Research and Rumination on Homicide

Today I went to the Bureau of Justice Statistics Web site to look at the relationship of assailant to victim, and found some other things besides. I also checked out the Center for Disease Control.

Mostly, We Lived
In the last year of reported data (2007) at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC FastStats site), there were 1.4 million emergency room visits because of assault/attempted homicide/homicide. Murder was the 15th most likely cause of death (behind heart disease (#1), cancer (#2) , and suicide (#11)).

There were 18,361 homicide deaths in 2007. 12,632 of those resulted from firearms use.

You have to say those emergency rooms are doing a good job: assuming that all the murder victims died in an E.R. (which they don't), that would still be a 1.3% death rate to overall visits for assault.  If you're dying, the paramedics and the E.R. are generally going to save you. Unless you go out afterwards and continue to do whatever got you there in the first place. The same of course is true with heart disease: can't do what you've been doing and expect to live a long life.

But Sometimes We Didn't
The BJS site is a little behind the CDC: most of their reporting ends at 2005.

Victim/Offender Relationships: 1976--2005.
All Homicides       1976-2005     100%   594,276

People kill their spouses about 7% of the time. Wives and ex-wives usually die of gunshot wounds.
They kill their boyfriend or girlfriend about 3.8% of the time. Boyfriends usually die of knife wounds.
They kill some other close family member about 8% of the time.

They kill "non-intimate family", friends, or acquaintances about 32.1% of the time.
It's more likely that these acquaintances will be male, and of age 18-24. This is also the age that uses guns the most. Gang violence has increased 800% (eightfold) over the reported thirty years.

The relationship was undetermined for 35.2% of all homicides in that time period.
That particular statistic "undetermined" is trending upward: no doubt caused by a variety of factors, including a lack of police manpower for apprehensions and for murder investigations. In 1975, 79% of all homicide cases cleared; in 2005, 62%.  That's a pretty strong correlation to the undetermined percentage, which has also trended up.

So at least 50.8 % of all homicides are committed by people that knew the victim. Arguments factor into most of them: that's how the homicide starts. That's opposed to homicide in commission with another crime--robbery, rape, and so forth. Mostly it's people getting mad and settling it forever. With a gun. Usually. The BJS says gun-related murder is trending downward, but I don't think the CDC believes it. That's why it's good to check more than one site for your stats. Each producer of stats has a vested interest. Each of them has a different means of getting their reports.

Strangers committed 13.9% of all homicides in that time period.
None of these figures add in 9/11, which according to Wikipedia, killed 2977 people.  If you add those into the total, the figure for "homicide by strangers" goes up to 13.95% . The Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and Pennsylvania--as awful and symbolic as they are--do not add appreciably to the number of murders that happened in the United States from 1975 to 2005.  But perhaps it's not fair to dilute that by 30 years.

Murder per capita, selected years:
1974--10.1
1980--10.7
1991--10.5
2001, including 9-11-- 7.1. According to the CDC, 20,308 people total died in 2001 of assault/homicide. Even if that includes the 9-11 deaths, then less than 15% of that years' homicides were from this frightening terrorist attack in three locations. Not even equal percentage to the number of intimate family homicides that same year.
2006--6.2
2007--6.1

According to the BJS, homicides clear more often than any other type of case. 
And that makes me wonder something else about police work. Big crimes are fascinating to us: they are discrete (separate) events. Crappy crimes like armed robbery or car theft are more likely to happen to us. They are more likely to impact our daily life.

We hold the loss of human life as the most important, but is it really the most important to us? A murder across town--does it affect us as much as having our handbag stolen? It takes forever to get a duplicate license, a new picture of our boyfriend or grandchild, to cancel our credit cards. A wallet costs more than $20.00 these days, and requires a trip to the store when we don't have our new driver's license yet. Plus we're anxious, angry, afraid, and maybe kicking ourselves for being careless.

But these crimes have a less successful clearance rate. I wonder if our society's dissatisfaction with policing comes from the difference of our moral expectations--and our real expectations. I wonder if our real expectation is to be spared inconvenience--not to worry about human life.

