Fort Worth, TX, Jan. 10
First-arriving crews of the Fort Worth Fire Department found fire coming from the garage of a one-story house. The family was self-evacuating with their pets. Members battled the fire offensively for about 45 minutes but were ordered out of the structure by the safety officer because of the possibility of a collapse. This prompted the incident commander to request a personnel accountability report. Firefighters transitioned to a defensive attack using a quint’s ladder pipe and several handlines.
Photo by Glen E. Ellman
Onalaska, WI, Jan. 12
A passerby reported a fire at a commercial building. Members of the Onalaska Fire Department had cleared one fire earlier in the day and were responding to another when the call came in. Because of this, the size of the building and the state of the fire, MABAS was utilized to bring in resources from seven other departments. A defensive strategy was put into place, and most of the remaining resources were used to protect five other buildings. In total, 18 members were on scene, and other personnel handled water tender operations.
Photo by Bill Kult
New York City, Jan. 26
FDNY Tower Ladder 119 operates on the top floor as heavy fire vents from a three-story mixed-occupancy during a four-alarm fire in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. The fire began in a top-floor apartment. It spread through the walls and roof and to two wood-frame exposures. More than 200 firefighters from 25 units responded. It took more than an hour for operations, including an interior attack, to bring the fire under control. One victim was rescued early in the operation.
Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
Los Angeles, Jan. 8
A Super Scooper makes a drop on the Palisades Fire in Mandeville Canyon, which is in the Brentwood section of West Los Angeles. The drop came one day after the fire broke out in the Santa Monica Mountains mid-morning. Wind gusts of at least 100 mph predominantly out of the northeast whipped flames to the point that several fires were out of control very quickly. Tens of thousands of people were forced to evacuate their homes. The fire burned through more than 11,000 acres by day’s end.
Photo by Ryan Grothe
Rich Dzierwa | Managing Editor, Firehouse Magazine
Rich Dzierwa joined Firehouse Magazine in 2019 after four tenures with other publications. He was editor-in-chief of Consumers Digest/ConsumersDigest.com and of trade magazine Cutting Tool Engineering. He served as the consumer products reporter for BridgeNews and began his publishing career with an 11-year tenure at Appliance magazine, where he rose to managing editor after serving in other roles. Dzierwa's experience with consumer products, including furnishings, appliances, electronics and space design, has transferred to his Firehouse work regarding the magazine's Station Design columns and the Station Design Awards. Previous work also has contributed to his supervision of several surveys of fire service/EMS members, to produce unique reporting for Firehouse's audience. Dzierwa earned a bachelor's degree in English from Columbia College Chicago.
