STLFF12's Blog

The North Side Villans have struck again and have shot several people @ Jamestown Mall in Black Jack. At least one fatally shot.

 

Can't drive down a highway anymore, can't shop at the GAP anymore either.  Nobody is safe anywhere.

Im sure glad the bloggers in blog town can enjoy the blog below mine about emotions (very news worthy), chocolate and allergies, but Im suprised you people haven't said a word about the local paramedic who was shot while giving care to two shooting victims lastnight and then became a victim himself.  We as public servants have a very dangerous job. It is such a tragic event, expecially during EMS Week. All this week, appreciation is given to those in the medical field, (EMT/Paramedic/Doctors/Nurses/Etc.). I think many of the local citizens take the services for granted. It is truly noted while responding to calls or transporting the sick/injured to the hospital and people do not obey laws for moving and yielding to emergency vehicles.

Again, my message got off topic, as it was truly about the Paramedic who was treating a shooting victim and became a victim himself as he and his partner inside their ambulance came under fire from someone outside of the ambulance. My thoughts and prayers are with him, his partner and to his collegues. I hope he may quickly recover and resume his duties as a Paramedic.

I'd also like the local media to get our titles correctly. I do not know of any municipality or community who hires "Ambulance Drivers". Those in ambulances in the St. Louis area are licensed as EMT's and Paramedics. Please give credit where it is needed.

I, along with others would most surely like to see Elliot Davis look into the issues of the Northeast Ambulance and FIre Protection District (formerlly NORMANDY). There has been a significant amount of abuse of taxpayer funds and because of that, service to the community has suffered. Now due to their manpower, they have to contract their Medical Services to a private service. But at least the district is covered by skilled paramedics and EMT's. Much work is needed to help restore trust in the people who were elected to be prudent with their tax-dollars.

For more information, take a few minutes to read information on this site.

www.fdrpac.com

Before you make you own conclusions about what was broadcasted by the local media today. Just take a look at what just occured in Baltimore's Fire Department over the past week. There are just too many similarities to make this weekend's incident as valid.  While things are starting to turn around for the good of the St. Louis Fire Department, someone is trying to stir the pot and cause problems. Let it be known that the new Chief is not like the former Chief and when the truth is revealed, I beleive that whoever was invloved will be looking for a new employer.

 

 

The firefighter who reported finding a knotted rope and a drawing of a noose in an East Baltimore station house is in the process of being fired for unrelated issues, Fire Department officials said yesterday.

Donald Maynard, a six-year veteran who reported the discoveries, acknowledged last week that he was the one who brought the items into the station house.

Even before that admission, Maynard, who is black, had been suspended without pay for failing to complete emergency medical technician-intermediate training or making any plans to do so, said Roman Clark, a department spokesman.

The note Maynard said he found Nov. 21 read: "We cant hang the cheaters but we can hang the failures. NO EMT-I, NO JOB."

Officials said Maynard had until Nov. 30 to complete EMT training.

The purported finding of the rope and note set off a new round of racial tension within the department, already under criticism for race-related hiring and promotion issues. After news of the incident was reported, cars stopped at Maynard's station house and drivers made threatening remarks to members, a firefighters union leader said.

"They were afraid for their own safety," said Richard G. Schluderberg, president of Baltimore Fire Fighters Local 734. "Any time you make false racial allegations, I think it does more to harm racial relations."

Maynard's official status is now "suspended pending termination." The Fire Department will make its case for termination at an administrative hearing. No date has been set.

The incident comes at the end of a difficult year for the city Fire Department. A cadet died during a fire training exercise that was found to have violated dozens of national safety standards. The department was investigated internally for an off-the-books account that was used to purchase equipment, circumventing the city's purchasing requirements.

The chief announced his resignation last month, effective at the end of the year, saying the questions surrounding the death of the recruit were proving to be too much of a distraction to the department.

And on Friday, a report by the city's inspector general found that top performers on two June promotion exams probably cheated amid poor security.

Yesterday, city officials clarified the circumstances under which the note and rope were found. While initial reports indicated that the items were found in the Herman Williams Jr. fire station at East 25th Street and Kirk Avenue, officials now say that Maynard presented the note and rope.