Doing More Triage with Band-Aids
And more than ever, a quick look at statistics shows us this: whichever we pick, the "life is precious" road or the "convenience is precious" one, we've underfunded our police departments. We've got mixed motives in our policing expectations, and a far from clear set of priorities. That's made us ambiguous at best and hostile at worst toward law enforcement and its officers.  "Shouldn't you be out fighting real crime?" they hear. Yet accidental injury (including drunk drivers and road war) is #3 on the CDC mortality statistics. Way above murder. Way above suicide.  It's life-affirming to write traffic violations. Why is that so hard to believe?

I believe law enforcement agencies have realized this societal ambiguity between life-affirming and convenience-affirming. The LEO on the street is inconvenienced and importuned by it and the agencies have internalized it. We now have a lot of bean-counting inside the agencies, which the police officers seemingly don't like and we don't pay attention to anyway. Statistics on robbery or loitering seem to figure more highly in "police performance assessment" and reportedly can be fudged by knocking down the charges to a lesser violation, or inflating the number of contacts. It's artificial. On some level, it's meant to appease. And get funding. Our ambiguity trends into our funding for the departments. The bean-counting is their fight back. It only works half the picture at best, and reinforces our ambiguity at worst.

As long as society at large fails to realize that police "productivity" is in direct but also inverse proportion from the stats, society will not get either the convenient or the life-affirming law enforcement response. The more crimes solved or prevented, the less need it seems we have for police. But prevention means placing resources before the fact. You can't go by need alone (crime is going up; case clearance going down), but also by the effect (crime is going down; case clearance is up). When law enforcement succeeds, we cut funding. It only makes sense in statistics, not in real life.

This is not what I was starting to look for when I studied homicide statistics. It's just what grabbed me. I was looking for stats comparing Bubba Terrorism to Islamic Terrorism.  Haven't found those yet. I got distracted.

Support your local law enforcement agencies. That's what I really have. Do it from the pocket--you get what you pay for. And do it with a smile. That would be life-affirming. Might even work on the convenience scale, too.

A Long Dying Before Two Deaths at 1744 E. 75th Street

This is what this post is about.

Photo originally Chicago Tribune; H/T The Fire Critic

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

On December 22, 2010, nineteen firefighters were injured at the site of the former Sing Way laundry. Four were trapped in rubble when the roof caved in. There is a tasteful but revealing photo series on the page here. It shows, among other things, that the Sing Way laundry was a red brick, slightly higher than one-story building.

Two of those trapped firefighters will be mourned this week. The other injured are healing from non-critical injuries somewhere off-camera--all released from the hospital, at least. And everyone in the Chicago FD, their families and friends, are surely rocked. It is the largest loss of life for the Chicago FD in a decade.

Today, Tuesday December 28th, the funeral for Edward Stringer will take place at 10:00 a.m. He had twelve years of service in the Chicago FD and reportedly loved his job. He leaves behind two grown children. He had a dog named Roscoe.

On Thursday, December 30, 2010, Corey Ankum's funeral will take place at 11:00 a.m. He had two years in the fire service. He was a former police officer; he had a wife and three children, the youngest of whom is one year old. His brother is a firefighter in the same house. They lived across the street from each other.

It is the numbers of deaths and injuries that drove the investigative journalists to find out the cause of these deaths. And I think there are three.

One: Negligence.

According to this NBC Chicago article: 

The property, at 1738-1744 E. 75th St., was cited more than three years ago for a number of violations, including:

• failing to maintain the parapet wall in good repair and free from cracks and defects...

• failing to maintain the lintel in good repair and free from cracks and defects...

• failing to maintain roof in sound condition and repair, watertight and free from defects...

In an Aug. 20, 2007 report, it was noted that holes were present in the roof and that it was leaking and rotten in some areas.  The report concluded the owners, Chuck Dai and Richard Dai, had failed to maintain the structure in a safe and stable condition. 

Among other fixes, the building's owners were ordered to restore the roof loads to their original use by removing additional weights and structures attached to the trusses.

City officials weren't able to verify Wednesday evening whether the property was still in violation following a Nov. 1, 2010 repair deadline. 

Chuck Dai had been in court at least seven times in reference to the building and had indicated to the city that he expected it to go into foreclosure.  A city official said Dai told them that he was attempting to reach an agreement by which he could deed the property back to his mortgage provider.

