FDNY All Hands Fire - 1943

First of all, I think a brief lesson in fire service lingo is warranted. For those who might not be familiar, an "All Hands" fire means that units arrived and encountered fire conditions and that all personnel are being put to work. Secondly, if you're like me, you'll notice that the firefighters seem to be walking kind of fast or with an ackward gait . . .it's not them . . .it's an eccentricity of 1940's vintage celluloid film that has been re-mastered.

Now, back to the matter at hand, the video! Up until 2006, the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) operated a unique unit known as the Fire Patrol. The thing that make it unique was the fact that, even though they were dressed in protective gear and looked like firefighters, they were actually civilian members of the Board of Insurance Underwriters . They served the fire department on what was known as the Fire Department Emergency Auxiliary and there primary duty was to prevent secondary damage to burning structures caused by the fire hoses. As shown in the video, this was accomplished by members of the Fire Patrol who would enter the burning structure and place salvage covers over furniture. Although this doesn't sound as dangerous as actually fighting the fire, there were members of the Fire Patrol who were injured and killed in the line of duty. As I mentioned above, they continued to serve the citizens of New York until four years ago when the last unit was disbanded.

Serving others: a time honored tradition

Serving others: a time honored tradition

The actions of firefighters, police officers, and "just plain folk" was perhaps no more evident than when fire struck the Winecoff Hotel located at Ellis and Peachtree Streets

Through out the history of the United States, helping others during their time of need has been a time honored tradition. Perhaps at no other time does this desire to help us show forth as it does during times of disaster – be it fire, tornado, or flood. Perhaps one of the best examples I can think of occurred on December 7, 1946 when a fast moving fire ravaged the Winecoff Hotel located at 176 Peachtree Street (at the intersection of Peachtree Street and Ellis Street). By the time the flames had been extinguished, 119 people had perished – many falling to their deaths when makeshift sheet ropes broke.

Even as firefighter's were still battling the flames, citizen's of the “city to busy to hate” were already coming to the aid of both hotel guest rescued from the fire as well as firefighters themselves. One of the best examples of this – in my opinion – was Georgia Tech student Al Hardy. Hardy, who was headed home after a date, heard of the fire and went directly to the hotel to photograph the unfolding tragedy. Not too long after he arrived, he saw a police officer and firefighter at the nearby Rexall drug store who were reading the emergency contact card on the door of the pharmacy and discussing calling the manager to open the store so emergency workers could have access to first aid supplies. Hardy approached the two men and suggested that they force entry into the store. When they refused, Hardy took the initiative and kicked the door open himself. Shortly thereafter, the store was converted into a temporary aid station where guests with minor injuries could be treated and await word on their loved ones.

Hardy's action, although memorable, weren't the only acts of compassion that cold December morning. Gray Ladies (see footnote below), other Red Cross volunteers, and members of a local Boy Scout troop who made coffee and sandwiches for firefighter and other rescue workers. The Boy Scouts set up makeshift coffee stands on the sidewalk in front of the Rexall store while the Gray Ladies made sandwiches inside.

While there might be some who was disagree with this statement, I think that same spirit of service is still alive and well today. While the Gray Ladies are but a memory today, the service they provided is still found in today's Red Cross. Today assistance would be rendered by a Red Cross Disaster Assistance Team (DAT) comprised of volunteers that can evaluate damage to the structure(s), provide temporary shelter, and assist with providing first aid. And, depending on the magnitude of the fire or disaster, it can be designated a “DR” (Disaster Response) or “DRO” (Disaster Response Operation) which will bring even more personnel and resources to the scene.

Another group that epitomizes the spirit of services are the Amateur Radio operators – affectionately known as Hams. In times of need, they are able to provide communications when other forms might be inoperable or otherwise unavailable. Perhaps one of the best examples of this occurred in late August 2005 as Amateur Radio operators monitored Hurricane Katrina as it approached New Orleans and were prepared to be a vital communications link once she made landfall. And this assistance wasn't just from amateurs in the Gulf coast area. Amateur Radio (and Red Cross) volunteer Bob Joplin was manning his radio in Oklahoma City, OK when he picked up a distress call from people trapped on a roof in New Orleans, LA. Thanks to his fast actions, they were rescued without injury!

I hope that something that I have written here might have piqued your interest in volunteering or, at least, obtaining a little more information. Here are some web addresses:


American Red Cross: http://www.redcross.org/
American Radio Relay League: http://www.arrl.org/
Volunteers of America: http://www.voa.org/



Until next time . . .

1The Gray Ladies were Red Cross volunteers who provided personal services of a non-medical nature to patients in hospitals, other health care facilities, and private homes. This included writing letters, tutoring, reading, and shopping for their patients.

