Farmington Firefighter Captain Michael Bell killed in line of duty

Veteran firefighter killed, 6 others injured in Farmington explosion

SUN JOURNAL
BY DONNA M. PERRY
Posted 9:01 AM Updated 1 min ago

Firefighters were called to the Farmington Falls Road building at about 8:07 a.m. for a smell of propane. The explosion occurred minutes later.

Captain Michael Bell died Monday in an explosion after responding to a gas leak at the LEAP building in Farmington. Photo courtesy town of Farmington

FARMINGTON — A fire captain was killed and eight other people — including six firefighters — were injured Monday morning when a building exploded, apparently due to a propane leak, according to officials.

Captain Michael Bell died Monday in an explosion after responding to a gas leak at the LEAP building in Farmington.

Capt. Michael Bell, 68, a 30-year member of the Farmington Fire Rescue Department and brother of the department’s chief, died in the blast at 313 Farmington Falls Road, according to Stephen H. McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

The explosion occurred after firefighters responded to a report of a gas smell shortly after 8 a.m. at the LEAP offices, which had recently been renovated and expanded.

LEAP, which stands for Life Enrichment Advancing People, is a group that provides services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, according to the nonprofit organization.

Along with the other firefighters, an emergency medical responder and a LEAP employee were injured in the explosion, according to McCausland. Five of the firefighters reportedly suffered serious injuries.

Bell was the second firefighter this year in Maine to be killed in the line of duty, according to reports.

A preliminary investigation indicates the explosion was caused by propane gas, according to Farmington Police Chief Jack Peck Jr., who spoke at a press conference near the fire station on Farmington Falls Road.

Firefighters were called to scene at 8:07 a.m. for a smell of propane, according to McCausland. The explosion occurred minutes later.

The two-story LEAP building and a new addition recently opened and was “flattened,” McCausland wrote in his press release.

Injuries to the victims include burns consistent with a blast, Peck said.

Fire Rescue Chief Terry Bell Sr., 62, was among the seriously injured as was LEAP maintenance worker Larry Lord of Jay.

Both were taken by LifeFlight to hospital. The others who were injured were either taken by ground or flown to hospitals, Peck said.

The Bells are part of a firefighting family that included their father, the late Jack Bell who spent nearly 50 years on the department before he died at age 80 in 2009.
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Vietnam Veteran, Firefighter died fighting fire

Town of Marion mourns death of veteran firefighter

NBC 10 NEWS
by MATTHEW STEVENS
February 27th 2019

MARION, Mass. (WJAR) — A 45-year-veteran of the Marion Fire Department passed away Wednesday in the line of duty.

Marion town officials said Firefighter Thomas Nye, 72, helped extinguish a fire on Point Road Tuesday and then collapsed early Wednesday morning after suffering from an apparent cardiac arrest incident.

Thomas Nye passed away in the line of duty Wednesday. (Marion Fire Department)

Nye was taken to Tobey Hospital in Wareham where he was pronounced dead.

"Firefighter Nye was a proud firefighter who served our community with distinction. We are a call fire department, and Firefighter Nye anchored our Station 2 during the day. While many of our younger firefighters are working their private jobs, he was always available when people needed help." Marion Fire Chief Brian Jackvony said. "We are all feeling the loss of our friend and brother firefighter today."

Nye was a Vietnam veteran and also worked as an auto mechanic. Officials said Nye was known for his handy work and was always helping service the station's equipment.
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Tallahassee Fallen Firefighter Died Day After Birthday

Veteran Tallahassee firefighter Jeffery Atkinson dies on duty
Tallahassee Democrat
December 15, 2017

A 17-year veteran of the Tallahassee Fire Department died overnight Thursday while on duty.

The death of Engineer Jeffery Atkinson was not related to any of the fires fought by the department Thursday, a TFD spokeswoman said. Firefighters had responded to blazes at the International Book Mine on Gaines Street and at a home on Fermanagh Circle in Killearn Estates.

"Engineer Atkinson has served the citizens of Tallahassee and Leon County for over 17 years and he will be greatly missed," a statement released by TFD Friday morning said. "Please extend your thoughts and prayers to his wife, daughter and family during this difficult time."