The Long Dying
So, those trusses. The Fire Critic has posted a great deal of information on his site about the fire, including a video from a former Fire Chief/textbook writer/expert consultant. One of the things he said is that very type of roof (a bow-string truss) is one of the more dangerous sorts of roofs for a fire. So I looked up the construction: it's curved, and an "economy roof". In steel, this can cross large expanses, but it's a tension apparatus.  So that roof was overloaded with "additional weights and structures" that screwed the tension distribution that holds it up. And really, I suppose that goes for any roof.

One example of a bow-spring truss.

But the roof didn't crumble, or at least not first: the wall did. So this is what I think the deal is: just guessing.
The Dai brothers rented to a low-overhead dry-cleaning establishment "as-is".  Neither tenant nor landlord hired engineers to help them place their equipment. They've probably been in code violation for a long time.

The rent got paid until the dry-cleaners folded in 2005. The Dai brothers either didn't inspect their property when it was rented, or they didn't care, or they didn't see what was in front of them. The structure-compromising equipment rusted in place. The brick walls didn't get tuck-pointed, the wood didn't get painted, and the walls degraded. The extra stress on the roof pulled more heavily on the walls. The walls cracked. And the roof leaked. The degradation speeds up. And the repairs didn't happen.

Two: Carelessness
The now-abandoned building was boarded up. But such things also take supervision. You have to check them, re-board, evict, sweep out, re-tighten. Because people will try to get in. They break in to get warm or to make deals or to escape the law.

Some vagrant lit a trash fire in the rear of the building. It got out of hand. The building went up at 7:00 a.m. The crew rushed out. They would have seen and probably known in advance, just like the police and the building inspectors, that this building was bad news. They had the fire beaten back, but were checking for hot spots on the roof and people inside. So dangerous building or not, a crew went in: to save life, to investigate, to be sure they were done.

Three: Blunt Trauma
More than one hundred seventy personnel were there. Two that came out died in the hospital of blunt trauma, when wood and brick piled on top of them. One firefighter injured his eyes by taking off his mask, giving oxygen to his brother-in-arms in the rubble.

So now:

Chuck Dai, who owns the building with younger brother Richard, reported himself as "in tears."

Perhaps he was. He is also on record to say that "he was just ready to send a construction crew in." Perhaps that's true too. 

But it doesn't satisfy, somehow. Those tears don't remedy three to four years of compliance avoidance. They don't wash away a record of the city suing him three times since 1987 over code compliance. They don't keep us from noting his wish that defaulting on financial responsibility would remove the problem for him.

We as a society value human life. We also know that one fire can bring down an entire city. (London, 1666. Chicago, 1871. San Francisco, 1906.) We send in the few to save the many. 

And it seems gothic today. It seems wrong.  It seems like the ne'er do wells got the free ride. They still live; they took no risk. They have a chance to keep doing what they always do.

The truth is, the first responders go in for all of us. Because fire spreads, and we all potentially lose. 

But we lost anyway. We lost two very fine firefighters, two good people. 

But nobody lost more than  Edward Stringer and Corey Ankum. May they rest in peace. 

May we learn from this. May we be diligent in our responsibilities. And careful with fire.

Related articles

• 2 Chicago firefighters die when roof collapses in burning building (calgaryherald.com)
• Two Chicago firefighters dead after wall collapse (reuters.com)

And also: Statter911 on the fire: expert reporting. H/T Report on Conditions

The Hydrant Inspector

The following photos are from Ann T. Hathaway Archive's extensive collection of Fire Hydrant Studies. A limited edition print can be yours for the modest sum of one thousand dollars. Kick in an extra hundred and it will arrive at your home, matted and framed in either Rustic, Silver, or Golden splendor (specify, please).

These photos are accompanied by trivia about fire hydrants. So that you know more than not to park next to one. For instance, some of them are made on very high stacks for rising above snowdrifts. I forget where I read this--a Japanese site. Others take advantage of lake water instead of municipal pipes.

In the United States, the American Water Works Association (AWWA) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) both promulgate standards on fire hydrants and inspection regimens. Since 1881, the AWWA has concerned itself with all kinds of water management and water quality, including safe drinking water and safe sewer disposal. The NFPA promulgates safety standards for buildings, especially electrical codes and sprinkler codes for buildings, the use of smoke alarms, and other fire-fighting standards.

