February 2020
Here’s the latest news impacting Seattle Fire Fighters…
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Local 27 joins IAFF Leadership to support Joe Biden for President
Local 27 President Kenny Stuart was in Los Angeles to participate in an event to support Joe Biden’s presidential endorsement by the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF). The IAFF gave an early endorsement to Joe Biden based on his history of supportive legislation for fire fighter issues. Also on hand to join Local 27 were United Firefighters of Los Angeles City President Freddy Escobar, IAFF President Harold Schaitberger, IAFF General Secretary Ed Kelly, and IAFF 10th District Vice President Frank Lima. President Stuart also updated several Los Angeles Fire Fighters on many of the innovative programs in the SFD, including their Health One Mobile unit.
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UW professor developing 'Firefly' technology to help keep firefighters safe in a crisis
When firefighters take on a fire at a large building or warehouse, there are concerns about 'mayday scenarios,' where a firefighter becomes trapped or disoriented and needs to be rescued. A University of Washington professor and his students are now developing technology that could help keep firefighters safer in those types of scenarios. Professor Matthew Tolentino has a background in hardware and software design and development with Intel. Five years ago, he started teaching full-time at UW and started researching how sensors in buildings might be able to help first responders.
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Honoring Dr. King’s Legacy
As we honor the indelible impact of Dr. King’s work to advance civil rights, we acknowledge our own uneven journey toward racial and social equity. Hired in 1959, Claude Harris was the city’s first Black firefighter and rose through the ranks to become the department’s first Black Fire Chief in 1985. Even as he faced discrimination and bias, his desire to serve Seattle courageously opened doors for others to follow, including our second Black Fire Chief, Gregory Dean. Today, under the leadership of Fire Chief Harold Scoggins, we continue our work toward a diverse, equitable and welcoming work place.
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Homeless encampment fire causing heavy smoke on I-5 in South Seattle
Firefighters are on the scene of a fire at an encampment under I-5 near Airport Way South and South Snoqualmie Street. The fire is generating a lot of heavy smoke across the interstate, according to WSDOT. Motorists should expect traffic delays in the area. There were no initial reports of injuries.
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Seattle Fire “full response” in south Highland Park downsized
Seattle Fire has a “full response” headed to a building in the 9200 block of 9th SW. First units arrived at 3pm on scene and reported that the smoke called in by many passers-by is from “a chicken coop on fire” and the response is being downsized. Firefighters on scene tell us the chickens are OK. The coop is in a private backyard and the owners weren’t there so we couldn’t see it.
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Overheated extension cord sparks blast at S. Seattle home, kids escape
An overheated extension cord is being blamed for a fire that gutted a two-story home Monday in South Seattle, emergency officials said. Crews responded to the scene, in the 10000 block of Beacon Avenue South, at around 3:30 p.m. after receiving reports of smoke and flames billowing from a home there. The home was fully ablaze when firefighters arrived. Crews extinguished the flames, but the home sustained extensive damage in the blaze. The estimated loss is $300,000.
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Annual Christmas-tree bonfire on Alki
Thanks to the texter who sent photos from a briefly sizable Seattle Fire response at 58th and Alki. Turns out tonight’s the night of the annual unofficial Christmas tree bonfire. Though the SFD response was quickly downsized, radio communication indicates the remaining SFD personnel on the scene are now asking for SPD help with “crowd control.”
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Residential Fire in University District
Fire crews quickly extinguished a derelict residential structure fire in the 4700 block of East 15th Avenue in the University District neighborhood shortly after 1:45am. After performing a primary search, no occupants or injuries occurred and the fire was knocked down in under 40 minutes.
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One suspect arrested in deadly Seattle shooting, two others remain on the run
One person has been arrested following a deadly shooting near Seattle's Pike Place Market. In a press conference Thursday afternoon, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best and Seattle Fire Chief Harold Scoggins gave an update on the shooting. They confirmed that one person was arrested from Harborview Medical Center after the shooting. The person also had a gunshot wound but was determined to be a shooter.
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Man dies after shooting at Seattle’s Westlake Center
A man in his 50s was shot inside downtown Seattle’s Westlake Center Tuesday and later died at the hospital, according to Seattle police and Harborview Medical Center. Investigators say the shooting was reported around 3:45 p.m. at the busy shopping mall. Officers said they discovered the victim on a stairwell inside the Westlake Center entrance closest to Wells Fargo along Fourth Avenue. Police say the shooter, possibly a man in his 20s dressed in black, took off running and has not been arrested.
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Car hits building in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood
Construction workers and fire crews pulled a woman out of a car Wednesday morning after it hit a building in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. After 9:30 a.m., crews responded to Boylston Avenue and East Pike Street for a report of a car into a building. Construction workers inside the building told KIRO 7 they heard a boy and came out to find the driver still in the car.
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1 dead, 2 severely injured after Rainier Ave 2-car collision
One man is dead and two others are severely injured after a two-car collision on Rainier Avenue South and South Massachusetts early Saturday morning. Just before 3:00 a.m., a passing motorist reported a collision at that intersection, according to the Seattle Police Department. Officers pronounced one man dead at the scene. A 46-year-old man and a 25-year-old man, who were in opposite cars, were transported to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries, according to Seattle Fire.
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8-Year-Old Dies In Seattle-Area Fire
Authorities say an 8-year-old girl died and four others were burned in a fire that broke out in a house northeast of Seattle in Snohomish County. KING-TV reports a call came in about 1:30 a.m. Monday for the fire about two miles south of Sultan. Snohomish County Fire District 5 Chief Merlin Halvorson says the firefighting effort was hampered by the home’s remote location in the woods where heavy snow had caused trees to fall and block the road.
