Friday Morning – Holiday Weekend Approaches

We have a couple of announcements that have a historical bent to them today.  To lead it off, it has been pointed out to us that a manuscript important to the history of firefighting in the U. S. was recently uncovered.  It is a 4-inch wide by 10-inch long list of the members of Ben Franklin's volunteer fire company, The Union.  The country's leading manuscript collector and dealer, Tom Lingenfelter of Doylestown, Pennsylvania, was going through a thick pile of assorted papers.  History.com – the website for the History Channel cable tv channel – has an article about this that tells:

Lingenfelter came across the list of Union Fire Company members while sifting through his enormous collection of historical manuscripts. "It got my attention when I saw Ben Franklin’s name on the list," Lingenfelter said. "It was in a pack of old business papers, and I don’t remember where I got it." He said the papers seem to have belonged to Union Fire Company cofounder Joseph Paschall, a prominent merchant and member of Philadelphia’s Common Council. Paschall, whose name appears first on the roster, served as the fire brigade’s clerk.

Roughly 10 inches long and 4 inches wide, the paper features the names of 26 men, scrawled in ink under the heading "The List of the Names of the Union Fire Company." Each name is marked with Xs in pencil and pen, an indication that the list might have functioned as an attendance sheet.

By comparing the collection of names to the Union Fire Company’s book of minutes, Lingenfelter concluded that the document dates to 1736, the year of the department’s founding. He said that the group’s rules, also recorded in the minutes, offer a potential reason for the list’s existence: Each member was required to keep two copies of the roster. This particular copy likely belonged to Paschall and appears to be in his handwriting, Lingenfelter said.

Read the entire article HERE.  It includes a brief history of the Union Fire Company as well.  Lingenfelter operates his manuscript business through his website Heritage Collectors' Society and on the page announcing this treasure he writes:

At the time this list was made, Paschall was serving as the Union’s clerk. The job of clerk rotated monthly between members, as did the position of names on the list. Since Paschall’s name headed this list, he was the current clerk of the company. It most certainly was the list he carried with him as is evidenced by the folds in the paper. A lack of holes indicates that it had never been posted. Additionally, the list matches the sequence of members recorded in the manuscript minute book of the Union Fire Company now in possession of the Library Company of Philadelphia signifying that Paschal was the Company’s first clerk.

To read more, go to his webpage HERE.  It's for sale, so if you think you'd like to buy it for your personal collection, click on over and send Tom your inquiry.

Tom Lingenfelter image

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The other historical note for today comes from an obituary notice from The Telegraph on Wednesday.  The lead sentence tells it all:  Eugene Polley, the inventor of the television remote control and the man hailed as the founding father of the modern couch potato, has died aged 96.

Mr. Polley spent his working career with Zenith Electronics, joining Zenith Radio in 1935 where he invented and developed new technologies for his employer.  He had 18 patents registered over his career and the Flash-A-Matic television remote control is the one he will always be most closely associated with.  The Telegraph's obit. tells us:

During World War II, he dedicated himself to developing US military radar systems with the company, and later worked on newly-invented video disks and push-button car radios.

In 1997, he was presented with an Emmy Award alongside Space Command inventor Robert Adler for pioneering wireless remote control devices for consumer television.

Mr Polley was said to have been rightly proud of his invention, keeping the original remote control to show to visitors to his home in latter years.

It is difficult to list all the scores of related appliances and gadgets that are still benefitting from Polley's invention.  You can read the entire obituary HERE.

Isn't it a shame that people who create the things that are more universally a part of our everyday lives are so often forgotten?  So write his name down and sometime during your holiday weekend when you are with a group of friends or relatives, hoist a drink and dedicate a toast to Eugene Polley.  And don't forget the real reason for this holiday, the remembrance of those brave military members who gave their lives to preserve our great nation and this wonderful quality of life that we are allowed to pursue.

And let's not forget that we need to get this equipment checked out, either.  While you get started with that, I'll make sure we have a fresh pot started.  See you back in the day room.

There was no NHL playoff game last night, so no update today.  Rangers vs. Devils tonight at 8 pm Eastern on NBCSN.

Note #2:  If you haven't checked back to our posting yesterday about the dump truck into the firehouse in Pennsylvania,  scroll down or go HERE to see the additional photos and the surprising discovery of a car and driver mashed up under the truck's cab and burned up.

