Kansas State Funeral Assistance Team

Kansas City Missouri is mourning the loss of a close friend to all in the area. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

Topeka Fire Department Engine 7 named the busiest Engine Company in the state of Kansas by Firehouse Magazine. 3,792 calls in 1 year for a single company house.

Is your department interested in hosting a 2025 Fire School?

Complete this form by August 1st to be considered: https://forms.gle/ZZr9ADDinw8chAPY6

On this day, Mendocino National Forest, CA

The Rattlesnake Fire was a wildfire started by an arsonist on July 9, 1953, in Powder House Canyon on the Mendocino National Forest in northern California. The arsonist, Stanford Pattan, started two fires, one on private land and the other along Alder Springs Road inside the national forest boundary. The first fire was quickly suppressed by responding firefighters. The second fire continued burning uphill in what is known as Rattlesnake Canyon; it was reported mid-afternoon and numerous fire crews responded from the Forest Service and the state, along with a pick-up crew hired from the New Tribes Mission at Fouts Springs. By late evening the fire was nearing containment. At about 9 p.m., however, the wind picked up, reversed direction, and poured downhill pushing the fire in an unusual downhill direction toward fire crews.

Fourteen Volunteer Firefighters from the New Tribes Mission and one Forest Service employee were burned to death as they tried to outrun the fire through the dense chaparral. Nine fellow crewmembers barely escaped.

Lessons learned from the Rattlesnake Fire played a large role in the decision to form the first national level task force to examine wildland firefighter safety in 1957.

On this day, Glenwood Springs CO.

The South Canyon Fire was ignited by lightning on Storm King Mountain near Glenwood Springs Colorado, on July 2, 1994, and not reported to the Bureau of Land Management until July 3. By July 6, firefighters from multiple agencies were engaged on the fire, including Missoula and McCall smokejumpers, Helitack crews and the Prineville Hotshots, As firefighters were deployed around the fire perimeter, a dry cold front moved through the area, producing strong winds. Spot fires ignited below the main fire made rapid uphill runs, entrapping multiple groups of firefighters, some of whom deployed fire shelters while others attempted uphill escape or retreated into the adjacent unburned canyon. Nine Prineville Hotshots, one Missoula Smokejumper and two McCall smokejumpers on the west flank handline were overrun by fire and perished. Two helitack crewmembers who were entrapped further upslope also perished.

On this day, Kingman AZ.
The Kingman explosion, also known as the Doxol disaster or Kingman BLEVE, was a catastrophic boiling liquid expanding v***r explosion (BLEVE) that occurred on July 5, 1973, in Kingman, Arizona, United States. The explosion occurred during a propane transfer from a Doxol railroad car to a storage tank on the Getz rail siding near Andy Devine Avenue/Route 66. The incident began when a hairline crack in the side of the tanker was leaking non-odorized gas that was ignited by static electricity. The Kingman Fire Department responded and began setting up attack lines to cool the propane car. The fire department was in the process of setting up a deluge gun to cool the car but before the deluge gun was readied, the pressure in the tank car reached the design bursting limit, and the car exploded. Almost instantaneously, thousands of gallons of boiling liquid propane flashed to gas with the drop in pressure and simultaneously ignited. The resulting explosion produced a shock wave that was heard and felt for over 5 miles, and a fireball over 1,000 feet in diameter. Burning propane rained down on everything in the vicinity, and the remnants of the rail car were propelled over a quarter mile from the explosion site. The three firefighters closest to the explosion were killed instantly, and eight more died from burns shortly thereafter. In addition to the eleven city firefighters and one railroad worker killed in the disaster, one state trooper was also killed in the explosion. This incident was the worst firefighter tragedy in Arizona until 2013 when 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots firefighters were killed in the Yarnell Hill Fire.

The Kingman explosion and others like it brought changes to how the fire service responded to and combated compressed liquid fires. Toady we remember the 13 souls who gave their life in service of their community.

Happy Indepence Day America

Prescott Fire would like to invite you to join us in remembering and celebrating the legacy of the Granite Mountain Hotshots on June 30th with 19 Seconds of Silence. This simple tribute is meant so that anyone can join us and our community to pause in reflection and commemoration. This initiative was started by the father of one of our fallen brothers and it would be an honor for you to join us wherever you are that day.

11 years

Today Members of the K.S.F.A.T. along with members of the Local83 Honor Guard assisted our brothers and sisters with Consolidated Fire District #1, Douglas County, KS in saying farewell to a dear friend and mentor. Lieutenant Douglas "Bumpy" Rhoads was a public servant through and through. He served 20 years as a Deputy Sheriff and Volunteer firefighter in Louisiana. in 2004 he joined as a Volunteer Firefighter in the Eudora Township Fire Dept. that later became consolidated, Doug served with Douglas County Emergency Management as part of the Skywarn, CERT team, and the Mobile Command Vehicle team.

It was our honor to serve the family and members of the CFD #1 and to serve Lt. Rhoads.

17 Years….

Today, we remember our Charleston 9 and their sacrifice.

On June 18, 2007, the Charleston Fire Department lost nine brave firefighters while battling a devastating blaze at a furniture store. These heroes were memorialized on June 22, 2007. A procession of more than 300 fire engines, ladder trucks, ambulances, and command vehicles stretched approximately 7.5 miles and moved single-file along a route which passed each of the three fire stations from which firefighters were lost, as well as past the site of the fatal fire.

Prayers for our friends across the line

Retired Fort Riley Fire Chief John Boyd passed away yesterday in Wamego. John was a firefighter through and through and his leadership and wisdom will continue throughout the ranks of Fort Riley Fire & Emergency Services. His dedication and loyalty to the men and women that he lead will forever be echoed throughout the ranks of the fire service. Our prayers and sympathies to his family.

John will lie in state beginning at 2:00 p.m. Wednesday (June 12, 2024) at the Campanella & Stewart Funeral Home in Wamego Kansas. The family will meet friends for a visitation later that evening from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the funeral home.

Graveside services will be Thursday June 13th at 1030am at the St. George Township Cemetery. The family has requested no Honor Guard. Come and honor a great Friend, Brother and Champion for the Fire Service.

CFD F.F. Doug Rhoads
R.I.P. brother

Donate to Support for Gary Elliot's Road to Recovery, organized by Tristan Nichols On May 8, Gary Elliot, our Assistant Fire Chief of Sabetha, KS, was injured… Tristan Nichols needs your support for Support for Gary Elliot's Road to Recovery

Members from the Kansas State Funeral Assistance Team and fellow honor guards from around Kansas honored 2 brothers today who passed from job related illness. You can see news coverage from both events here.

Memorial service held for local emergency responder who died from service-related illness A memorial service was held for 41-year-old Gregory Rausch.

South East Kansas is dealing with 2 LODD funerals this week, please lend assistance to our brothers and sisters as they mourn and heal from their loss.

Junction City Fire Cpt. retires after nearly 3 decades with ceremony planned The public has been invited to help celebrate the retirement of a Junction City Fire Captain who served the community for nearly three decades.

It’s time!!

Your SCAFFA board and directors have worked hard on this upcoming years conference.

We hope to see many of you there! We have added some pretty good EMS classes as well.

Please pass this along to your EMS partners as well as we try to bring some of our EMS partners in.

Please go to SCAFFA.org to sign up!!