VIDEO: Massive fire erupts at boys summer camp in Maryland

PHOTOS: Crews are battling a massive blaze at a Maryland summer camp for kids that broke out Wednesday morning. Frederick County Fire & Rescue said at least 100 personnel are on the scene of the fire at Camp Airy. They said the two-alarm fire started in the dining hall and the initial dispatch was at 7:34 a.m. The fire has spread to the first and second floors. Thankfully, officials said the building was empty and no injuries have been reported at this time. According to the Camp Airy website, the campsite is for boys.
WJLA-TV ABC 7 Washington, D.C.

Nearly half of firefighter job-related deaths across the country caused by sudden cardiac events, according to Missouri study

According to a report, nearly half of all firefighter duty-related deaths across the country are caused by sudden cardiac deaths. The Springfield Fire Department says education is crucial in prevention. Springfield Fire Department’s Division Chief Kelly Ash says physical fitness is also crucial, with the department dedicating an hour a day to keeping firefighters in shape. ”Firefighting often is not a marathon. It’s a sprint,” Division Chief Ash says. “Our heart rate is at max. All of our physical efforts to get the fire out or to rescue a victim.” Division Chief Ash says firefighters have 40 to 50 pounds of gear, which causes their body core temperature to rise quickly. “For a hot day like this, our bodies can’t breathe,” Division Chief Ash says. “We can’t perspire. All that evaporation, which is the part that cools our body that doesn’t happen with all the fire gear.” Ozark Fire Chief Jarett Metheny says sleep schedules also play a role in this.
KYTV NBC 3 Springfield

Mural in Illinois honors military heroes, police, firefighters and first responders

VIDEO/PHOTOS: Paint splatters the sidewalks in Marion after two generations partnered together to honor those who risk their lives to public safety. A retired Marine veteran who lost people in the Vietnam war has partnered with descendants of a long line of military folks to produce a mural memorializing the military and first responders. “Whenever I got out of the Marine Corps in 1972 there was an entirely different attitude toward warriors then, toward the military,” attorney Ronald Osman said. “In fact, we were spit on, on occasion, and it's always bothered me. They deserve to be remembered. All of the first responders and the people that keep us safe day in and day out deserve to be remembered and deserve to be honored.” Ronald Osman and his son, Blane Osman, were approached by Tim Barnett, the Marion Fire Department chief, earlier in the year about putting something on the building across from the fire station that honored the firefighter. Especially those that died on 9/11.
The Southern Illinoisan - Metered Site

How one city in Texas integrated mental health response into 911 dispatch systems

Each year, the Austin, Texas, Police Department (APD) call center diverts more than 80% of its calls to mental health clinicians, freeing police officers to focus on “hot calls,” such as life-threatening situations and robberies in progress. Since 2019, Integral Care, the city’s Local Mental Health and Intellectual and Developmental Disability Authority, has been integrated into APD’s computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system. This means that when APD operators take a 911 call, they ask if the caller needs police, fire, emergency medical services (EMS) or mental health response. “They do their initial triage, and then depending on what information they’re taking in, they have the ability to within the CAD system to transfer to the most appropriate first responder system or our clinicians,” said Marisa Aguilar, crisis services administrator at Integral Care.
GCN

Pennsylvania General Assembly sends new bill designed to improve safety in state-regulated facilities to Governor’s desk

Pennsylvania lawmakers have sent a new bill designed to improve safety in state-regulated childcare facilities to Governor Tom Wolf's desk, the General Assembly announced Wednesday. Introduced by Republican State Sen. Dan Laughlin, Senate Bill 563 was crafted in response to a fire that killed five children in Erie three years ago, according to Senate Republicans. “Many of the bills introduced in the General Assembly are in response to real life events that take place in our hometowns and local communities,” said Laughlin, who represents Erie County. “Tragically, in this case, I introduced this legislation because of a Aug. 11, 2019 child-care facility fire that claimed the lives of La’Myhia Jones, 8; Luther Jones Jr., 6; Ava Jones, 4; Dalvin Pacley, 2; and Jaydan Augustyniak, age 9 months.
WPMT-TV FOX 43 York

NTSB is sending an investigative team to an Amtrak derailment in Missouri that killed 3 people and injured at least 50

