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Post by bobbbiez on May 10, 2011 22:41:55 GMT -5
 In all the sadness that comes from the tragedy due to the fire on Schuyler Street taking the lives of a mother and her three children I must commend the first responders who did everything in their power to save those precious lives. I just watched a special eight minute segment on WKTV news that was done by the photographer who was also at that fatal fire. I only hope those who had any doubts that the UFD didn't do enough to save this family also watched this special segment. After watching this actual footage there is no doubt that our firemen did everything in their human power to save this family and even put their own lives in danger just trying to remove the bodies of this family before the fire was actually put out. Sure they were just doing their jobs but if you saw them coming out of that burning building in total exhaustion and falling to their knees with so much sadness that alone makes you want to hug every single one of them. I'm sure it will be a scene sketched in their minds for the rest of their lives. God bless every single one of our courageous, dedicated and wonderful firemen.
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larry
French Fry
Posts: 169
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Post by larry on May 10, 2011 23:11:18 GMT -5
Couldn't have said it better myself, BZ. Everyone is quick to place blame, but as we all run from these tragic blazes, these men and women are running IN to try saving us. I don't know how they do it, but I thank God for them. I don't think people realize just how great Utica's department really is. They were on the scene in less than 3 minutes. The fire was a complete inferno when they arrived. God Bless them.
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Post by Swimmy on May 10, 2011 23:17:18 GMT -5
EMS personnel have a very difficult job. Sometimes they are able to save lives, other times, God has different plans. It takes a special kind of person to do what EMS does.
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Post by JGRobinson on May 11, 2011 5:58:50 GMT -5
I think the only ones that can really question the actions of First Responders are others that do the same duty, kinda like analysis of a Military Mission, best left to those that live the life not just think about it. The rest of us should just thank our lucky stars that we have such a great bunch of folks ready to try to save our butts when we aren't able to do so for ourselves.
Having lived almost entirely in districts that are covered by 100% all volunteer responders, I feel totally blessed every time I see my neighbors saving others or being saved by my neighbors! I'm about 9 miles from the Fire House in Eaton but they seem to get here almost instantly after I call 911 because someone else has rolled their vehicle in my front yard (< 10 Minutes and as quick as 4 minutes, 10 or more times in the last 2 years alone)!
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Post by Deleted on May 11, 2011 8:58:20 GMT -5
Man just fell into a silo that hold grain feed. About a 40 foot fall. Business on Wurtz Ave in North Utica. Ufd trying to drill through the silo to get to the victim. DPW also helping out.Great coverage on WKTV. Hope the guy has air to breath it is taking a while apparently an hour or so. Well how stupid. Rather staying on TV with the live coverage, WKTV went back to regular programing.
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Post by Deleted on May 11, 2011 9:01:44 GMT -5
In all the sadness that comes from the tragedy due to the fire on Schuyler Street taking the lives of a mother and her three children I must commend the first responders who did everything in their power to save those precious lives. I just watched a special eight minute segment on WKTV news that was done by the photographer who was also at that fatal fire. I only hope those who had any doubts that the UFD didn't do enough to save this family also watched this special segment. After watching this actual footage there is no doubt that our firemen did everything in their human power to save this family and even put their own lives in danger just trying to remove the bodies of this family before the fire was actually put out. Sure they were just doing their jobs but if you saw them coming out of that burning building in total exhaustion and falling to their knees with so much sadness that alone makes you want to hug every single one of them. I'm sure it will be a scene sketched in their minds for the rest of their lives. God bless every single one of our courageous, dedicated and wonderful firemen. I guess it was a broken gas pipe that really accelerated the fire. That place would have been like the inside of a crematorium. That soldier who tried to get into the house was very brave. |
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Post by Clipper on May 11, 2011 9:50:36 GMT -5
Having worked as a professional firefighter for 12 years I can tell you that nobody knows what it is like to enter a burning building until they have done so. To search a house for victims, when the smoke is banked down to the floor, and the heat will melt your boots is extremely difficult and dangerous. The heat alone will exhaust a person in a few short minutes, and if they are not protected by a hoseline, or if the hose loses pressure at the nozzle they can be burned. I have been there and done it. When you can't see, you enter a room on your hands and knees, follow the wall around to the right, stretching out to feel for beds, on top of beds, under beds, and in closets, until you find your way back to the door and onward to the next room. Breathing off of an air pack is not the easiest either. You are crawling around in an environment that many times is hotter than the home oven, and it saps your strength rapidly. It is so hot sometimes that you can be scalded by the steam of your own sweat inside the lining of your protective gear. Even with protective gear in place, I have had blistered ear lobes, burned hands even with gloves on, and burned knees from crawling on hot floors. I was once blown off of a porch in Verona as a volunteer when combustible gases built up in a house, and the windows and door blew open as we walked up on the steps. I was once blown out of a hallway, across a living room and into a plasterboard wall when a can of laquer thinner being used in refinishing floors exploded as we fought a fire. I don't tell those stories to brag. Barely escaping serious injury or death is simply something to be thankful for, not anything to brag about.
I can understand where the family might doubt the efforts of the firefighters out of sheer desperation, and need to lash out at someone from sheer grief. For anyone else to do so is simply uneducated and ignorant people that don't have a clue what it is like to fight a fire, and would most likely not go any farther than the front door if handed a hose nozzle. It was said in one of the news stories that the stairway to the second floor collapsed soon after the firefighters arrived. That tell me that the fire had reached inferno proportion and that the house was more or less fully involved.
Fire is a fast, unpredictable, and often fatal foe. It is to be treated with respect and caution. Even for those highly trained to fight it, fire can take a life in a heartbeat with a backdraft, flashover, or structural failure. Nothing is accomplished if firefighters go beyond sensible rescue efforts and firefighters are killed along with the victims already inside the burning structure.
Utica has a well trained and very dedicated fire department. I taught the EMT course to Utica Firefighters years ago at MVCC and they were all very well trained, attentive and totally dedicated to the job. Quality of training and equipment has moved onward and upward since then. Nothing but Kudos to the brave and hardworking UFD for their efforts in this tragic fire. The family and friends of those lost are in our prayers. The loss of small children is especially hard to deal with.
I also pray for the firefighters and the anguish they are suffering as a result of this tragedy. It is a job that is all too often caught up in political debate over pensions and pay, but when your home is on fire or a firefighter paramedic saves your life, it all becomes very clear as to the valiant job they do and the respect they deserve. They will carry the images from this tragedy with them for a lifetime. I can still recall each and every face of children that I transported or treated over the years as an EMT, who did not survive, or were dead when we arrived. It's a emotional burden that the average person gives no thought to, but every EMS person knows all to well.
I also pray for a friend who lost family in a similar fire many years ago on the highlands in W Utica. This has to be a hard time for that family as they are taken back to their own tragic time. I am reminded of it every time I drive along Whitesboro St. The scene always replays in one's mind when you have witnessed such an event. Please keep that family in your prayers also.
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Post by stoney on May 11, 2011 9:52:14 GMT -5
So sad. So surreal. My heart goes out to the family, the UPD, the UFD, & Clyde Taylor, that man who just got back from Irag & 10 years in the Army who tried to enter the building.  |
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Post by Clipper on May 11, 2011 10:01:09 GMT -5
I just read the story about Clyde Taylor. What a brave young man. It shows the quality of training and the selfless personalities of those that serve in our military. Thank you Clyde for both your service to the country and for your efforts to save this family, although it was unsuccessful. God bless you Clyde.
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In all the sadness that comes from the tragedy due to the fire on Schuyler Street taking the lives of a mother and her three children I must commend the first responders who did everything in their power to save those precious lives. 
