in Huntington Beach today, and a firefighter rescued two teens unharmed from a second-story bedroom, authorities said.

The fire was reported at 6:48 a.m. in the 7800 block of Talbert Avenue, Huntington Beach Assistant Fire Marshal Jeff Lopez said.

The fire began in the garage of the two-story duplex, and spread to the interior of the building. The teen-age boys tried to get out through the hallway, but were driven back into the bedroom by the smoke, Lopez said.

Read more about the incident HERE.

TX Firefighter Burned While Rescuing Colleague

From WFAA.com:

Injured and in pain, Matt Clark is having trouble with his new label.

"I don’t feel like I'm a hero," he said. "I did what any fireman would do."

Clark has only been a firefighter for six months. He's a volunteer. His full-time job is as a prison guard in Abilene.

But when a raging brush fire broke out near his home in Gorman on Friday, he answered the call with his chief.

Almost instantly, they were surrounded by the flames.

"At this point, we are at a dead sprint, trying to outrun the fire," Clark said.

A blast of flames scarred his face with first degree burns. He suffered third degree burns to his hands.

The fire truck they were on was destroyed.

And that's when he saw one of his fellow firefighters collapse.

Read it all and watch related video HERE.

Tampa (FL) Firefighter Rescues Man Trapped Behind Burglar Bars at Fire

Via tampabay.com:

A fast-acting firefighter rescued a man trapped behind the burglar bars on his front door as his home filled with smoke late Monday, according to fire officials.

Hazziz Crawford, 34, suffered smoke inhalation and minor burns, but was expected to survive. No one else was injured.

Fire crews responded to a house fire at 2204 E Chipco St. about 10:48 p.m., arriving about five minutes later. Firefighter Jason Luna grabbed a prying tool and rushed to the front porch.

He quickly sprung open the burglar bars and helped Crawford away from the smoke.

Read more HERE.

Firefighters Help Remove Commuters Stuck on L.A. Metro Train

From the L.A. Times:

A Red Line train was stuck in a tunnel Monday morning between the Westlake and Alvarado stations, prompting the evacuation of 200 morning commuters.

The Los Angeles Fire Department was called at 9:08 a.m. to assist in the evacuation, said spokesman Erik Scott.

Read more HERE.

Virginia Beach (VA) Firefighters Rescue Bear from Tree

Not your usual cat-stuck-in-a-tree call:

A dangling, dozing black bear would still be in the tree at 16th and Cypress at the Oceanfront had it not been for the Virginia Beach firefighters.

"We train to get people out of trees so bears [are] not that far off," said firefighter Mike Hopkins.

Except for the claws and teeth which is why Hopkins had to wait for the tranquilizer to take effect to do his job.

"We wrapped the sling around the tree and then hung the pulley on the sling over top of the bear," he said.

Read more at WAVY.com HERE.

OR Firefighter Attacked During Rescue

Via KATU:

GOVERNMENT CAMP, Ore. - One firefighter suffered a minor injury while responding to an apartment fire late Wednesday night in Government Camp, according to officials.

Firefighters said they responded to a call for help at about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday and were set upon by young people as an apartment in the complex where their party was going on went up in flames.

One woman, reportedly trapped on a second floor as the flames spread, jumped into a snow bank to escape the fire. When a firefighter went to help her, he was reportedly attacked by party goers who threw beer cans, water bottles, hard-packed snowballs - and a fire extinguisher.

Read more HERE For more on situational awareness and firefighter self-defense at incident scenes, CLICK HERE.