"He walked in with it in his pocket and pulled it out and said, 'Hey, look what I found,'" said Sterling Clifford, a spokesman for Mayor Sheila Dixon and the Police Department, which investigated the incident and interviewed Maynard on Friday.

If Maynard were not already in the process of being fired, "there would be some pretty severe disciplinary action," Clifford said.

Maynard, a firefighter-paramedic apprentice who could not be reached for comment yesterday, will not face criminal charges. Maynard's actions do not fit the city or federal definition of a hate crime, Clifford said; neither can he be charged with filing a false police report because, when officers talked to him Friday, he admitted what he had done.

"Everyone in city government went to great trouble and expense, and he cast a tremendous amount of doubt and speculation on good firefighters who didn't deserve that," Clifford said. "It's absolutely a big deal. There's just not a crime to charge him with."

But Schluderberg and others said the state's attorney should look into possible criminal charges. They asked why events that were first called a hate crime by civil rights leaders now wouldn't be prosecuted.

"I believe it to be a double standard," Schluderberg said. "Had it turned out to be Caucasian or some other race [that left the note], they would have been demanding someone's head."

Clifford said: "The FBI determined, along with the Baltimore Police Department, that this incident was not what it originally appeared to be. ... You can't have threats based on race in the firehouse. This turned out not to be that. We're all relieved that it's not."

An FBI spokeswoman said last night that the federal bureau has closed its investigation.

Racial strife is nothing new at the Baltimore Fire Department. In the 1970s, black firefighters formed a group to represent themselves, feeling that the other unions were not looking out for their rights.

In 2004, the department faced a public relations nightmare when it was revealed that its class of recruits was entirely white. Chief William J. Goodwin Jr. took steps to diversify the class.

Last week, the city's inspector general reported that five black firefighters likely had cheated on a promotion exam. The report said the firefighters, who earned top scores on the June 2 test, studied from a 2001 exam that contained similar questions to this year's test.

Henry Burris, president of the Vulcan Blazers, which represents black firefighters, accused the firefighters unions of instigating the investigation, an allegation that they deny.

"I believe that under Chief Goodwin, there has been a design for the exclusion of African-Americans in the Fire Department," Burris said. "It stems from a culture that's pervasive in American society."

But Stephen G. Fugate, head of the city fire officers union and a 33-year veteran of the department, said its promotions and hiring favor blacks and that white firefighters are unjustly punished.

"Based upon my experience, particularly in the last 10 to 15 years, if there are racially motivated inequities in the department, it is not against the African-American members," Fugate said. "It's typically against the Caucasian members."

The inspector general's report on the June 2 exam also said white firefighters apparently copied from each other. It recommended that the test be administered again.

Five O'Clock is fast approaching and promotions have not been made!!!! George's attorney filed an injunction but it was shot down by the judge. George has the power to promote, BUT the city has the power to discipline if he doesn't promote.

5 O'Clock is coming..... Who will and Who won't be running the St. Louis Fire Department??

 

TICK TOCK.... TICK TOCK...

I can surely appreciate citizens being upset over what happened to the 20 year old and the Police Sgt. but what I don't understand is why would a 20 year old need a camera in his vehicle to begin with?  Is there a need for a 20 year old vigilante? News reports stated that the 20 year old had run in's with the police in the past. Not a good sign at 20 years old to already have multiple conflicts with police. What are you doing wrong. Commuter lots, usuaully for commuting, not sitting there for periods of time, that = suspiscious activity. And Im not defending the Sgt. as his behavior was not necessary, but having that camera in the kid's car made him feel as if he could be defiant to the officer and be a smart mouth. He's already pushing buttons by driving the way he was and then his manors to the officer. I believe if he would have just complied (a man) instead of being a 20 year old, the incident would not have unfolded the way it did.

 

Again, I do not endorse the behavior of the Police Sergeant.

Lately, it's been rare to hear something good come from the St. Louis Fire Department. Luckily, today, it had nothing to do with testing and/or promotions or race. There was no need for the Fire Chief to speak or Mayor Slayer to try and use his big vocabulary to give us the ol' smoke and mirrors act.

 

This morning, city firefighters had a house fire @ 5am in the 5000 block of Queens Ave. Which is directly behind Engine House 12. They got there within 90 seconds and were able to rescue a young man and with the assistance of EMS get the man breathing again and transported to the hospital.

