Carl
Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)
CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)
oops....
and unless I am not seeing it right, that looks like one of the real "trucks" as opposed to an engine. Looks like it was a ladder truck, now "unladdered"....
Not insignificant damage either!
She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw
Carl, that link isn't working for me. Here's another one that did -
http://www.freep.com/article/20100301/NEWS01/100301028/1003/news01/Amtrak-train-collides-with-Detroit-fire-truck
Apparently the fire truck was parked across all 3 tracks at a grade crossing - and it's now a 'total loss', according to the article. What were they thinking ? Not !! Well, maybe the manufacturer and its employees get to build a new one now . . .
- Paul North.
Oooof...perhaps Operation Lifesaver should spread their message to Emergency Personnel in addition to through them.
-ChrisWest Chicago, ILChristopher May Fine Art Photography"In wisdom gathered over time I have found that every experience is a form of exploration." ~Ansel Adams
Ive come up on crossings where they parked ambulance on the crossing. with people inside,
Of course it was truck #13.....
Among other items --Since you have to carry a CDL to drive a firetruck the feds should require the CDL to be suspended for 5 years, If I drove a 18 wheeler and did this they can require suspension. That will short circuit the union.
You'd think that emergency personnel would know better. Guess not. Fortunately nobody killed or seriously injured. Unfortunate that it's an obvious embarrassment to the fire department there.
Captain Stanley would never have allowed something like that to happen. Where are Gage and DeSoto when we need them?
Kevin
http://chatanuga.org/RailPage.html
http://chatanuga.org/WLMR.html
My son is a St Paul Minnesota firefighter and he says that ALL the blame should be on the firefighter who drove a $600,000 piece of equipment on the tracks in the first place. His department has responded to fires on railroad property and in 1995 I believe, saved the life of a CP employee at Pig's Eye yard in St Paul who was trapped after a derailment.
On his department,who drives a fire truck is negotiated between the City of St Paul and the firefighters union. The training to drive a fire truck is the responsibility of the fire department only and who operates a fire truck is under the department's control only. The state of Minnesota or the DOT have no control. No CDL is required to drive a fire truck; but other states may have their own rules.
Also, the Detroit Fire Department should have contacted the railroad immediatly when the firetruck was driven on to the tracks,the Amtrak crew could of been at least warned. The fire Captain in charge or an assistant Chief should have taken care of this
chatanuga Where are Gage and DeSoto when we need them? Kevin
Where are Gage and DeSoto when we need them?
In my "Emergency" DVD collection, right next to "Adam 12"
Ted M.
got trains?™
See my photos at: http://tedmarshall.rrpicturearchives.net/
We use fire trucks to block highway lanes when we're working on an accident scene, but I really don't think that was the case here. Someone needs a lesson in situational awareness....
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
Unfortunately, the Fire Department is so used to parking a fire truck anywhere convenient that parking on the grade crossing was natural. The truck will block traffic as in an accident clean up on the highway. This is the consequence of doing things the way we always do them. Be aware of doing things the way we always do them. This is an excellent lesson in situational awareness as opposed to following procedure. We need to train folks both ways.
tree68 We use fire trucks to block highway lanes when we're working on an accident scene, but I really don't think that was the case here. Someone needs a lesson in situational awareness....
Very much agree on the situational awareness, bet that particular company does some serious operator/engineer training in the next little bit. (maybe the entire fire dept.)
No laughing matter here, I'm very surprised that a fire dept. has a company numbered 13.
In the Fire Service, that number is generally considered to be bad luck, no matter how superstitious people may be.
