Deer's Head Hospital has an electrical fire that just broke out on the 2nd floor in the electrical room. Station 2 was dispatched and now 16 & 1 are on their way. The Heat & A/C System caught on fire. When they cut it off the smoke started dissipating. More to come.
UPDATE: While the City of Salisbury has dumped millions upon millions of dollars into the Fire Department, some very scary things happened at the Hospital fire today.
The duty crew from Station 2 was on the scene and inside the building calling out over the radio 4 TIMES asking for the Assistant Chief to bring in Thermal Imaging Cameras. The Assistant Chief did not respond to their request. Finally the Assistant Chief called in on his radio and learned that his radio was NOT working properly.
Also, at the same time, Paramedic 16 Ambulance was at PRMC where they had left their radio in the vehicle with the emergency button locked on. This created quite a scare as well. The radios are not working properly and this is frankly inexcusable. The firefighters safety should be priority #1. Looks like the citizens will be forking up some more money real soon for new equipment there too.
The fire/situation is now under control at 1:00 PM.
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
10 comments:
Sounds like a day of mandatory radio training is in order. This is the type of incident that will cost a firefighter or citizen his life.
And didn't we just get a big load of new, state-of-the-art radios for SFD?
Someone could of been seriously injured due to a radio not working properly.
BUBBA, SEE & GORDY...whats your excuse this time?
The money used for SEE to go away could of been used towards radios or a class on how to work the radios properly. I agree 1:27, I thought SPD got them also.
Sensors should have shut it off.
There will probably be more MANDATORY training on radio use. If not they will lock your gear up for 90 days, and then the radios still wont' work properly.
Your welcome Chief C , Gordo , and Hopeless.
FYI, Wicomico County owns and operates the emergency radio system. The SFD does not have any control over how the system operates.
They do purchase the individual radios and as an employee I have yet to see a new one placed in service. Several batteries were recently purchased but no new radios. Somebody please correct me if I am wrong about the new radios, but I havn't seen them on any of the units.
Rob Frampton
Mr. Frampton,
I believe in your freedom of speech, but I would tread carefully about what discussion you have on the blogs. Please use extreme caution as people talk and point fingers. I don't want to see any retalliation.
If the Asst. Chief didnt hear the call, I can tell you why. Chief See has the speakers shut off in the Headquarters section because he doesnt want to hear fire calls. This has happened before because of his refusal to have the calls heard.
Anonymous said...
If the Asst. Chief didnt hear the call, I can tell you why. Chief See has the speakers shut off in the Headquarters section because he doesnt want to hear fire calls. This has happened before because of his refusal to have the calls heard.
8:37 PM
Wow, AC Rat would have had to have big ears to hear those speakers all way from Deer heads, LMAO
Sounds to me like a disgruntled fireperson is trying Monday Morning Quarterback a call. Go do your hose testing or paint some fire hydrants, either way get a life.
Joe:
I spoke w/ the Lt in charge of the interior operation. He stated he did attempt to make contact w/ me several times. He was in an area inside the bldg that was keeping him from making contact w/ me. He stated that his traffic was positional, which is a result of the building itself. This is an unfortunate factor that fire departments across the country deal with occassionally and while very frustrating, are things we have to find a way to work around and deal with. I dont like it but I have yet to speak w/ any fire department anywhere in the country that doesnt have some of these same issues.
Just FYI, there was never any "fire". A HVAC motor had malfuntioned causing a smoke condition in the immediate area. The Lt. was absolutely correct in upgrading the event to a structure fire as he was dealing w/ smoke in a target structure of unknown origin. That was an excellent call on his part.
Rob is correct in his statement that the County owns/operates the radio system. I have done some checking and there have been no recent radio purchases. New batteries, but no radios. The County is investigating a new radio system and purchasing current radios would be useless as they would be incompatible w/ the new system when that eventually occurs. This has NOTHING to do w/ the SFD either, so no one need run w/ that. Any radio system is investigated, designed, and purchased at the approval of the Radio Committee w/ the blessing of the Wicomico County Chief's Assoc.
The medic unit w/ the emergency button activated was not A16. They were at the scene and were put to work in investigating the origin of the smoke. The unit in question did have an accidental activation while at PRMC. The radio traffic from dispatch attempting to ascertain the wellfare of that unit was part of the issue w/ the Lt's request for the TIC as he was inadvertantly being walked on. PRMC is one of the very worst spots our radios tend to not work properly. Imagine that!! But it is the truth and the crew w/ the emergency button wasnt even aware they were being summoned by dispatch. Again, a building issue...
I very much appreciate your concern for the firefighters safety and thank you for that. An improved/upgraded/updated radio system will eventually be implemented. I would guess it would be a digital system although I openly admit my ignorance on radio system facts and how they truly work. What's important to me is that when the guys key up, I can hear them so I can get them what they need as quickly as possible.
Often times we "learn as we go". Unfortunately, we wont know where and when our radios may fail until they do on scene. We do however make mental notes of this and will be much more aware should we have to return to that same place.
Thanks for your time and appreciate your concern for our safety, Joe...
JG
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