This is where engineers, scientists, fire-fighters and city managers get together to transform science and safety into law. In short, they are also lobbyists on the national, state, and local level. Their lobbying efforts are based on factual information and definite preferences for safety. All official standards are available to the public for a relatively modest price. Organizations like these stretch from government to private industry. They are part of the good foundation for an advanced economy.

There are also world-wide standard promulgated for fire hydrants, published by the International Standards Organization (ISO), based in Europe. Another world-wide standard comes from the American Society of Tool and Manufacturing Engineers (ASTM), "an open forum for the development of high-quality, market-relevant international standards used around the globe."

The reason the ASTM standard is international is because the U.S. still has much clout world-wide, based upon our manufacturing and research reputation. Many businesses around the world use ASTM or ISO standards in airline repair, tool design, shipping standards, and, apparently, fire protection. International corporations implement ISO pretty stringently--it cuts their costs because it's standard and helps them with insurance costs.  ISO and/or ASTM is a voluntary program, frequently  enforced by the insurance industry or by treaty around the world. It is one reason why it is safe to travel internationally, or that a container coming from Brazil has similar specs as one coming from India. That a fire-fighting crew in Manila, for an international factory, has similar tools and specs to work with, even if they were born in France.

I don't say it always works out in practice, however. Because:

Smaller corporations find it very hard/expensive to get into compliance with international standards. Cities also are generally not in full ISO compliance. It's part of the 'aging infrastructure' challenge. On the good side, the standards are there to work towards. It's harder to make a 'mistaken' investment if the standard is there.

Most city laws don't specify a standard. They say something like: "The department shall adopt rules and regulations that it determines are reasonably consistent with generally recognized fire protection standards, governing conditions relating to the prevention of fire or for the protection of life and property against fire" and leave the specs to the experts. It also frees the pols up to meddle in other affairs. But no, they wouldn't do that.

For historical preservation districts, there are 'retro-looking' but modern-standard hydrants, as shown HERE. There are also communities that paint their hydrants to look like little people, or a face, or whatever seems to strike their fancy. This latter whimsy might be cute, but it's not exactly helpful for a fire.

Historical preservation or whimsy aside, hydrant colors should actually Mean things. From Wikipedia:

In the United States, the AWWA and NFPA recommend hydrants be colored chrome yellow for rapid identification apart from the bonnet and nozzle caps which should be coded according to their available flow. Class AA hydrants (>1500gpm) should have their nozzle caps and bonnet colored light blue, Class A hydrants (1000-1499gpm), green, Class B hydrants (500-999gpm), orange, and Class C hydrants (0-499gpm), red. This aids arriving firefighters in determining how much water is available and whether to call for additional resources, or locate another hydrant. Other codings can be and frequently are used, some of greater complexity, incorporating pressure information, others more simplistic.

Ann T. Hathaway, Volunteer Hydrant Inspector, has determined that HotWinds is not in full compliance. But she called in an expert to be sure, all the way from New York City. His resume is impressive:

This is a fine art photograph by Bryan Hochman. You will have to work out your price and framing details for this photo with him.

Related articles by Zemanta

• AWWA Announces New Product Technology Showcase Selections (prweb.com)
• New Street-Smart Fire Hydrants Use High Tech Equipment to Conserve Water (cleantechnica.com)

Red Lights, Blue Streaks

This picture looks like a Boring Post Card, possibly showing you the Excellent Modern Facilities of some Health Complex you Wouldn't Be Found Dead in. 

No, it's just an office building, a mere two seconds after averted disaster!

Sirens screamed! The ambulance buzzed and honked! Tires squealed! and a distinct "Holy Shit" came out of the mouth of  the pedestrian to my right.

A cab (not pictured) decided to cross an intersection in front of an oncoming ambulance. Only the fine reflexes of the ambulance driver and the routine care of emergency vehicle brakes prohibited
a. the second emergency and
b. that chance for a photo opportunity that would have driven my point home. Gotten me a job at CNN, too, no doubt, covering gang wars and the home improvement projects of serial killers.