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We found this video on youtube.  It was used at a FF1 class and we felt it was important to pass it along.  We want everyone to buckle up and drive safely.  Click here for additional information.

Stories From the Street:

"One minute you're on top of the world, the next the world is on top of you."

http://www.emsworld.com/article/10720979/stories-from-the-streets-fleeting-greatness

Today Providence, tomorrow, the world!

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Earlier coverage including video from Newsworking

Photos from Lehigh Valley’s Bravest’s Dan Clerico

Listen to fireground audio from Posterous via Lehigh Valley’s Bravest

WFMZ-TV:

The fire was reported around 1 p.m. at the Leithsville Volunteer Fire Company in Lower Saucon Township. The fire went to three alarms, bringing additional manpower and water tankers to the scene.

Firefighters from Northampton, Lehigh, Bucks and Montgomery counties were called in to help get control of the fire.

After the flames were out, firefighters found another vehicle had been involved in the accident.

A person has been found dead inside a vehicle inside the fire house, the Northampton County coroner confirms.

LehighValleyLive.com:

The driver of the truck, hauling asphalt, is believed to have lost control traveling from Flint Hill Road onto Route 412, Barndt said. It was not immediately clear for what company the driver worked.

Neighbors who were outside at the time of the wreck described a chaotic scene when they heard the deafening noise of the truck slamming into the building.

Pennsylvania officials this week announced the official merger of Lower Saucon Township’s Leithsville and Se-Wy-Co volunteer fire companies. Barndt will preside over the combined force. It’s unclear how or if this afternoon’s fire will affect the consolidation, due to go into full effect in June.  

The Morning Call:

Many people in the area said they heard explosions coming from the fire station after the crash. Getz said things started to explode just as he, his 40-year-old brother Paul and friend Robert Hillegass, 20, of Bethlehem, got the driver across the road from the fire station.

“We wanted to get [the truck driver] as far away from there as possible,” said Getz, 39, of Nazareth. “You could hear things blowing up in there.” 

Do you want to sell a rig? Click HERE to find out how with SellFireTrucks.com.

Photo above from Dan Clerico.

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Fire Engineering – October 1959

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I'm betting I can find no less than twenty knuckle-dragging, poorly-educated medics who can come up with the correct answer faster than the highly-educated, master's degree nurse practitioner that seemed bent on killing a friend of mine this past week.

Chime in with your answers, and there will be an update to follow.

Update: A dozen correct answers in less than two hours. For those of you who answered pericarditis, go read the medical follies that LawDog recently experienced.

[Note to self] Do not get sick when I'm visiting Bugscuffle next weekend.

Christopher Liu’s property was destroyed on July 5, 2010 in an explosion that occurred as firefighters were entering the structure to investigate the source of a gas leak. Four firefighters were injured in the blast, three seriously.

The leak was caused by a disgruntled neighbor, Robert W. Durst, who had previously done plumbing work for Liu. Drust was allegedly upset with Liu because Liu stiffed him $750 for the work.  

According to police, Drust admitted that he broke into the house, opened the gas valve in the kitchen, and left a candle burning in the living room distant from the gas leak. When firefighters arrived to investigate a strong gas smell coming from the house, Drust merely watched as the firefighters forced open the door of the house prompting the explosion. Witnesses said Drust acted disinterested as the event played itself out.

For his part, Liu was compensated by his insurance company $150,000 for the damage to his vacant structure. His suit, which he filed without the aid of an attorney, claims the firefighters were “irresponsible, negligent, and/or criminal” in the manner in which they responded to the incident. The guy who stiffed the plumber $750, and refused to hire a lawyer, is seeking $1,008,000 in damages, including $500,000 for “for personal distress for being implicated in the media as an arson suspect.”

Earlier this week, Drust was sentenced to 17 years in prison. Outside the courtroom, Lui was asked about why he filed his suit. His heartless reply: “They should have been more careful.  .. There was no fire going on… there was no reason for them to open the door. … I want them to realize they didn’t handle the situation properly.”  What a peach.

