HUNTINGTON, TX (KTRE) – A Huntington volunteer firefighter died Thursday evening while apparently fighting a fire, according to the chief of the department.
David Goins was 47.
Fellow firefighter Kimberly Clark said firefighters with the Texas Forest Service were responding to a brush fire near Goins residence on Kay Currie Road when they found him dead, between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Goins is survived by three sons, Clark said.
Lufkin Fire Department spokesman Steve McCool said Goins worked as a Lufkin firefighter from 1985 to 1996, working his way up to lieutenant when he resigned.
“I worked for him for a couple years,” McCool said. “He was a good man and I hate to see the loss.”
Mr. Goins is survived by three sons. Our sincere condolences go out to his family.
A firefighting helicopter has crashed in Lesser Slave Lake. Photo Credit: Supplied, Global News
A helicopter fighting a wildfire crashed into Lesser Slave Lake about 24 kilometeres northwest of the town of Slave Lake, Alberta, killing the pilot who was the only person on board. The Bell 212 helicopter, using a water bucket, was dipping out of the lake and ended up in about four feet of water 30 meters offshore just after 3 p.m. MT on Friday, May 21.
Here is an excerpt from CTV:
…[The] RCMP said fire officials immediately extricated the one male pilot from the helicopter. The pilot was pronounced dead at the scene. He was the only one on board.
“We got a call to take my boat, which was fortunately parked right on the shore of the lake and get over to help recover it,” said eyewitness Troy Foster.
Another eyewitness reports he saw the chopper go down.
“I was just walking to the neighbour’s property and they’d been bucketing all day and a chopper came over and he went to go into a hover and he tipped right sideways,” said Lorne Lukan. “In seconds he went over, went into a hover and tipped right sideways and went straight down.”
Police say rescue attempts resulted in a number of emergency workers receiving hypothermia.
“They were treated for mild hypothermia,” said incident commander Len Maccharles. “There were 12 firefighters in the water,” he added.
“My heart goes out to the family of this helicopter pilot,” said Premier Ed Stelmach. “Today’s tragic news drives home the reality that the brave men and women fighting the fires in Alberta put their lives on the line every day to keep Albertans and our communities safe.”
The Transportation Safety Board says the chopper was owned by Campbell Helicopters based out of Abbotsford, B.C.
The chopper was assisting with fire control in the area. The province says the helicopter and pilot were under contract to Sustainable Resource Development.
Our sincere condolences to the family and coworkers.
Fire Department: Société de protection des foréets contre le feu (Quebec Provincial Forest Fire Control Agency)
Fire Department Address: 1230 Rte. De L’aeroport, Roberval, QC G8H 2M9 Canada
The Société de protection des foréets contre le feu is a public-private partnership, non-profit company in collaboration with Government of Quebec responsible for prevention, detection and suppression of forest fires. It is operated by a board of directors with representatives of the forest industry, private woodlot owners and the Government of Quebec. Employees are strategically placed throughout Quebec as well as at four main bases at Baie-Comeau, Roberval, Maniwaki and Val – d’Or and at the headquarters office in Quebec City. The organization has reportedly more than 400 municipal firefighters trained in wildland firefighting and they also rely on causal firefighters and forestry workers.
Incident Description: Firefighter Perron collapsed while fighting a forest fire near the community of Rouyn-Noranda in the Cléricy sector in northwestern Quebec, Canada. Attempts were made to resuscitate him by other firefighters present until paramedics arrived. He was taken to the hospital ER in Rouyn-Noranda where he was pronounced dead. The incident is being investigated by inspectors from from the Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CSST) accompanied by Société de protection des foréets contre le feu (SOPFEU) representatives. Firefighter Perron was based at the Matagami firebase. The Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation is listing the death as cardiac arrest while battling the fire.
Incident Location: Near the community of Rouyn-Noranda in the Cléricy sector
Firefigher Close Calls is reporting a line of duty death on a wildland fire:
We regret to advise you that the Cactus (Texas) Firefighter who suffered 3rd degree burns a week ago last Saturday at a huge grassfire has died in the Line of Duty. FF Elias Jaquez suffered burns to 60% of his body in that fire. FF Jaquez, 49, a husband and father of four daughters, has been a Volunteer Firefighter at the fire for slightly less than two years.
