Christopher Kimball for Fire Service News

Witness say the tank fell from the truck, spilling it contents then two men picked up the tank and fled the scene. Firefighters arrived to find the oil spread across the intersection with cars slipping and sliding through the oil.

St. Johns County Sheriffs Officers directed traffic around the oil spill while firefighters worked to contain the oil, keeping it out of storm drains and laying absorbent on it. Florida DOT responded to the scene with a track filled with sand and spread the sand over the oil to soak it up and make the road passably again. The road was opened after about an hour.

Engine 14 and USAR 4 responded to the scene along with Battalion 2. There were no reports of any injuries associated with the spill and the road was closed with traffic diverted from the oil before any accidents occurred on the slippery road.

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Christopher Kimball for Fire Service News

Firefighters from Squad 5 and Rescue 5 were on the scene within minutes of the call and extinguished the fire very quickly. Engine 11 and Engine 43 also responded to the scene. There were no injuries reported as a result of the fire and the damaged appeared to be minor and contained to the kitchen of the home.

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Christopher Kimball for Fire Service News

Firefighters laddered the roof and began checking air conditioning units and electrical sources within the store while employees and customers alike stood in the hot afternoon sun waiting to enter the building again. Most of the customers left the property and deputies from the St. Johns County Sheriff’s office closed the entrances to the parking area.

During the course of the incident, I ventured into the parking lot about halfway between the building and US 1 and spent ten minutes shooting images of the incident. As a former firefighter and credentialed member of the local media, I have never been told I was too close to an incident. I have been asked to make sure I did not get in the way by police officers, but today I was approached by an Asset Protection employee who informed me that the “…building might blow up.” He then told me to stay out on US 1.

After a lot of discussion, I decided I would stand off the property line with a 300 mm lens and shoot from there. Wal Mart at its finest.

Needless to say, Wal Mart did not blow up. There were no injuries reported during the incident and firefighters believe the source of the smoke to be from electrical equipment inside the store. An electrician was called to remedy the issue as firefighters cleared the scene.

Thank you, Wal Mart, for protecting me from blowing up…or maybe, good job denying the press access to an incident and covering your own ASSets!!

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Christopher Kimball for Fire Service News

Firefighters from St. Augustine Fire Department along with units from St. Johns County Fire Rescue arrived on Grant street and were met with heavy smoke issuing from the building. An aggressive attack was made on the fire, knocking it down quickly though smoke continued to roll out of the eaves for some time.

Assist Fire Chief John Rayno said, “..we are sure it is an arson but we are bringing in the Fire Marshal’s office to determine where and how the fire started.” One of the tenents that lives in the building has an elderly mother she cares for living with her and while the fire drove them out of the house this morning, neither were injured and there did not appear to be damage to their unit.

Crews where on scene for about and hour after the fire was extinguished removing smoke from the building and continually checking the attic with a thermal imaging camera to ensure nothing got overlooked that could rekindle later.

There were no injuries reported as a result of the fire and while fire officials believe they know who started the fire, a formal announcement regarding that part of the investigation has no been made.

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Christopher Kimball for Fire Service News

When firefighters went outside to investigate, they found that a car had struck the station after hitting several signs and a flagpole out front. While the cause of the crash is not known yet, the car left the road and collided with the corner of the station, cracking the building.

Asst. Chief John Rayno said the building has been hit multiple times since it was opened in its current location in 1958. One accident actually took out the front wall of the station and the trees around the station have many scars on them from previous accidents there.

The driver of Sunday’s crash was transported to Flagler Hospital in St. Augustine for evaluation. Details surround the accident have not been released nor has a condition of the driver. No one in the station was hurt and while the cost to repair the station has not been determined, damage appears to be limited to the flag pole and corner of the station.

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Saint Augustine, Fl – Shortly before 2 am on Tuesday July 13, 2010, fire units from St. Augustine and St. Johns Fire Rescue were called to The Reef Restaurant on A1A just north of Vilano Beach by an automatic fire alarm.

Crew arrived on scene and found fire and smoke showing from the exterior of the building. St. Johns County Fire Rescue PIO Jeremy Robshaw said, “Fire fighters made an aggressive attack on the fire and were able to extinguish the visible fire and prevent further fire spread through the building.”

A total of 13 pieces of apparatus and 18 fire fighters responded to the scene. The sprinkler system in the building did operate as designed, containing the fire to a small area of the building until fire fighter arrived and knocked down the fire.

According to Robshaw, the damage to the building is estimated at approximately $20,000.00 though the building is valued around $2 million. There were no injuries reported as a result of the fire and the cause is under investigation at this time.

