Last night, I watched a cell phone video posted on a Boston Fire Wire site. The video was captured by a civilian in front of a Harrisburg PA row house fire with a family trapped above a heavily involved first floor. The video showed first alarm companies starting rescue efforts, stretching a first line, a chief by himself trying to direct operations and many civilian on-lookers expressing their emotions knowing children were trapped upstairs. It was a moving video to watch.
I checked our NYCFirenet site and found that Mikeinthebronx had efficiently posted the Harrisburg 2nd alarm so I added the video and went back to Google to find more about the fire. I immediately discovered:
- a young girl lost her life in the fire falling or jumping from the upper floors - RIP
- a family was rescued by heroic efforts of firefighters using ground ladders
- the fire was started by a hoverboard being charged downstairs
- a Harrisburg Fire Department member was in an accident responding to the fire and was in critical condition
- the driver who t-boned the HFD member running a stop sign was drunk, driving a stolen vehicle, driving without a license and driving a stolen vehicle
I found more:
- the HFD member was a lieutenant in Squad 8 who was responding from a memorial service for a HFD friend who had just died from cancer
- the friend was FF Dan Wolfe, a firefighter's firefighter, who worked in a truck company and whose life was cut short at 52 years old by a firefighter's killer - cancer - RIP FF Wolfe
- the HFD member fighting for his life, LT Danny Devoe, was also a highly thought of HFD member who had 20 years on the job and loved being a firefighter
- LT Devoe had himself made a heroic rescue in January
- LT Devoe played hockey for the HFD team - and had 4 kids
There an emotional audio recording of the HFD fire which I added to Mike's 2nd Alarm posting. The audio highlighted:
- the initial alarm and companies assigned to a reported fire with many calls and reports of children trapped
- the few fire units actually assigned to a reported structure fire in a large, busy city like Harrisburg
- the difficulty getting a water supply to support rescue operations and knock down the heavy volume of fire
- relatively long response times for additional companies to come in from outside Harrisburg
- difficulty responding in because PD cars were blocking street
- companies responding in were engine companies with two members and truck companies with three members
I checked Harrisburg Fire Department websites and found it currently operated with only an engine/squad (LT Devoe's company), two engine companies and two truck companies from three firehouses - in the entire city. Members appeared to be highly professional, well motivated - and very busy. I realized that I was used to at least four engines, two trucks, a heavy rescue, a RIT company, a medic, special units and two chiefs for all reported structure fires in my department. I realized that departments like the Harrisburg Fire Department have to do the same job with less resources and fewer members. Maybe departments like Harrisburg would have more fire units and be better staffed if the people in the video I first viewed, who were very critical of fire department efforts, understood what happens at a fire and if they demanded that their political leaders better fund their fire departments.
I then found more about LT Devoe. He humbly downplayed the acknowledgment he received after the risky rescue he made in January and said he was just doing his job and that he hoped others would make a similar effort if his family was trapped in a fire. He also climbed stairs in his bunker gear for fundraisers for others. His fire chief emotionally characterized him as a department leader. Every picture of LT Devoe displayed a smiling, confident, professional firefighter.
Then the Harrisburg fire chief painfully confirmed LT Devoe had died - another LODD. It saddened me and made me wonder -
- Maybe if his friend, FF Wolfe, was not killed by cancer, he would not have been at a memorial service and maybe he would not have been hit by a stolen car
- Maybe if the driver of the stolen car was a responsible individual she would not have driven drunk, without a license and might not have recklessly run a stop sign
- Maybe if the assholes who stole the car did not break the law and steal the car
- Maybe if the hoverboard was safe to own and if the battery did not explode into fire there would not have been a fatal fire that also claimed a FF's life
- Maybe....maybe....maybe....
Would LT Devoe have gone home to his wife and four children if these any of these events had not happened - or was his time simply "up"?
We usually accept loss of life with clich?s to explain the unexplainable - like "When your time is up, it is up." We appreciate our own human limitations and are reminded of God's will and our inability to control things that are not controllable. It is difficult to learn of the difficult experiences and pain others experience. Usually, we simply read that Harrisburg Fire Department had a second alarm house fire and think of it as just another job. But every once in a while, we discover more, like this Harrisburg fire. Reality and awareness haunts us.