As you will recall, FF Jaquez, and 3 other Firefighters were injured after a Dumas and Cactus fire apparatus became stuck in the rough terrain. The Cactus crew was going on to de-flank the fire, the Dumas truck got stuck in the sand and the Cactus fire crew came up beside them grab the other FF’s, and then they got stuck. The heroic attempts took FF Jaquez’s life. As always, our most sincere condolences to all those affected, especially the family of FF Elias Jaquez.
Our thoughts are with Mr. Jaquez’s family and co-workers.
Firefighter Jaquez and three other firefighters were injured eleven days ago when a fire truck from the Dumas (Texas) Fire Department (mostly volunteer) became stuck in sandy rough terrain while suppressing wildland fire in grassland. The Cactus fire crew came up beside the Dumas fire truck to extricate the Dumas crew when the Cactus Volunteer Fire Department truck also became stuck in the sand. The crews were entrapped in the fire and Firefighter Jaquez suffered 3rd degree burns over 60% of his body and was taken to the University Medical Center, Lubbock Burn Center for treatment where he remained until succumbing to his injuries.
Unofficial news reports indicate that Firefighter Jaquez may have tripped over a down electrical line before being entrapped, and that he had on fire protective pants but not a protective shirt during the incident.
The firefighter from the Eastland Fire Department in Texas that was killed on Friday may have been struck by a vehicle, rather than being “overcome by smoke” as was reported by the local justice of the peace. Here is an excerpt from the Reporter news in Abilene, TX:
…According to Trooper Sparky Dean, spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, the preliminary autopsy results from the Tarrant County medical examiner reveal that Gregory Mack Simmons, 50, died after he “suffered blunt force trauma consistent with being struck by a vehicle.”
Dean said the vehicle Simmons was traveling in was attempting to exit a pasture where Simmons and others were fighting a wildfire, but the gate to the field was blocked by other fire apparatus. Simmons reportedly exited his vehicle and went toward County Road 323. Dean said it was possible that Simmons ran onto or near the roadway, which was obscured by heavy smoke, and was struck by an unknown vehicle.
The death is being investigated as a pedestrian crash by the Texas Highway Patrol.
A funeral service for Simmons will be held Wednesday at 1 p.m. at the Leon River Cowboy Church in Eastland. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Eastland ISD Scholarship Fund (P.O. Box 31, Eastland, TX 76448) or the Eastland Volunteer Fire Department (414 S. Seaman, Eastland, TX 76448)
EASTLAND, Texas — A 21-year veteran volunteer firefighter gave his life Friday trying to halt flames that were racing toward the community of Gorman.
Greg Simmons
Gregory M. Simmons, 51, was a volunteer with the Eastland Fire Department for the past 11 years after serving for 10 years in the Sachse Fire Department before moving to Eastland. He and his wife, Carrie, managed an Eastland business and have two daughters, Kateland and Karley.
“To say we are shocked and saddened by this tragedy is a huge understatement,” said Eastland Mayor Mark Pipkin. “This loss makes us even more appreciative of the dedication of our many firemen and other emergency personnel. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Carrie and the rest of Greg’s family.”
Simmons gave his life battling one of five fires that flared in Eastland County on Friday. The fire he fought started shortly before noon near the small community of Kokomo. The fire grew rapidly and was pushed southeast by strong northwest winds toward the city of Gorman.
Gorman was ordered evacuated at 1 p.m., and by 5:30 p.m., the order was rescinded when it was clear the town was saved.
Simmons was pronounced dead at 2:30 p.m. by Justice of the Peace James King.
Eastland Fire Chief Phillip Arther said, “Greg was a seasoned veteran and invaluable member of the department and community, and we are all at a loss for words at this time.”
Firefighterclosecalls.com is reporting that as many as eight firefighters were trapped on the incident that resulted in the death of Mr. Simmons, but we have not seen any other similar reports of a multiple firefighter entrapment.
Our thoughts are with Mr. Simmons’ family and co-workers.
Eastland Fire spokesman Ron Holiday confirmed one volunteer firefighter, 51-year-old Greg Simmons, was killed while fighting a fire in the south part of Eastland County. Five other volunteer firefighters were hospitalized with non life-threatening injuries.
TFS spokeswoman Holly Huffman said (another) state forest service firefighter suffered minor injuries while battling a blaze (in Stephens County). He was trying to clear away dried vegetation with a bulldozer when he clipped a gas line. He suffered light burns and bruising as he jumped from the exploding bulldozer.
The U. S. Fire Administration released their provisional on-duty firefighter fatality statistics for 2010, concluding that there were 85 deaths, a six percent decrease from 2010. The report includes nine fatalities associated with wildland fires.