Just wanted to point out a nice story which comes not just from the City, but North St. Louis City.

Nearly 1,500 possible candidates who applied for the St. Louis Fire Department and tested in June, found out via mail this week that the test they took has been thrown out.

The city was going to take the top 400 or so test takers to go on to the physical aspect of testing before going on to interviews and beginning the process of being hired and going through the academy. Somehow though, not even 400 people passed???

Tests for cities the size of STL and larger usually grow larger crowds because of the size of the department and their "Action" fires/rescues/etc. So many people traveled from all over the country to take this test and for a job for a city in turmoil.

This is just another jab to the already staggering department who has suffered blows from the delay of promotions of over 20+ command positions.

The fire department has been short staffed for years, and without the promotions there have been other holes. And if the promotions go through in a short period of time, there will even be more shortages as the candidates who passed this written test will not be hired since the test has now been thrown out and the last recruit pool has been scrubbed.

Mind you as well that the test which was given had a math section which was at a 3rd to 4th grade level. The test cost city tax payers close to $75,000 dollars, just to be tossed out.  Also, the testing company has never had to throw a test out for a city the size of ours, as there are always plenty of people who pass.

There are already groups of test takers who are obtaining lawyers and preparing for a legal fight. Even if 400 didnt pass, which doesn't sound correct, the top scoreres need to be hired so that there are newly trained, highly qualified firefighters are hired.

Citizens of the city need to call their aldermen and the mayors office and let your voices be heard. Your safety is at risk.

Part II of this story, so some of this may be redundant as the 1st.

A 45 year old man drowned at the Glen Echo Country Club Monday night. Any time someone this young dies, it is a tragedy. Unfortunately, last night's incident goes well beyond the scope of normal human suffering because of the circumstances surrounding the Normandy Fire Department's gross inability to respond to the community's needs. The drowning occurred at Glen Echo Country Club, which is located less than five blocks from the Normandy's fire station. Normandy's ambulance - unit 4717 - and their Deputy Chief - unit 4701 responded to the call. Instead of going to the Glen Echo Country Club, both 4717 and 4701 responded to the Norwood Country Club in Jennings. After becoming so horribly lost that they could not make the alarm at Glen Echo in a reasonable time frame, the first responding units contacted North Central Dispatch and requested support from the engine company - unit 4724 - that remained at the fire station. Engine Company 4724 – staffed by professional Fire Fighters and long time employees of the district – arrived at Glen Echo Country Club less than two minutes after they responded to the call. The ambulance and deputy chief did not show up until 14 minutes after they were dispatched. The Engine Company was on the scene and caring for the patient for nine minutes before the ambulance and deputy chief were able to find the correct location of the call. The critical information to this story is that this tragedy is the result of the Normandy Fire District Board of Director's efforts to remove highly trained, competent, and dedicated professional Fire Fighters and replace them with incompetent cronies of the Board Chairman, Joe Washington. The Deputy Chief who responded on this call - Robert Manuel - was fired by the previous board for abandoning his job, and was only recently re-hired by Joe Washington and district attorney Elbert Walton. The ambulance was staffed by a full-time paramedic - Joe Buehler - who was fired by the previous board for failing to complete his probationary period, and a part-time paramedic - Kim Fowler. Both paramedics have been working for the district for less than two weeks.

Elbert Walton and Joe Washington are alleging that the dispatchers from North Central Dispatch did not properly do their job and that the Normandy Police Chief is lying.  The Professional Fire Fighters of Eastern Missouri take great exception to both of those assertions, and fully support the men and women of North Central Dispatch, Normandy Police Department, and in particular the Professional Fire Fighters of the Normandy Fire District.

We are urging members of the media to contact North Central Dispatch and request the actual tape of the 911 call and subsequent emergency radio traffic as well as the run report that details the unit times and call location.  The tape and report will clearly show that the dispatchers did and said what they were supposed to do, that the Normandy police department did what they were supposed to do, that the Normandy Fire District Engine Company staffed with experienced, Professional Fire Fighters did what they were supposed to do, but that Joe Washington and Elbert Walton's people failed miserably to do anything close to what they should have done. 