God bless the family who lost their daughter in this tragic fire. God bless the Devoe family and the Wolfe family and members of the Harrisburg Fire Department. Let us hope that our politicians will become more aware that resources are needed in our communities to fight fires and to prevent crime.
Most of all, let us thank LT Devoe and pray for his family. Never forget!
I checked our NYCFirenet site and found that Mikeinthebronx had efficiently posted the Harrisburg 2nd alarm so I added the video and went back to Google to find more about the fire. I immediately discovered:
- a young girl lost her life in the fire falling or jumping from the upper floors - RIP
- a family was rescued by heroic efforts of firefighters using ground ladders
- the fire was started by a hoverboard being charged downstairs
- a Harrisburg Fire Department member was in an accident responding to the fire and was in critical condition
- the driver who t-boned the HFD member running a stop sign was drunk, driving a stolen vehicle, driving without a license and driving a stolen vehicle
I found more:
- the HFD member was a lieutenant in Squad 8 who was responding from a memorial service for a HFD friend who had just died from cancer
- the friend was FF Dan Wolfe, a firefighter's firefighter, who worked in a truck company and whose life was cut short at 52 years old by a firefighter's killer - cancer - RIP FF Wolfe
- the HFD member fighting for his life, LT Danny Devoe, was also a highly thought of HFD member who had 20 years on the job and loved being a firefighter
- LT Devoe had himself made a heroic rescue in January
- LT Devoe played hockey for the HFD team - and had 4 kids
There an emotional audio recording of the HFD fire which I added to Mike's 2nd Alarm posting. The audio highlighted:
- the initial alarm and companies assigned to a reported fire with many calls and reports of children trapped
- the few fire units actually assigned to a reported structure fire in a large, busy city like Harrisburg
- the difficulty getting a water supply to support rescue operations and knock down the heavy volume of fire
- relatively long response times for additional companies to come in from outside Harrisburg
- difficulty responding in because PD cars were blocking street
- companies responding in were engine companies with two members and truck companies with three members
I checked Harrisburg Fire Department websites and found it currently operated with only an engine/squad (LT Devoe's company), two engine companies and two truck companies from three firehouses - in the entire city. Members appeared to be highly professional, well motivated - and very busy. I realized that I was used to at least four engines, two trucks, a heavy rescue, a RIT company, a medic, special units and two chiefs for all reported structure fires in my department. I realized that departments like the Harrisburg Fire Department have to do the same job with less resources and fewer members. Maybe departments like Harrisburg would have more fire units and be better staffed if the people in the video I first viewed, who were very critical of fire department efforts, understood what happens at a fire and if they demanded that their political leaders better fund their fire departments.
I then found more about LT Devoe. He humbly downplayed the acknowledgment he received after the risky rescue he made in January and said he was just doing his job and that he hoped others would make a similar effort if his family was trapped in a fire. He also climbed stairs in his bunker gear for fundraisers for others. His fire chief emotionally characterized him as a department leader. Every picture of LT Devoe displayed a smiling, confident, professional firefighter.
Then the Harrisburg fire chief painfully confirmed LT Devoe had died - another LODD. It saddened me and made me wonder -
- Maybe if his friend, FF Wolfe, was not killed by cancer, he would not have been at a memorial service and maybe he would not have been hit by a stolen car
- Maybe if the driver of the stolen car was a responsible individual she would not have driven drunk, without a license and might not have recklessly run a stop sign
- Maybe if the assholes who stole the car did not break the law and steal the car
- Maybe if the hoverboard was safe to own and if the battery did not explode into fire there would not have been a fatal fire that also claimed a FF's life
- Maybe....maybe....maybe....
Would LT Devoe have gone home to his wife and four children if these any of these events had not happened - or was his time simply "up"?
We usually accept loss of life with clich?s to explain the unexplainable - like "When your time is up, it is up." We appreciate our own human limitations and are reminded of God's will and our inability to control things that are not controllable. It is difficult to learn of the difficult experiences and pain others experience. Usually, we simply read that Harrisburg Fire Department had a second alarm house fire and think of it as just another job. But every once in a while, we discover more, like this Harrisburg fire. Reality and awareness haunts us.
God bless the family who lost their daughter in this tragic fire. God bless the Devoe family and the Wolfe family and members of the Harrisburg Fire Department. Let us hope that our politicians will become more aware that resources are needed in our communities to fight fires and to prevent crime.
Most of all, let us thank LT Devoe and pray for his family. Never forget!