Source: American Red Cross (http://www.redcross.org/museum/history/grayladies.asp)

If it quacks like a duck, then . . .

Kathryn Johnston

CNN link to the story:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/08/16/georgia.botched.raid/index.html?eref=ib_topstories

. . . it must be a duck or so my grandparents used to tell me. Applying that logic, it would appear that the City of Atlanta is admitting guilt in the case of 92 year-old Kathryn Johnston who was shot to death during a botched drug raid on her home in November, 2006. In announcing the settlement, Mayor Kasim Reed said the settlement was "in no way an admission of guilt on the part of the city". Really?

Lets take a look back at that infamous November night. Officers from the department's Narcotics Unit had gone to Ms. Johnston's home to serve a "no knock" search warrant that was obtained on what was later determined to be falsified affidavits stating that drugs were present in the elderly woman's home. Fearing that her home was being broken into, Ms. Johnston fired one shot at the officers with an old pistol. That shot went through the front door of the woman's home and over the heads of the officers. The officers returned fire striking Ms. Johnston five times. According to testimony given in court the officers fired a combined total of 39 times which, even though the elderly woman had fired on them, was definitely over-reaction on the part of the officers.

Since the raid, Officers Jason Smith, Greg Junnier, and Arthur Tesler have been tried in court and found guilty of:

1. Conspiracy to violate civil rights resulting in death.
2. Voluntary manslaughter (Smith and Junnier only)
3. Making false statements (Smith and Junnier only)

Former officer Smith was sentenced to ten (10) years in federal prison; Junnier six (6) years and Tesler five (5) years. In addition, all three men were ordered to split the cost of Ms. Johnston's funeral ($8,180) and three years of supervised release after completing their jail sentences. My question is, if punitive damages were warranted, why didn't the judge impose them at the time of their sentencing rather than the City deciding to pay them?  As I said at the start, if it quacks like a duck. . .

Until next time . . .

It could have been worse . . .

By now, thanks to extensive television and newspaper coverage, I'm sure that most folks have heard about the near riot that occurred yesterday - Wednesday, August 11, 2010 - in East Point, Georgia when an effort to pass out applications for subsidized housing went awry. The problem, as I see it, occurred when the East Point Housing Authority (EPHA) was told to expect 10,000 people and instead had three times that many to get an application to get on the waiting list. The reason for such a large turn out? There were two reasons: 1) Since subsidized housing (more commonly known as Section 8 housing) is funded by federal money, it must be opened to anyone who wants to apply and not just to residents of the municipality where the application is being made available; and 2) The last time the EPHA had allowed potential residents to sign up was 2004. Combine these two factors, add temperatures in the upper eighties to near ninety degrees and you have the recipe for chaos.

The bright side of this potentially ugly incident was the response by the City of East Point. Not just Housing Authority Director Kim Lemish and her staff, but the police department and the fire department as well. All three agencies took steps to see that a potentially bad situation was diffused and that the people standing in line were able to get the application they had come for. By mid-afternoon yesterday the crowd began to disperse having received the prized application and, despite the ugly pictures and news video coming from the parking lot of the Tri-Cities Plaza Shopping Center, no arrest were made. And, despite rumors to the contrary, there were no deaths and only minor injuries -- the majority of those being heat-related.

GOOD JOB EAST POINT!

Until next time . . .

I've said it before . . .

. . . but it bears repeating -- I don't know how some people make it through the day without be attacked by the wood peckers! Case in point: police in Norwood, Ohio (a suburb of Cincinnati) have arrested a 44 year-old woman after she called 911 FOUR TIMES attempting to find a date! Then, just to add insult to injury, when police arrived to confront the woman about making the calls, she refused to come to the door. Later, after she did finally come out, she added another charge to the growing list when she urinated on a wall in the hallway outside of her apartment. To the best of my knowledge, she's still "cooling her heels" in the Norwood city jail.

Just to be fair, stupid people are just limited to north of the Mason-Dixon line. Over this past weekend, I went downtown on MARTA (Atlanta's bus and rail transit system) to return a book to the library and do some research. On the way up I observed a young mother and her - approximately - 18 month-old son sitting across from me on the bus. I'm sure that she meant well, but she paid no more attention to her little boy than the man in the moon. Actually she paid NO ATTENTION to him until he got worn out and made his way up into her lap and went to sleep. Otherwise, she was on the cell phone the entire time and could seem to care less what her son was doing or what he needed. Note to all parents: children are a gift from God and should be treated as such! (Stepping down off my soapbox now.)

Until next time . . .