One group isn’t sitting idly by waiting for Congress to decide if the government stays open after next Monday, they’re in fast mode.
The shutdown would bar families and colleagues from visiting the fallen firefighter memorial which sits on federal property in Maryland.
The staff and volunteers with the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation are scurrying to make alternative plans in case the government isn’t open.
Not only would the annual candlelight vigil and memorial service have to be moved, there also would be no rooms available on campus for honor guards, escorts and others. An alternative site for meals also would have to be found as well as a caterer.
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In Maryland, the crew of a brush truck and trench rescue teams are being hailed as heroes for saving a construction worker.
The first crews quickly set up a draft to divert water away from the man who was struggling as the level kept rising.
Teams from Montgomery and Howard counties responded to assist Frederick County with the rescue. The ‘go team’ from R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center also was on the scene in case they needed to amputate the man’s leg.
Read about the rescue and see photos here.
It wasn’t first responders who made the difference in South Dakota this week. It was a group of college students. Not only did they rescue a toddler, they helped a local farmer hook a chain to the burning vehicles to pull them apart.
Hear what the teens had to say.
On Saturday, the IAFF honored its fallen heroes during a ceremony in Colorado Springs. Read about the special remembrance here.
Also, the FBI released a video showing the gunman in the Navy Yard massacre entering the facility and walking through the hallways hunting victims. In the end, a dozen workers were killed. The lone suspect was shot during a gun battle with cops.
Meanwhile, a Virginia jury found an SUV driver negligent in a fire truck crash that left two firefighters dead.
They also cleared the driver of the fire engine of any fault in the crash that killed him and another.
Read about the jury's verdict.
http://www.firehouse.com/news/11178189/va-jury-clears-fire-engine-driver-in-fatal-wreck
