Firefighter Fatality

The United States Fire Administration (USFA) has received notice of the following firefighter fatality:


Name: Edward Eckert
Rank: Firefighter
Age: 71
Gender: Male
Status: Volunteer
Years of Service: 30+

Date of Incident: 06/01/2010
Time of Incident:
Date of Death: 06/06/2010

Fire Department: Stafford Township Fire Department
Address: PO Box 171, Manahawkin, NJ 08050
Fire Department Chief: Dean Cleland

Incident Description: Stafford Township Fire Department was dispatched to a fire call. Upon his pager alerting FF Eckert walked across his living room to go to his vehicle to respond to the call. At this point, he fell to the floor. He was reported to be disoriented. EMS responded and he was transported to the local hospital. His condition deteriorated and he passed away on June 6, 2010 from what was discovered to have been a brain hemorrhage.

Tribute is being paid to Firefighter Edward Eckert at http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/fireservice/fatalities/

To date, 57 firefighter fatalities have been reported to USFA in 2010; 55 from incidents that occurred in 2010 and 2 from previous year incidents. Year-to-date monthly and annual USFA firefighter fatality reports are posted online @ http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/fireservice/fatalities/statistics/ff_stats.shtm

Firefighter Fatality

The United States Fire Administration (USFA) has received notice of the following firefighter fatality:


Name: Jonathan Lewis “Johnny” Littleton
Rank: Captain
Age: 40
Gender: Male
Status: Volunteer
Years of Service: 5
Date of Incident: 08/19/2010
Time of Incident: 2045hrs
Date of Death: 08/20/2010
Fire Department: Pine Level Fire Department
Address: PO Box 609, 110 W Main ST, Pine Level, NC 27568
Fire Department Chief: Stephen Holloman

Incident Description: Captain Littleton was participating in fire department training when he started feeling ill and departed early for his residence. Captain Littleton was discovered the following day at his residence having passed away from a cause still to be determined.

Incident Location: 223 Davis Mill RD, Pine Level.
Funeral Arrangements: 08/24/2010

Memorial Fund Contact and Address: In lieu of flowers the family asks that memorial contributions be made to the Pine Level Police Department, P. O. Box 128, Pine Level, NC 27568 or the Pine Level Fire Department, P. O. Box 609, Pine Level, NC 27568 for their respective benevolence funds.

Tribute is being paid to Captain Jonathan Lewis “Johnny” Littleton at http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/fireservice/fatalities/

To date, 56 firefighter fatalities have been reported to USFA in 2010; 54 from incidents that occurred in 2010 and 2 from previous year incidents. Year-to-date monthly and annual USFA firefighter fatality reports are posted online @ http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/fireservice/fatalities/statistics/ff_stats.shtm

Firefighter Fatality

The United States Fire Administration (USFA) has received notice of the following firefighter fatality:


Name: John Kelly
Rank: Firefighter - Chief Driver
Age: 51
Gender: Male
Status: Volunteer
Years of Service: Pending
Date of Incident: 09/06/2010
Time of Incident: 1837hrs
Date of Death: 09/06/2010
Fire Department: Tarrytown Fire Department
Address: PO Box 158, Tarrytown, NY 10591
Fire Department Chief: Peter Saracelli
Fire Department Website: http://tarrytownfd.org/

Incident Description: Firefighter Kelly died after being overcome by fumes while climbing down into an approximately 15-foot manhole attempting to rescue a village Department of Public Works employee, Anthony Ruggiero, also a volunteer firefighter with Hope Hose Company Engine 79. Ruggiero, who also died in the incident, had been investigating a reported sewer system problem in the area and was overcome by fumes as he descended into the manhole.

According to press reports, a hazardous materials team measured the oxygen level at 14 percent after the men were pulled out. An assistant fire chief for the fire department was quoted as saying he did not know if deadly gases were detected.

Investigation of the incident by local and State authorities continues.

Incident Location: Pending
Funeral Arrangements: Pending
Memorial Fund Contact and Address: Pending

Tribute is being paid to Firefighter - Chief Driver John Kelly at http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/fireservice/fatalities/

To date, 55 firefighter fatalities have been reported to USFA in 2010; 53 from incidents that occurred in 2010 and 2 from previous year incidents. Year-to-date monthly and annual USFA firefighter fatality reports are posted online @ http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/fireservice/fatalities/statistics/ff_stats.shtm

Firefighter Fatality

The United States Fire Administration (USFA) has received notice of the following firefighter fatality:


Name: Larry Suiter
Rank: Fire Chief
Age: 66
Gender: Male
Status: Volunteer
Years of Service: 40
Date of Incident: 09/03/2010
Time of Incident: Pending
Date of Death: 09/04/2010
Fire Department: Lorraine Green Garden Fire Department
Address: PO Box 81, Lorraine, KS 67459-0081
Fire Department Chief: Pending

Incident Description: Fire Chief Suiter responded to an anhydrous ammonia leak at a grain elevator. After returning home from the incident, Chief Suiter passed away from a cause still to be reported.

