Baltimore City Fire

The Baltimore Fire Department made more than $250,000 in unauthorized purchases through an off-the-books account maintained for years with a major supply company, according to detailed financial reports and invoices. City and federal funds intended for purchases from Draeger Safety Inc. were held in the account to help pay for unapproved equipment for the department, records obtained by The Sun show. City officials were unaware of the changes, which shifted money from transactions for air masks and related equipment.

Baltimore City fire crews are battling a four-alarm fire that began Tuesday morning in the 500 block of South Broadway in Fells Point. The fire was reported at 4:25 a.m. in a five-story building that has had a grocery store at street level. According to Captain Roman Clark, spokesman for the Baltimore City fire department, it is the same structure that was damaged by a five-alarm fire in June. Clark said fire fighters responding to the first alarm immediately called for assistance and the fire quickly went to four alarms.

LONDON -- Two fires. Two shootings. One rescue.And that's just in the opening hourlong episode of "Streets of Fire," a gritty documentary now airing in prime time that has British television viewers enthralled. Its subject: the men and women of the Baltimore City Fire Department.The three-part series on Britain's Channel 4 was shot earlier this year by British filmmaker Paul Berriff, who has transformed Baltimore's firefighters into TV stars who display humanity and heroism. On Jan. 4-5, the Discovery Channel in the United States is due to air a slightly altered version of the documentary under the title "Firehouse."

Just add water. That's all that was left for the residents of the East Baltimore neighborhood of Oliver to do after a vegetable garden and urban sanctuary were installed in a single day in a vacant lot in the 1300 block of N. Central Ave. Eight raised beds were filled with clean soil and planted with 150 vegetable seedlings Thursday. Around the perimeter, 400 perennials, herbs and shrubs were planted, plus 30 trees to shield the oasis from traffic noise. All planted in time for Mayor Sheila Dixon to cut the ribbon at the end of the day. "The vegetables that come out of this garden," said the mayor, "will help others make the change to greener and healthier living."

It's about a 3-mile trek to the Baltimore City Fire Academy from Rappolla Street in East Baltimore.Since Aug. 18, Jennifer Clemens has been walking each morning and afternoon along that stretch.And each day, she's coming closer to accomplishing a dream.Clemens, 19, is among the first group of inner-city youths admitted to the Baltimore City Fire Academy this summer through a program designed to offer young people a chance to join the city Fire Department.The program targets city high school juniors.

Previous articles about problems in the Baltimore City Fire Department at baltimoresun.com/recruit

On March 27, 2004, CHARLES F. GRESS, SR., retired Baltimore City Fire Department Captain; beloved husband of Evelyn M.; loving father of Barbara Truntich and her husband Paul, Janice Gettier, and Charles F. Gress, Jr., and his wife Mary Ann; cherished grandfather of Carrie Richardson and her husband Lee, Gary Gettier and his wife Cheri, Chrissie Coffren and her husband Jim, Paul Truntich, Jr. and his wife Courtney, Rob Gettier and his wife Sarah and...

On July 19, 2004, RAYMOND F.; beloved husband of Elaine (nee Franz) Johnson; dear brother of Dorothy Citrano. A Prayer Service will be held at the family owned LILLY and ZEILER INC. FUNERAL HOME, 700 S. Conkling Street, on Thursday at 7:30 P.M. Friends may call on Thursday from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M. In lieu of flowers, donations may be directed to the Baltimore City Fire Dept.

The effects of the terrorism that struck New York City last week con tinues to be on the minds of people in the Baltimore area. Above, emergency vehicle driver Alex Gereny (left) and Lt. Carl Zimmerman drape black bunting on Baltimore City Fire Department headquarters in memory the New York firefighters killed in the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings. Elders Baptist Church (at right) in Eldersburg shows its concern for New York City. The other side of the sign suggests prayers "for the people at the Pentagon," the other target of the terrorists.

Baltimore City fire crews are battling a four-alarm fire that began Tuesday morning in the 500 block of South Broadway in Fells Point. The fire was reported at 4:25 a.m. in a five-story building that has had a grocery store at street level. According to Captain Roman Clark, spokesman for the Baltimore City fire department, it is the same structure that was damaged by a five-alarm fire in June. Clark said fire fighters responding to the first alarm immediately called for assistance and the fire quickly went to four alarms.

