Multi Casualty Traffic Accident With An Ejected 2 Year Old
By Jackawa Jackson | July 23, 2009
At 7:18 am on the morning of July 23, 2009, Long Beach Fire Department units were dispatched to a report of a vehicle accident at the corner of Pacific and Anaheim. Once on scene E3 crewmembers found that there were 7 patients involved including a 2 year old who had been ejected from a vehicle. Both vehicles sustained significant front-end damage in the collision. The 2 year old was not in a car seat at the time of the accident. The child’s mother also had in the car her two other children. All 4 were transported to a local trauma center with moderate injuries. Three patients, from the other vehicle, were also transported to local hospitals with minor injuries. This type of incident demonstrates the absolute necessity for all drivers and passengers of vehicles to be properly restrained. If child car seats are not used properly, the child will become a projectile in the event of an accident. The cause of this accident is currently under investigation. A total of 17 firefighters and 4 civilian ambulance operators responded to this accident.
Topics: Uncategorized | 37 Comments »
Michael Phelps Who? LBFD Participate In Firefighter Olympics In SoCal
By JJohnson | July 21, 2009
The Long Beach Fire Department had a very strong showing in this years Summer Fireman Olympics. We particpated in many events including; Basketball, Ice Hockey, Softball, Mountain biking, surfing, Water Polo, Golf, and Supercross. Below are the events and names along with medal(s) for each sport.
LBFD Softball –
Josh Hogan, Matt Bugbee, Nick Marantz, Andy Demetropolis, Jake Atwood, Pete Kusel, Adam Knopp, Danny Sanchez, Danny Torres, Paul Cheek, Mick Hannan, Bryan Thurston, Brian Eldridge, Mike Lorton, Ryan Thornton, Bruce Fischer, Darren Strecker, Robbie Grego
Surfing –
Mike Skelly had an excellent showing. GOLD longboard & SILVER shortboard
Chong Kim worked his way through the ranks and made the FINALS in both shortboard & longboard but came up short after surfing 6 heats back to back for the day.
Water Polo –
Team Captain Steve Barron, Joe Billish, Curt Bowman, Kieth Dixon, James Farley, Brian Fisk, Matt Gruneisen ,Jeff Hardin, Kristof Wattson, Zach Walter, Adam Zintsmaster, Mike Alger, Tyler Wawrzynski, COACH: Paul Wawrzynski
The team went home with the SILVER.
Mountain Biking –
Mike Harrison, Charley Baker, Mike Caputo, Victor Carnewal, Paul Cloward, Charles Hakopian, Tommy Robles, Joshua Rosenstein, Shinichiro Yamamoto
We had the greatest number of riders out of all the departments in the state (11 registered with 9 racing). Byrne had to bailout because we needed him on the Basketball team. The next department with the highest number of riders was 3! Also, this was the most amount of riders on our department.
Cloward- GOLD Medal in the “Old Man Award” for the Pro/Expert Clas
Harrison- BRONZE Medal in Intermediate Class
Rosenstein- GOLD Medal in Intermediate Class
Yamamoto- BRONZE Medal in Beginner Class
Some points of interest:
There was a photo finish between Baker and Caputo with Baker finishing out in front by a tire. Nice efforts. Initially, Yamamoto didn’t get a bronze due to a technicality by the officials. However, it was worked out a couple of hours after the race. Robles had a respectable showing, finishing 6th behind Cloward (4th). Not bad for a roadie.
Ice Hockey –
Ryan Wadell, Matt Block, Cory Girard, Robert Anderson, Tyler Viana, Matt Bolen, John Aiello, Brian Sher, Bob Rodriguez, Lloyd Mokler. There were 6 other players from other local departments including, Compton, Santa Ana, Huntington Beach.
The team ended up taking the GOLD after sudden death over time and shoot out.
Basketball –
Kevin Byrne, Brian Vanderwal, Bryan Presetti, Keith Farrell, Joe Billish, Robbie Grego, Christopher Duffy, Matthew Mackenzie, Chris Tave, Bryan Wade
The team took home the SILVER.
Supercross –
Darren Strecker was the lone rider and took home the GOLD.
Golf –
Dan Fisher and Rich Nieto. Fisher took home the GOLD in “C” flight as well as some cash for skins. As a team they both got SILVER….Fisher carried Nieto the entire way!
