HYD #9: It's getting hotter and the job is getting harder. We need to change some things!

Hey Crew!

Happy Monday! It was a busy weekend.

Last Week’s Poll Results: 32% of you stated “Tax Breaks” would be the best incentive. We had a lot of great feedback supporting several of the options.

Pensions came in second. I think the immediate reward of tax credits/refunds etc. wins over the long-term benefit of pensions. I like tuition-reimbursement for younger members. Let them live in the fire stations too!

Poll of the week: We call ourselves the American fire service, but with 30,000 fire departments, we often do things very differently, regardless of NFPA standards. Let’s talk about minimum manning…

This Week’s Highlights: 

• 🔥 2022 FF LODD Stats

• 🪴 FFs Fight Cannabis Fire

• 👩‍🚒 FDNY Roof Rope Rescue

• 🤖 RoboTaxis Plague SFFD

• 👶 FF Adopts FD Baby

ALBANY, NY: Mayday! FF Caught in Flashover (Audio): “Firefighters made entry to the structure and began to conduct a primary search of the building. Conditions inside of the building rapidly deteriorated and one firefighter transmitted the mayday after being caught in a flashover.” The FF was able to escape. (Sidewinder Photography)

CHINATOWN NYC: Fire In E-Bike Store Kills 4: Four people, including a 71-year-old man and 65-year-old woman, died in the inferno just after midnight on Tuesday – the latest victims of a growing problem that’s now claimed the lives of 13 people this year in the nation’s densest city — Same Store Re-Kindles 3 Days Later 😱

BOLTON, MANCHESTER: Stubborn Fire Turns Out To Be POT FARM. Seriously! Firefighters battled the blaze long into the early hours and police now say that having taken closer look it appears there was a cannabis farm hidden in the house’s attic. Did they take longer to extinguish this on purpose :?

BROOKLYN: Another FDNY Rope Rescue! FFs made a ‘just in time’ grab this week, saving a man trapped by flames. The brother hanging from the rope (in video) gets the appropriate praise, but a big shout out to the guy doing the rope work on the roof FF McCue. Details.

SCOTLAND: Firefighters No Longer Respond To Automatic Alarms: The Scottish Fire Service will no longer risk life and limb for automatic alarms. They responded to over 28,000 last year.

This will free up 37,524 hours each year. The FD will still respond to high risk occupancies, like nursing homes, but unless a human reports a fire, they won’t respond.

We should seriously consider this change. A simple risk vs. reward analysis would likely reveal that we stress our departments, bodies and equipment needlessly, while risking MVAs for no reason. This could be a real answer to many of our growing stresses in the service.

MONTREAL: Foreign firefighters fight flames, fatigue and get 'eaten alive' by mosquitoes: “Many foreign firefighters were pressed into service as Canada battles its worst wildfire season in recent memory. Hailing from 10 different countries on five continents, they've been battling flames, fatigue and mosquitoes during stints of 14 consecutive days or more in unfamiliar conditions.”

LOS ANGELES: LA County firefighters unveil new tool in Rancho Palos Verdes to fight wildfires: “A large mobile tank capable of holding thousands of gallons of water was unveiled. The HeloPod was designed and built by Simi Valley-based Pump Pod USA and serves as a mobile, 7,000-gallon dip tank for large helicopters.”

US FOREST SERVICES: The national emergency no one’s talking about: Firefighters are quitting in droves.  “As climate change relentlessly fuels drought and extreme temperatures across the western United States, stagnated wages have created problems for overworked and understaffed wildland firefighters, such as homelessness, suicide, and cancer, according to a May 2021 study”

SAN FRANCISCO: Robo-Taxis Blocking Fire Stations, Run Over Hoses, Interfering with emergency scenes. Unmanned taxis are interfering with fire and EMS scenes are blocking fire houses nearly every day. “The biggest concern is that someone is going to get really severely injured or killed because we cannot properly respond to an incident," Chief Nicholson said."

AUSTIN: Firefighters Dealing With EXTREME HEAT & No AC: “Twenty-one out of 150 fire apparatus in AFD's fleet are currently without a working A/C, despite the oppressive heat in Central Texas.”

US NFPA: 96 Firefighter fatalities in the United States in 2022 | NFPA In 2022, NFPA reported that a total of 96 fatal firefighter injuries occurred while the victims were on duty. This fatal injury count is higher than recent years and the highest since 2013, when 98 on-duty deaths were reported. This increase is largely due to the inclusion of deaths occurring within 24 hours of duty.

Rockland County, NY: Two Rabbis Guilty, But Face No Jail In Death of Firefighter Jared Lloyd: "It's about time us as volunteers, we're 100% volunteers in this county, we start sticking up for ourselves," said Frank Voce of the Rockland County Volunteer Fireman's Association.

“Anger has been building since a gathering on Tuesday to protest a plea deal for Nathaniel and Aaron Sommer, the father/son rabbis who started the Evergreen Court fire in 2021.

They admitted to recklessly using a torch during a pre-Passover cleansing of the kitchen, which started an undetected fire inside a wall that spread to an inferno.”

ROCKFORD, IL: FF Charged w/Reckless Homicide After Crashing Fire Engine — The firefighter’s account of what happened was not backed up by the on-board speed recorder or the drug testing results that showed him above legal limits for THC.

OCALA, FLA: Firefighter Adopts Newborn Girl Left in Florida Safe Haven Baby Box: 'We Locked Eyes and That Was It' - A firefighter with Ocala Fire Rescue in Florida adopted a baby girl left at Fire Station No. 1's Safe Haven Baby Box in January. He and his wife had been trying for 10 years. It was a sign.

HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA: Two Therapy Dogs Hit Front Lines To Give Relief To Exhausted FF’s — Firefighters on the front lines of the wildfires near the Halifax area were greeted by two furry friends on Friday. One firefighter told CBC the visit from the dogs is an "instant stress relief."

Have a great week brothers and sisters! Be the source!