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Firefighter badly burned in 2015 Twisp River fire reaches $5 million settlement with 2 utilities
A wildland firefighter badly burned in the 2015 Twisp River blaze has reached a $5 million settlement with two utility companies that he had sued for allegedly failing to keep branches away from a power line that state officials concluded caused the ignition. The civil suit that resulted in the settlement was filed by Daniel Lyon Jr., the sole survivor of a four-person engine crew overcome by the Twisp River fire.
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3 American firefighters killed in C-130 crash while battling Australian wildfires
Three American firefighters died in a water tanker plane crash Thursday while battling wildfires in Australia, New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian confirmed. Rural Fire Service officials said they had located the plane, a C-130 Hercules, that crashed in the Snowy Monaro region of New South Wales state. Coulson Aviation in Oregon said in a statement that one of its C-130 Lockheed large air tankers was lost after it left Richmond in New South Wales with retardant for a firebombing mission.
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Addressing the epidemic of firefighter suicide
New statistics estimate that twice as many firefighters in the U.S. die by suicide then in the line of duty. In response, fire officials across the country are looking at possibly cutting back on two-day and three-day shifts so that firefighters can get more sleep and down time, especially for those assigned to very busy fire stations.
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IAFC compiles Wuhan coronavirus resources for fire, EMS leaders
The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) has responded to the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak, which has affected at least five people in the United States, by compiling a list of resources and guidelines for fire and EMS leaders. The IAFC encouraged chiefs to review documents prepared by agencies and organizations, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and World Health Organization (WHO), and added that the list would be updated as new information is made available.
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Photo courtesy of ABC/Image Group LA
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"HEART LIKE MINE:" MIRANDA LAMBERT TO HONOR FIRST RESPONDERS ON "WILDCARD" TOUR
Miranda Lambert will celebrate local heroes on her upcoming tour. The Grammy Award winner has announced that throughout her Wildcard Tour this year, she'll be recognizing heroic men and women in the cities where she's performing and she's calling on fans to help. Miranda will partner with country radio stations around the country to select a first responder at several of her tour stops who will get to attend the show with a guest, in addition to meeting the star. Fans will be able to nominate police officers, firefighters, EMTs and others whom they believe deserve to be recognized.
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‘Station 19’: Seattle gets a bigger role in the third season of ABC’s firefighter drama
When ABC’s Seattle-set firefighter drama “Station 19” comes back Jan. 23 for its third season, viewers will see more of Seattle and more crossovers with “Grey’s Anatomy,” from which “Station 19” was spun off. In October, the “Station 19” cast and crew made the trip up from their Los Angeles home base to film scenes that will be inserted in multiple episodes. Some of the filming took place at the real Seattle Fire Department Station 20, 2800 15th Ave., which plays the role of the show’s Station 19.
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Fire Departments Working To Prevent Suicide Among Firefighters
Twice as many firefighters in the U.S. die by suicide than in the line of duty. Now fire departments are sounding the alarm. Karen and Lew Lewis still treasure the mementos from their son Billy’s dream job, working as a firefighter-paramedic for the Sacramento Fire Department, at the busiest firehouse in the city. “Twenty bad calls a shift, you know, that involved everything from suicides to gunshot victims to knifings and fights,” Lew Lewis said. “These guys see some things that you can’t un-see.
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High Performance Leadership and Coaching Academy- February 25-28 (8:30am -5:30pm)
The Mason County Fire Chiefs Association is hosting a 4-day workshop designed to help current emergency service leaders to 1) Use skills they already know to prevent people problems, 2) Learn key areas of focus to improve the impact of their job performance, 3) Have access to over 20 leadership tools they can take back and use immediately, 4) Engage and develop the employees working on their teams, 5) Develop a flexible style in order to lead everyone, no matter their age or style, and 6) Think on a more comprehensive level about advancing their department’s success.
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IAFF LINE-OF-DUTY
DEATH ANNOUNCEMENTS
Rick Hawkins (Fort McMurray Fire Fighters IAFF Local 2494):
Passed away on 1/17/20 from Respiratory Arrest.
Hilary Hartman (Memphis Fire Fighters Association IAFF Local 5150):
Passed away on 1/20/20 from Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
Christopher M. Still (Weymouth Firefighters IAFF Local 1616):
Passed away on 1/22/20 from Heart Disease.
Stuart L. Weatherford (Tyler Professional Fire Fighters Association IAFF Local 883):
Passed away on 1/24/20 from Stomach Cancer.
Russell D. Horn (New Bedford Firefighters IAFF Local 841):
Passed away on 1/27/20 from Cancer.
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REMEMBERING OUR LOCAL 27
BROTHERS & SISTERS:
Battalion Chief Albert T. Sprague Sr. (Ret.):
Passed away on 1/16/20.
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About Seattle Fire Fighters Union, Local 27:
The Seattle Fire Department became a paid, professional department in 1889 with 32 fire fighters, but it wasn’t until 1917 that the original City Fire Fighters Union No. 15462 was organized. In 1918, the International Association of Fire Fighters was established and the City Fire Fighters Union was admitted as Local 27, one of 218 charter locals. Local 27 has made significant improvements in wages, hours, and working conditions. These advances were due to the hard work and dedication of union officers and the solidarity and support of the membership. For more information, visit iaff27.com.
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