Topics: Uncategorized | 31 Comments »
Firehouse Chefs Cook Up A Storm On The KTLA Morning Show
By Jackawa Jackson | July 20, 2009
On the morning of July 17th, Long Beach Firefighter Eddie Sell and the rest of the Firehouse Chefs cooked up a feast fit for a king on the KTLA morning show. Reporter Allie MacKay and the KTLA news crew met the chefs at the LA County Firefighters Museum to bring attention to the up-coming Date-A-Hero Bachelor Auction. The auction will be held 6:30 pm on July 25th at the Hilton in Irvine across from the John Wayne Airport. Proceeds will go to benefit the Wounded Warrior program. Once again the Firehouse Chefs will be called into action to serve what is sure to be nothing short of a culinary delight to up to 500 people. Prepared that evening will be: Citrus-Soy Skirt Steak Skewers served with a Chimichurri Sauce, Chilled Cherry Gazpacho, A “Bite” of Caprese Salad, Prochuitto Wrapped White Asparagus with a Chipotle Hollandaise Sauce, Seasonal Fruit Sticks sprinkled with Vanilla Bean Salt, Mango-Chile Guacamole with Pita Crisps & Tortilla Strips & a White Sangria with seasonal fruit. For desert there will be homemade chocolate, courtesy of a Firehouse Chef from Seattle. For more information on upcoming Firehouse Chefs events visit firehousechefs.com.
Topics: Uncategorized | 17 Comments »
Long Beach Fire Department Attends The Change Of Command Ceremony In San Pedro
By Jackawa Jackson | July 15, 2009
The command of Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach was transferred from Capt. Paul E. Wiedenhoeft to Capt. Roger R. Laferriere in a change-of-command ceremony that was held July 15 at Reservation Point on Terminal Island in San Pedro, Calif.
Capt. Wiedenhoeft, originally from Beaver Dam, Wis., has served as Sector Commander of Sector LA-LB and Captain of the Port since 2006. He received his commission from the United Stated Coast Guard Academy in 1983. During his career, Capt. Weidenhoeft has commanded a patrol boat, a buoy tender, and a medium endurance cutter, executing Coast Guard missions afloat in the Caribbean Sea, the Arctic Circle, the Bering Sea, and the Pacific Ocean. Capt. Weidenhoeft will continue his service at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C. as Deputy for Assistant Commandant for Capabilities.
In honor of his years of dedicated service, Deputy Chief of Operations Jeff Reeb presented the Captain with a plaque adorned with a gold badge and a photo of on of our fireboat Liberty.
Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach is an operational unit of the Coast Guard that is responsible for the execution of all Coast Guard missions in an area of responsibility that stretches south to the San Diego County line and north to Morro Bay, Calif. Along these 320 miles of coastline, Sector LA-LB is directly responsible for port safety and security, search and rescue, maritime law enforcement, environmental response, vessel inspections, and maritime aids to navigation.
The change-of-command ceremony is a time-honored event preserved by the rich heritage of naval tradition. It is a formal custom that is designed to strengthen the respect of authority, which is vital to any military organization. The ceremony culminates when both officers read their orders, face one another and salute. This signifies to the command that the transfer of responsibility is officially complete.
Topics: Uncategorized | 32 Comments »
The New O’Cady’s Rises From The Ashes Of The Old
By Jackawa Jackson | July 13, 2009
On the morning of June 23, The Long Beach Fire Department began live fire training in its newest grant-funded prop. This 2 story, 2880 square foot training simulator will provide extensive training in the areas of search and rescue under extreme conditions, firefighting, forcible entry, and barricaded suspects incidents. The simulator itself is made from steel shipping containers and concrete and is designed to resemble a large two story single-family dwelling. This simulator took the place of the previous single story burn prop which had come to be known as the O’ Cadys. The new simulator is vastly superior due to the limited amount of combustibles required to build very real interior fires as well as the short amount of time required to get the prop back in service for the next training group. In the fire service, training with actual fires, not simulated, is a necessity. Whether our men and women are called upon to search a burning floor for victims, launch an aggressive interior attack on a structure fire, or pull one of our own downed firefighters to safety, they must be prepared to work under the most hostile conditions imaginable.
This new prop is the newest edition to the Long Beach Fire Departments Regional Training Facility. The Training Center is located in the heart of the City of Long Beach, California, 1 mile south of the Long Beach Airport. The 5-acre site is currently developing additional training props to enhance scenario-based training throughout the region. The training is also available for use by local city departments and community emergency response teams (CERT).
The enhancement to the training site is in response to the Homeland Security Presidential Directive to increase regional response capabilities to prevent, protect, respond to, and recover from domestic events or major disasters in our area of the country. These Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) grant funded projects will change the training capabilities of the Long Beach Fire Department for many years to come. The directive is focused on multi-jurisdictional response capabilities in multiple disciplines of public service and safety.
Topics: News | 28 Comments »
