Fire Engineering

Clarion Events Fire & Rescue Group has promoted Lauren Ocoma to Senior Vice President, Events & Brand Strategy, for its Fire & Rescue Group. In her expanded role, Ocoma assumes broader leadership responsibility for FDIC International and for the continued development of the group’s event and brand strategy. She continues to report to Eric Schlett, President of Clarion Events Fire & Rescue Group.

Decentralized command is a leadership strategy that enhances responsiveness and efficiency by distributing decision-making authority throughout an organization, particularly in dynamic environments like firefighting. Effective implementation of decentralized command requires clear communication of expectations and objectives from leaders to ensure that personnel understand their roles and can act independently.

Timia Cobb The Dallas Morning News (TNS) Aug. 30—Firefighters spent over seven hours Friday battling a chaotic RV fire in Tarrant County that crews feared could spread to nearby structures, fire officials said. Several fire departments, including Crowley and the Tarrant County Emergency Services District, responded around 2:30 p.m. to a reported vehicle fire on Jessica Lane in Rendon, Crowley Fire Department said in a social media post.

By SHRISTI KAFLE and HUIZHONG WU Associated Press KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Rescuers raced Monday to free hundreds of workers believed to be trapped in tunnels at hydropower sites that were buried in mud by catastrophic flooding on the Nepal-China border, as the death toll climbed and increasingly desperate families searched for missing loved ones. The combined deaths in Nepal and China surpassed 900, with more than 4,700 people missing.

Tracey McManus The Dallas Morning News (TNS) Aug. 30—SANDBRANCH — Late Sunday afternoon, in sweltering 99 degree heat, firefighters were still working to suppress smoky hotspots and lingering flames from a brush fire that was initially contained the night before in Sandbranch, an unincorporated Dallas County community with no fire hydrants or water infrastructure.

Paul Walsh Star Tribune (TNS) A St. Paul woman is being hailed as a hero for “making the ultimate sacrifice” to save her daughter’s life in the midst of an intense fire in their home. Fire crews raced to the midafternoon fire on Aug. 22 in a duplex in the 700 block of Magnolia Avenue E. and “encountered heavy smoke and extreme heat,” interim Fire Chief Greg Duren said. “Our firefighters began immediately searching the home,” Duren said during a media briefing Saturday.

By JAMIE STENGLE and TY ONEIL Associated Press GRAND CANYON VILLAGE, Ariz. (AP) — State and federal officials ramped up efforts Monday to locate around 15 people who are missing after a major flash flood swept through in the Grand Canyon, killing at least one person. Weather forecasters warned rain and thunderstorms could bring more flooding to the popular tourist attraction from where scores of visitors were evacuated following the flood Saturday in Bright Angel Creek.

Home/Firefighter Training/Search Operations I’ve always believed firefighting is like football–when the fourth quarter starts, you don’t suddenly become a better player. You rely on the work you put in before game day. A victim rescue isn’t the time to discover you’re out of shape, out of practice, or out of sync. When someone needs us, and the game is already on, we’d better be ready to make the big play.

Tania Azhang The Sacramento Bee (TNS) Two people were injured in a house fire in Roseville’s Highland Reserve neighborhood Saturday afternoon, according to the Roseville Fire Department. After seeing smoke coming from the home, passersby called 911 and helped the residents safely get out, the Fire Department said in a social media post. Around 1:01 p.m., Roseville fire dispatchers received reports of a fire at a two-story, single family home on Avila Drive.

Nicholas Williams and Thomas Tracy New York Daily News (TNS) An 18-year-old boy died as a fire sparked by a lithium-ion battery tore through a Brooklyn apartment, FDNY officials said Saturday. The blaze marked the second fatal fire in the city this year caused by a lithium-ion battery, officials said. Neighbors said an explosion erupted inside a 12th-floor apartment at NYCHA’s Albany Houses on Troy Ave. near Bergen St. in Crown Heights about 7 p.m. on Friday, officials said.