NFPA Journal - Winter 2024 - 19

Dispatches Oddities
HUH?
RECENT HEADSCRATCHERS
FROM
THE WORLD OF FIRE
AND LIFE SAFETY
RISKY FALL
As the boomer generation
ages, firefighters around the
country have become accustomed
to calls to provide lift
assists. But a recent assist call
came with a twist.
In September, as firefighters
and MedStar personnel in Fort
Worth, Texas, tried to enter a
woman's home for a lift assist,
they heard gunshots coming
from inside. The woman, who
was in her 70s, had called 911
to ask for help getting up from
a fall. Unbeknownst to the
responders, the woman had
called 911 a second time and
threatened to shoot anyone
who tried to enter her home.
A police SWAT team took
over and began negotiations
with the woman. The talks
lasted for about three hours
before the standoff ended
without injuries. According to
police, the woman appeared
to be suffering from a mental
health crisis.
WELL, THAT'S EMBARRASSING
When a new fire station opened in Stadtallendorf, Germany
less than a year ago, the local newspaper lauded it as " modern,
innovative, and state-of-the-art. "
In October, the station, along with 10 fire engines, was
destroyed by a fire-in large part because the new building had
no fire alarms.
The fire started undetected near a vehicle at the station and
quickly spread to the whole building, The Guardian reported.
About 170 firefighters battled the blaze, including many of the
volunteer brigade who worked at the new station. While no
injuries were reported, the fire caused an estimated 20 to 24
million Euros worth of damage.
After the blaze, firefighters and residents were filled with
" incredulity that the building had no fire alarm-and then growing
outrage and bafflement over the revelation that this was not
a legal requirement, " The Guardian said.
According to the paper, fire alarms were not required at the
fire station because it belonged to the local municipality and was
" classified as a building holding equipment, not a fire station. "
Local officials immediately called for a review of that legislation.
" It is a nightmare for a firefighter. No one wants to have to
extinguish his own fire station, " the district fire inspector, Lars
Schäfer, told German media. Local officials vowed to rebuild
the station as quickly as possible but would not commit to
including a fire alarm system this time around. That " would be a
matter for discussion, " local officials said.
RADIOACTIVE ROCK
A high school in Oklahoma was briefly evacuated in September
when a student brought a radioactive rock to school
and passed it around. Local fire and police were summoned
to Owasso High School, as was the Tulsa Fire Department's
HazMat unit and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol Bomb Unit.
Tulsa HazMat used specialized equipment to test the rock and
school grounds and determined that the rock's radiation levels
were no greater than normal background radiation and posed no
health threats. The bomb unit then took the rock for disposal.
Similar rocks can be purchased online, and they typically
do not emit enough radiation to pose health risks. Local
police, however, urged students not to bring them to school.
WAFFLE WEATHER
For residents in the southeastern
United States, the
Waffle House restaurant chain
is apparently more than just
a solid breakfast option at 3
a.m.-it's a helpful indicator for
how bad an upcoming storm
is going to be and how well
recovery efforts are going.
Since at least Hurricane
Katrina in 2005, Waffle House
has embraced a company
culture of keeping restaurants
open during and after
storms, because sales volume
can double or triple in the
aftermath of a weather event,
according to information on
wafflehouse.com. The chain
has invested in generators,
developed an employee
manual for opening after a
disaster, and even purchased
a mobile command center.
Due to Waffle House's
reputation for disaster readiness,
if one of its restaurants
closes before a storm, locals
know to expect the worst.
That's why residents, and
even the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA),
closely follow the company's
social media posts about " the
Waffle House Index, " a color-coded
map of the chain's
more than 1,900 locations in
the Southeast and mid-Atlantic.
A green dot on the
map means a restaurant is
offering full service, a yellow
dot means the restaurant has
a limited menu-indicating
it's on generator power or
has limited access to ingredients-and
a red dot means the
location is closed.
" If you get there and the
Waffle House is closed? That's
really bad, " said Craig Fugate,
former FEMA Administrator, in
a report on wafflehouse.com.
" That's where you go to work. "
For Waffle House status
updates, check the hashtag
#whindex on X, formerly
known as Twitter.
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NFPA Journal - Winter 2024

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