The citizens of Normandy and the surrounding communities deserve quality emergency services.  Instead of focusing on retaining competent, experienced employees who are dedicated to the community they serve, the Normandy Board of Directors have focused their efforts on removing the very people upon whom the community can count.  Instead of building positive relationships with the law enforcement agencies and emergency dispatchers with whom they must work, Elbert Walton and Joe Washington are disparaging the employees at the North Central Dispatch Center and the Normandy Police Department in an effort to cover up the gross incompetence of the people they have put in place.

The following is a breakdown of the dispatch times:

CALL #: F072250234

LOCATION: Glen Echo Country Club, 3401 Lucas & Hunt Road

Original call taken on 08/13/07 at 20:22:35

UNIT #

DISPATCHED

EN ROUTE

ARRIVED ON SCENE

4717

20:23:40

20:25:23

20:37:36

4701

20:25:12

20:25:12

20:31:47

4724

20:26:22

20:27:27

20:28:57

Unit 4717 is the ambulance, Unit 4701 is the Deputy Chief, and Unit 4724 is the Engine Company.  4724 was not dispatched during the original alarm, and was not requested by the ambulance until almost three minutes into the call.  4724 took exactly 90 seconds to leave the fire station and arrive on the scene.  All units responding were audibly given the correct location of the Glen Echo Country Club at 3401 Lucas and Hunt Road as well as receiving the dispatch information in writing over their laptop computers mounted in their fire apparatus.

The Professional Firefighters of Eastern Missouri are outraged by the gross lack of professionalism being displayed by the Chairman of the Normandy Board, Joe Washington and district attorney, Elbert Walton., and we are appalled by the incompetence being forced upon the citizens of this community.  Our organization prides itself on our member’s willingness to sacrifice for, and their ability to serve the citizens we protect.  Joe Washington and Elbert Walton’s blatant disregard for the residents of the Normandy Fire District is an egregious violation of the public trust placed in emergency responders.

If you want some more information about the promotion issues in the St. Louis City Fire Departments, here is a link to KMOX and go to Charlie Brennans interviews (left side of page halfway down). There are several. One done today was with the head of the testing company. On 8-6-07 an interview was conducted between the black firefighter group FIRE and the only barganning party for the firefighters Local 73.

Believe me... listen, absorb, think rationally. You will come to the right conclusion.

Allow about 30-45 minutes to listen to all of the interviews.

A good story was done lastnight in reguards to self rescue from a vehicle in the event of a crash. I don't believe a link was given to find any of these items.  I personally recommend the Res-Q-Mini http://www.copsplus.com/prodnum6128.php it has proven to work many times. I keep one in my turnout gear pocket and have used it several times to break a window, also it comes with a seatbelt cutter.

There are also local Fire Department equipment stores that the general public can visit. They of course sell mostly fire department equipment but some of these places also sell these self rescue tools. I recommend visiting their websites.

http://batt3.com    This store is located in Arnold.

http://www.leonuniform.com/ This store is on Hanley Industrial. Across the street from Maplewood Commons.

http://www.lmefiretrucks.com/ This is out in St. Charles County Wentzville near 40/70 merge.

Like I said, call these places ask if they have them. They may not mention it, but they sell these little items around the cash register and may not list them online.

 

It is worth the purchase. Again, for these tools to work properly, you need to get a grasp on your situation and slow down. It would be rare for you to be in the situation where you would need it, but trust me, if you are calm and overcome your fears and slow down, you will come out much better.

 

He did it... Fire Chief Sherman George has refused with orders from the Mayor of St. Louis to promote firefighters to the ranks of Captain and Battalion Chief. He cites ligitation matters and just utter disrespect to all of those on the list and to those on the St. Louis Fire Department. It's another sad day.

Over past decade or so, race relations at the City’s Fire Department have sometimes been heated. Some of the bad feelings have to do with historic grievances about the management of the Department under former chiefs; others are newer complaints having to do with some pending promotions to supervisory positions. Whatever the reasons, it is well past time for things to change. Firefighting is too dangerous – and too important – for the Department’s firehouses to be divided against themselves. In next year’s budget I will seek funding to help underwrite the expense of mandatory training in diversity issues and race relations for all St. Louis firefighters. And the City will ask FIRE and Local 73, the two firefighter organizations that represent most members of the fire service, to develop a plan together that will spell out concrete measures to improve relations between the two groups, and race relations within the Department. I will have more to say about the pending promotions next week.