I hear that at some agencies, conversation inside the vehicles are recorded. The imaginary agency I work for would have fired me already for the blue streak coming out of my mouth. There is a word beginning with 'f' that has lost, as far as I'm concerned, all sexual connotation whatever. It just means, idiot. The cab driver was an idioting idiot.

Drivers-pedestrians-bicyclists: Please pay attention to those emergency vehicles! In your own quiet way, you help save somebody's life.

And a hat tip to all those safe drivers in big red trucks and box-like ambulances!
Bonus points for remembering that son of a goat-haired step-child recording in the cab of your vehicle.
And may these pecan-brained mastodons shove it up their violin! Idioting idioters, every one!

Moths to the Flame: The Rubbernecker Follies

If you have been following my Fire Week Special, by now you have figured out that I am a rubbernecker.

I am not the kind of rubbernecker that likes to cause trouble though.

I bet you've heard that before.

Three vehicles from the local fire station are in front of Big Green Bar. I am just taking a walk, not expecting to turn a corner and run into such excitement.

I take a picture of the lights on the fire truck, even though it's pitch dark. Like a bug to a zapper, I drift closer. But I stand, out of the way. Two women are watching next to me, from across the tiny cross street. One of the paramedics is setting up a stretcher covered with clean white cotton cloth. He's not rushing, so, good. Not anything horrible.

"What happened?" I ask. The young women shrug.
"Somebody called an ambulance."
"Right," I nod. "And they went into Big Green Bar."
"Yup."
They stare at the empty stretcher, eating yogurt with Gummy Bears in it.  I am reminded of a newspaper photo I once saw of a grisly crime scene where spectators had Slurpees. So I cross the street to get farther away, and go to the grocery store. How about that? Told you: I'm the kind of rubbernecker you want.

But the excitement's still there when I get out! And here's your proof! Damn I love the lights!

Thankfully, the paramedics and firefighters have it under control. But it's an arena, for sure . . .  packed with an audience of people who just wanted to go back in and drink. Maybe they got to scream or found a conversational gambit in it. It is a pick-up bar, after all.

I am glad you professionals knew what to do. I went home, secure in the knowledge it was my best contribution.

I'm sure you wondered why I took photos of your vehicles in the pitch black night. Just another mental case out on the street with enough money for a camera. What is the world coming to?

Fire Safety: The High-Rise Priority

So, after reading about the ship, yesterday:

When you work in a skyscraper, or stay in a hotel, or live in an apartment building, do you ever think what systems are supporting your safety in the event of a fire?

Big Buildings, Big Projects

As a Condo Board Member, I am supposed to think about it. We have to replace our fire safety system in a couple of years, for which funds must be available. We also have regular tests and checks of that system, for which the Condominium Association contracts experts. Various consultants check our boilers; our heating systems; our fire safety system; our emergency generator. 

This past summer, we bid out and endured a fire-stopping project in the garage. We were grandfathered by the Code, but does that count? The City Inspector thought not. The Board found (as immediately as a Board can--three days) that it didn't wish to argue with that. It was not in our Association's best interest to defer a safety measure or invoke our venerable status. The project took two months and tens of thousands of dollars. Many residents with cars were inconvenienced. When it was done, we gained a safer place to live.

Big Projects, Bad Follow-Through

A few years ago, we added a fire extinguishers to the roof deck when we added the three new (electric) grills. That next week, we had flames shooting six feet up, too close to the elevator tower. The old fire extinguisher didn't work. Fortunately, two guests happened to work in fire service. Lucky for everyone but them.

Oh, there was hell to pay on that one for the Zombies in the Management Office. No replacement grease pans. One new extinguisher; Two old fire extinguishers unchecked.  FAIL.

That next week, Condo Board members electronically passed 303 grease-mails through the medium of the Internet. Eventually we bought a grease-only, fire-safe (to all, including California standards) trash can. We also ordered three hundred grease pans so that they would be immediately, easily replaced. And got the fire extinguishers inspected. I figure about 263 of those grease-mails were not required, but we all wanted to kick ass, and that was how we did it.  That condo manager left the next month or so, and we got the new Zombie Boss we have now.