Being Crazy,keeps you from going "INSANE" !! "The light at the end of the tunnel,has been turned off due to budget cuts" NOT AFRAID A Vet., and PROUD OF IT!!
aricat My son is a St Paul Minnesota firefighter and he says that ALL the blame should be on the firefighter who drove a $600,000 piece of equipment on the tracks in the first place. ...... The fire Captain in charge or an assistant Chief should have taken care of this
My son is a St Paul Minnesota firefighter and he says that ALL the blame should be on the firefighter who drove a $600,000 piece of equipment on the tracks in the first place. ...... The fire Captain in charge or an assistant Chief should have taken care of this
That's my question. Wasn't there a fire department captain or lieutenant in charge of, and with, the ladder company? It's bad enough that the firefighter parked the truck on the tracks. It's worse if an officer let him do it. It's much worse that the officer allowed a firefighter to endander his life trying to move the truck.
Can you imagine the conversation the driver had with his wife when he got home.
Firefighter: "Honey, I may be in a little trouble at work."
Wife: "What happened?'
Firefighter: "Well, I parked the truck on some railroad tracks. And when the train came it hit the..."
Wife: "YOU MORON!"
Ted Marshallchatanuga Where are Gage and DeSoto when we need them? Kevin In my "Emergency" DVD collection, right next to "Adam 12"
I was wondering how long it would take for somebody to recognize the reference there.
Now, where's Dixie?
petitnjthe Fire Department is so used to parking a fire truck anywhere convenient that parking on the grade crossing was natural
SAY WHA??????
Natural? As in natural stupidity?
Sorry, but there is absolutely NO excuse for this lapse of judgement, unless perhaps if it was at night, while responding to a extreme emergency situation, where one MIGHT be excused for not noticing the tracks.
Good thing this clown was not a haz-mat driver. Or drove a gasoline or propane truck. Or a school bus.
In the driver's defense (but just barely - he still made a serious mistake), it's easy to get so focused on something that you fail to notice other, potentially important, details. In this case it was another traffic accident, which is something we in the fire service deal with on a daily basis.
As for Dixie - she was originally supposed to be a "love interest" for one of the characters (that plot device was quickly forgotten), but who was she married to in real life?
Paul_D_North_Jr Carl, that link isn't working for me. Here's another one that did - http://www.freep.com/article/20100301/NEWS01/100301028/1003/news01/Amtrak-train-collides-with-Detroit-fire-truck Apparently the fire truck was parked across all 3 tracks at a grade crossing - and it's now a 'total loss', according to the article. What were they thinking ? Not !! Well, maybe the manufacturer and its employees get to build a new one now . . . - Paul North.
Looked to me like about 100' or 110' aerial ladder/platform unit. you can bet new the price was something very north of $500,000. I'll try to put a photo of a similar apparatus on here for comparison.
Most municipalities don't require CDL's they operate with a special exemption in most cases. The liscense is State issued, but not classed as a Commercial Operator's CDL.
Not use of the make of the particular unit involved in the crash, but they are pretty impressive pieces of apparatus, you can bet there'll be retribution unleased on the firefighter who parked that on the tracks, and the Officer (usually a Lt.) riding-in-charge.
samfp1943 Looked to me like about 100' or 110' aerial ladder/platform unit. you can bet new the price was something very north of $500,000. I'll try to put a photo of a similar apparatus on here for comparison. [snip] Not use of the make of the particular unit involved in the crash, but they are pretty impressive pieces of apparatus . . . [snip]
Not use of the make of the particular unit involved in the crash, but they are pretty impressive pieces of apparatus . . . [snip]
Yes. A few years ago I was peripherally involved with procuring a couple of them for local fire depts. - between lining up all the funding sources and the governmental procurement regulations that come along with that money and of course the preferences for certain manfacturers and/ or options and 'specials' - it was quite an administrative challenge. There's lot of sophistication in them - I believe the one was around $650K.
But the one aspect I've noticed most about them is that these aerial platfrom trucks really fill out and use up all of the truck equivalent of 'loading gauge' - they pretty much occupy all of the space within their length, up to 12 ft. or so above ground, and to the 8 ft. width. There's not a lot of wasted or unused space anymore.
chatanuga You'd think that emergency personnel would know better. Guess not. Fortunately nobody killed or seriously injured. Unfortunate that it's an obvious embarrassment to the fire department there. Captain Stanley would never have allowed something like that to happen. Where are Gage and DeSoto when we need them? Kevin
In too many cases, put someone in a vehicle with flashing lights and they loose all common sense.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
tree68 As for Dixie - she was originally supposed to be a "love interest" for one of the characters (that plot device was quickly forgotten), but who was she married to in real life?
