As people beg, tot leaps from fire
An Alabama man captures chilling video as people beg a child to jump from an apartment fire. The child escaped the fire uninjured when he was caught by a bystander.
Manitoba First Nations can do fire inspections without evictions, inquiry hears
Manitoba’s Fire Commissioner David Schafer says some fatal fires in aboriginal communities could be prevented by regular informal inspections that wouldn’t risk a large number of homes being condemned.
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New Westminster firefighters to look at restructuring
Members of Local 256 of the International Association of Firefighters ratified a collective agreement that includes a 2.5 per cent annual wage increase for each year of the contract, as well as some moves to restructure the department.
New Westminster Fire Department Collective Agreement
The art of burning old growth in Banff
The Sawback area was burned in 1986, 1993 and 1998 — fires that would clean up woody debris and help to knock down any small pines before they started to develop cones and regenerate. In 2014 two more fires were set in the area. There’s a lot of complications but it turned out perfectly.
Better ways to fight fires
Central Ohio has benefited greatly from a long-standing arrangement among 34 independent fire departments resulting in a metropolitan-like fire department. But it is beset with inefficiencies: It lacks economies of scale and mass purchasing power and it skips operational savings in such areas as training, administration and deployment of equipment. The State Fire Marshal, a former fire chief, notes the potential resistance saying “there’s not too many fire stations, but there are too many fire departments.”
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Ontario fire department wins prestigious marketing association award
The Canadian Marketing Association has honoured the London Fire Department and its analytics partner Environics Analytics with a prestigious national award. Using customer segmentation and data analytics expertise provided by Environics Analytics, the fire department’s 2013 campaign identified those who caused the most fires and developed a targeted marketing campaign designed to reduce risky behaviours. Last year, residential fires in London dropped by 22 percent.
Botched probe of California forest fire should worry the public
The 2007 Moonlight Fire in California claimed 65,000 acres. The idea was that government officials — state and federal investigators and prosecutors, could be counted on to conduct an honest investigation and ethical prosecution of those responsible for starting a forest fire. “Corrupt and tainted,” “egregious,” “reprehensible” and “governmental corruption” are the words of California Superior Court stemming from Cal Fire’s fraud-filled investigation.
Non-electric elevator has potential to save lives in building fires
A group of researchers in Beijing are testing a new kind of equipment that, if successful, could significantly add to the chances of survival in a high-rise fire. The equipment, now installed in a 15-story, 40-meter-high, university dormitory, can carry four to five people each trip, from any floor, safely to the ground. Researchers say it’s a fire-proof elevator that operates without electricity.
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Ontario case sets precedent for charges against landlord for fire code violations
On Nov. 3, 2014 a fire in London, Ontario claimed the life of group home tenant Dave MacPherson, 72. Property owner Dharma Meetun and group home operator Keith Charles face 26 Fire Protection and Prevention Act charges between them. The fire department was headed to the building for its fifth inspection in as many days to see if fire code violations had been fixed when the fatal fire broke out. City bylaw inspectors visited the property up to a dozen times in the last year after receiving complaints. The operator, Charles, had been given until February to move or get proper zoning for a group home before the fire took place.
Extinguish fires yourself city fire chief says
The fire departments of The Hague, Amsterdam and Rotterdam are calling on citizens to first try extinguishing fires themselves over New Year’s before calling the fire department. This is because they are too busy during the turning of the year to help everywhere. On a normal day the fire department in The Hague gets around 70 reports of fires. But over New Year’s they sometimes get up to 1,500 reports in a few hours. According to the fire department, there are lots of fires that people can extinguish themselves.
http://www.nltimes.nl/2014/12/31/extinguish-fires-city-fire-chiefs/