Regular Maintenance

Twice a year, our Building Engineers replace a/c filters, check for dripping faucets, how much carpet is down on the floor (noise control) and--for working smoke alarms. We do not allow battery-operated ones to suffice in our building. Each unit must be hooked up to constant electricity. If they don't work, then the next week they are changed out and the Owner charged for the maintenance.

Every floor has a set of fire extinguishers. We pay a firm to check them and replace them on time.

Sometimes other stuff relates to fire safety: a banister falling off the wall in the stairwell. That's not just a stairwell, it's the emergency exit. More, the phone and cable boxes are also in these stairwells. They need to stay locked, so that the box lid doesn't raise up and impede progress in the event of an incident. The Board also had them put safety strips back on the steps in both stairwells, after a two-year absence. 

So, how do you find the way out of your office? Do you know what the fire alarm sounds like? How about at your hotel? Where's the nearest stairs? 

Scary and Careless

Somebody threw a gas can down our trash chute. The fire department inspectors came for that, to determine if it was attempted arson. We had to pay for trash chute cleaning after that stupid move, over a thousand bucks of Association money.

Somebody sprayed fire extinguisher in a stairwell for a prank. That screwed up a fire extinguisher and an emergency exit. It also cost money.

The point of this article is that all building systems are still dependent on human compliance. 

We have to get them in place correctly. We have to update them and inspect them. We have to pay for experts and take their advice. Last of all, even the best systems can be taken down by one full grease pan, one prankster, or one idiot's gas can in the wrong place.

So individual safety is based on good systems and a good emergency response.

What is your personal emergency preparation?

Emergency Safety Committee-An Active Minority

Currently, we have a volunteer Emergency Safety Committee trying to figure out some safe evacuation plans for our building. There's a lot of frail people, and one guy in a wheelchair. The guy in the wheelchair has a lot more together on this than the frail people do.

Some of the committee members, like its chairman, have a lot of experience in emergencies. Other have volunteered to run a floor, or get a frail person out.

But it's a work in progress. For instance, no one wants to practice a fire drill. They want to kick back when they're home, and watch television, cook dinner, stay in their shower. We elected officials are weenies on this point. The consent of the governed and all that.

For each of us at home: we need to think about our safety. Because a Condominium Association has multiple owners, we contract some of this out or enforce it with Staff. And yet in the end it still comes down to this: we have to think about how we get out of our own door safely. We each have to have a plan.

The U.S. Fire Administration, a part of the Department of Homeland Security, has a portal page with everything you need to know about Escape Plans, Fire Extinguishers, Smoke Alarms, Rooms of the House, and Flaming Stuff such as Cigarette, Candle, and Cooking Safety.  It also has special instructions for High-Rises, Mobile Homes, Rural Areas, and so forth. It's a good place to start.

Firefighter's Week: Pickles the Fire Cat

This post mentions those best public relations experts for the Fire Department Out There: children's story book authors. I think kids are interested in the equipment and the heroism, then frequently reassured by the idea of safety. I think the firehouse fascinates because it compares and contrasts to the family arrangement they know.

I don't think we ever lose that fascination with this profession. But here's where it starts!

This is Pickles, the Fire Cat, created by Esther Averill. He is a feral cat and a bit of a bully until the firemen give him Purpose in Life. Now he is the one who saves the cats stuck in the trees.  For you fire fighters out there who are tired of old Mr. Sweetcakes calling you about Tabitha--Esther Averill is who you should blame.

Just get your own Pickles! It'll work out.

Right now he is dancing with Florio and Jenny Linsky, the black cat who founded the Cat Club. We have some wild doings at the Fire House?? No, no, Pickles just Loves being a Fire Cat so much that he always hangs onto his hat. I do not know what Florio's deal is, however.  They are all playing at the Cat Club.

Richard Scarry has an entire book about Fire Stations. The raccoons are being paid good tax dollars to stripe the pole when a fire alarm goes off. All the Fire Pigs get smeared with red paint! Hardee har har! These firefighters won't let a little red paint stop them though! What good guys they are!

Just in case you fire folk are feeling bad about being portrayed as pigs, I have added a little equal treatment footnote. Personally I wish Mr. Scarry used the ginger cats for the first responders. They are adorable. But really, so are the pigs. No one should worry over this.

