Philadelphia Fire Department

By Bill Gault The recent deaths of our brothers Robert Neary and Daniel Sweeney in the Kensington warehouse inferno have resulted in raw, emotional turmoil among the city's firefighters. These tragic deaths have galvanized our union membership like never before and we're now taking the fight directly to the Nutter administration and the current leadership of the Philadelphia Fire Department. We're angry about the city's insistence on continuing its dangerous brownout policy, while willfully ignoring the facts.

WILLIAM RICHMOND was the fire commissioner during the siege on Osage Avenue. 1985: The MOVE Commission said that after a police helicopter dropped a bomb on a bunker on the roof of the MOVE house, starting a fire, Richmond conferred with Police Commissioner Gregore Sambor and decided to let the bunker burn. The commission said allowing the fire to burn constituted the use of fire as a tactical weapon. The MOVE Commission report also said that Richmond had advised Sambor that they could let the bunker burn and contain the blaze later.

When the state agency that oversees the city's finances commissioned a report on the Philadelphia Fire Department two years ago, it was with the hope that a rational examination of the department's political hot-button issues could be done. That study, released Wednesday, did not shy away from some of the most controversial problems - referencing in the first few pages the distrust between labor and management, and the history of racial and gender tensions in the ranks. The report also described a Fire Department culture "resistant to change," and was critical of a management structure that "tends to reinforce the status quo. " "The gap between the current reality and the department's aspirations for itself is wide," the study said.

Firefighter Tim McShea is a modest kind of a guy. For 23 years, he has been a hard-working firefighter, spending most of his career assigned to busy Ladder 22 in Juniata. But besides fighting fires, this decorated firefighter spends every minute of his spare time volunteering. He coaches kids for Holy Innocents CYO Athletics and St. Hubert's High School JV Softball. He's president of the Ancient Order of Hibernians Division 22. He sings with the Mummers Chorus and runs the Juniata Strutters.

The odor of smoke lingered in Irene Matonis' Bridesburg rowhouse Monday afternoon, left over from the fire at the residence next door that claimed the life of her 92-year-old neighbor. "I've got fans throughout the house to get the smell out," said Matonis, 83, of the 2800 block of Hedley Street. Neighbors identified Julia Zorowski as the victim of a kitchen fire Sunday evening. The victim was found in the kitchen after fire officials responded at 6:25 to a Life Alert system, Battalion Chief Anthony Hudgins said Monday.

The old Thomas W. Buck Hosiery building, dominating nearly a full block in Kensington, was supposed to be converted into 81 apartments several years ago, but instead it sat vacant. Neighbors lamented its deteriorating and dangerous conditions, fearing the building would burn some day, while its New York owners racked up unpaid tax bills and ignored code violations. The city moved in February to put the property up for sheriff's sale, which can take months. In the end, it was all too late to prevent a tragedy that took the lives of two firefighters.

It was two days before Christmas Eve 1959, and Roger M. Ulshafer had just been laid off from his construction job as a carpenter. Ulshafer had turned 22 the day before. He had a wife and two little kids. It was a lousy time to be unemployed. There had to be a line of work with more stability, something with a little more staying power. A short time later, he read an ad in the newspaper saying that the Philadelphia Fire Department was hiring. It sounded like good solid work.

ARSON INVESTIGATOR Tom Halpin, of the Philadelphia Fire Department, examines the charred remains of Philadelphia Suzuki in the 2600 block of Castor Avenue. A four-alarm fire destroyed the Northeast motorcycle dealership early yesterday morning. The cause of the fire, which gutted the building, was under investigation.

When the state agency that oversees the city's finances commissioned a report on the Philadelphia Fire Department two years ago, it was with the hope that a rational examination of the department's political hot-button issues could be done. That study, released Wednesday, did not shy away from some of the most controversial problems - referencing in the first few pages the distrust between labor and management, and the history of racial and gender tensions in the ranks. The report also described a Fire Department culture "resistant to change," and was critical of a management structure that "tends to reinforce the status quo. " "The gap between the current reality and the department's aspirations for itself is wide," the study said.

