We had a double house fire here several weeks ago. Once we laid our lines in and started our initial attack, we learned that one of the houses belonged to one of our city’s newest police officers. He had just moved in and was in the process of getting insurance.
He lost a lot of his belongings due to fire and smoke damage. Our firefighter’s union donated our time to help rebuild and some funds to help with the burden of buying some important items.
Not only do we look out for o... Read Full Story
My husband came on KCFD at 19, the year was 1969. We met when I was 12 and got married when I was 17. John spent the next 30 years on KCFD. Our children were raised between home and the fire station.
My youngest brother came on 10 years later at 19. He is still working and he is a Battalion Chief. My son in law, Mac, worked at one of the busiest station in KC for 31 years. He was planning to retire after 32 years. He gave his spot to a young fire fighter wanting to be where all the action w... Read Full Story
BEAUMONT, TEXAS, FIREFIGHTERS HAD A COMPACT RESCUE CHALLENGE when they responded to the rear of a gas station where they found a trash truck waiting for them. Apparently one of Beaumont’s street people spent the night sleeping in a dumpster that was so cozy that he missed the alarm at sunup. A waste collection truck dumped the container and moved on to the next stop. After three more stops, the driver ran the compactor on the truck and that’s when he heard some screaming coming from inside. Read Full Story
The evening of November 14, 1970, was cool, light rain, and fog was moving into the area. The Marshall University Football Team was returning from a game aboard a chartered plane when they crashed upon approach to the Tri-State Airport, Huntington, West Virginia, killing the majority of the Marshall Football Team, Coaching Staff, some Supporters, and the Flight Crew.
The plane crashed approximately 500 foot from Route 75, in a hollow, just short of the runway, all on board perished in the cr... Read Full Story
My daddy is a hero once again.
A new day will soon begin.
He saved another life.
Today he showed his bravery,
he went into a burning building.
With all the smoke detectors ringing.
Angry fire roaring out the windows,
the fire his only foe.
The smoke following it.
The roof caving in, the floor falling away,
but he went in anyway.
He and his crew,
trying their best to extinguish this colored monster
and her witches brew.
The fire creeping upon new places to consume.
The only peaceful light come... Read Full Story
I am the chief of the North Hopkins vol. fire dept. Around 10 AM we were toned to a fatality head on collision, where a grain truck and an armored car collided. Sadly the driver of the armored car and the 18 wheeler had the same idea at the same time, which was to hit the shoulder of the road. The force was so intense it completely took the cab off of the chassis of the armored car. Unfortunately, the passenger in the wheeler was killed. The driver of the 18 wheeler had cuts and bruises bu... Read Full Story
I believe that by talking about this story it will help me because it is something that has been on my heart for some time. I am a 28-year old black volunteer fire chief in Texas. I started my firefighting career as a junior firefighter when I was 13. I am both a paid and volunteer firefighter.
Here is my story. I was a volunteer fire lieutenant for this little town near Austin. As the Lieutenant of Co.2, I had a few responsibilities, but the one I loved the most was teaching fellow membe... Read Full Story
1935 Response from the US Forest Service to a proposal to parachute firefighters into forest fires-
“I will remind you that you wrote some time ago about J.B. Bruce’s scheme of dropping men from airplanes for firefighting. I am willing to take a chance on most any kind of a proposition that promises better action on fires, but I hesitate very much to go into the kind of thing that Bruce proposes. In the first place, the best information I can get from experienced fliers is that all parachute ... Read Full Story
Earl Cooley knew that the very thought of leaping from airplanes into raging forest fires kept others awake at night. But not him.
“I don’t know why, but I am never afraid to jump”
On July 12, 1940, in a new Forest Service program, Mr. Cooley became one of the first two men to parachute from a plane to fight a forest fire. On his first jump he landed on the top branches of a spruce tree.
Mr. Cooley died at 98 in Missoula, Montana.
(From a NY Times Obituary) Read Full Story