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SHOT 16 and Engine 16

St. Augustine Beach, FL – What started as a hazardous materials response at the Captains Quarters Condos on Dondenville Road in St. Augustine Beach, turned into a minor incident with a completely different outcome than expected this afternoon.

Fire fighters from Station 6 responded to the Captains Quarters Condos at 1 Dondenville Road shortly after noon for a reported chlorine spill. The caller reported a spill of nearly 40 gallons of 15% chlorine; bringing an automatic response from SHOT 16 and Engine 16, the Special Hazards Ops Team to the scene.

Fire fighters approached the scene with caution, and on arrival spoke with an employee of the condos who told them he had a spill of around 40 gallons of chlorine over the last two days. On further investigation, it was determined that the chlorine had been leaking from a feed line that ran from a 55 gallon drum to the pool pump.

The chlorine was dripping on the ground in an area landscaped with gravel and there was no large concentration to clean up. SHOT 16 and Engine 16 surveyed the scene as well when they arrived and Florida DEP was notified of the situation.

Units cleared the scene around 1:30pm. There were no injuries reported from the incident.

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St. Augustine Fire Fighters responded to Ripley's Museum when smoke was discovered on the second floor of the building on Friday around noon.

St. Augustine, FL – Smoke filled the second floor of the popular Historic City attraction, Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum, when fire fighters from St. Augustine Fire Department arrived on Friday shortly after noon.

Lt. Chance Hines of the SAFD said, “The upstairs was filled with a significant amount of smoke and smelled electrical in nature when we arrived,” adding that “Ripley’s staff did a great job of evacuating the building prior to the fire department arrival.”

Fire fighters were not able to find an immediate source but after an extensive search, the smoke was traced back to the blower motor in an air conditioning unit that burned up. Electricity to the a/c unit was shut down once the unit was identified. Lt. Hines said the smoke dissipated from the building on its own very quickly.

St. Augustine Fire Department’s Engine 43, 44 and 46 responded along with Ladder 47, St. Johns County Engine 14 and Rescue 12. St Augustine Police Department handled traffic and the curious onlookers that tried to wander in through the scene.

Fire fighters cleared the scene at about 12:45pm.

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Justin Estes stands in front of the blood mobile greeting fellow fire fighters.

St. Augustine, FL – Fire fighters from St. Johns County Fire Rescue turned out in force over the last two days to support fellow fire fighter/Paramedic Justin Estes and donate blood on behalf of Justin’s 3 year old niece, Elizabeth, who was recently diagnosed with leukemia.

Elizabeth was diagnosed only a couple months ago and is already under going chemotherapy but must maintain very specific blood levels and conditions to continue treatments. Because of this, she will need transfusions along the way and without the donations the costs can become overwhelming.

The members of the St. Johns County Fire Rescue responded to Justin call for help as brothers and sisters always do. Giving of themselves by donating the precious gift of their own blood. The blood donated will stay here in St. Augustine and credits are issued to Elizabeth’s account so in essence, these men and women have given to Elizabeth and their community in one shot.

John D'Amour donates blood on Thursday on behalf of Elizabeth

When asked how the drive was going, Justin said, “It has been very busy this morning and people keep coming.” Fire fighter John D’Amour said he believed yesterdays count was around 79 people donating in four hours time. The numbers for today are not in yet but overall, turn out has been very good.

St John’s County Fire Rescue guidelines do not allow personnel to donate blood while on duty so the drive was held over two days, allowing any one that wanted to donate a chance to do so while off shift.

If anyone is interested in donating on behalf of Elizabeth, you can give at any Georgia/Florida Blood Alliance location. Let them know you are donating for Elizabeth Forte with account #0048.

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St. Augustine, FL - A small fire that broke out in a guest room at the historic Casa Monica Hotel on Cordova Street in Saint Augustine sent a bridal party and guests attending a reception in the building out into the street shortly after 8:00 pm on Saturday, July 03, 2010.

The fire broke out in a bathroom of a second floor room, filling the room and parts of the second floor with smoke. The fire was contained to the bathroom and fire fighters said there was little to no damage as a result.

The St. Augustine Fire Department responded with three engine companies and St. Johns County Fire Rescue sent a fourth engine to the scene. City 1 and City 2 also responded to the fire along with a battalion Chief from SJCFR.

The bride and groom stood in the street in front of the hotel watching the fire fighters run in and out of the building while their guests mingled around the street or sat on the wall in the park out front of the hotel.

No one was injured as a result of the fire and the cause is currently under investigation by the St. Augustine Fire Department.

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