Then we come to the Big Red Dog created by Norman Bridwell.  Clifford is so huge, that without any training whatsoever (or opposable thumbs), he can handle the hose on a high-rise building. We are so glad! In all his books, Clifford scares people with his size and wins them over with his service. There are also children's fire safety rules in this book.

"Mama, I want to be a fire fighter when I grow up. Save people and do important things."

So there you go. Before life got complicated.

Thanks to all Firefighters this Fire Prevention Week!

Firefighter's Memorial Weekend

This weekend, right before National Fire Protection Week, firefighters honor their fallen comrades. This is a picture of the US Fire Administration's National Fallen Firefighter's Memorial. It stands on the grounds of the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Flags all over the nation should be at half-mast today.

This ceremony will honor 105 fallen firefighters. The Fallen Firefighter's Foundation has a "Project Roll Call", to honor firefighters who fell before 1981.

In 2009, there were eighty-three fatalities. Around one hundred deaths per year occur for firefighters in the line of duty nationwide. This was a safer year, but still there are many names to remember, and many losses to grieve. These are their names. All of them left behind grieving family, friends, and comrades.

--Gary Stephens--John Myers--Kevin Kelley--Richard Rhea--

--Kyle Perkins--Cory Galloway--William Parsons--

--Mark Davis--Dean Mathison--Jeffrey Isbell--Albert Eberle, Jr.--

--Timothy Nicholas--Johnnie Hammons--John Adams--

--Derek North--"Freddy" Pierno--Charles Myshrall--

--Michael Darrington--Alan Hermel--Christopher Dill--

--William Vorwark--Gregory Cooke--Nolan Schmidt--Robert Strang--

--Mike Gilbreath--Robert France--Manny Rivera--

--George Wimberly--John Jeffers--John Weber--Heath Van Handel--

--Damion Hobbs--James Harlow--Charles Clough, Jr.--

--Dennis Simmons--Patrick Reardon--Brian Buss--

--Michael Flynn--Thomas Risk--Cohnway Johnson--

--Frankie Nelson--Stephen Cospelich--Paul Roberts--James Hall--

--Matthew Tramel--Jeffrey Read--Debra Cole--

--Conrad Mansfield--Lyle Lewis--Jimmy Cameron--William Thompson--

--Brett Stearns--Allan LePage--Dale Haddix--

--Robert Johnson--Ryan Wingard--David Grass, Jr.--

--Joseph Grace--Thomas Marovich--Eric Tinkham--

--"Jack" Horton--Paul Warhola--Jimmie Zeeks--David Jamsa--

--Jonathan Croom--"Chip" McCarthy--"Arnie" Quinones--

--"Ted" Hall--Kenneth Frizzell, Jr.--Richard Holst--Ricky Christiana--

Terry Sharon--Patrick Joyce--Carl Nordwall--

--Gary Street--John Thurman--Roy Westover, Jr.--

--Phil Whitney--Chad Greene--Robert Stone--

--Ramon Hain--Terrance Freeman--Walter Hessling--Gary Neidig, Jr.--

--Jimmy Davis, Sr.--Gregory Thompson, Jr.--Tommy Adams--

--Bobby Mullins--Craig Starr--Clair Pierce--

--Paul Holmes--Steve Koeser--Richard Miller--

These names can be found at the memorial page at the U.S. Fire Agency, Department of Homeland Security. By clicking upon their name, you can learn official information.

Thank you, firefighters and paramedics everywhere. I am so sorry for your many losses. Today I offer my condolences to the families and colleagues of fallen firefighters.

Photos from the DHS and Midwest Honor Guard .com.

Next Week is National Fire Prevention Week

and this weekend is National Fallen Firefighter's Memorial Weekend.

The Ann T. Hathaway blog will be featuring posts in relation to: True Disasters! Fire safety.  Fire trivia, and other small tributes to these national heroes and all-around good people next week, from October 3 through October 9.

Those of you in the fire service will hopefully get some of the credit you deserve, and a few laughs. If I have made some mistakes or omissions, feel free to write in! I am always interested in what you do, and hope to learn more.

The rest of us will maybe learn a few things, and also get a chuckle. And a chance to show some of the love and respect we feel for your profession. I hope you enjoy!