Atkinson death came just a day after his 43rd birthday.
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Boston Iraq Veteran-Fallen Firefighter Was Ready To Run Marathon

Fallen firefighter was set to run Boston Marathon
Michael Kennedy's dad taking loss 'one second at a time'
WCVB News
By Jack Harper
Apr 14, 2014

BOSTON —The father of a Boston firefighter killed in a fire in March is remembering his son, who ran to help the victims of last year's Boston Marathon and was training to run this year's race.

A funeral was held for Firefighter Mike Kennedy, who was one of two firefighters killed while battling a fire in Boston.

Wearing a fundraising shirt carrying his son's nickname, Dork, Paul Kennedy said he remembers wonderful times with his only son, including Mike's first Boston Marathon.

"I was close to the finish, and I saw him chugging along and waved. He saw me and stopped. I was in front of the Lenox Hotel. He turned and gave me a hug," he said.
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Firefighter died trying to save others in Missouri

Veteran Firefighter Dies In Walkway Collapse
KWTX.com

COLUMBIA, Mo. (February 23, 2014) Flags on all city buildings in Columbia, Mo., will be flown at half-staff for 30 days in honor of a veteran firefighter who was killed while helping evacuate students from a University of Missouri-run apartment complex after a second-story walkway collapsed.

Lt. Bruce Britt became trapped beneath rubble while responding to the collapse early Saturday at University Village Apartments, Columbia Fire Chief Chuck Witt said.
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All lives lost fighting fires in Prescott Arizona not equal

Widow of fallen Arizona firefighter fights for benefits
Widow Juliann Ashcraft, whose husband was one of the 19 firefighters who died in the Yarnell Hill fire, says the city of Prescott is turning its back on the families of the fallen. Those firefighters classified as “temporary” employees do not get full benefits or qualify for a significant family pay-out if they die in the line of duty. NBC’s Miguel Almaguer reports.

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Solemn procession for Arizona 19 fallen firefighters 100 miles long

In Arizona, a solemn 100-mile procession for fallen firefighters
CNN
Nick Valencia and Emanuella Grinberg
Sun July 7, 2013

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
People nationwide travel to Arizona for procession honoring hotshot unit
The procession left Phoenix Sunday to begin nearly 100-mile journey to Prescott
"These men are heroes. They've earned the respect of everyone in this line," onlooker says

(CNN) -- Crowds lined the streets for a public procession from Phoenix to Prescott, Arizona, on Sunday in honor of 19 firefighters who died last week on the job.

People with no personal connection to members of the Granite Mountain Hotshot unit traveled from across the state and around the country to pay respects. The team died as they battled the Yarnell Hill Fire, which was sparked by lightning some 3.5 miles west of Yarnell.

"These men are heroes. They've earned the respect of everyone in this line," an onlooker told CNN affiliate KTVK as he awaited the procession in Phoenix.

Hearses carrying each casket left the coroner's office in Phoenix on Sunday afternoon to begin the nearly 100-mile procession to the unit's hometown of Prescott.
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Volunteer firefighters died saving others

Residents near Texas plant explosion allowed to return home
By Tom Watkins
CNN
updated 4:17 PM EDT, Sat April 20, 2013

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
West, Texas, "is safe for our citizens," Mayor Pro Tem Steve Vanek says
Residents can return home but will have limited utilities and a curfew, he says
Town of West -- population 2,800 -- grapples with loss; death toll remains at 14

(CNN) -- Days after a fertilizer plant explosion killed 14 people and leveled parts of a central Texas town, officials moved Saturday to help get residents back to their homes.

"I want to dispel any rumors of any health or safety hazards or threats at this time in the city of West," Mayor Pro Tem Steve Vanek told reporters without specifying what those rumors may have been. "It is safe, it is safe, it is safe for our citizens."

Arrangements were being made for insurance adjusters to gain access to the stricken areas, he said.

The dead included the secretary, who was also a member of the volunteer fire department, said Mayor Tommy Muska.