Incident Location: Pending

Funeral Arrangements: Pending
Memorial Fund Contact and Address: Pending
Tribute is being paid to Fire Chief Larry Suiter at http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/fireservice/fatalities/

To date, 54 firefighter fatalities have been reported to USFA in 2010; 52 from incidents that occurred in 2010 and 2 from previous year incidents. Year-to-date monthly and annual USFA firefighter fatality reports are posted online @ http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/fireservice/fatalities/statistics/ff_stats.shtm

Acting Fire Administrator Takes Fire Service Seat Belt Pledge

Emmitsburg, MD — Acting U.S. Fire Administrator Glenn Gaines today signed the National Fire Service Seat Belt Pledge at the conclusion of his first all-hands meeting with USFA staff. Chief Gaines emphasized in his remarks that wearing seat belts is an essential component of efforts to ensure the safety of firefighters in fire apparatus and vehicles.

Vehicle crashes remain the number two cause of firefighter on-duty deaths. After signing the Pledge, Chief Gaines relayed to USFA staff his experience attending the memorial services for Rocky Mount, Virginia Fire Chief Posey Dillon and Firefighter Danny Altice, who died as the result of an apparatus crash on July 26 of this year while responding to an emergency call. Neither Chief Dillon, who was driving the pumper, nor Firefighter Altice in the officer seat, was wearing their seat belt. Both were ejected and died from their injuries. No other firefighters were on the apparatus and no civilians were injured.

Chief Gaines also signed his name to the 100% Seat Belt Pledge Certificate. The Certificate is awarded to any fire department that has all members take the pledge. Leading fire service organizations that have endorsed the Seat Belt Pledge include the:

• International Association of Fire Chiefs

• National Fallen Fire Fighters Foundation

• National Fire Protection Association

• National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety

• National Volunteer Fire Council, and

• U.S. Fire Administration

So far, over 154,000 firefighters have taken the pledge and about 800 fire departments have achieved 100% participation. North Carolina, Illinois, Florida, and Georgia are leading the nation with number of fire departments that have achieved 100% seat belt pledge participation.

To find out more about the National Fire Service Seat Belt Pledge campaign, go to www.trainingdivision.com/seatbeltpledge.asp. There you can access and download the pledge signature form, learn how to receive a 100% Certificate for your organization, find out which fire departments in your state have taken the pledge, read success stories, identify supporters, and receive additional campaign material.

Take the seat belt pledge and buckle up. The fire service owes it to each other and our families so Everyone Goes Home.

Emergency Manager Earns Volunteer Award

By Sarah Fortney, National Naval Medical Center Public Affairs

BETHESDA, Md. (NNS) -- The Carroll Manor Fire Company presented the Naval Support Activity (NSA) Bethesda emergency manager with the 2009 Volunteer Firefighter of the Year award April 17.

Ron Kunz, NSA Bethesda emergency manager, knows how to plan for disasters and has years of firsthand experience responding to them. After 30 years in the Navy, he retired last year as a master chief hospital corpsman and recently began working in support of NSA Bethesda. When he's not busy putting emergency preparedness plans in place, he spends as much time as he can volunteering at the Carroll Manor Fire Company near his home in Frederick County, roughly 40 miles north of Bethesda.

While he is proud of this achievement, Kunz said he couldn't see himself doing anything but giving back to his community.

"I enjoy volunteering," he said. "It's a whole different experience."

Volunteer fire departments usually have it tough, operating under a tight budget with high expenses. A new fire engine and equipment, for example, can cost about $400,000.

Kunz encourages others to help their community fire departments in some capacity, be it in administration or fundraising.

"Everybody can help in some way," he said."Training is free to those who want to become a nationally accredited volunteer firefighter."

For Kunz, volunteerism runs in the family — he met his wife while she was working as an emergency medical technician and he was a firefighter in Virginia Beach, Va., and now both of his daughters are cadet firefighters. He added that the family has always made it a point to volunteer for their local fire station everywhere they traveled while Kunz was in the Navy.

"Not only does it help the community, it can also be helpful to you and your family," Kunz said.

As a trained firefighter, he said, an individual can help in an emergency situation should something happen at home or in public to a bystander.

Kunz said he has also been able to translate his experience as a firefighter — responding to all types of emergency situations — into his work at NSA Bethesda.

"It helps me a lot here, especially being in the emergency management field," he said.

Kunz joined Carroll Manor in October 2008. He has been a volunteer firefighter since he was 14 and has seen it all, he said, even delivering a baby as a cadet firefighter at age 16. At the time, he was riding in the back of an ambulance en route to the hospital with a woman in labor.

"The baby decided it didn't want to wait, and that's where she delivered," he said.

Carroll Manor Fire Company Chief Ed Johnson said Kunz has made an impact not only on the communities that the station serves, but also the lives he has saved. He has gone above and beyond, helping in any way possible, running calls, sitting on committees and participating in most station fundraisers.

"He brings a wealth of EMS knowledge and leadership skills that are greatly appreciated and recognized by the company - always willing to pitch in, whether it's crawling into a mangled vehicle to reach a victim, providing support functions on working fires, or providing support to a family member who is in need during probably one of the most critical times in their life," Johnson said. "He has a deep desire to help his fellow man."

Johnson said the station has also benefited from his family's dedication with their help in fundraisers and responding to emergencies.

"It was a great pleasure and honor to present Ron with this award," Johnson said. "We could only wish that his family moved to our station long ago because of their abilities, knowledge and just good common sense. I am very excited and proud to say Ron Kunz is a friend, and one that means a great deal to me. Ron is a credit to his family, our community, our military and country."