Wear your gear?

[robert benz 344]

And in NEW JERSEY...Fire Chief James Janone of Victory Gardens has been suspended from duty until June 17 for going into a house in which there supposedly was smoke without wearing his protective gear.

Janone responded to a call about a smoky house, he did not see flames or smoke coming from the house and decided to go in wearing street clothes, leaving his protective gear in his truck, according to borough Administrator Debbie Evans and the minutes from a May 15 council hearing.

After a May 17 hearing within the fire department, Janone was suspended for 30 days and Assistant Fire Chief Larry Gallello (who reported the incident) was appointed acting fire chief during Janone's suspension. Janone told the council he did not think he was in violation of fire regulations. "The call came in as a smoke condition. We get calls all the time for things like that, and sometimes they are unfounded, or sometimes it is nothing," he said. "(In this case) there was no working structure fire, there were no flames, there was no smoke... If I needed to put the gear on, it was my judgment call."

Well, as far as we are concerned, put the gear on for protection and to set the example...but as usual, there is more to this story. If interested, we posted the entire media report on our News/Updates section.

FINAL NOTE: Are You Ready to Respond? A complete drill for the Fire Service Safety Stand Down Week June 17-23, 2007 is available for download at www.Respondersafety.com . Check it out.

Take Care-BE CAREFUL,

BillyG

The Secret List 6-6-07 / 1320 hours

www.FireFighterCloseCalls.com

we have touched on this topic before is this the first time a chief has been suspended??

like was stated there are rules and then there is common sense

[Guest]

Fire Dept's spend lots of money on turnout gear. They are not buying it for us to leave in our car, or on the rig. If it really looks like a "nothing call" then it should be even less of a concern if you take the 60 seconds to don your gear. In addition, it is the responsability of the dept leadership to set a good example...And there is no excuse for setting a less than perfect example with safety.

[MPACE2-299 0]

I guess "Lead by Example" didn't apply in this case.

[NJMedic 96]

I guess the two chiefs are the best buddies to begin with.

[lad12derff 283]

I think this means ALL who enter an IDLH should be in full PPE. But I will not start another war as was done the other night.

[RWC130 594]

I'd rather go in with FULL PPE, SCBA, Irons, Can, Etc.. sweating my balls off for

NOTHING then go in with NOTHING to be caught off guard and BURNED or KILLED.

[Guest alsfirefighter]

Ladder 12 I got your back....and I won't say "I think this means..." I will say it is required...particulary SCBA under CFR 1910.134.

"Leadership" That Chief sounds like he's not even a manager. More like a firefighter with red lights...which seems to be spreading entirely too fast in many areas.