Thursday, May 23, 2013
The surviving man was flown by helicopter to a trauma treatment center in Baltimore.
One man died and another was severely injured in the collapse of a portion of a parking garage under construction at the Westfield Montgomery mall Thursday afternoon, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service officials said. The 50,000- to 55,000-pound slab collapsed on a ramp between the second and third levels of the garage near the Macy's department store, said Assistant Chief Scott Graham, a fire and rescue spokesman. The survivor was trapped for four hours before rescuers could free him, Graham said. He was flown by helicopter to the University of Maryland R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore. He was alert and communicating with rescue and medical staff, Graham said. Both men are believed to be construction workers, and …
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Metro suspended rail service between Takoma and Forest Glen stations Tuesday evening.
Update Service is back to normal at the Silver Spring Metro station, Metro announced via Twitter at 10:40 p.m. Tuesday. Original post A fire on the tracks that sent billowing smoke over downtown Silver Spring forced the evacuation of the Silver Spring Metro station at the peak of Tuesday evening’s rush hour. No one was injured as firefighters brought the fire under a Red Line train under control quickly, said Assistant Chief Scott Graham, a spokesman for the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service. NBC4 video from the scene showed thick white smoke after the fire was extinguished. The fire was in electrical insulation and connectors on the tracks, Graham said. Red Line service was suspended between the Takoma and Forest Glen stations, …
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Thomas W. Carr Jr. was the first to lead a restructured county fire department.
Thomas W. Carr Jr., a 31-year veteran of the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service who served as its first countywide chief, died Wednesday in Charleston, SC, the county fire and rescue service announced in a news release. He was 59. Carr suffered from complications from multiple system atrophy, a rare neurological disorder that causes symptoms similar to Parkinson’s disease. Ill health forced Carr to retire as chief of the Charleston Fire Department last year, the release said. Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan (D) appointed Carr the first chief of a unified county fire and rescue service in 2004. His appointment followed passage by the County Council of controversial legislation that led to reform of the department’s …
Friday, March 29, 2013
No previous fire-fighting experience is required.
Have you dreamed about being a firefighter since you were little? The Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service would like to help you fulfill your dream. Are you: If you answered "yes" to all of the above questions, you qualify to apply to become a Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service firefighter/rescuer. MCFRS announced on their Facebook page that they are planning to accept applications May 1-17. Applicants must create an account and submit their application on the Montgomery County government website. No prior firefighting experience is required, but applicants will be required to pass both a written exam and the Candidate Physical Ability Test. Applicants also must pass a medical exam and background investigation and receive a …
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Potomac River rescue teams train to save lives.
When Montgomery County Fire and Rescue services make a Potomac River water rescue, it's usually to help someone on land. Signs near the C&O Canal park entrance at Angler’s Inn mark the Billy Goat trail as one of the most strenuous in the area, but each year warnings are ignored by visitors making it the most prevalent reason Montgomery County’s firefighters are called for water rescues. According to the National Park Service, the first section of the trail “marked with blue colored blazes on trees and rocks, is a 1.7-mile trail over extremely difficult and dangerous terrain.” Inexperienced or unfit hikers are urged to chose a different trail. Still, not everyone heeds these warnings. “We’ve seen everything from 80-year-old grandmothers …
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Police: Saharath Rochanavichit, 41, was thrown from his motorcycle on Great Seneca Highway on Sunday night.
A Rockville man died from injuries suffered when he was thrown from a motorcycle he was driving Sunday night on Great Seneca Highway in Gaithersburg, county police said in a news release. Saharath Rochanavichit, 41, of the 13500 block of Oriental Street in Rockville, died of his injuries at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, police said. County and Gaithersburg city police as well as county fire and rescue units responded to a report of a serious collision about 8:40 p.m. on Sunday, the release said. An investigation by county police's Collision Reconstruction Unit determined that Rochanavichit was northbound on Great Seneca Highway near High Gables Drive when, for reasons that remain unclear, the 2009 Ducati motorcycle he was driving struck…
39.115685
-77.223225
Great Seneca Hwy & High Gables Dr, Gaithersburg, MD
/articles/rockville-man-killed-in-motorcycle-crash-in-gaithersburg
/locations/7611258
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
A two-alarm fire on the roof of the furniture store closed Rockville Pike into Town Center at the height of Wednesday evening's rush hour.
A two-alarm fire Wednesday night at the Marlo Furniture at 725 Rockville Pike did significant damage to the store's roof and snarled traffic in Rockville Town Center at the height of the evening rush. Two firefighters were injured. The call for the fire came in at 6:15 p.m. County and Rockville City police closed Rockville Pike at Wootton Parkway, rerouting traffic around the northbound route into the city's downtown. An NBC4 helicopter captured video of the rooftop blaze. Two firefighters suffered heat-related non-life threatening injuries while putting out the blaze, said Assistant Chief Scott Graham of the county fire and rescue service. The store was evacuated, Graham said. No civilians were hurt. Firefighters extinguished the fire, …
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Assistant Chief Graham: Family was out-of-town; arson remains in play.
Firefighters weighed the risks before entering a Derwood home to fight a fire early Saturday morning, a fire and rescue service spokesman said Tuesday. A firefighter was injured when he fell through the floor of the home in the 6000 block of Muncaster Mill Road. “It was purely accidental,” Assistant Chief Scott Graham said. The ranch-style home was “dark and smoky” and the firefighter stepped around a barrier and into a hole in the first floor that had been marked, Graham said. The firefighter was treated and released from a hospital on Saturday and is receiving “orthopedic-related” follow-up treatment, Graham said. No one was in the home at the time of the fire. The family that lives there was out-of-town, Graham said. Dispatchers …
39.132803
-77.121527
6000 Muncaster Mill Rd, Rockville, MD
/articles/update-fire-spokesman-no-one-home-in-derwood-house-fire
/locations/6976381
Saturday, May 5, 2012
A firefighter fell through a hole in the floor while trying to put out a fire.
A firefighter was injured while working to put out a fire in a ranch-style home in the 6000 block of Muncaster Mill Road Saturday morning, said Assistant Chief Scott Graham of the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service. Traffic cameras first alerted dispatchers to the fire—when they noticed smoke coming from the Derwood home. The county fire service was called at around 5:30 a.m. When units arrived on the scene, they found a basement fire that had burned through the first floor, creating a hole. While extinguishing the fire, a firefighter fell through the floor and was extricated from the basement by firefighters working in the basement, according to Graham. The firefighter has minor injuries and was taken to a local hospital for …
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Alert Montgomery: Residents could see military helicopters, mock victims.
Don’t be alarmed if you notice a bit more activity than usual in the sky or around health care facilities across the county on Thursday. The county will participate in a mass casualty drill from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. to test emergency response at Maryland hospitals, according to a statement from Alert Montgomery issued late Wednesday afternoon. The statement read: “This exercise will simulate the movement to and treatment of mock victims, at the following hospitals in the county:" “Residents may notice additional military helicopter activity throughout the county,” the statement said. “The exercises will not affect normal hospital operations.”
Joe Thomas
3:00 pm on Friday, May 24, 2013
For God's sake it was not a "parking garage collapse". One small layer shifted out of place. Yes there was a fatality but it was not a parking garage collapse. Typical media hype. more ›