At the risk of showing my age, I'll answer that one. She was supposed to be a love interest for Dr. Kelly Brackett (Robert Fuller) which, as noted, died off quickly as a plot device. Of course, we also know that Julie London (Dixie McCall) was married to Bobby Troup, who played Dr. Joe Early.
Bobby Troup had a claim to fame not only as a band leader but as a songwriter of a very "American" popular song.
Fire service news references to the story gave the cost of the truck at $600K. It appeared to be a "straight stick", as opposed to an aerial platform. If you like, I can easily spec you one that will close in on $1M.
Some states do require a CDL for fire apparatus. In some cases it's only if you're being paid to drive (vollies are exempt), in others, it's everybody. IIRC, MD requires a tank endorsement to drive a fire department tanker, as well.
Of course, everything has value, even if it's as a bad example. With any luck, firefighters everywhere will file this one in the back of their heads and a "bell" will go off next time they think about parking on the tracks.
tree68 In the driver's defense (but just barely - he still made a serious mistake), it's easy to get so focused on something that you fail to notice other, potentially important, details. In this case it was another traffic accident, which is something we in the fire service deal with on a daily basis. As for Dixie - she was originally supposed to be a "love interest" for one of the characters (that plot device was quickly forgotten), but who was she married to in real life?
"Dixie", the lovely Julie London, was (at one time or another) married to Jack Webb, who was executive producer of the show, and to Bobby Troup, who was one of the performers.
garyla Now, where's Dixie?
She's on duty at Rampart, giving the boys of Squad 51 instructions to start an IV D5W TKO.
Here's number two, with a more serious outcome:
Firefighterclosecalls.comTuesday, March 2, 2010 - A veteran Fire Inspector with the Wilmington (DE) Fire Department, reported to be on-duty, was struck and killed Monday night by a train near Newport. WFD Fire Inspector Brian P. Waynant Sr., 45, a city police officer before joining the fire department six years ago, was pronounced dead at the scene after being hit by a southbound Amtrak train at 9:30 p.m. Delaware State police, along with Amtrak police and the city of Wilmington are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death but no foul play is suspected.He is survived by his wife Cheri, a son and a daughter. A preliminary investigation has determined that the decorated fire inspector was on duty Monday night when the incident occurred but the circumstances leading to his tragic death-and determination of this being a line of duty death-have not yet been released. More to follow. Our condolences to all affected.
Having been an EMT and volunteer firefighter, I can tell you that tunnel vision is one of the most dangerous aspects of working in a pressure-packed atmosphere. Emergency personnel are killed by other vehicles, "bad guys", downed power lines and all kinds of things due to this phenomenon. It is something that you're trained to recognize, but it's still very difficult to overcome when things are happening.
tree68In the driver's defense (but just barely - he still made a serious mistake), it's easy to get so focused on something that you fail to notice other, potentially important, details. In this case it was another traffic accident, which is something we in the fire service deal with on a daily basis
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
ChuckCobleightree68 As for Dixie - she was originally supposed to be a "love interest" for one of the characters (that plot device was quickly forgotten), but who was she married to in real life? At the risk of showing my age, I'll answer that one. She was supposed to be a love interest for Dr. Kelly Brackett (Robert Fuller) which, as noted, died off quickly as a plot device. Of course, we also know that Julie London (Dixie McCall) was married to Bobby Troup, who played Dr. Joe Early. Bobby Troup had a claim to fame not only as a band leader but as a songwriter of a very "American" popular song.
Troup wrote the song "Route 66" FYI
Have fun with your trains
And now another fireman in DE. Tree -- maybe the NFPA needs to send out a national reminder?
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