Date: August 5th, 2009

SEA TOW DONATES EQUIPMENT TO DIVE TEAM

Captain John T. McLaughlin, owner and operator of the local Sea Tow franchise, donated one dozen mustang survival inflatable personal flotation devices to the City of Brigantine Dive Team.

The donation was made through the Sea Tow Foundation, which is a safe boating and boating education foundation program, providing grant money to different franchises across the country from Sea Tow Services International, the parent company, for local needs.

The retail value of the equipment is over $3,800. The US Coast Guard approved devices will replace ones currently used by the team that are over 15 years old, and will now be retired.

The idea for the donation came to Captain McLaughlin while he was observing and participating in training that took place in Brigantine for members of the water response team, along with teams from Ventnor and Hamilton Township, provided through the County Office of Emergency Management this June.

He said “I’m not only concerned with the public, but the public safety members as well.”

Currently, the City of Brigantine has a shared services agreement with McLaughlin, where Sea Tow provides a boat and a boat Captain 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to the City in any time of need. In return, the Fire Department provides CPR and first aid training to all sea tow personnel on an annual basis, at no cost to the City.

Fire Chief John Frugoli said “This is just a small indication of Mr. McLaughlin’s commitment to the City he not only works in, but lives in as well.”

Left to Right:  Brigantine Police Lieutenant Raymond Reganato - Dive Team Coordinator,
Fire Chief John Frugoli, Captain John McLaughlin - Owner and Operator of Sea Tow,
Brigantine Fire Lieutenant Joseph Maguire - Dive Team Coordinator.

DATE: July 5, 2009

Homeowners’ actions help to lessen damage

Brigantine – Brigantine Firefighters responded to a report of a trash can fire early Sunday morning, that turned out to be a lot more. Three firefighters, under the command of Lieutenant Joseph Maguire, responded in Engine 3 for a reported rubbish fire at 5:46 am to 124 North Roosevelt Boulevard.

Upon their arrival, at 5:51 am, the crew found a family that had evacuated the structure, with light smoke coming from the rear of the structure. The homeowner reported that the family was alerted to the fire by smoke detectors, evacuated the structure, and then he used a home fire extinguisher to try and control the fire spread on the outside of the structure.

The Engine 3 crew of Lt-EMT Joseph Lavigna and FF-EMT Tige Platt extended a fire attack line, and quickly knocked down the smoldering fire and debris that had damaged a large portion of the rear of the home. The fire, which caused close to $20,000 worth of damage to the building, was declared under control in less than five minutes of the initial crews’ arrival.

Fire crews remained on the scene for close to 45 minutes, using ventilation fans to remove smoke from the structure, and perform overhaul to the fire damaged section of the building, and check for fire extension.

The fire was confined to the outside of the structure, and the family was allowed to re-occupy their home.

The fire was investigated by Lt. Lavigna, and was found to have originated in a rubbish container, and was deemed accidental.

While crews were being dispatched to this call, four other Brigantine Firefighter-EMT’s were transporting patients from two separate EMS calls.

FF-EMT’s Herbein and Derrickson were treating and transporting a semiconscious patient suffering from a diabetic emergency in R-1, while FF-EMT’s Fisher and Frugoli were transporting a cardiac patient in R-3.

DATE: July 1, 2009

Firefighters’ exert quick efforts at near drowning

Brigantine – Quick work by Brigantine Firefighters and a Police Officer helped save the life of a near drowning victim.  Five Firefighter-EMT’s, under the command of Lieutenant Christopher Solari, responded in BLS Rescue 3 and Engine 3 for a report of a drowning victim at the pool of the Brigantine Celebrity Resorts at 1400 Ocean Avenue.

Brigantine Police Officer Thomas Carberry was first to arrive on scene, and found the victim that had been pulled from the pool by a bystander, and immediately began to clear the victims airway. 

Upon the arrival of Fire Department personnel, at 5:48 pm, the crew found an unconscious and unresponsive victim, who had already been pulled from the pool.  Firefighter EMT’s Gregg Goff and Robert Sooy arrived in one minute, and immediately began resuscitation efforts by providing artificial respirations with the bag valve mask device.

The Engine 3 crew of Lt-EMT Chris Solari and FF-EMT’s Jeff Newcomer and Pat Reed assisted the EMS crew with resuscitation efforts.  Also, Atlantic Care Paramedic Chief John Delgado happened to be in the area, and assisted on this call. The patient was transported to  ACMC – City Campus in critical but stable condition.

At the time of this call, two Brigantine Firefighter-EMT’s were already transporting a different patient from a separate EMS call on a different part of the island to ACMC in BLS Rescue 1.

DATE: JUNE 22, 2009

DIVE TEAM TRAINING COMPLETED

13 members of the Brigantine Fire and Police Departments, along with 14 members of the Ventnor Fire Department, 7 members of the Hamilton Township Rescue Squad and one member of the Atlantic County Fire Academy staff completed four days of intensive training in underwater search, rescue and recovery last week, conducted at the Brigantine fire station and the public swimming complex at 26th street and the bay.

The training was conducted by Lifeguard Systems Inc, and its’ owner, world renown SCUBA diving expert Walt “Butch” Hendricks. He, along with Bryan Bowers from Montgomery County, Maryland Fire-Rescue and Bryan Duffer, a dive master from southern California, completed the instruction of these 3 municipal agencies, who will now work in conjunction with one another as county wide emergency responders for all underwater incidents through the Atlantic County Office of Emergency Management.

Lifeguard Systems trains emergency response dive teams all over the United States and the globe, and Hendricks has authored numerous books on the subject, published in 6 different languages.

