According to the US Fire Administration (a branch of FEMA), in 2017 the United States played involuntary host to more than one million fires, resulting in a loss of more than 3,400 lives, injuring more than 14,000 others, and causing more than $23 billion in damage. As much as those figures are an improvement on historical numbers, they are still large enough as to make the data impersonal. On the flipside, most every accidental loss of life due to fire hits hard to a hyperlocal group of friends and family who are immediately impacted... and with that uplifting remark we reach this video. There is a law enforcement presence at the scene of nearly every fire in the United States. Now, it is by no means obvious that the 5-0 are needed at a fire. After all, that's hose monkey work. Cops... make light-hearted fun of them. What is the role of a police officer at a fire? The answer will vary somewhat depending on the specifics of the incident, but I did want to provide at least one concrete answer to that question, and this video is it. There may be more; we'll see. Here we go. ~~~~ IN OTHER NEWS (UPDATE TO HARLEY PURSUIT VIDEO) For the past week+ I have been working to uncover more (read: any) information about the Ohio State Highway Patrol's pursuit of a Harley offroad and into the woods. My work finally paid off: The pursuit took place on July 4, 2018 and the rider of the motorcycle was Robin Buckels, male, age 46, from Painesville, Ohio. (Fun fact about Robin: On 6/2/16 he won $10,070 on a Keno scratch off.) Buckels was charged with failure to comply, 'permitted operation without a license', operating a motorcycle without a helmet, and unsafe operation. All except for failure to comply were dismissed. Same sentence as I had previously reported, plus $592 in fines and a temporary license suspension. I have updated the description of the pursuit video to reflect the above, and that video can be found at http://tiny.cc/bikepursuit.

Orlando Florida USFA OFD OPD truck rescue save car firefighting