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER As a Philadelphia firefighter, the most frightening incident Lawrence "Larry" Amaker experienced was battling flames from a building with an earthen basement, sinking into the ground and stumbling over holes as he moved through. As a paramedic, his most gut-wrenching experience was handling the death of a 2-year-old child and confronting the man convicted of the killing, who remained at the scene and needed medical attention. But through these experiences, Amaker, 61, has learned to value every day. Now in his 25th year of service for the fire department, he received the 2012 "Paramedic of the Year Award" from the Philadelphia Fire Department during a ceremony Wednesday morning at the Fireman's Hall Museum.

The odor of smoke lingered in Irene Matonis' Bridesburg rowhouse Monday afternoon, left over from the fire at the residence next door that claimed the life of her 92-year-old neighbor. "I've got fans throughout the house to get the smell out," said Matonis, 83, of the 2800 block of Hedley Street. Neighbors identified Julia Zorowski as the victim of a kitchen fire Sunday evening. The victim was found in the kitchen after fire officials responded at 6:25 to a Life Alert system, Battalion Chief Anthony Hudgins said Monday.

By Bill Gault The recent deaths of our brothers Robert Neary and Daniel Sweeney in the Kensington warehouse inferno have resulted in raw, emotional turmoil among the city's firefighters. These tragic deaths have galvanized our union membership like never before and we're now taking the fight directly to the Nutter administration and the current leadership of the Philadelphia Fire Department. We're angry about the city's insistence on continuing its dangerous brownout policy, while willfully ignoring the facts.

A West Philadelphia mother and her adult daughter died Thursday when a fire ripped through their Pennsgrove Street home. Another resident of the three-floor house was resuscitated by emergency workers after being dragged out of her second floor unit. She was in critical condition Thursday evening at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, officials said. The fire originated in the second-floor rear unit. The cause was still under investigation Thursday, said Philadelphia Fire Department spokesman Capt.

Remember the Fire Department report that came out earlier this year, the one recommending that labor and management play nice if they want to solve their problems with the city? Bill Gault, president of Local 22 of the International Association of Fire Firefighters, may now be trying to take that advice to heart. But only after he nearly got into another public dustup with City Hall. In the aftermath of the tragic fire in Kensington on April 9 that killed Lt. Robert Neary and Firefighter Dan Sweeney, emotions were raw among members of the department, Gault said last week.

Hundreds of firefighters gathered Friday at a funeral home in Northeast Philadelphia to say goodbye to Lt. Robert Neary, one of two firefighters who died Monday battling a five-alarm blaze in the city's Kensington section. While the public viewing for Neary was under way Friday evening, another one for Firefighter Daniel Sweeney began at St. Cecilia Roman Catholic Church in Fox Chase, where his funeral will be held Saturday morning. Neary, 59, and Sweeney, 25, were killed when a wall and roof collapsed.

BOB NEARY was hard-core, even by Philly standards. Shot hoops at Father Judge High School, graduating in 1970. Became a cop the following year. Signed up for the Army Reserves in '72. Stayed in for a decade. In 1974, Neary joined the Philadelphia Fire Department, where his penchant for dousing fires and saving lives worked against his chances of dying of natural causes as an old man. Neary was the Brian Dawkins of Ladder 10, at Kensington and Castor avenues. He was the veteran leader.

The old Thomas W. Buck Hosiery building, dominating nearly a full block in Kensington, was supposed to be converted into 81 apartments several years ago, but instead it sat vacant. Neighbors lamented its deteriorating and dangerous conditions, fearing the building would burn some day, while its New York owners racked up unpaid tax bills and ignored code violations. The city moved in February to put the property up for sheriff's sale, which can take months. In the end, it was all too late to prevent a tragedy that took the lives of two firefighters.