The class included over 8 hours of classroom instruction, followed by 3 days of hands on training in underwater search, rescue and recovery, as well as black water diving, and diver emergency rescue. In addition, all the members received additional instruction on “tending” a diver, documentation, safety, and scene management.

Each rescue diver is attached to a tether line, and through a succession of hand signals, the personnel on land instruct the diver where to go, what to do, and then document what areas under water have been successfully searched. They also keep track of the divers’ time under water, air consumption, and time in the water, and assist the diver in donning and doffing their equipment.

All of the training is safety oriented, and each diver can not descend into the water without a backup diver ready to dive, as well as a 90% contingency diver waiting to deploy if they are needed.

The City of Brigantine has had a complete public safety water response team in existence since June of 1990, when Lifeguard Systems completed their initial training of the members of the Brigantine and Ventnor teams.

They have been utilized on many occasions, including a plane crash in the Atlantic City bay, a car driven into a canal in Atlantic City, the water rescue of the crew of the Little Gull, when it beached on the north end of Brigantine, and a person that fell through the ice in Ventnor. Additionally, they have been called to assist with police investigations here in Brigantine, Atlantic City, and Pleasantville.

All 3 of the teams that were trained last week will now provide automatic assistance to one another when a call goes out for their services.

DATE: April 18, 2009 

Firefighters’ quick efforts save VFW Post

Brigantine – Quick work by Brigantine Firefighters helped save the Brigantine Veterans of Foreign Wars Memorial Post #696 Saturday afternoon. Five firefighters, under the command of Captain Alan Weidner, responded in Engine 3, Engine 2 and BLS Rescue 1 for a reported structure fire at 3:52 pm to the post at 121 31st street. 

Upon their arrival, at 3:55, the crew found about one dozen post members outside the structure, with heavy smoke coming from the rear kitchen area of the structure. Post members reported heavy fire in the kitchen, and that the resident of the apartment on the second story had safely evacuated the structure.

The Engine 3 crew of Lt-EMT Chris Solari and FF-EMT Jack Murray extended a fire attack line, and quickly knocked down the flames that had consumed the entire commercial sized kitchen. The fire, which caused close to $100,000 worth of damage to the building, was declared under control in less than five minutes of the initial crews’ arrival.
Fire crews remained on the scene for close to 2 hours, using ventilation fans to remove smoke from the structure, and to perform overhaul to the fire damaged section of the building.

The fire was confined to the kitchen, but extensive smoke damage was also caused to the banquet area of the structure. The Atlantic County Board of Health responded to the scene, and condemned the kitchen. After an extensive cleaning, the post was allowed to re-open the bar portion of the building later that night. The second floor resident was also allowed to re-occupy her apartment.

At the time of the fire, the post members were preparing for a lobster and ravioli fundraising dinner.

South Jersey Gas responded to the scene, and shut off utilities to the kitchen.

The fire was found to have originated in a deep fryer, and quickly spread to the rest of the kitchen.

While crews were at the scene of the fire, two Brigantine Firefighter-EMT’s responded to a separate EMS call in BLS Rescue 3, to another part of the island. 6 additional firefighters were called in to assist at the scene of this alarm, as well as Engine Company 3 from the  Atlantic City Fire Department, who covered the remainder of the island from the Brigantine Fire station.

DATE: February 23, 2009

Firefighters rescue canine, make quick work of structure fire.

Brigantine – On Monday morning, February 23rd, 6 firefighters under the command of Captain William Mayer responded in Engine 3, Truck 1 and BLS Rescue 1 for a reported structure fire at 10:30 am in the 200 block of 3rd street south.

Upon their arrival, at 10:31, the crew found heavy smoke coming through the roof, and flames and smoke coming out of the bay side of the single story rancher type home, catching the siding of the neighboring home on fire as well. Bystanders also reported that someone may possibly still be in the home.

The Engine 3 crew of FF-EMT’s Newcomer and Goff extended a fire attack line, and began a primary search of the building for victims with a thermal imaging camera. Simultaneously, Captain Mayer used a second fire attack line to thwart the spread of fire from creating more damage to the exterior of the neighboring home, caused by the high winds.

Once inside the structure, Goff and Newcomer found the residents dog almost immediately with the thermal imaging camera, and removed him from the home. They handed the dog off to Fire Chief John Frugoli, who in turn treated the canine along with Public Works Superintendant and island Animal Warden Ernie Purdy. Purdy performed cardio pulmonary resuscitation, and administered oxygen to the family pet, and revived him.

As Newcomer and Goff returned to continue their search, and extinguish the fire, the Truck 1 crew of FF-EMT’s Robert Sooy and Rick Derrickson extended their aerial ladder, and ventilated the roof of the structure, while Mayer ventilated the windows on the bay side of the structure.

The fire was under control in just under 20 minutes.  Fire crews stayed on the scene for just under four hours, performing salvage, overhaul and completing the investigation.

The dog was transported for further treatment at the Brigantine Animal Hospital, and was later transferred to the Margate Animal Hospital for smoke inhalation.

Newcomer, a 13 year veteran of the department, was later transported, treated and released for minor burns and injuries to the Atlantic Care Regional Medical Center. A neighbor was also treated for smoke inhalation at the scene by Fire Department EMT’s, but refused transport to the hospital.

Atlantic City Electric responded to the scene, and shut off utilities to the home.

The home sustained heavy fire and smoke damage, estimated at about $80,000. The homeowner reported that he had no insurance.

The fire is currently under investigation by Fire Investigator Joseph Lavigna.

8 additional firefighters were called in to the station to cover the rest of the island, and assist at the scene of this alarm.