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Site last updated on::
12/14/07
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Top News:
Baltimore Ladder Truck in Crash Ran Red Light
The driver of a city firetruck that hit a sport utility vehicle Sunday, killing its three occupants, sped through a red light at a Northwest Baltimore intersection while going 47 mph, according to a preliminary investigation by city police. A police spokesman said yesterday that the Nissan Murano was going 23 mph when it was hit by the truck at Park Heights Avenue and Clarks Lane about 3:20 a.m. The driver, Iryna Petrov, 49, was killed, along with her husband, Mikhail Petrov, 35, and friend Igor Saub, 24. "This is not a determination of cause," police spokesman Sterling Clifford said of the results released yesterday. "These are some basic facts that we know, but as far as city government is concerned, this is still an incident under investigation." Officials said they have not determined whether charges will be filed in what is regarded as the worst vehicle accident involving Baltimore firefighters and civilians in 50 years. Once police conclude their investigation, probably in a few weeks, the results will be turned over to city prosecutors, who can file charges, send the case to a grand jury or close the inquiry.
This weeks featured pick is:
Found family history
I've always concidered myself pretty much a foster child as my mother died when I was nine and never knew my real father. They divorced when I was three. I grew up in a foster home and never new anything about my family tree. As the years passed...I married a wonderful man (still married by the way), had 4 great kids and now 3 grandchildren. In 1986 I was approached by two of the volunteer firemen in my town, (Farmington, CA.) and asked if I would be interested in becoming a volunteer. I was shocked to say the least. Well, to make a long story short, I joined the department in that same year, after 6 years became a Capt., after another 6 years as Capt. I was appointed Fire Chief. That in itself is not that interesting, however, last year a woman came into the fire house and introduced herself as my cousin on my real Dad's side of the family. She had written a book about our family and tracked me down. We have been in touch ever since. Now the fact that I am the first woman Fire Chief in San Joaquin County is not the main plot to my story. Nor the fact that my oldest son and daughter are firefighters also. Yesterday, my cousin came to town and delivered some photos of our grandparents (whom I never met) and a family tree dating back to England and Scotland in the year 1680. I was amazed when I saw two of the photographs were of my Grandfather, James Delbert Lindsey sitting in the drivers seat of Engine Co #8 of the Denver, Colorado Fire Department, the other was him standing next to the Engine. Unfortunately there was no date on the photo. I had no idea there was any history of firefighting in my family. According to the family history, my grandfather died Sept. 22, 1930 at the age of 45, in Denver. I have no information on how he passed or on his career with the Denver fire dept. It's wonderful that now my children and grandchildren have a family history to refer to. The fact that my Grandfather was a firefighter, well I consider that just one of those little wonders that all of us as firefighters witness daily. If there is a firefighter with the Denver Fire Dept. out there that might be able to confirm this I would greatly appreciate it. The info on the group photo states the following: Engine Co. #8, Truck Co. #4, 1618 Marian Street, Denver,Colorado. Thank you, Chief Conni Bailey, Farmington Fire Dept. California.
I've always concidered myself pretty much a foster child as my mother died when I was nine and never knew my real father. They divorced when I was three. I grew up in a foster home and never new anything about my family tree. As the years passed...I married a wonderful man (still married by the way), had 4 great kids and now 3 grandchildren. In 1986 I was approached by two of the volunteer firemen in my town, (Farmington, CA.) and asked if I would be interested in becoming a volunteer. I was shocked to say the least. Well, to make a long story short, I joined the department in that same year, after 6 years became a Capt., after another 6 years as Capt. I was appointed Fire Chief. That in itself is not that interesting, however, last year a woman came into the fire house and introduced herself as my cousin on my real Dad's side of the family. She had written a book about our family and tracked me down. We have been in touch ever since. Now the fact that I am the first woman Fire Chief in San Joaquin County is not the main plot to my story. Nor the fact that my oldest son and daughter are firefighters also. Yesterday, my cousin came to town and delivered some photos of our grandparents (whom I never met) and a family tree dating back to England and Scotland in the year 1680. I was amazed when I saw two of the photographs were of my Grandfather, James Delbert Lindsey sitting in the drivers seat of Engine Co #8 of the Denver, Colorado Fire Department, the other was him standing next to the Engine. Unfortunately there was no date on the photo. I had no idea there was any history of firefighting in my family. According to the family history, my grandfather died Sept. 22, 1930 at the age of 45, in Denver. I have no information on how he passed or on his career with the Denver fire dept. It's wonderful that now my children and grandchildren have a family history to refer to. The fact that my Grandfather was a firefighter, well I consider that just one of those little wonders that all of us as firefighters witness daily. If there is a firefighter with the Denver Fire Dept. out there that might be able to confirm this I would greatly appreciate it. The info on the group photo states the following: Engine Co. #8, Truck Co. #4, 1618 Marian Street, Denver,Colorado. Thank you, Chief Conni Bailey, Farmington Fire Dept. California.
