OHIO FIREFIGHTER KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY, 1 INJURED (Update)
The Secret List FireFighter Close Calls
Reports are that Firefighter Ryan Seitz, 27 of the McArthur FD (Ohio) was operating on or near an apparatus that had a pressurized tank of some kind. The 2nd Firefighter injured, as reported earlier with non life threatening injuries has since been released from the hospital.
Initial reports are that FF Seitz was killed when pressure inside a water tank built up, for an unknown reason, to the extent that it blew up. The remnants of that reportedly struck FF Seitz and killed him in the Line of Duty. Firefighter Seitz joined the MFD in August of 2010, was not married, has no children but is survived by his parents. R.I.P.
In all, over a dozen fire companies from Ross, Vinton, Hocking and Pickaway counties all operated at the fires including the one above, where the Firefighter was killed in the Line of Duty.
Updates to follow.
Take Care-BE CAREFUL.
BillyG
The Secret List 9-24-10 / 2156 Hours
Our sincere condolences go out to Mr. Seitz’s family and co-workers.
EuroWeekly News is reporting that a firefighter died while working on a wildfire in Spain:
SENES – A 46-YEAR-OLD fireman died when extinguishing a wildfire in Senes. The fireman, who was originally from Turillas, worked for the Junta de Andalucia Infoca Brigade and died after falling and hitting his head. He had been working with Infoca for 15 years and apparently fainted for reasons which are not yet known.
He was wearing protective clothing and equipment and had passed medical examinations. Doctors attempted for more than one hour to save his life.
The Environmental Councillor, Jose Juan Diaz Trillo, visited the family to give them his condolences.
The fire was controlled in less than one hour and burned 10 hectares of scrubland. The investigation is ongoing, but it appears it was caused through negligence.
Our condolences go out to the family and co-workers.
The BBC is reporting that two firefighters have been killed while working on fires in Spain.
Two firefighters have been killed in wildfires that have broken out in Spain. The blazes hit near the village of Fornelos de Montes in the country’s northwestern Galicia region, close to the border with Portugal, where several forest fires are still raging.
The exact circumstances of the firefighters’ deaths are not yet known.
Across the border meanwhile, 50 people have been evacuated from a village in Portugal’s Peneda-Geres national park.
Reports say the fire in Spain is still being brought under control.
The regional president of Galicia, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, has cancelled all his appointments to focus on the problem.
More than 230 firefighters are still tackling blazes in northern Portugal. France has sent two water-dropping planes under the European mutual aid system. Northern Portugal continues to be ravaged by wildfires
Earlier this week two Portuguese firefighters were killed on duty, including a 21-year-old woman who died after being trapped by flames.
According to the country’s National Forest Authority, 19,346 hectares (47,805 acres) of forest have been burned and destroyed.
Reuters is reporting that two firefighters have been killed this week on wildfires in Portugal.
Civil protection officials said a female firefighter died, one fireman was badly burned and their team had to be evacuated on Tuesday when they found themselves surrounded by flames after a sudden change in the direction of the wind in Gondomar region.
On Monday, a fireman was killed and another seriously injured when their truck fell into a burning ravine in the mountaineous Sao Pedro do Sul area, where the blaze was only put out on Tuesday after a four-day effort by hundreds of firemen.
Our condolences to the families and co-workers.
UPDATE: August 12, 2010
CNN is reporting that three firefighters have been killed in fires in Portugal.
The following information was distributed by the International Association of Wildland Fire’s Firenet listserv.
Name: Chris Adams
Rank: Ranger 1 (Firefighter)
Age: 25
Gender: Male
Status: Wildland, Full-time
Years of Service: 2
Date of Incident: 02 August 2010
Time of Incident: approximately 1030 hours
Date of Death: 02 August 2010
Fire Department: Arkansas Forestry Commission
Address: 3821 West Roosevelt Road, Little Rock, Arkansas 72204
Fire Department Chief: State Forester John T. Shannon
Incident Description: Firefighter Chris Adams was operating an Arkansas Forestry Commission 2002 International tractor trailer, and was en route to check on the status of an earlier fire. The tractor trailer load reportedly shifted causing the vehicle to cross the roadway center line, go into a ditch and then overturn. The accident is under investigation and undetermined at this time. Adams was reportedly wearing a seatbelt.
Incident Location: The accident occurred on Highway 360, approximately one-half mile east of Highway 29 in Lafayette County, east of Bradley in southeastern Arkansas.
Our condolences go out to his family and co-workers.
LYTTON, B.C. – The company that operated an air tanker that crashed while fighting British Columbia’s wildfires has identified the two pilots who died when the plane when down.
Conair says 58-year-old Tim Whiting of Langley, B.C., and 36-year-old Brian Tilley of Edmonton died when their water bomber crashed in B.C.’s Interior on Saturday evening.
Conair spokesman Rick Pederson says Whiting was a veteran pilot who had worked at Conair for nearly three decades and had experience flying around the world, including working for a company connected to the United Nations.
Pederson says Tilley joined Conair last spring, but he says the younger pilot had flown thousands of hours before he was hired.
After not being able to access the crash site due to the fire that was caused by the crash, the Lytton RCMP and the B.C. Coroner Services on Sunday were able to visit the site and confirm the deaths of the pilot and co-pilot of the air tanker that crashed Saturday evening. Their names have not been released, pending notification of the families.
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On Saturday July 31, an air tanker crashed in British Columbia. The Convair 580, operated by Conair, went down in central B.C. just before 9 p.m. local time 160 kilometers northeast of Vancouver.
Another air tanker was following the aircraft and was able to pinpoint the location. The crash ignited a fire that made it impossible for rescuers to access the scene Saturday night, approaching only to within 350 to 500 meters. Since no one has been at the crash scene yet, the fate of the pilot and co-pilot cannot be confirmed, contrary to what you may read elsewhere. However there are reports that it is unlikely that there were any survivors.
The air tanker was under contract with the B.C. Ministry of Forest and Lands when it crashed while working on a new fire near Siwash Road about 18 kilometers south of Lytton.
We will update this story as it develops.
Our condolences go out to the families and coworkers.
Convair 580 file photo by Conair.
Conair, established in 1969, is located at the Abbotsford Airport in southwestern British Columbia near the US border. Their 150 employees operate and maintain a fleet of 51 fixed-wing aircraft for fire protection agencies across Canada and in Alaska.
The Convair CV 580 carries 2,100 US gallons and is powered by two turboprop engines. According to Wikipedia, it is a conversion from the Convair CV-340 or CV-440 with the turboprop engines replacing the original piston engines. The family of CV-240 aircraft replaced the DC-3’s, and was produced between 1947 and 1956, which means the air frame of the air tanker that crashed could have been 54 to 63 years old.
