Universal Hub - Boston Fire Department

Where was fire chief right after the bombings?

adamg — Wed, 15 May 2013 11:44:39 +0000

The Herald reports all 13 deputy fire chiefs signed a letter declaring they have no confidence in Fire Chief Steve Abraira, the department's highest ranking uniformed officer, in part because he didn't want to assume command in the minutes after the Boston Marathon bombings.

Abraira reports to Fire Commissioner Rod Fraser, who hired him from Dallas - the first time the job has ever gone to somebody not from Boston. He explains to the Herald why he left Marathon response to commanders in the field.

The Boston Fire Department has always rewarded dogged determination

adamg — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 15:18:52 +0000

The Boston City Archives posted this photo of BFD fire dogs lining up for some serious chow back in the 1940s.

No charges against firefighter who allegedly made threats

adamg — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 11:24:15 +0000

The Globe reports a West Roxbury District Court magistrate didn't find probable cause for criminal action against Kenneth Veiga, who was suspended from his job last month after, police say, he threatened a superior with carnage. That came following an incident at the Readville fire station.

On-duty firefighter charged with heroin possession in Egleston Square

adamg — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 12:19:39 +0000

Boston Police report Stephen Hogan, 24, of Dorchester, was arrested during a drug investigation in the area of Columbus Avenue and Bray Street yesterday.

Officers assigned to the Drug Control Unit observed a white male walking and talking on a cell phone while also carrying what appeared to be a plastic bag in his hand. The suspect was seen entering a vehicle which then went for a short drive around the block before dropping the suspect off. Believing that a drug transaction had taken place, officers approached the suspect after he exited the vehicle and found him to be in possession of a plastic bag containing a tan powder believed to be heroin.

Hogan is the son of Fire Chief Gerald Hogan. However, he is no longer a Boston firefighter. Fire spokesman Steve MacDonald says he resigned after his arrest Hogan had been a probationary firefighter - he had served less than a year.

Innocent, etc.

Why the firefighter may have flipped: Department treatment after he stopped another firefighter from killing himself

adamg — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 03:28:42 +0000

A firefighter charged with threatening to go on even worse of a rampage than that Los Angeles cop was angry when the fire department ordered him back to work from a leave granted after he tackled another firefighter trying to kill himself in the Engine 49 firehouse in Readville, a source says.

The incident, about a week ago, ended with Kenneth Veiga covered in blood - and the other firefighter still alive - the source says.

Because of the traumatic nature of the incident, his commander gave him time off. On Tuesday, however, he failed to convince superiors that he be allowed to see his own physician, rather than a department doctor, before returning to work.

Boston Police allege he told a union representative and a superior officer that "I am Army trained and have weapons and ammunitions in a storage locker. Dorner will be child's play."

Veiga was suspended with pay and now faces a March 4 hearing before a West Roxbury District Court clerk on whether he will face criminal charges.

Department spokesman Steve MacDonald declined to comment on the incident, except to say that Veiga "is a 24 year veteran who is on paid administrative leave while police look into alleged statements."

Police: Upset firefighter threatened to pull a Dorner

adamg — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 17:54:31 +0000

Boston Police report a firefighter apparently unhappy at being told he was healthy enough to return to work allegedly threatened on Tuesday to use his army training to destroy anybody who got in his way:

The firefighter made the following statements to the BFD Commander, "smashing a fire truck into a wall. I am Army trained and have weapons and ammunitions in a storage locker. Dorner will be child's play." The firefighter further stated he was “upset with City Hall, Fire Department Headquarters, and the Firefighters Union Hall."

Police say detectives responded to BFD headquarters on Southampton Street Tuesday afternoon after a fire commander and a union rep got off the phone with the firefighter. Police did not identify him, but WBZ reported he was Kenneth Veiga, a 24-year BFD veteran.

Police say the firefighter was summoned for a clerk's hearing in West Roxbury District Court on March 4.

Innocent, etc.

City looks to bring 19th-century fire-alarm boxes into the 21st century

adamg — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 23:24:45 +0000

Government Technology reports Boston is looking for proposals from vendors on how to upgrade the city's network of 2,200 fire alarm boxes, which still use the same basic telegraph technology as when they were first installed in 1852.

"We're interested in having multiple communication types and really enhancing the ability to send more specific messages so that we can use them for both emergency and non-emergency purposes, but also get more specific messages," [Deputy Fire Commissioner Justin] Brown said. "Is this actually a fire? Is this a law enforcement call? Do you need medical assistance? And maybe be able to communicate back and forth."

When an alarm on one of the boxes is pulled, it sends a series of tones to the department's dispatching center, identifying its number, which dispatchers then use to dispatch firefighters. Even when calls come in via more modern technologies, such as telephones, dispatchers always identify the nearest alarm box in their broadcasts to fire crews.

A first-place ranking to be proud of: Boston has lowest fire-death rate among big cities

adamg — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 15:57:05 +0000

The Boston Fire Department reports that for the second year in a row, "the City of Boston recorded the lowest number of fire deaths for large cities nationwide."

In 2012, only one person died in a fire in Boston, compared to 12 in Baltimore, 25 in Philadelphia, 8 in Milwaukee, 6 in Phoenix and 7 in Washington, DC.

The department credited full staffing, active training, regular inspections and a well maintained fleet of firetrucks - much of which was assembled due to the outcry following the 2009 death of Lt. Kevin Kelley in a poorly maintained truck going down a steep hill with failed brakes.

Firefighters fix aukward situation in Roxbury

adamg — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 14:27:14 +0000

A bird in the hand. Photo by Rescue 2. More photos.

Boston Fire Rescue 2 on Columbus Avenue in Roxbury found itself involved in an unusual rescue yesterday when somebody dropped off an Arctic Little Auk that had apparently been blown into town by the storm the other day. The species, not normally seen in these parts, dines on seafood and cannot take off without an assist.

Firefighters named the exhaused bird Olive. After a Twitter effort to find someone to care for her, Boston animal control showed up at the station and took the bird before an anticipated hand off to the New England Wildlife Center in Weymouth today for a little R&R.