A team of National Transportation Safety Board investigators will arrive in Missouri on Tuesday to probe the derailment of an Amtrak train that left at least three people dead and sent surviving passengers scrambling from the wreckage. The derailment occurred as the train, traveling eastbound to Chicago, collided with a dump truck at a crossing near the town of Mendon in north-central Missouri at about 12:42 p.m. Monday, according to Amtrak. Eight of the train’s cars and two locomotives left the track, the company said. “We started feeling the train tilting over to the right. That’s when it kind of went through my mind that this is life or death. This is very serious,” Dax McDonald, who was on the train with his sister Samantha, told CNN’s “New Day.” Their train car had tipped over and was laying on its side.
CNN

Related: Deadliest Amtrak crash almost 30 years ago in Alabama when train plunged into river, caught fire

Amtrak’s worst wreck in terms of deaths was the Sept. 22, 1993, derailment outside Mobile, Alabama, when the Sunset Limited plunged off a bridge and caught fire in the pre-dawn hours. Forty-seven passengers and crew were killed and 103 injured in what became known as the Big Bayou Canot rail accident. The bridge over that arm of the Mobile River had been damaged by a barge shortly before the passenger train started to cross it. The worst wreck as far as overall casualties was the 1990 collision of an Amtrak train with a Boston commuter train that left 453 injured, but there were no fatalities. There is no record of an Amtrak wreck in Missouri having 20 casualties or more, according to Wikipedia’s list of serious accidents. Prior to Monday’s wreck, in which at least 50 were reported injured along with multiple deaths, the Southwest Chief and its predecessor, the Southwest Limited, had been involved in three serious wrecks along its 2,265-mile route from Los Angeles to Chicago that met that 20-casualty threshold.
The Kansas City Star - Metered Site

Washington D.C. firefighters tapped to debut in nationwide training video

VIDEO: From the porch of a vacant row house in Northeast D.C., a film director yelled, “We are rolling … and action!” On his cue, several D.C. firefighters jumped out of their fire truck, bounded up the steps, donned protective gear and lunged into thick fumes. It’s all a simulation of sorts. For the next three days, those directors’ commands will take the place of a real 911 call, as members of D.C. Fire and EMS have been selected to star in a national training video designed to teach firefighters across the country about the dangers of fighting a row house blaze. Firefighters said it’s one of the most dangerous structure fires to battle. “We’ve had injuries and line-of-duty deaths that have been attributed to these types of buildings,” said Deputy Fire Chief Anthony Kelleher.
WTOP-FM 103.5 Washington DC

Community holds paddle-out for fallen FDNY firefighter

A celebration was held at Lido Beach Suday for fallen hero Casey Skudin, a New York City firefighter from Long Beach who was killed in a tragic accident while on vacation with his family in North Carolina. More than 200 people headed out into the Atlantic Ocean for a paddle-out memorial in honor of Skudin. The Long Beach father of two was killed last week when a 2,000-pound tree fell on the SUV he was in. He died two days shy of his 46th birthday and Father's Day. Casey and his family were driving up to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina as part of a family vacation. Casey was a long-time lifeguard in the Town of Hempstead and a beloved member of the surfer community in Long Beach. "He was just the bravest, kindest most epic human being and he's going to be really missed," said his widow, Angela Skudin. She and their two sons, Ben and CJ, led the surfers into the ocean off the same beach where Skudin spent many summers working as a lifeguard.
News 12 The Bronx

South Carolina paramedic loses 125 pounds to donate kidney to 2-year-old niece

VIDEO: As a paramedic, nothing would stop Sara Cathey from stepping up to save a life. As it turned out, the Beaufort EMS worker was able to help one of her own family members. “She brightens my day,” Sara said of her niece, Natalyn. “Makes any bad day good.” It was a devastating day when she found out that 2-year-old Natalyn had a genetic condition that nearly killed her. “She had a double nephrectomy, so both her kidneys got removed June of last year,” remembered Sara. The whole family took tests to find out who might be a kidney match. “You never think it’s going to be you,” Sara said. “I am out here every day with strangers. I love these strangers. I really enjoy being a paramedic, helping people. I get emotionally invested with these complete strangers. So I can’t really explain how much it really hits when it’s her.”
WSAV-TV NBC/CW+3 Savannah