In total, five West firefighters died battling the blaze, along with one Dallas firefighter and four emergency responders, the State Firemen's and Fire Marshals' Association of Texas said Thursday.
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9-11 Fallen Firefighter's family gives back to Afghanistan triple amputee

Marine Cpl. Juan Dominguez, Triple Amputee Afghanistan War Veteran, Gets New 'Smart Home' On 9/11
Posted: 09/11/2012

Triple Amputee Vets Gets 'Smart Home'
On Oct. 23, 2010, Marine Cpl. Juan Dominguez, 28, lost both legs and his right arm in an explosion while serving in Afghanistan. On 9/11, the husband and father of 9-year-old daughter, Victoria, was granted a specially designed home by the Gary Sinise Foundation and the Stephen Siller Foundation in Temecula, California.

Eleven years after –- to the exact minute –- that New York firefighter Stephen Siller lost his life on September 11, his family found reason to celebrate. They handed over the keys to a brand new home to a veteran who lost three limbs in Afghanistan.

On Oct. 23, 2010, Marine Cpl. Juan Dominguez, 28, slipped down an embankment, landed on a buried bomb, and he lost both legs and his right arm in the explosion, CNN reports. After undergoing numerous surgeries and continuous therapy, the husband and father of 9-year-old daughter, Victoria, was granted his independence by two charities in the form of a specially-designed house in Temecula, California.

Dominguez told KTLA that the new smart home, which was donated by the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation and the Gary Sinise Foundation, is a “great opportunity.”
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Brevard event will recognize those lost in, following 9/11 attack

Brevard event will recognize those lost in, following 9/11 attack
Sep 10, 2012
Written by
Andrew Ford
FLORIDA TODAY

Those who lost their lives responding to the World Trade Center on 9/11 and in the resulting wars will be remembered Tuesday with an event in Wickham Park — a centralized effort by several groups in Brevard County.

“We feel that these cops and firemen and military people who gave their lives in the rescue attempts should be honored and remembered just like Pearl Harbor,” said Patrick Moynihan, organizer of the memorial.

He is a past president of the 10-13 Club of Brevard County, an organization of law enforcement officers that is sponsoring the event.

The memorial will begin at 5:30 p.m. with a flag ceremony, including color guards from Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, 10-13 Club, Sea Cadets and Brevard retirees of the Fire Department of the City of New York. Brevard Police and Fire Pipes and Drums also will perform.

Attendees will hear from four speakers representing the police officers, firefighters, military personnel and civilians who lost their lives.
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Two Florida Firefighters killed fighting wildfire

Josh Burch, Brett Fulton Dead:
Forest Rangers Killed Fighting Florida Wildfire
BY BILL KACZOR
06/21/11

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Two state forest rangers trapped by shifting flames died while fighting a wildfire that also injured two others near Jasper in north Florida, officials said Tuesday.

The rangers were working Monday to stop a rekindled blaze called the Blue Ribbon Fire in Hamilton County on the Georgia line, one of more than 400 wildfires currently burning around Florida in one of the busiest fire seasons in years.

The rangers killed were 31-year-old Josh Burch of Lake City and 52-year-old Brett Fulton of White Springs, said Sterling Ivey, a spokesman for the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
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Josh Burch, Brett Fulton Dead

2 firefighters dead, 14 hurt in extra-alarm blaze 10:01 AM

2 firefighters dead, 14 hurt in extra-alarm blaze
December 22, 2010 10:01 AM
Two firefighters died after a wall collapsed during a 3-11 alarm fire at an abandoned South Side commercial building this morning, authorities said. Fourteen other firefighters were injured, including two who were trapped with the ones who died.

Police squad cars escorted two ambulances north on Lake Shore Drive to Northwestern as ramps were closed to clear it of traffic, according to fire communications. One of the firefighters taken there has died, sources said. The condition of the other one was not known.

A third trapped firefighter was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he died.

The fourth firefighter buried in the rubble, and as many as 12 other firefighters with undisclosed injuries, were also taken to hospitals. Fire officials and sources said 10 were stable and six were taken to hospitals in serious to critical condition, including the two who later died.

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2 firefighters dead, 14 hurt in extra-alarm blaze

Vietnam veteran and captain with the fire department died

Kathy McLaughlin
The casket of Roosevelt fire department Capt. Vince Iaccino awaits burial at St Peter's Cemetery in the Town of POughkeepsie on Saturday, April 17, 2010.