As if on cue during an event to mark the Baltimore City Fire Department's 150th year, sirens shrieked and ladder trucks raced up North Gay Street just minutes after the fire chief stepped up to the podium. "That noise is a working fire going on," James S. Clack, chief of the city's Fire Department, told the crowd of onlookers, firefighters and officials who gathered Saturday at War Memorial Plaza downtown. "If it gets any bigger, we might all have to leave." Speeches praising the department's dedication and perseverance would be interrupted twice more as a fire under way on Belair Road went to two alarms, then three.

The Baltimore City Fire Department is considering reducing its budget next year by ending the practice of filling vacant shifts by paying overtime, meaning that some truck or engine companies could be shut down on days with staff shortages, Fire Chief James S. Clack said yesterday. The proposed policy, known as "rotating company closures," could save the department $5.5 million in overtime expenditures, Clack said. Mayor Sheila Dixon directed all city agencies last month to reduce their budgets to save $65 million next year.

A rare example of Baltimore's architectural history was nearly lost several years ago when an 1871 firehouse on West Mulberry Street was torn down to make way for redevelopment. It was the only firehouse in Baltimore -- and one of the last surviving buildings in the city -- whose first-floor front facade was made of cast iron, a popular local building material in the 1800s, but not in use today. A quick thinking preservationist saw the demolition work under way and managed to salvage the largest cast-iron pieces before they were carted off for scrap metal.

John T. O'Mailey, a retired firefighter who spent decades as secretary of the Baltimore City Fire Department's board and was an early advocate of hiring African-American firefighters, died of cancer Tuesday at the Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. The longtime Belair-Edison and Towson resident was 91. Born in Baltimore and raised on Llewelyn Avenue, among other East Baltimore addresses, he attended City College for a year before dropping out to take a job. He attended night school and later earned a General Education Development certificate.

Thomas Joseph Baginski, a retired Baltimore City Fire Department battalion chief whose career spanned 41 years, died of cancer March 30 at Good Samaritan Hospital. The Parkville resident was 72. Mr. Baginski, who was born and raised in Baltimore, was a 1953 graduate of Calvert Hall College High School, where he played varsity football. He served in the Army for several years before joining the Fire Department in 1958. He was promoted to pump operator and lieutenant in 1964, and captain six years later.

Joseph Anthony Mirabile, a retired Baltimore City Fire Department captain who fought the Tru-Fit Clothing store blaze in 1955, died of renal failure complications Monday at his Dundalk home. He was 86. Born in Baltimore and raised in Little Italy, he attended St. Leo's parochial and city public schools and later earned a General Education Diploma. He studied marine drawing at the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts and won the school's Peabody Prize in 1956. He joined the Navy in 1939 and served in the Pacific during World War II. Stationed at Pearl Harbor in December 1941, he was aboard a ship that left the naval base three days before the Japanese attack.

On August 8, 2004, JOHN MICHAEL FISH; beloved son of the late Earl W. and Agnes P. Fish; loving brother of Vernon Hibline, Claire Matheson, George Fish and Earline Braatz; step-father of David Skuland. Also survived by many nieces and nephews. Michael is a retired captain from the Baltimore City Fire Department, surving from 1979 to 2002. Visitation at the HUBBARD FUNERAL HOME, INC., on Monday and Tuesday 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 P.M. and where funeral services will be held on Wednesday at 12 noon.

On Saturday, July 19, 2003, GEORGE E. WEBB of Ocean City, MD, formerly of Baltimore, beloved husband of Bernadette M. Webb; father of Mark Webb and the late Kimberly Webb; step-father of Michael Kocur (Colleen) and Karen Stillman (Joshua); step-grandfather of four. Brother of Kenneth Webb (Phyllis). Mr Webb was a Deputy Chief with the Baltimore City Fire Department, retiring in 1984. Memorial Service on Sunday, July 27 at 2 P.M. at the Burbage Funeral Home, Berlin, MD. Memorial contributions may be made to the Ocean City Volunteer Fire Co., 15th St. and Philadelphia Ave, Ocean City, MD 21842.

The "I love you" and "Rest in peace" notes scribbled on the wooden boards barricading the hollow windows of 1903 Cecil Ave. have begun to fade. But everything about the May blaze in an East Baltimore rowhouse that killed eight of her neighbors - five of them children - remains vivid for Anita Paige. After 14 years on this block, Paige says she is living more carefully: making sure not to leave the kitchen while a pot of soup's bubbling on the stove, clearing clothes away from her water heater and checking to see that her smoke detector works.

Federal investigators are trying to determine why 12 railcars of a CSX freight train jumped the track yesterday morning near M&T Bank Stadium, just blocks from the site of the 2001 derailment and subsequent Howard Street Tunnel fire that burned for a week and paralyzed freight traffic along the East Coast.