A Bostonian named Caroline Holda called the late Steve Jobs a "modern day Leonardo DaVinci." Jobs died yesterday at 56. [WCVB] Remember to follow Bostonist on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
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Results tagged “bostonfiredepartment”
Boston has a new fire boat to finally replace the current 40-year old ship used in the harbor. The ship is named for 19th Century chief John S. Dramell and cost $4.2 million. The ship is faster, capable of going 43 miles per hour, and has a main gun that can pump 6,000 gallons per minute.
Dozens of college students were evacuated around 2:30 a.m. from a building on the corner of Hemenway Street and 90 Westland Avenue, referred to as Cappy's Corner by the Globe, after a fire broke out. Boston firefighters, who are still investigating the cause, said flames started in a basement laundry room before spreading quickly to the roof. Boston police broke up a brawl at Who's on First on Yawkey Way around 1:45 a.m. and arrested three men, one each from Roxbury, Cambridge, and Dorchester, for multiple charges including assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, resisting arrest, and assault and battery on a police officer.
Catherine Greig was indicted today for “harboring and concealing” James “Whitey” Bulger from 1995 until June 22 of this year, when they were arrested in Santa Monica. The indictment details multiple aliases she used as she allegedly actively helped Bulger avoid capture. Greig could face five years in jail. [Boston Herald] Remember to follow Bostonist on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
Fire breaks out on Boston fireworks barge: MyFoxBOSTON.com
Boston's Fourth of July fireworks barge caught fire Tuesday morning and burned for an hour. While no cause has been determined, the Boston Fire Department said there were 15 unexploded charges on the barge. A wooden frame that held the metal canister holding the fireworks initially caught fire. WCVB said no injuries resulted from the fire. The BFD used marine units to fight the fire that created a thick, black smoke over the Charles River. A search for the cause is underway as is a search for any environmental damage. Part of the Massachusetts Avenue bridge on the way to Cambridge was closed. [WCVB]
Fifty-Four firefighters were suspended by the Boston Fire Department for faking medical training certifications. Over 200 EMTs were implicated in the scandal that involved two instructors accused in 2010. Twenty firefighters received 45-day suspensions without pay for twice accepting false certifications. The firefighters who once faked certifications got suspended for 15 days without pay. Each firefighter must also repay the $1,000 course stipend. The BFD investigated for a year. [Globe]
Two workers at the Tip O'Neill Federal Building were exposed to an undetermined form of hazardous radiation around 4 p.m. in the building at 10 Causeway Street today. The workers, two Federal Protective Service police officers, were wearing radiation dosimeter tags that went off and a Level 3 hazardous materials incident was declared. The radiation leak was traced to a piece of old surveying equipment stored on the first floor. The Boston Fire Department swept the area and found no risk and were through by 6 p.m. No injuries were reported and no decontamination was required. The Nuclear Regulatory Agency will take care of the device. Steve MacDonald, a BFD spokesman, said there was no public health hazard. [Globe]
One Boston firefighter was injured and two suffered smoke inhalation while fighting a three-alarm fire at 95 Commercial Wharf early Wednesday morning. The fire broke out around 5:45 a.m. near Atlantic Avenue in law offices in a building on pilings at the wharf. The blaze near Atlantic Avenue began before 5:45 a.m. and a marine unit was at the scene working to quell the flames, fire officials said. Boston Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald estimated damages at $1.5 million.The firefighter suffered a rib injury. All three jakes were sent to Massachusetts General Hospital. No cause has been determined. [WCVB], [Globe]
Military veterans are challening the Boston Fire Department's plan to hire 15 Spanish-speakers firefighters as part of the next 50-person class. The Puppy Pipeline Rescue brought 40 puppies to the Northeast Animal Shelter in Salem from Georgia shelters as the South recovers from a series of tornadoes. Remember to follow Bostonist on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
A grease fire in a tunnel near the Chinatown station caused 225 people to be evacuated from a six-car Orange Line train this afternoon. The Boston Fire Department responded at 3:02 p.m. and shut down service between Tufts Medical Center and Chinatown stations until 4:45 p.m. No injuries were reported. Deputy Fire Chief Joseph Finn said the fire was 100 feet shy of the Chinatown station and caused a great deal of smoke. Firefighters used two carbon dioxide fire extinguishers to stop the fire. [Globe], [WHDH]
Snowstorm. Drive Carefully. Protect Your Roof. Avoid gigantic mounds of snow. There's also a picture of Boston from 1860. No snow in it, though. Remember to follow Bostonist on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
A second carbon monoxide related incident happened in Massachusetts last night. Firefighters evacuated four single-family homes on Bolton Street in South Boston because of high CO readings. The Boston Fire Department reached the scene at 9:15 p.m. and learned NStar traced the problem to a burning underground cable. Nobody was injured. An eight-year old Quincy boy died of suspected carbon monoxide poisoning. [Globe]
Yeah, you guessed it, snow. Remember to follow Bostonist on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
If a vehicle crashes or something burns, read about it here.