What Slay needs to do is put pressure on the Chief to promote over two dozen captains and battalion chiefs (which had already been ordered by a federal judge), or make some major changes, or Slay needs to get him out.  The Chief is a member of the racial organization who is protesting the test results and holding up the process of promoting.  Coincidence?

No thanks to FOX2 for thier top notch reporting on the safety and well being of citizens in their city, let alone their own studio and reporters and editors. Leave it up to Channel 5 to make this a top priority news story. Maybe if someone was in need of aid at the FOX2 studio on Berthold, and "Acting" command personnel showed up, how would you feel to not have the most qualified people coming to your aid. People get put into those "Acting" positons by senority. If that person declines, it goes on down the line til someone takes it. In some cases, someone with 2 years experience in firefighting is making life or death situations. Its about as close as having someone who just graduated the police academy and responding to a shoot out on the north side. You can learn learn learn in the academy, but you will not be sharp until you get practical skills and you are seasoned.

Maybe I or FF33 will hear some comments after your life is already affected by under qualified responders. Now is the time for you to call city hall, join the protests and make your voices heard. It's time for change and the time is now.

Hope everyone has taken notice of the picket at St. Louis Fire Department Headquarters today. There are roughly 30 officer positions open (Captain and Battalion Chief) since 2004. As months and years go by that number is growing, by way of injuries and retirements. Fire Chief Sherman George feels that the test given was racially biased because there were a larger number of whites that passed and are ranked higher than black firefighters. Yet, there are still blacks who tetsted well. Whites don't even account for the majority of the top ten. I believe its an african american who is at the top, there is a female, several whites and more blacks who round out the top 10. The chief doesn't want to promote because of the numbers of the test. He says that some of the people on the list are not qualified, yet scored hgh enough to be in line for a promotion.  Some cite nepotisim as the root of the problem. I foressee it as another attempt to stop progress. If you followed your father to work for 20 years or so, you begin to learn the job quite well, even before you start. So god forbid you already have a head start and have knowledge of the job than others before you test. My father was a firefighter and I knew the job quite well before I ever went to the academy.

For years now, in these vacancies have been people who are not captains or battalion chiefs (actors). In some cases entire districts (example natural bridge and points north) on certain shifts do not even have a bonified captain on a fire truck, which per district is 6. In some instances, someone with as many 2 years on the fire department is making decisons on rescue and tactics and in-house personnel matters which relates to that fire house and it's men. It's not safe for the firefighters or the citiizens who are protected in the city to have people who may not even be qualified for the position(s) to be making those decisions. Which by the way, there is NO compensation or benefits to being an acting Captain or acting Battalion Chief.  It's only a matter of time that someone will get hurt or killed because of the lack of experience of the "Actors" on the scene of fires or accidents.  Tension is high, safety is not number 1, otherwise these people on the list would have been promoted. It's an agenda by the chief and a firefighter racial equality group to hold up progress and sacrifice safety so that more minorites hold higher positions.  Also with the 30+ vacancies on the fire side, there is almsot 30 openings for EMT's and Paramedics on Advanced Life Support Ambulances which the Fire Department operates. Again, with all of the tension and unfiarness, well qualified people have left the city for other jobs and qualified applicants stay away because of all the bad press.

This issuse is not like MoDot or Metro having minority groups fighting because there is not enough minorites on the job to build road or set of tracks, but this is life safety, my safety,  YOUR safety. It's all being compromised because some feel it's not fair that people who fairly passed a test (federal court ruled that the test is valid) have to wait until all court actions and appeals are exausted and the chiefs hand has to be held to sign the paperwork to allow the city to go along with the promotions.

I'd like to thank those who have supported the firefighters and have seen what the true issue is. They have listened to the local media for information. Supporters can see the lies submitted in papers such as the St. Louis American who caters to african americans ans refuses to publish the responses from white firefighters and even african americans who side with the REAL fire department union in getting these well deserving people their promotions. The paper always draws with a racial pen to stir the pot and to get african americans fired up in an attempt to get more people on their side, even if it for the obviously wrong reasons.