Connellsville Apartment Fire

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Apartment fire extinguished in Connellsville
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02/28/2009
Updated 02/28/2009 12:09:22 AM EST
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John F. Brothers/Herald-Standard
Connellsville firemen were called to a fire on the fourth floor of the Riverview Apartments at 10:10 p.m. Friday.

The fire was extinguished quickly, but not before it filled the fourth floor with smoke, sending at least one resident to the hospital with smoke inhalation. Residents of the fourth floor were evacuated to the lobby until the smoke was cleared. Connellsville Police, New Haven firefighters and Fayette EMS personnel were on the scene. No further details were available Friday night.

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Blaze at New York Fire Hall Damages Engine and Other Vehicles

CAMBRIA, N.Y. – Cambria Fire Chief Dale Heiser could hardly believe it when he heard the call come over his scanner.

About 1 p.m. Monday, the report went out that there was a fire at 4631 Cambria-Wilson Road — the address of the main hall for the Cambria Volunteer Fire Co.

“I thought, ‘No,’ ” Heiser said, shaking his head.

Sure enough, a Cambria fire engine, which was parked in the hall’s concrete garage, had caught fire and was burning, filling the air with smoke.

In the wooden fire hall adjacent to the garage, Third Assistant Chief John Presley and firefighter Tom Kovach were in the kitchen preparing for a dinner when they noticed smoke coming from the garage, according to a sheriff’s department report.

Presley opened the garage bay door and realized the engine pumper was on fire.

“By the time they walked back to take a look, they couldn’t even open the doors,” Heiser said.

The call went out for mutual aid, and fire crews from the other Cambria hall responded, along with crews from Wilson, South Wilson, Wrights Corners and Pekin volunteer fire companies.

Cambria volunteers, who are used to fighting structure fires, were initially powerless on-scene, because they couldn’t get inside the garage to get their gear.

“Of course, it makes everybody nuts because they can’t do anything,” Heiser said. “(They) just stood there watching it burn.”

Heiser said he wanted to thank all the firefighters from neighboring companies for their help.

The engine was parked in the middle of the garage, next to a 75-foot aerial truck and two ambulances.

Crews were able to pull out both ambulances and the aerial truck, but both suffered some damage from the flames and smoke.

The engine pumper suffered heavy fire damage.

Heiser said the pumper is worth about $300,000 and is likely a total loss. The sheriff’s report listed the combined value of the other vehicles at $782,000, pushing the reported damage over $1 million.

Heiser said the company will most likely make an emergency purchase.

The county’s origin and cause team responded to the scene, and the fire is under investigation.

Donations can be sent to:

Cambria Vol. Fire Co. Fire Recovery Fund
4631 Cambria-Wilson Road
Lockport, New York 14094

Fake Hydrant Frustrates West Virginia Firefighters

DAVIS CREEK, W.Va. – In an emergency every second counts, but valuable time was wasted Tuesday when firefighters were left high and dry trying to hook up to a hydrant that turned out to be fake.

Firefighters are still trying to figure out why the hydrant was there. They said some people use them as decoration, but also said it could be used to defraud their insurance company.

It created a very dangerous situation, though, Tuesday morning in Davis Creek. Fire Chief Jeff Snodgrass said his firefighters spent about 15 minutes hooking up to the hydrant and the had to unhook and switch gears to haul in the water.

He said the problem is created because not all hydrants look alike — ones operated by West Virginia American Water are all blue and white. But private hydrants in subdivisions and installed by home owners can be any color of the rainbow.

“People install these for decoration or for the convenience of their pets,” Snodgrass said. “If the fire department is not notified about it, to us — even our trained eye — this fire hydrant looks like a real true fire hydrant.”

Now the West Virginia Legislature is efforting a bill that would require all non-working hydrants to be identified by painting the hydrant black or putting a tarp over it if it’s not working.

The fire department is still trying to figure exactly why that fire hydrant was there. And, so far, they don’t know how the fire started. No one was home at the time.

Boys, 9 and 11, rescued from Lake Erie ice

By The Associated Press

Two boys, ages 9 and 11, have been rescued after they became
stranded off the Lake Erie shoreline in northwestern Pennsylvania while
walking on the melting ice.

Police in Millcreek Township, near Erie, aren’t releasing the boys’ names because of their ages.

Police say the boys were walking on the ice about a mile from shore
when they became stranded as the ice around them melted and cracked as
temperatures rose on Tuesday afternoon.

Rescue crews were able to get to the boys in a fan boat just before 6
p.m. The boys were brought to shore, treated by paramedics and have
been released to their parents.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/breaking/s_611191.html

Trailer burns in Carroll Township

Firefighters battled a blaze that broke out around 7 p.m. Monday at a mobile home on Bentleyville Road in Carroll Township.

Volunteer firefighters from Valley Inn and Carroll Township responded, as well as Tri-Community Ambulance Service personnel and Carroll Township police.

Despite the efforts of fire crews, the structure was destroyed.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/valleyindependent/s_611059.html

Crashes prompt bill to regulate medical helicopters

By Bonnie Pfister
TRIBUNE-REVIEW

In response to increasing accidents, Rep. Jason Altmire said Monday he will introduce legislation to allow states greater control over medical helicopters.

