Firefighters

If battling fires and rescuing people wasn't enough of a challenge, a group of Winchester firefighters recently completed the Urban Mountain Challenge in Lexington. A group of six firefighters patricipated in the Jan. 28 event, where participants raced to the top of the 30-story Lexington Financial Center. The Winchester group used the event as a training exercise and completed the 638 steps in full turnout gear using their breathing apparatus. “We didn't try to do it in the fastest time,” Winchester Fire-EMS Lt. Chris Whiteley said.

Fire destroyed the rear portion of a Danville house Thursday afternoon, but firefighters were able to stop the flames before they reached the front section. Danville firefighters responded to the residence of Donna Wilson at 628 E. Main St. about 3:30 p.m. to find the back deck and an addition fully involved. Boyle County firefighters were called to assist, in part because of the extreme outdoor temperature. Danville Fire Marshal Ken Pflug said Wilson was at work when the fire started and there are no other occupants.

Seven people were rescued from a raging fire at Hillcrest Apartments early this morning, all without injury. The fire was reported shortly before 8 a.m. on Oxford Drive, first as a couch on fire and then with people trapped inside the building, Winchester Fire-EMS Maj. Greg Beam said. As the fire flared and blocked the entrance to the building, two firefighters were cut off while they were searching the upper floor for other residents. Lt. Eric Daniels and firefighter August Fisher escaped by climbing through a second-floor window to a ladder.

The Nicholasville Fire Department's engine No. 1 responded to a No. 2 problem Tuesday afternoon at Lake Mingo Park. Firefighters caught wind of a portable toilet on fire in the parking lot shortly before 4:30 p.m. and found flames shooting from the unit on arrival. “It was a small nuisance fire; it burned through the side of the Porta-John,” Lt. Marty Kazsuk said. The fire was extinguished quickly, leaving some damage to the toilet. Kazsuk said the cause was “suspicious” and that the fire department had turned the investigation over to the Nicholasville Police Department.

In today’s world, the war on terror has required countless men and women who serve in the reserve or guard to leave their families and jobs to be sent overseas to fight the battle. Nearly every occupation has dealt with the prolonged absence and the various entities deal with the loss the best they can. But for those charged with protecting their communities in the fire service, losing one or two firefighters causse a unique dilemma because the community must be protected. The Nicholasville Fire Department leaders are well versed in overcoming personnel shortages due to deployment, Fire Chief Charles Brumfield said.

Firefighters with the Jessamine County Fire District responded to 83 Lantern Way in the northwest part of the county Wednesday afternoon and extinguished a chimney fire. People were in the house, but no one was injured and there was no damage to the structure, according to Lt. Rick Shropshire. Firefighters arrived around 1:30 p.m. and dropped chemical bombs in the chimney to help extinguish the flames, which had previously been reaching above the chimney, according to Shropshire.

CRAB ORCHARD - Lincoln County firefighters responded to a fire early this morning at a mobile home that apparently started in the kitchen. The blaze was called in about 5:25 a.m. at a trailer on Ky. 618 near Crab Orchard. Crab Orchard firefighter and EMT Chris Hale said when he arrived on the scene, smoke was visible coming from the kitchen area and flames erupted shortly thereafter. “They got a pretty quick knockdown on it. It only got the kitchen and into the trailer a little bit,” Hale said.

STANFORD - A floor collapsed while Stanford firefighters were inside a blazing house Sunday, but no one was injured and the fire was successfully extinguished. Assistant Fire Chief Robin Jones said the duplex on Lancaster Street probably caught fire sometime around 7:30 or 8 p.m. "When I got here, there was fire blowing through the roof," he said. Jones said firefighters tried to get in through the back door to fight the fire, but the ceiling came in on them. Another attempt to get inside and put out the flames was also thwarted when the second-story floor collapsed while he and firefighter Rodney Floyd were inside the structure.

Shortly after 4 p.m. Thursday, the Nicholasville Fire Department was called out to Jessamine Medical Center at 110 Village Parkway. Battalion chief David Johns said there was a problem with the furnace that produced flames and smoke. "It was just minor problems with a little bit of smoke and heat damage probably just to the unit. I haven't gotten the full story yet," Johns said. "There were originally some flames and smoke. " Johns said firefighters made access to the area and the damage was contained.

The city of Nicholasville could be looking for loose change in its pockets after the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled last Thursday that the municipality is responsible for paying years of lost overtime to its firefighters. An Aug. 25 court decision ruled against the city of Nicholasville and 11 other agencies and in favor of the Kentucky Labor Cabinet. The case was an appeal of a Franklin Circuit Court ruling that said the agencies were not immune from paying retroactive overtime after an overtime calculation was changed in 2009.