Make that 60+ pet oxygen masks. A dog owner and her pooch, Sammy, were rescued from a ledge off Fan Pier by firefighters on the same day the Massachusetts Veterinary Medical Association and the Tewksbury pet food company, "Wellpet," donated 60 pet oxygen masks, designed specifically for cats and dogs, to the Boston Fire Department. As a sign of her gratitude, rescued dog owner Mary Gier of Boston donated money to the BFD in order to buy more masks.
Maybe we shouldn't have wished for the rain to go away; it's been a ridiculous week for fires thus far. Monday saw a Chinatown blaze (caused by an short circuit) that injured three firefighters, as well as a Fensfire felt as far away as Sullivan Square. And earlier today, a Back Bay condo burst into flames in dramatic fashion. Three people have been hospitalized thus far as a result of the nine-alarm conflagration in the 200-person building, which was built before sprinkler requirement went into effect. The Globe talked to Steve MacDonald of the BFD, who said the fire was reported at 1:46 p.m. on the seventh floor of the building, to which it was mostly contained. One resident said "It looked like a volcano," and the smoke was visible across the river. The fire even affected Lena Chen's commute, among those of many others. Be prepared for a potentially long trip home tonight, but be glad that building residents seem to be safe. Our thoughts are with the residents of the building. [Globe]
-- A Somerville man was stabbed repeatedly outside of the CVS on JFK Street in Harvard Square early Saturday morning before taking a cab to the emergency room. The man described three suspects to police, who have released little information about the incident. [Cambridge Chronicle]
- With Steven Tyler recovering from his fall, Joe Perry is mad, and the future of Aerosmith is uncertain. Perry had already commented on the fall. [AP via Boston.com]
- Foxboro has a message for fans attending either of U2's Gillette Stadium concert dates on Sunday and Monday: Don't arrive too early. [Attleboro Sun Chronicle]
The city of Boston and the men who fill the ranks of the Boston Fire Department simply can't get along. Contract disputes have long since gone nuclear and now any controversy turns into a five-alarm blaze of rhetoric and posturing perfectly designed for the city's competitive media outlets.
- Massachusetts has the second-lowest obesity rate in the nation at 21.2%, which still seems too high. [WCVB]
- Boston firefighters are defying Boston Fire Department orders to volunteer to staff three stations. [Boston Herald]
Boston can boast about yet another important achievement: spending the most money per capita on firefighting and emergency medical services. We spend $452 per resident annually, far more than second-place San Francisco's $316 per resident. Unions are being blamed in part for the expense of firefighting in the city, as are outdated divisions that track unnecessary equipment. Whatever the cause, we can't argue that the high expenditures have prevented disaster: we've lost El Pelon, seen fire trucks crash (likely due to equipment failure), and paid disability out the nose (including to bodybuilders). The BFD even lost two of their own in a terrible fire made even more awful by autopsy results indicating drug use. Basically, the BFD is a Big Fucking Disaster—and more money isn't the thing that will fix it.
...including, possibly, cover-ups. The Globe reports that the medical files of three Boston jakes who had claimed career-ending injuries cannot be found by FBI agents investigating improper disability claims. Samuel Tyler, president of Boston Municipal Research Bureau, a business-funded watchdog group put it drolly, "The suspicious disappearance of the files would seem to reaffirm suspicions that some of the injuries being investigated by the US attorney may not have been legitimate."
The Boston Fire Department thought they had problems with Mayor Tom Menino when they were resistant to random drug testing. Now the federal government has reason to investigate them. It appears that some firefighters have been making disability claims at higher rates by claiming that they were filling in for a supervisor, hence making more money and getting more in their pensions.
The Globe reports that an electrical fire broke out on the 12th floor of One Beacon around noon today. As of right now, two people have been sent to the hospital, and Andrew Ryan reported that one person was burned severely.
Today's Globe featured a story on the tremendous pull that police and fire unions have on city government. Roderick Fraser Jr. heads the fire department, but Local 718 Ed Kelly has his own ideas for the direction of the fire department.
Whether or not you think pot is a big deal, the fact that a Boston Firefighter was arrested for buying pot today doesn't bode well for the fire department's resistance to the mayor's desire to start random drug testing.
--News the Boston Fire Department doesn't need: An anonymous person has accused firefighters of cheating on a promotional test in November. [Boston Globe]