The lawsuit alleges the fire department should have secured the scene and waited for “experts” from Pacific Gas & Electric to respond because they were better equipped to handle gas leaks. The lawsuit hypothesizes that the firefighters somehow created a spark that prompted the explosion.

While most states have taken an aggressive approach to frivolous lawsuits, California is one state that appears to have lagged behind the rest of the country. Check out this article on the problem.

In most states, a Rule 11 sanction would likely await Mr. Liu. In states that follow the Federal Rules of Civil Procedures, Rule 11 reads as follows:

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b) Representations to the Court. By presenting to the court a pleading, written motion, or other paper—whether by signing, filing, submitting, or later advocating it—an attorney or unrepresented party certifies that to the best of the person’s knowledge, information, and belief, formed after an inquiry reasonable under the circumstances:

(1) it is not being presented for any improper purpose, such as to harass, cause unnecessary delay, or needlessly increase the cost of litigation;

(2) the claims, defenses, and other legal contentions are warranted by existing law or by a nonfrivolous argument for extending, modifying, or reversing existing law or for establishing new law;

(3) the factual contentions have evidentiary support or, if specifically so identified, will likely have evidentiary support after a reasonable opportunity for further investigation or discovery; and

(4) the denials of factual contentions are warranted on the evidence or, if specifically so identified, are reasonably based on belief or a lack of information.

(c) Sanctions.

(1) In General. If, after notice and a reasonable opportunity to respond, the court determines that Rule 11(b) has been violated, the court may impose an appropriate sanction on any attorney, law firm, or party that violated the rule or is responsible for the violation. …

Mr. Liu would have a very difficult time showing he had a good faith basis to support his allegations in a state that adopts Rule 11. Speculation would not cut it. He would need to have an expert witness willing to testify that it is more likely than not that the source of the spark that caused the explosion was something that the firefighters did rather than the candle or some other factor. He would also require expert testimony to show that the reasonably prudent fire department would have waited for PG&E to arrive on scene. I’m doubting as a pro se litigant he has experts lined up for either.

However, in California it looks to be just another frivolous suit tying up the legal system.

More on the case.

Video above from Newsworking’s Bill Rohrer.

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Click here to watch report from The Morning Call

View photos from The Express-Times

More from Firegeezer.com

Manuel Garniz Jr., The Morning Call:

Leithsville Volunteer Fire Company’s station near Hellertown went up in flames Thursday after a dump truck hauling asphalt crashed into the building and exploded, with the driver barely escaping, according to witnesses and emergency radio dispatches.

Firefighters and tanker trucks from mutual aid stations in Northampton, Bucks and Lehigh counties responded to the three-alarm fire, reported around 1 p.m.

Firefighters on scene initially reported flames from three of the four bays of the fire station at 1995 Leithsville Road, which is Route 412 in Lower Saucon Township. It quickly spread to the entire building, reportedly consuming the department’s vehicles and equipment

AP:

The fire at the Leithsville Volunteer Fire Company on Thursday afternoon went to three alarms, bringing firefighters from several surrounding communities to battle the blaze.

Fire officials said the driver of the dump truck that crashed into the firehouse was hospitalized with serious burns to his arms. His name was not released.

The volunteer fire company lost a tanker truck, an engine and a brush truck in the blaze. No one was at the firehouse when the fire broke out. 

AP Photo/Express-Times, Dan Clerico

Defining Buildings and Inherent Charactoristics

Today’s evolving fireground demands greater insights and an increased understanding of buildings, occupancy risk profiling (ORP) and building anatomy. Recently there has been a movement that has categorized buildings into two groups: engineered and legacy construction.

I strongly believe this is far too limiting and restrictive which is resulting in missed opportunities to develop further insights into other building systems and occupancy risk profiling. In order to refine categories that provide corresponding values related to inherent construction features, systems, collapse and comprise, performance characteristics, fire integrity, resistance etc., the following building anatomy categories are suggested and promoted:

Building Anatomy

Construction Systems

• Heritage
  • Pre-1900
• Legacy
  • 1900-1949
• Conventional
  • 1950-1979
• Engineered
  • 1980-2001
• Integrated Hybrid Systems
  • 2002- current …
• Composite Engineered Systems
  • 2010 – current …

Give some thought to the time spans and the types of buildings at would compromise each group. I’ll post an upcoming article with expanded narrative on each…..