The McCandless Democrat’s proposal would offer a counterweight to the way air ambulance companies have circumvented state rules about where medical helicopter bases can be located. In many states, for-profit air service companies have cited the 30-year-old Airline Deregulation Act as the reason they no longer must be affiliated with hospitals or demonstrate clear medical demand for their services.

Ground ambulances, on the other hand, must receive certificates of medical necessity before opening bases of operation.

Altmire said he hopes to introduce his bill this month. Last week, the National Transportation Safety Board held a four-day hearing about a spike in fatal in air medical crashes. Last year, 28 people died in such crashes, according to The Associated Press. None were in Pennsylvania.

“We were hearing cases of these for-profits setting up shop, coming across state lines. Some of the difficulties that resulted in crashes come from a lack of familiarity with the area,” said Altmire, a member of the House aviation subcommittee. “Everyone should have the peace of mind that when a medical transport comes to pick you up they’re going to know the terrain, and region; that they will understand the reputation of local hospitals for certain medical specialties.”

That has not happened in Western Pennsylvania because, Altmire said, “we have a system dominated by one provider.”

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center controls the board of the Center For Emergency Medicine, a nonprofit that operates 17 STAT MedEvac helicopters. Eleven are based in 10 Western Pennsylvania counties, with an additional one each in Blair and York counties; North Lima and Wintersville, Ohio; Hagerstown, Md; and Washington, D.C.

Rival Allegheny General Hospital operates five LifeFlight helicopters from hospitals in Canonsburg and Indiana; two airports in Westmoreland County; and another in Butler County.

Spokesmen for STAT MedEvac and LifeFlight said they have adopted nonbinding recommendations of the NTSB, including terrain-awareness warning systems and night-vision goggles for pilots and medical crew.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_610963.html

Vehicle Crash with Entrapment – Elizabeth Twp.

On Saturday, February 7th, at 0101 hrs. Station 145, 140 Rescue’s 4 and 7 were alerted to Greenock Buena Vista Rd. between Henderson Rd. and Wildcat Hollow Rd. for the vehicle crash, one pickup truck on its side, with a person trapped.  145 Chief arrived and confirmed the dispatch.  140R4 came on location, initiated stabilization, and assisted EMS with patient access.  R7 arrived, assisted R4 and both crews initiated disentanglement.  145 Engine arrived and took commands order to pull a protection line.  The Jaws were deployed and a roof flap was made to access the patient.  Patient was immobilized, secured to a long spine board, then extricated from the vehicle.  Units remained on scene till the vehicle was removed.

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Wexford VFC Structure Burn Training

Here are some pictures of a recent structural burn training session taken by Wexford VFC through the Allegheny County Fire Academy.

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Crews Battle Springdale Fire

In the evening of Monday, February 9th, crews responded to a working structure fire at a large 2 story residence.  Crews from Cheswick VFD, Springdale Twp VFD, Rural Ridge VFD, Springdale Boro VFD, Lower Valley EMS, Cheswick PD, Salvation Army Disaster Services, Allegheny County Fire Marshall  were on scene.  Numerous stations were put on mutual aid standby.  Local news channels reported one injured firefighter due to smoke inhalation.

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Arson suspect accused

By Kathie O. Warco, Staff writer

An Elrama man arrested Monday for setting his home on fire with his disabled 10-year-old daughter inside allegedly told a state police fire marshal that he was hoping to have cash and housing donated to him after last month’s fire.

Matthew John Swiantek, 36, of 22 Stout St., was arraigned Monday before District Judge Jay Weller on numerous counts of arson, in addition to charges of criminal mischief and false reports.

Swiantek is accused of using a candle to set fire to his mobile home at 137 Fairview Ave. in Elrama, Union Township. Swiantek and the 10-year-old, who requires round-the-clock care, were in the house. A 14-year-old daughter had not returned home from school. A nurse who cared for the girl left the home about 10 minutes before the fire started. No one was injured, but the mobile home was destroyed.

In his confession to Trooper Shaun Jones, Swiantek said he was under stress because of his limited financial resources. He also owed money to his landlord, Timothy Tortorice. Swiantek allegedly told Jones, a fire marshal, that he started the fire knowing he would receive housing and donations from nonprofit agencies and generous people.

Jones told Weller that this is the third fire to occur at a residence where Swiantek had been living.

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After a June fire at his apartment in Monongahela, Swiantek was interviewed by a reporter from a Pittsburgh television station and made an appeal for donations to replace items lost in the blaze.

His story apparently tugged at the heartstrings of some staff members at Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh, where the youngest girl was a patient. The staff nominated him for the “Extreme Makeover” television show, but the family was not selected.

Weller set Swiantek’s bond at $50,000. Swiantek asked Weller to consider releasing him on his own recognizance.

“As I read the 43 charges against you, 42 are felonies,” Weller said. “At least one of the arson charges involves your own disabled daughter. That could be construed as attempted homicide.
“You’ve had three fires in your residences,” the judge added. “I am concerned that you are a threat to persons and property. This is serious stuff, my friend.”

The fire marshal unit was not called to investigate the two other fires involving Swiantek.

After tearfully hugging relatives in Weller’s courtroom, Swiantek was taken to Washington County Jail. A preliminary hearing is set for Feb. 11 in Central Court.

The two girls are in the care of one of Swiantek’s relatives.

http://www.observer-reporter.com/OR/Story/02-03arson-arrest

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