Hundreds of firefighters mourn "a wonderful man"
John W. Barry • April 17, 2010


About 300 people - two-thirds of them fire fighters - turned out to Our Lady of the Rosary Chapel in Poughkeepsie today for a funeral Mass held for Roosevelt Fire Department volunteer Vincent Iaccino, who died Monday.


Iaccino, a Vietnam veteran and captain with the fire department, died of an apparent heart attack following a fire training exercise. Iaccino, 65, was president of Roosevelt Engine Co. No. 1 and captain of the Emergency Service Squad. He served in the Navy during the Vietnam War and volunteered with the Roosevelt fire department for 22 years.


"I feel very strongly about tradition," Roosevelt Fire Chief William Steenbergh said shortly before the funeral procession arrived at the church. "There is no more sacred tradition in the fire service than the line-of-duty funeral."
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Hundreds of firefighters mourn a wonderful man-

Firefighter's stolen 9/11 pins replaced with help from Tampa congresswoman

Firefighter's stolen 9/11 pins replaced with help from Tampa congresswoman
By Rebecca Catalanello, Times Staff Writer
Posted: Sep 10, 2009 10:25 AM


TAMPA — The local family of a firefighter who died at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, has gotten good news.

Two 9/11 Heroes Medal of Valor pins stolen from the family six months ago have been replaced with new ones, thanks to the help of a local congresswoman.

In March, Anne Muldowney, mother of New York firefighter Richie Muldowney, returned to her Tampa apartment to find her sliding glass door had been pried open and several valuables gone, including items from the jewelry box in her bedroom.

Among the stolen items: two 9/11 Heroes Medal of Valor pins bestowed on the family by U.S. Congress four years after the terrorist attacks.

Though deputies arrested two people in connection with the break-in, law enforcement has not been able to find the missing pins.

A spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor said Castor saw media coverage of the stolen pins and decided to reach out to the Department of Justice to see if they might be replaced.
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Firefighters stolen 9 11 pins replaced

California:Mourning the loss of two Firefighters

In the Line of Duty.... Mourning the loss of two Firefighters

Two firefighters die battling blaze in Los Angeles County

Two firefighters die battling blaze in Los Angeles County
Story Highlights
NEW: Two dead firefighters identified

Fast-growing Los Angeles County wildfire has become 42,000-acre conflagration

So-called Station Fire threatens up to 10,000 homes and 2,000 other structures

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Fire officials late Sunday identified two firefighters who died accidentally while battling a fast-spreading wildfire in Los Angeles County.

Capt. Tedmund Hall, 47, and Spc. Arnaldo Quinones, 35, were in a vehicle that "went over the side" on Sunday afternoon, according to the Los Angeles Country Fire Department.

They were fighting what is known as the Station Fire, which had spread to 42,000 acres by late Sunday.

Hall was with the department for 26 years and Quinones for eight years.

The accident happened near Acton, about 25 miles north of central Los Angeles, during "intense fire activity that was occurring near Mount Gleason," Deputy Fire Chief Michael Bryant said.
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http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/08/31/california.wildfires/index.html

UPDATE

LA firefighters killed trying to save inmate crew
By CHRISTINA HOAG and JACOB ADELMAN, Associated Press Writers
Monday, August 31, 2009
18:21 PDT LOS ANGELES (AP) --

As the roaring wall of flame raged through the Angeles National Forest, firefighters Ted Hall and Arnie Quinones worked feverishly to protect their fire-crew camp, made up mostly of prison inmates.

read more hereLA firefighters killed trying to save inmate crew

Volusia County gets blame firefighter's death

Volusia County gets blame firefighter's death
By Helen Eckinger Sentinel Staff Writer
April 9, 2009

A Volusia County firefighter died in a 2007 accident because of insufficient training and inadequate safeguards, according to a new report from the State Fire Marshal's Office.

The report blames Volusia County Fire Services for the failures during a wildfire-fighting training exercise at a training center near Daytona Beach on Nov. 27, 2007.

John Curry, 30, was killed at the Volusia County Fire Training Center when firefighters chopped down a tree and it fell in an unexpected direction, striking Curry in the head.

Curry was survived by his wife, Kristen, and young son, Owen. He was the first Volusia County firefighter to die in the line of duty, as well as the first firefighter to die at the training center.
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Volusia County gets blame firefighter's death