Heart attacks accounted for 56 percent, with vehicle collisions causing another 13 percent.
YEAR-TO-DATE SUMMARY STATISTICS (PROVISIONAL)
ON-DUTY FIREFIGHTER FATALITIES IN THE UNITED STATES
Date Range 1/1/2010 to 12/31/2010
Number of On-Duty Firefighter Fatalities: 85
Count of Hometown Heroes: 15
Classification:
55 Volunteer 64.7%
28 Career 32.9%
1 Wildland Full-Time 1.17%
1 Paid-on-Call 1.17%
Number of Multiple Firefighter Fatality Incidents: 4
Number of Firefighter Fatalities Associated with Wildland Incidents: 9
Type of Duty:
20 On-Scene Fire 23.5%
19 Other On-Duty 22.3%
16 Responding 18.8%
16 After 18.8%
7 Training 8.23%
4 On-Scene Non-Fire 4.70%
1 Returning 1.17%
1 Other 1.17%
1 Unknown 1.17%
Percent of Fatalities Related to Emergency Duty: 48.2
Firefighter fatalities associated with Suspicious/Incendiary incidents: 0
Type of Incident:
41 Not Incident Related 48.2%
20 Structure Fire 23.5%
8 Wildland 9.41%
5 Other 5.88%
3 MVA 3.52%
3 Rescue/Extrication 3.52%
3 Unknown 3.52%
1 EMS 1.17%
1 Tech Rescue 1.17%
Numerous media outlets are reporting that six firefighters died in a helicopter crash as they were responding to a wildfire.
BNO News:
Six firefighters died on Saturday when their helicopter crashed in eastern Spain as they were traveling to extinguish a wildfire, the Spanish news agency EFE reported.
The regional government said one person survived the crash and was taken to the hospital after suffering a head injury and broken limbs. The extent of the injuries is still to be determined by doctors.
According to informed sources in the regional government, the accident occurred around 13.30 hours in an area difficult to access near the city of Teruel in the Aragon region. They said that at the moment is unclear what caused the crash.
The Spanish President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero expressed his condolences to the families and friends of the firefighters during a press conference in Paris after participating in an international summit on Libya.
According to EFE, this is the biggest accident of this kind in the past 20 years, bringing to 17 the total number of victims in two decades.
Our sincere condolences to their families and co-workers.
There has been a line of duty death at a wildfire in Nigeria (map). From the Daily Trust:
A fire that started at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) yesterday afternoon killed a fire service personnel attached to the airport and injured four others. The inferno, which was said to have started around 12pm and lasted for two hours before it was brought under control by airport and Kano State firefighters, consumed a large part of the bush near the tarmac. Victims of the fire were part of the team of firefighters drafted to the scene and were burnt when their firefighting vehicle caught fire, sources told Daily Trust. The remains of the deceased, Zubairu Sada, have been deposited at the Gamji Military Hospital, while three other firemen and an air force personnel have been admitted at the hospital.
Although the cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained at the time of filing this report, witnesses said it started from the eastern section of the facility neighbouring Fanisau village and continued eastward to a point near Kurna before it was extinguished. Strong wind was said to have helped fan the flames, making it difficult to be put out.
Attempts to speak to the airport officials on the incident were unsuccessful as the public relations officer of MAKIA, Alhaji Musa Shawai, refused to pick our calls. However, the spokesperson for the 303 Air Training School in Kano, WO Oladosa Femile, confirmed that their Aircraftman, Iremiya, was injured in the incident and was receiving treatment at the Gamji Military Hospital.
The UPI is reporting that nine firefighters were entrapped and were killed on a wildfire in China:
A wildfire in southwestern China was completely subdued by Saturday morning but not before nine firefighters perished, a local fire official said.
It took 1,140 firefighters to put out the deadly blaze on Jianchuan Mountain in Yunnan province, the state-run news agency Xinhua reported.
Wan Yong, deputy commander of the provincial forest fire prevention authority, said some firefighters were still monitoring the situation to guard against flare-ups.
Local authorities said the doomed firefighters became trapped Thursday when winds reignited an area that had been smoldering. Several others were injured, Xinhua said.
The fire started accidentally started Wednesday by a woman from Jinchang village, who was burning corn stalks on some uncultivated land surrounded by weeds when gusting winds pushed the flames out of control.
Last month there was a report that six people were killed while fighting another wildfire in China.
