SO FAR THERE HAVE BEEN NO VICTIMS FOUND IN THE PILE of concrete flooring and automobiles in the parking deck in Atlanta that collapsed during Monday’s lunch hour. In addition, no missing people have been reported. For the initial reports on this incident, see the Firegeezer posting HERE.
“At this point, we still haven’t found any signs of any victims,” Atlanta Fire and Rescue spokesman Bobby Stewart said. “We are going to search every corner, every confined space, every vehicle to make sure no victim is left behind.”
The search stalled during the night when the building shifted. It took fire crews several hours to shore up the building. At least 38 cars were caught in the collapse.
“Overnight, I would say we have made very good progress,” said Atlanta Fire Battalion Chief Steven Woodworth said.
This video update from WAGA-TV Ch. 5 has some better pictures as well as a good situation report from the fire department:
TWO VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS IN JACKSON COUNTY, ALABAMA, were arrested yesterday on arson charges following a grand jury indictment.
The fire in question occurred on March 8 and after investigation was determined to have been intentionally set. Officers believe that three men, all in their mid-twenties, deliberately set more than one fire so that two of them could race back to the fire station and respond on the fire call.
24-year-old Travis Edward Wallace from Woodville and 23-year-old Casey Duane Wilkinson from Scottsboro were both firefighters with the Woodville Volunteer Fire Department. Jackson County Sheriff’s deputies are still looking for the third suspect, 26-year-old Edward Lee Childress, who’s not a volunteer firefighter.
IF THE AIRLINES CAN DO IT, THEN WHY NOT THE AMBULANCE SERVICES? The local AMR ambulance service told the Shawnee County, Kansas, commissioners last night that overweight people and others who are critically injured require more manpower and equipment to be cared for.
The County Commissioners agreed and approved raising the rates for critical care patients and patients who weigh more than 350-pounds from $629 to $1172. The new rates will go into effect on July 1 except for Medicare and Medicaid patients whose fees are set by federal regulations.
The Topeka Capital-Journal adds:
The higher price for critical care patients will pay for an additional care technician and medical equipment, including vents, medical pumps, I.V. and cardiac monitors during their rides, said Ken Keller, AMR Topeka director.
Critical care patients, Keller said, are the more unstable patients that AMR transports from more limited or “lower care” facilities to “higher care” hospitals. The technicians who transport them must complete a 240-hour course taught by doctors and nurses.
Keller said AMR needed to increase its charge for bariatric patients to pay for more manpower and transportation equipment. The bariatric equipment includes extra large and reinforced cots, as well as a winch to help technicians load the patients into the back of the ambulance.
“These people have special needs during transport,” Keller said of the bariatric patients. “Many of these people don’t fit our standard cots. Our normal cots will hold over 500 pounds, but when you max out the ability of the cot, you put the patients at risk. Having these resources means a little less manpower and a much safer way to lift the patients.”
“I don’t think a lot of people are aware about the number of bariatric patients we see,” Keller said. “We have a number of people in this town between 500 and 600 pounds that the general public never sees.”
IN VIAREGGIO, ITALY, A 14-CAR TRAIN DERAILED while passing through a residential neighborhood just before midnight last night. The residents in the village on the Tuscan seacoast were asleep when the crash involving six tank cars carrying liquified natural petroleum gas caused one to rupture and the ensuing explosion leveled at least five buildings and set fire to a large area around the crash scene.
The early report on casualties shows 15 dead and 50 injured, many with severe burns, but authorities say that the toll will be much higher as more area is searched and missing people are reported.
About 300 people have been evacuated from the area which has now been secured until operations and searches are completed.
This is an ongoing incident and will be updated when more information is released.
Sky News has some early video from the scene:
Here’s a slide show of several dozen still shots from the scene:
Wow… the last day of the month. That’s payday here, and now we’re heading into the summer doldrums. I’ve got a few odds’n'ends sitting on the desktop that I could dispose of here to help close things out.
First of all, since we brought up the Billy Mays story the other day, the coroner says that it’s most likely that he died from the effects of hypertensive heart disease. He can’t say that officially until the toxicology tests are completed, but he’s certain that’s what the outcome will be. He found no evidence of any head trauma as a result of the airplane accident the day before. I’m wondering if that illness is so hard to detect that a good physical exam wouldn’t find it? What a shame.
Firefighter Nation (http://www.firefighternation.com/ ) is closing in on 40,000 members. They’ll hit the mark sometime in the next few days. Now that is truly a remarkable achievement.
