Tag: lodd

WISTV is reporting that two firefighters from Columbia, South Carolina were hit by a vehicle while operating at a grass fire in the median of Interstate 20 in Richland County. One of them was killed and the other has serious injuries.

From WISTV.com:

The South Carolina Highway Patrol reports one of those crashes involved two Columbia Firefighters. Troopers say the firefighters were called to a brush fire in a median at 81 mile-marker around 2 PM Saturday afternoon. The fire truck stopped on the inside lane. Investigators say an Impala started to slow down as it approached the fire truck, when a van then struck the Impala. Troopers say one of the vehicles then went into the median and hit 2 firefighters. It’s not clear which vehicle hit the firefighters.

FirefighterCloseCalls may have more information later.

Our sincere condolences go out to the families and co-workers.

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UPDATE @ 9:00 a.m. ET, Nov. 14:

Sconfire.com is reporting that the names of the two firefighters have been released. Firefighter Chance Zobel passed away last night. Firefighter Larry Irving has multiple injuries and is expected to survive. They are both from Columbia Fire Department’s Engine Company 4.

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UPDATE @ 8:10 p.m. ET, Nov. 15

More information from abcnews4 today:

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WACH) — Charges have been made in an accident that killed a Midlands firefighter and left another severely injured in the line of duty Saturday.

Officials say 34-year-old Neida Ortega of Sumter was driving too fast for conditions on I-20 when the vehicle she was driving entered the median and struck the two firefighters.

Chance Hyatt Zobel was the Columbia-Richland Firefighter who lost his life.

Chief Jenkins said Zobel was a three year veteran with Engine Company 4 and stationed at Spears Creek Church Road. Zobel started with the Department in October 2007 as a Fire Flow Tech and transferred to Suppression in November of 2009.

The second Firefighter is Larry Kewon Irvin. He was taken to the hospital in critical but stable condition. Irvin has been with the Department for over three years and was hired in January 2007.

More information from WISTV

We are saddened to report another firefighter fatality, this time at a brush fire on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. William Harold “Hal” Clark collapsed while working on a fire in New Church, Virginia off Route 13 on September 24. He was transported to a hospital in Salisbury, MD where he was pronounced dead. An Autopsy is planned to determine the exact cause of death.

Mr. Clark was president and life-time member of the Atlantic Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company. Their Facebook page is HERE.

A funeral service with full firefighter honors will be held Friday, October 1 at 2 p.m. at Union Baptist Church in Chincoteague, VA. Interment will be held at the John W. Taylor Cemetery in Temperanceville, VA. Friends are invited to call Thursday, from 7-9 p.m. at Union Baptist Church in Chincoteague.

Obituary

Our sincere condolences go out to the family and friends of Hal Clark.

From Firefighter Close Calls

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.

There are reports that three firefighters have been killed recently while working on fires in Portugal. That is an update from an earlier report that two died on fires.

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.