NFPA Journal - Spring 2021 - 21

Dispatches Oddities

HUH?

RECENT HEAD-SCRATCHERS
FROM THE WORLD OF FIRE
AND LIFE SAFETY

GETT Y IMAGES

MAN'S NEW BEST FRIEND?
A man in Brisbane, Australia, had his
house gutted by fire, but he's still alive
thanks to a parrot named Eric.
" I heard a bang and Eric-my
parrot-he started to yell so I woke up
and I smelled a bit of smoke, " he told
the Australian Broadcasting Corp. " I
grabbed Eric, opened the door and
looked to the back of the house and
saw some flames. And so I grabbed my
bag and took off and bolted downstairs.
" I'm in shock but I'm fine, " he added.

THAT'S ONE WAY TO DO IT
A Kentucky man owned the Internet
for one glorious day in December when

his neighbor filmed him clearing snow
from his driveway with a flamethrower.
As if the torrent of fire weren't enough,
the man was dressed only in a white
bathrobe, slippers, and a hat-an
apparent nod to the character Cousin
Eddie from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.
VACCINE HEROES AND VILLAINS
When a freezer storing COVID-19 vaccine broke at a local hospital in Ukiah,
California, in January, firefighter medics
had a choice: do nothing and watch the
whole batch go bad, or try to save the
day by using as much of it as they could.
They chose the latter, and in less than
three hours had managed to administer
850 doses of the vaccine to community
members, not wasting a drop.
On the other side of the spectrum,
in Wisconsin a pharmacist intentionally left 570 doses of vaccine out of
the freezer overnight in an attempt to
destroy it because he believed it would
" mutate people's DNA. "

HERE COMES SANTA CLAUS
A few days before Christmas, first
responders rescued a man dressed in a
Santa suit when he became entangled
in powerlines while paragliding in Rio
Linda, California.
It may sound like an unusual situation, but the neighbors seemed to know
exactly what was going on.
" We see him flying around all the
time-it's like some kind of go-kart with
a parachute on top of it, " one neighbor,
who lives near the crash site, told a
local television station. " He was just
flying over here to drop off some candy
canes for the kids. And that's when he
experienced engine problems. "
" He was just handing out candy
canes to the kids and came in a little
too low, " another neighbor said.
The airborne Santa was disentangled
without issue and without injury.

SAVED BY ... THE WHALE?
A passenger train in the Netherlands
failed to stop at the end of an elevated
track-but instead of crashing to the
ground 30 feet below, it was miraculously caught and supported by a
sculpture of two whale tails. The sculpture, titled " Saved by the Whale's Tail, "
was installed in 2002 at the De Akkers
station in Spijkenisse, just outside
Rotterdam.
The partial derailment is still under
investigation, and it's not clear why the
train didn't stop where it should have.
No injuries were reported.

HITCHING A RIDE
The Indianapolis Fire Department
posted a video in December of a woman
taking a joy ride on the back of one of
its fire trucks. The crew had just finished a call and was headed home when
another driver alerted them of the hitchhiker, who had jumped on at a red light.
The woman, who is believed to
have ridden the truck for four or five
blocks, told the crew that she jumped
aboard because she " needed a ride. "
The woman could have been fined or
arrested for her actions, the IFD said,
but firefighters instead opted to politely
ask her to vacate.
N F PA . O R G / J O U R N A L * NFPA JOURNAL

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NFPA Journal - Spring 2021

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