Results tagged “firefighter”

The Station Fire began on August 26th along the roadside in the Angeles National Forest above the community of La Cañada-Flintridge, and soon after its fiery grip held the city in its clutches, authorities deemed the start point a crime scene and launched an arson investigation. But so far there isn't much to stoke the embers of the case, as it were, thanks to a lack of information about the incident.

Fire Capt. Tedmund Hall and Firefighter Specialist Arnaldo Quinones, the two Los Angeles County firefighters who lost their lives battling the Station Fire, were honored today in a public memorial held at Dodger Stadium. The men were remembered for, among other things, “served with dedication, courage and, during their last alarm, with absolute bravery and selflessness,” said Los Angeles County Deputy Fire Chief John Tripp, according to LA Now.

A lot of thank-yous, hugs and gratitude has been given to firefighters this past week in light of the recent wildfires, most notably the Station Fire. With that said, Sunset Strip Music Festival organizers today announced that they are allowing free admittance to Los Angeles City and Los Angeles County Firefighters with proper ID into the festival on Saturday when the street closes. Some 40 bands will take the outdoor and indoor-club stages from 2 p.m. to around 9 p.m. (with shows continuing indoors until around 2 a.m.). Headliners include Ozzy Osbourne, Korn, Pepper, The Donnas, Fishbone, Unwritten Law, Kottonmouth Kings, Shiny Toy Guns, Shwayze and LMFAO (see a full list here). Tickets are selling at $39.50 pre-sale, $50 at the door.

Interesting fact, via the Disaster Accountability Blog, about how state budget woes and a court order to lower prison population could affect firefighting: According to a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation press release, “there are 2,245 adult inmates and 53 Division of Juvenile Justice youth deployed to fires statewide, including Los Angeles, Riverside, and 15 other counties,” under the supervision of “187 correctional officers and supervisors.

Fire Captain Tedmund Hall died along with firefighter Arnaldo Quinones last Sunday afternoon during the Station Fire when their truck plunged down an 800-foot hillside. Today, his body was transported to his Victorville home while being saluted at various points along the 123-mile route from Los Angeles (see the route embedded below). A week from tomorrow, a public memorial will be held for Hall and Quinones at Dodger Stadium.

For those wanting to honor the two men who lost their lives fighting the Station Fire, a large public memorial will be held a week from Saturday at 10 a.m. in Dodger Stadium, the L.A. County Fire Department announced today, saying more details will come soon.

On Sunday word came that two Los Angeles County firefighters lost their lives while on duty battling the Station Fire. Captain Tedmund "Ted" Hall and Firefighter Specialist Arnaldo "Arnie" Quinones tragically lost their lives when they were overrun by a fast moving fire which approached where they were working at Fire Camp 16. The vehicle in which the firefighters were driving towards safety went over the edge of a mountainside road. "Their untimely death on August 30, 2009 has been a shock for [the] Department," adds the LACFD.

LA County Fire released the biographies of the two fallen firefighters today. Fire Captain Tedmund D. “Ted” Hall, 47 and Fire Fighter Specialist Arnaldo “Arnie” Quinones, 34, died yesterday afternoon when their vehicle went over the side of a road, plunging 800 feet into a canyon near Camp 16, a Department of Corrections facility, in Palmdale. Especially saddening is that Quinones was expecting his first child in the next several weeks. Biographies are below:

Officials with the Los Angeles County Fire Department released the names of the two firefighters who lost their lives in the Station Fire earlier today. Captain Tedmund “Ted” Hall, 47, and 35-year-old Firefighter Specialist Arnaldo ”Arnie” Quinones went over the edge of a mountainside road south of Acton as they were overrun by the fire while driving a vehicle. Hall, a 26-year veteran of the department, lived in San Bernardino and Quinones, of Palmdale, served for eight years. "This accident is tragic," said Captain Mike Bryant with difficulty at a press conference earlier today. "This is a very diffcult time for Los Angeles County Fire Department and the men and women that serve day in, day out." Funeral arrangements are pending and information relating to services will be made available in the near future.

Investigators have begun looking into what caused yesterday's hillside brush fire in Eagle Rock and Glendale, which ultimately grew to 60 acres, triggered voluntary area evacuations, and required about 300 firefighters to extinguish. The fire, which "broke out near the interchange between the 134 and 2 Freeways at about 4:10 p.m." is now fully contained, and no homes were damaged and no one was injured, according to abc7.com.

Without the aggressive overnight attack of the Sepulveda Pass Fire on Thursday morning, Mandeville Canyon in Brentwood may have burnt to the ground. Albeit dangerous, helicopter water drops played a huge role in knocking down the flames: "In daytime, this is dangerous enough. At night, a mountainside might look like open sky, power lines might vanish in the black, an approaching aircraft's lights might blend with the streetlights in the background. The dark can play tricks on the eyes... Fire pilots generally follow a 50/50 rule -- drop the water at 50 knots and at 50 feet above the flames. Too slow or low, the water doesn't smother enough fire. Higher and faster, it dissipates too much." The LAFD even has a t-shirt about night flying. It says "We Own The Night" and has an illustration of a helicopter over a fire.

For residents of the South East San Fernando Valley and adjacent environs, the stench and sight of smoke from the fire that broke out in the early morning hours on the backlot of Universal Studios has dominated the skies today; for most everyone else in Los Angeles this story has dominated the news.

An estimated 6,000 people are Downtown this morning for the procession and memorial services for Los Angeles Firefighter Brent Lovrien, who was killed in the line of duty last week in Westchester near LAX. Firefighters, likely representing almost every agency from around the state, have come to Los Angeles to show their support.

View Larger Map | This map is interactive: click on lines for more info and zoom in and out.

One firefighter has died at an explosion near LAX this afternoon. Check here for updates.

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Terminal One was evacuated early this morning after security screeners saw something that resembled a grenade, prompting a near 40-minute evacuation of the Southwest Airlines terminal. After officials identified it as a toy grenade, operations went back to normal. LAX officials told KNBC that passengers should be reminded "not to pack anything that resembles a weapon" and "recommended that travelers alert security screeners ahead of time if they have anything in their possession that could be mistaken for a weapon."

#132 Largo city manger's plans to become a woman got found out by the local paper. So instead of letting the paper announce it, he announced to the people of Largo to be understanding of his upcoming procedure. Nearly 500 people squeezed into City Hall and most asked for his head. At the end of the meeting the council decided to fire their city manager of 14 years. [Post-Trib]

- African-American LAFD firefighter Tennie Pierce (no relation) awarded $2.7 million in a racial harassment suit that was settled yesterday. A Captain bought dog food, a second firefighter mixed in into Pierce's spaghetti, and another Captain knew what Pierce was about to eat but didn't warn him. - LA Times - Unrelated: Fire Captain allegedly tortured Eagle Rock woman before he strangled her, making the murder eligible for the death penalty - LA Times...