One of those “We had a call like that, once.” stories popped up yesterday from Waterville, Maine. It’s more of a police story, but since they did call the ambulance for this guy, I can stretch the relevency of the topic to be included here. I’ll just link to the newspaper account and let you read it, but it has to do with a young man jumping up and down on the hood of a car while wearing nothing but his underpants and covered with “…a pink substance believed to be Pepto-Bismol.” I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the Happy Medic that ran the call. Here’s the STORY.
Speaking of the Happy Medic, you’ll probably enjoy reading his brief history of why the FD’s use “bugles” as a sign of rank HERE.
When we guided you to the revamped Western Pennsylvania Firefighting website the other day (HERE), we wondered aloud why they call it “Hoopie World.” Well, Jeff decided to tell the tale of how that name came about. It has to do with some folks referring to Hoopies and Whackers. Read the background on this regional slang HERE and be sure you read far enough to catch the “You know you might be a Whacker when…..” listing.
Before we start getting ready for the July 4th weekend, we’d better get this equipment checked out now. I’m going to start a fresh pot. We’ll meet back in the day room in a little while.
A MULTI-STORY PARKING DECK IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA, had a partial collapse around 12:20 this afternoon during the lunch hour. A center portion of the fourth floor suddenly fell and everything below it pancaked down to the bottom level, smashing and trapping about 35 automobiles.
Cellphone snap via Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Firefighters from Atlanta along with DeKalb and Cobb Counties are on the scene. At first they were prevented from entering until it was determined that there was not going to be any additional structure failure. US & R crews have now stabilized the damaged area and a full primary search has found nobody trapped or injured in the collapse zone.
AJC
The overall structure is intact as well as the entrance and ramp. After additional shoring is completed the police search dogs will go through the entire 6-story garage for a complete sweep for any victims. The FD expects to be on the scene for 24 hours or longer. There is no immediate information as to what caused the collapse.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has the early STORY.
WAGA-TV Ch. 5 has some early video:
Update: See Tuesday’s updated report with more photos and video HERE.
Update, 2:50 pm: Link to full ruling and videos added. Scroll down.
THE U. S. SUPREME COURT HANDED DOWN ITS DECISION this morning on the appeal by New Haven, Connecticut, firefighters who claimed they were unfairly denied promotions because of their race.
The Court’s ruling overturning the lower Appeals Court’s denial was decided on a 5 - 4 vote.
Six years ago, in 2003, the New Haven Fire Dept. held a promotional examination to establish a list of qualified applicants to fill vacancies for Fire Captain and Fire Lieutenant. The final score for the exam was weighted 60% for the written portion of the exam and 40% for the oral interview.
In order to preclude any difficulties arising from racial discrimination accusations, the city hired a “diversity testing firm” for $100,000 to design a race-neutral examination. Yet when the test results were compiled, the top members on the list were all white applicants and one hispanic. The rest of the protected class members were so far down the list that they would not be promoted from it.
The city Civil Service Board was unhappy with the results (they were hoping for a happy racial mix that reflected the population distribution) and arbitrarily threw out the examination results. They claimed that they did that to prevent being sued by minority groups.
The top scorers on the list then filed a reverse-discrimination suit against the city and it has been wending its way through the courts now for five years. In that time, no vacancies have been filled while the open slots have been apportioned to lower-level officers filling them on an “acting” basis, including some members who failed the promotional exam that is contested.
The complainants lost their initial trial and were rebuffed by the Court of Appeals who upheld the city’s actions. On January 9 of this year the Supreme Court agreed to accept the appeal from the New Haven, Connecticut, firefighters in the case known as Ricci v. DeStefano.
Update, 2:50 pm: Dave Statter at STATter911 has posted the full Supreme Court ruling (in .pdf). You can read the entire 92-page decision HERE.
WTNH-TV Ch. 8, New Haven has this video report on the ruling:
WTNH-TV also has this press confernce held shortly after noon by the firefighters’ lawyer:
Shortly afterwards New Haven Mayor John DeStefano held this news conference:
A FAMILY DOLLAR STORE IN TERRE HAUTE, INDIANA, burned down Sunday afternoon. The fire began around 4:15 pm and spread rapidly. The FD found the building heavily involved on arrival.
There were two employees and three customers inside the store when the fire started, but they all were able to get out safely. The fire department says that the blaze is suspicious.