Ten Years in Coma, New York Firefighter's Story Told
When Buffalo Firefighter Donald J. Herbert awakened from his semiconscious state on April 30, 2005, he gave his four sons the greatest gift any parent could give a child. For 10 years, his sons had felt deep anguish, watching their father in a wheelchair, on a feeding tube, and wondering how much he was suffering, how much he knew what he had lost. The day he woke up, he thought all four boys were the same age they had been when he suffered a catastrophic brain injury fighting a fire in December 1995. The boys talked with him, about their shared love of fishing and hunting; the older ones even introduced their girlfriends. The experience, as brief as it was, brought the four sons together. "I definitely believe Don hung on for us," his wife, Linda Herbert, said in an interview this week. "Then when he woke up and didn't remember any of it, that was a gift to us. I think God protected us. It was a relief that the kids knew he had not suffered and sat in anguish for 10 years." Linda Herbert is telling her story now -- to the nation. On the eve of the publishing of her cousin Rich Blake's book, "The Day Donny Herbert Woke Up," the family's story will be part of a CBS "60 Minutes" segment called "Awakenings," airing Sunday night. Tuesday, she and Blake will appear on ABC's "Good Morning America." "It's kind of hard, bringing it up again, hard on the kids and hard on me, but the good thing is we can raise public awareness that there are a lot of people in the minimally conscious state that Don was," she said. That's not her only cause. "The other idea is that [firefighting] is a dangerous job," she added. "People become more aware of the risks those guys take and the danger they're in." Linda Herbert glows when she talks about her four boys: Don Jr., 26, an Alfred University graduate; Thomas, 25, now an NFTA police officer and a University at Buffalo graduate; Patrick, 23, a Brockport State graduate and fisheries biologist; and Nicholas, 15, a sophomore at Bishop Timon-St. Jude High School. In a move that would make their father proud, the three older sons plan to take the Buffalo fire exam. All the boys share their father's interest in helping other people, and they've seen the family-like camaraderie of the Buffalo Fire Department. "If that's what they choose, I would be proud of them," their mother said. "I would support them 100 percent." How about the risk? "You just have to accept it," she said. "I've learned, and they've learned, you just can't escape fate." She's convinced her four sons have become the young men they are, partly because of their father's ordeal. It helped shape who they are. "If he had died in that fire that day or hung on for a few days in the hospital, I don't know if we would have gotten over the shock," she said. "We drew so much strength from him every day. "During those 10 years, you always felt there had to be a reason," she added. "We just didn't know what it was. I feel I got that answered in a sense. They needed the freedom to be able to move on. Don freed them to go on with their lives." The 10-year ordeal turned them into stronger young men, even if it was heartbreaking to witness the pain they felt. Linda Herbert believes her four sons could have gone either way, after dealing with their father's catastrophic injury. "They could have used it as a crutch, or they could have used it to make their dad proud. They did that, in a humble way." In the interview in her South Buffalo home, Linda Herbert also talked about the day her husband died. She knew the end was near, when a nurse at Mercy Hospital, where Herbert had been taken with pneumonia and a fever of about 105 degrees, told her to gather her family. So Thomas, then an Atlanta police officer, caught the last flight out that night. Another son, Patrick, had come home from Brockport State College. Sons Don Jr. and Nicholas already were here. Early on the morning of Feb. 21, 2006, Herbert's wife and four boys gathered around him to say good-bye. "I said to Don, 'All your boys are here. We're here with you. It's OK,' " Linda Herbert recalled. "We were watching on the monitor, and we knew when his heart stopped." Donald Herbert still was attached to his respirator. "Donny [Jr.] just leaned over and said, 'Dad doesn't want this anymore.' And then he just lifted up the respirator." Looking back at his death almost two years ago, Linda Herbert thinks it makes sense when and where he died -- in the same hospital where he had been born. "It was just the way it was supposed to be," she said. "All four boys were here, and he was here in his neighborhood, about a mile, a mile and a half, from home, with his family and friends." Linda Herbert is pleased with the book written by her first cousin, Blake, a West Seneca native and senior editor at Trader Monthly magazine. The book gave her and her family a chance to tell their story, in their own time frame. They weren't ready immediately after Herbert's death. The book also answers many people's questions about Herbert's life, his injury, his awakening and his death. In the long run, when the four sons have their own children, when they're older and look back at that 10-year period, their mother hopes the book will help provide some closure for them. "I just hope that when people read it, they don't just feel sorry for us," she said. "We had great times, and even when Don had his disability, we all drew strength from that. "I have four beautiful kids who are healthy. They loved their dad, and they love me. They wouldn't have moved on with their lives if Don had remained in the condition he was in. "He gave them permission to move on."
The Ten Commandments of Rolling Code
1. Thou shalt threat thy pumper as though it were your firstborn child.
2. Blow thy siren and shine thy light with great vigor enroute.
3. Know where thy goest at all times.
4. Be certain all those in attendance are affixed prior to venturing forth.
5. Thou shalt arriveth shiny side up.
6. Be ever so humble when thy mic is keyed.
7. Thou shalt not leave thy station 'til thy door is openeth.
8. Thou shalt not closeth thy bay door too soon.
9. Thou shalt closeth all compartment doors when thou art done.
10. Thou shalt never chastise thy driver for making a wrong turn when it results in a return to the firehouse.
In Memory of 9-11-01:
We will not Forget the fallen.
"Lets Roll" - Todd Beamer
"Some gave all, all gave some" - Unknown
