Deadly Respiratory Virus Now in Asia Middle East Respiratory Virus (MERS) has now spread to both Malaysia and the Philippines according to news sources. MERS kills about 50% of those infected through acute pneumonia and renal failure. The World Health Organization has said that “MERS is a threat to the entire world” and the Centers […]

  Seven Minutes and 150 Feet Nearly one year ago, February 26, 2013, two young Navy divers died during a reckless and unnecessary certification dive in frigid 150 feet deep water at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland.  Their deaths were attributable to inadequate leadership, poor procedures and lack of risk assessment. Just four weeks earlier a […]

  Welcome to the Park The Washington Post, a.k.a WaPo, trekked to Fire Land, a.k.a. Prince George’s County, Maryland, to cover the aftermath of a 2012 fire where firefighters were injured. “Cold Air. Then Heat. Then Terror.” That’s the title of their tale, but it’s mostly hot air.  It’s a professionally embarrassing story about a  “fire […]

Answer: Nobody

Does what we expect to happen influence our awareness?

The rest is history though the lessons are widely applicable to firefighting and should not be lost:

We all must remind ourselves and those we care about to stay out of venues where fire survival is unlikely.

There can be but one position and dissent is neither welcome nor tolerated. It is extremely harsh fundamentalist doctrine.

Substitute “collapse”, “flash-over” and “interior firefighting” for “skiing” and avalanche”.

  Post Assigns Witless Reporter                     Prince George’s County, Maryland, is infamous for any number of things including what passes for a fire department in a metropolitan county of just under 900,000 people. The PGFD is mostly known by regular folks from what they read in […]